Sport

Watching the Blues vs Reds match last night was an interesting exercise in seeing which of two totally incompetant teams would win by making marginally fewer cock-ups than the other. The only highlight was an (Australian) commentator praising a drop kick by the Reds as superb, thrilling rugby.

This from the nation that spent all 2003 ridiculing Johnny Wilkinson, and making Wilkinson’s field goals the subject of an “Is that all you’ve got?” campaign.

Only a little over a decade after the rest of the world decided South Africa had moved far enough away from being a racist state that we’d play sport with them again, South Africa suggests it may boycott Australia over racist abuse directed at its cricket players.

Now, this is cool. Man decides to have a go at all the Olympic sports over a hour year period.

Well, I’ve discovered that there are, in fact, no gyms in Wellington Central better than Bodyworks. And probably the worst response I got was from the one just down the road from me. Sportswide don’t do casual sessions, they tell me. Well, I don’t spend money for a minimum 6 month subscription unless I’ve had a change to try the gym. That was annoying. The bit where their telemarketing team rung me the next day to solicit my custom was hilarous. For once in my life, Telemarketing has been a force for good, rather than evil, since it gave me a feedback mechanism.

Of course, there’s still the whole membership fee nonsense, which I enjoyed not having at Universal Fitness.

I remember again why I don’t like gyms in Wellington: while Bodyworks has decent enough equipment and is gratifyingly empty in the evenings, they won’t tell you what it costs. You have to go and speak to some bullshit Personal Consultant (read: waste of space) so they can sell you crap you don’t need. And, of course, there are joining fees and rubbish like that. I’ll definitely be looking to see if I can find something with good gear and no bullshit - but I fear they don’t exist hereabouts.

Not to mention that while some twat at Bodyworks may thinks it is a clever marketing move to make use of the member’s car park conditional on plastering advertising over your car, all it does is piss me off.

I just had what will probably be my last workout at Universal Fitness in Halesowen, a gym I can’t speak highly enough of - Stephen found it by accident and we started going, then I joined in when I got here. It is, quite simply, the best gym I’ve ever had the pleasure of visiting. The people are friendly, happy to work in, and make going to the gym a thoroughly pleasant experience.

Of particular note are Debbie, the woman behind the counter, a friendly lady with a good knack for telling a yarn and making friends with strangers; Bobby, a big man who always seems perpetually nervous; and Patrick, an even bigger bloke who’s been training for ten years, has arms bigger than most people’s thighs, and a thoughful approach to his training - and a great big smile for people who wander by.

So if there’s something about England I’ll really miss, it’s this place. It’s some of the most enjoyable training I’ve ever done - not just because I was getting good results (an average 50% increase in weights over three an a half months) - but because it’s the most pleasant and down to earth place I’ve ever trained. No bullshit, no sulky guys hogging the equipment, no show-offs, and no-one making fun of guys just starting out.

I wish I could pick it up and take it with me.

Weight training progresses apace. I’m the same weight as I was at my wedding, but I’ve added inches to my arms and chest, and I’m finally beginning to muscle up again. One of the odd things about the whole business is the way in which one springs fairly quickly back to old levels of achievement. Within a couple of weeks of beginning a lot of exercises in earnest, I’ve hit (or come close to) the levels of accomplishment I achieved after 2 years of work in my late teens.

Granted, some of the numbers are a little less impressive when rendered as proportions of bodyweight, since I’ve added 20 kilos to my frame in the last 10 years, but it’s an interesting indicator that the old theory that one can rapidly reatain old peaks, even after an old layoff.

I’ve almost finished my writeup of my trip to Paris, which was great fun. Suffice to say that Paris is a lot better than I expected, which has made a pleasant change from England.