Turns out a bender of an evening once in a while, followed by ridiculous amounts of doing nothing for the remainder of the weekend, can actually be a motivator when it comes to exercise, Christine O'Connor finds.
Since my spectacular fall from the wagon two weekends ago (firmly back on now, I am glad to say) I have been working hard to make up lost ground in my fitness/weight-loss quest; this time in the safe confines of Let's Go Fitness' suite and not murdering the dance floor.
But I figure, what the hey, you have to live, right?
What is it they say about all work and no play?
I couldn't help hearing part of a conversation in the changing room of the gym; it was one young woman speaking to her friend: ''I could do with the extra hour of studying, but I think I need this workout just as much''.
That-a-girl, I thought. No matter how you spend the bulk of your day, be it work, study or whatever you do, in my experience it is vital you find a form of escapism.
For now, mine is in the form of a satisfying - for the most part - work/life/exercise combo.
At Monday night's wo
rkout, trainer Nick McCallum dished up his own secret ''11 herbs and spices''.
The recipe began: Warm up, mix of bikes, rower, weights circuit, repeat.
Then up the heat went.
In any order we chose (he's all heart Nicolas) we could complete the following list, the timer set for ... 25 minutes.
• 50 press-ups
• 50 sit-ups
• 30 burpees
• 35 clean-and-jerks with a weight bag
• 50 weight-pack squats
• 50 lunges
• 5 sets of the stairs
• 3 Stafford St 250m hill runs
• 5 minutes' planking (in which you resemble a human ironing board)
Once we had established this was no accidental configuration, we rolled our sleeves up and got stuck into it. Variety is the spice of life, and we were sure given an ample dose of it on Monday night.
I foolishly left my 30 burpees until last. Can I have a second helping of burpees? said no-one ever!Here's a fun fact to leave you with: it takes 524 burpees to burn off one large French fry.
Supersize my weight loss; hold the fries.
• Follow Christine's return to the gym here in The Weekend Mix.
