Day 83 - The final countdown

Day 83, the home stretch. I know I am supposed to be feeling energised and excited that the end is nigh but to be honest I am feeling tired, broken and a tad on the irritable side. My body also hates me and is teetering on the brink of a full scale revolt. EVERYTHING hurts and I am feeling about 80 years old at the moment. Tonight I plan to go to bed early and sleep it off so I can have a good positive final week and finish this thing on a high as I should. But it's not really the end is it? I've already started thinking about what I am going to do to maintain the results for the longterm and am actually a bit bummed that I know day 90 will be the "peak". I won't go on about the anxieties I am feeling about this - is being as neurotic as me about this???

I have been doing some workouts at the gym throughout PCP so this week's assignment wasn't a total surprise and I am did my workout there today since the weather in HK has been complete rubbish these last few days. I am always amazed at the crazies at the gym. Yes you do see some people doing some dangerous back breaking stuff down at the "muscle end" of the gym but I rarely hang out there. There's a tad too much grunting, postulating and general testosterone flying about in that zone so I usually do my workouts in the women's area where you are more likely to have to slalom around people balancing on bosu and yoga balls. In fact, it's a more of a sh1tfight to nab a sit up bench or a stretch mat rather than wait in line for a particular machine.

A while ago the topic of people noticing how much you can lift on a machine which caused much debate amongst the men but pretty much left me cold. I have to admit over all the years I have been a member of a gym I have never paid mind to how much someone can lift. Back in my ballet days (and I'm not promoting ballet as a healthy world at all - that's another thorny topic) the focus was all about being as strong as possible while being as lean as possible.Strength was needed to meet the physical demands however, at least for female dancers, bulk was considered bad - lean body and limbs = clean lines and a better more 'effortless' aesthetic. Which is great it you're a willowy ectomorph but no so great if you have stocky proportions and a tendency to put on muscle. But back to the gym. My overall observation is that yes, there are lot of people there who were making a real half-ar$sed attempt at exercise but that there are also quite a few genuinely fit people (who tend to go about their business pretty quietly). One guy who caught my eye (purely in the name of research Gilles. I swear!) was an older dude who was proportioned, lean and radiated health. He was also busting out pullups like there was no tomorrow - an ex-PCPer perhaps? A few other people also stuck out quite dramatically. The difference is that now I am pretty good at spotting the really healthy people i.e. the ones for whom it is a lifestyle, rather than confusing them with the pumped up peacocks and genetically gifted 20-somethings. Another comment made on Mark's blog really drove home which is the reliance people place on personal trainers. Personal trainers at least at my gym are a lot like hairdressers - most of the training session is spent blabbing with a bit of working out in between. The trainer I went to before PCP was always going on about my lack of fat burning exercise (which was right) but it's true - hardly any emphasis was placed on diet and now I understand one really can't exist without the other.

OK the clock is ticking and it's going to be a HUGE week. Good luck everyone. Make it count!!