I’ve been exercising at home for the past few days but still haven’t been able to establish a firm ‘Action’ Activity. So I decided that I have to join a gym immediately, with a supervisor.
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I will be able to attend this gym at least once a week, preferably Wednesday morning or Wednesday evening.
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The rest of the days I will try to exercise in the morning by using the treadmill I have.
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The visits to the gym is actually a temporary solution to my ‘Action’ Activity until I get involved in SAISA football.
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I will be able to attend the gym more regularly during the December Holidays.
Solution
Sunday 18th November
When looking at the ‘Action’ side of my life, I am not that reluctant to joining that many sport activities as personally I don’t have that much time, however I have to make time. The negative point is that it take some time to convince myself to actually start a sports activity, e.g. Doing normal exercise as I can be quite lazy when doing activities. However, that situation has to change and I have come up with a strategic plan:
1) Be part of a SAISA Team
Even though I have to join a team in the future, I want to be involved in a team that I actually admire and like.
i. SAISA Football is the most suitable choice and that only occurs next year.
2) Do a sport related action outside of school
This falls in the basis of Action, such as going to the gym or even starting my Tennis Activity again.
Introducing Bankhill Wellness
Sunday 18th November
So guess what! I finally found a gym that was close by and its called Bankhill Wellness. It was my first time there and it was definitely scary… I’ve never gone to a gym outside of school and it was definitely a new challenge. It was only a free trial and if I were to continue, I would have to pay a membership fee…which my parents would handle :)
- I wanted to start with something simple and easy, so I went on the treadmill for 45 minutes on a hill climb of 5.0 elevation.
- I was defintiely not comfortable as there were other customers around me and I was the youngest at that moment…it was 5 in the evening.
- The problem was that I didn’t go at a fast speed…I travelled at 4.8km/h, which is pretty slow to what I usually run/walk at. The reason being was I wasn’t ready to sweat off in front of strangers who kept on staring.
We do have a problem! To continue at this gym, I do have to pay some money…that’s understandable. However, the question is, am I going to continue at this gym?
During the Christmas holidays, I will definitely be in Kandy and won’t be able to use the gym; and when the next term starts, I’m planning on joining the SAISA football team. So is the fee I’m about to pay practical and reasonable if I won’t be attending the gym? That’s something to think about…
Decision made. Action taken.
Saturday 24th November
I unfortunately couldn’t continue at the gym as I looked at the circumstances and it seemed more practical that I exercise at home more regularly (even on holidays) than paying a fee for an activity that I won’t attend regularly.
Exercising at Home
This is not a ‘new’ action activity. I’ve been doing exercise for a few weeks now, trying to fit in 2 exercise sessions per week, (usually on Wednesday and Sunday). It’s definitely been benefiting me as it controls my stress level, keeps me fit and healthy and it feels good. What do I do though?
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I usually use three machines. The treadmill, the rowing machine and the Bicyle.
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I try to change which machine I use each week but it’s usually the treadmill.
Treadmill: I go on this machine for exactly 1 hour and have specific specifications. I go on the ‘Weight Loss,’ or ‘Hill Climb,’ factor at a changing elevation from a 5.0 to an 8.0. My speed is usually in the range of 5.5 to 6.5km/h. I burn 1028 – 1054 calories per exercise session, which is pretty good!
Rowing Machine: For this machine, I only go for about 25 minutes…as I find it boring after. It mainly focuses on my stomache and my calf muscles. It’s definitely not an alternative to the treadmill, but is less stressful and more relaxing as I can stop whenever I want without any hesitation. Of course, I don’t sweat at much but if I do it at a fast speed, I do pant a lot.
Bicycle: With the bicycle, I usually go for about 30 minutes and continue the rest of the hour with the treadmill. This is pretty enjoyable as I have the machine in front of the television! I go with a tension control between 4 and 6. If I’m too tired, I immediately switch to a tension of 2. My speed if usually at 5.2km/h. I try not to go below the speed level.
What's going on?
My goal to become involved with SAISA couldn’t be accomplished due to my grades in school dropping down and my earlier commitment with the secondary production. However, to make up for that, I still went on the treadmill and decided to join a ‘Dance After school activity.’
In this activity, the goals are:
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To discover new moves connection to Hip Hop and contemporary music
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Challenge myself to become less paranoid with the way I can use my body and not to be afraid of the moves that they teach us
The dance activity will be held every Tuesday after school, but sometimes, I will have to miss it due to putting the secondary production as my main focus and going for play practice. Let’s hope for the best!
Dancing Time
So, how’s dance? Well… it is quite interesting with Emily and Thisara as our leaders and Ms. Noble as our supervisor; and we have 4 children in our group. With Thisara, it’s a pleasure to watch her dance. As she is a ballerina, she inspires others to move like her and honestly, it’s like an angel dancing on stage when seeing her. Emily is more into the hip-hop moves and grooves to the modern type of music…which is my type as well. The thing with Emily is that she is creative in finding moves to match any song, and she uses her whole body to carry out the certain gestures.
According to Emily, the main purpose of this activity is “to have the exposure to dance as a whole since it is not addressed as much in school curriculum.” I like their personal statement for this activity and hope I get the most out of it.
The few lessons I have had with them have been quite slow…the activity has a lot of freedom involved so it isn’t as organized as the activity can be. We were looking at quite a few songs and trying to figure out moves by first:
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Doing some warm ups
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Few stretches for about 8 minutes
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Listening to the song and making Emily and Thisara show us some moves
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We are normally in a circle so everyone can actually share a move with each other
The problem is that we are inconsistent…we figure out some moves but don’t really remember it the next lesson and move onto a whole different topic which is not the point of this activity. I suggest:
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Either writing down our moves to the song or videoing ourselves so we accurately know what we did in the class before
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Finnish the moves to one song; don’t go to another soundtrack!
Hopefully, this dance class will be worth it at the end…I know it will be ☺ I just need to ask Emily what the names of the moves are in order to be more precise in what I’m learning.