Months of Muscle: The affair

It started off as nothing at all. A few flirtatious moments. The odd sideways glance. But isn't that the way these things always start?

Pretty soon, the heat picked up and I found that I couldn't stop thinking ... what if?

Then there was the physical contact. It was supposed to be nothing, but the heat and intensity of the passion couldn't be denied. I kept going back for more.

It meant nothing, I swear. Not then. Not like us. Did I ever think it would lead me to break my commitments, all my promises to you? No. it's just, well, we'd become repetitive. Every day, every week began to seem the same. Day in, day out, our relationship had become a hard slog.

I thought 'one time can't hurt' but one time was enough to get me going back for more. The passion when we were together was intense. The laughter , the sweat, and the tears.

Then the demands started. Demands on my mind, demands on my time. Suddenly,  there were commitments, financially and emotionally, and my new love became hard to hide. Now, I know, there is no going back, my heart has moved on.

I'm sorry months of muscles I'm leaving you ... for a triathlon ...

Super Saturday

Anyone doing the Michelle Bridge's program will know what Super Saturday means. Torture!

In the Lean and Fit program (last round) Super Saturday meant burning a minimum of 1000 calories. Achieving a 1000 calorie burn took two hours of running and three hours of indoor climbing **.  In the Months of Muscles Michelle and her team have developed new forms of torture, including triple sets, drop sets, supersets, compound sets and pyramid sets of weights aimed at killing even the strongest of muscles, followed by 3 rounds of a circuit of absolutely unthinkable activities, including my all time favourite (not) the Turkish-Get-Up. ***

But today's Super Saturday is the toughest yet. Because this week we're doing Super Sunday instead and today is a rest day.

Bet you didn't know we got a rest day, but there's one a week, and for good reason. The rest day gives our muscles time to recover, to repair and to grow. It is the rest days really that help us achieve our goals as without a rest day we wouldn't see such dramatic improvement.

But, between you and I, I struggle on rest days. I think I should be busy, I think I should be doing something. I think about my goals and feel frustrated I'm not actually doing anything to help myself move towards them.

Except I am- somewhere deep inside I know that. I need to learn to take it easy, to give some control over to trust in everything the experts say, and take a rest day. It's just not as easy as it sounds.



**'Super Saturday' inevitably leads to 'in bed by 8.30 Saturday night'

*** I'm not sure why the Turkish get the blame for this hideous exercise. I don't suppose it is the national pass-time in Turkey but it has definitely put me off traveling there just in case I find whole suburbs of people lying on the floor holding weights above their heads, standing up with weight still lifted above head and then lying down again all red-faced and panting.

Months of Muscle: It's just not working out

Since embarking on the Months of Muscles a new word has entered my vocabulary. No, not just my vocabulary but my head. That word is 'training'.

You see, I never used to 'train' I used to 'workout'.

So, what's the difference? Simple, 'working out' is really about what you see in the mirror. Training is pushing yourself to see how far you've come. But more than that, training is about setting, and reaching, a goal. Training has a purpose, a destination. Athletes train. Gymnasts train. Normal people, people like me, workout.

And my training doesn't only happen in the gym but in the kitchen, and, for the first time I'm not thinking about diet as a way to control weight but as a way of fueling my body to help me meet my goals.

When you tell people you are training they will automatically ask 'What for?'. And, up until this year, I would not have been able to give them an answer. But now, with goals firmly set in place I can.