TOO MUCH WORK AND TOO LITTLE EXERCISE MAKES JILL A FAT AND UNFIT GIRL!

It seems like only yesterday that I was cycling 15 miles a day, swimming a couple of times and jogging the 3-miles circuit round Regent's Park and I still didn't think I was fit!

Now after eight months of sloth - I definitely know what unfit feels like - muscle cramps, tiredness etc and I definitely know what it looks like - fat and flabby! And if my life depended on it I couldn't sustain a decent run - so desperate measures are called for!

I thought about a Boot Camp (not enough time), running round the park on my own (boring and solitary) - then while walking through Hyde Park I saw some people having fun doing exercise with the "pros" from British Military Fitness. No demotivating shouting - great instructions and other folks in the same boat.


After researching them online at www.britmilfit.com I discovered there are sessions in parks all over the UK and you can go along and sample a lesson free. You do need to fill out a pre-session health questionnaire which you can download online to take with you.

I tried my session at Hampstead Heath. Hmmm I realised on arrival - I had picked probably the hilliest park in London! Too late to chicken out though - I could see the Military Fitness van in the car park.

The instructors for my session were Ian Finch( pictured below), an ex-navy marine and the lead instructor; Lalin Navaratne, a trainee doctor (centre) and Craig Johnson - "Johno" is another ex Royal Marine.






Participants in the training are divided into different groups, dependent on fitness - blue for beginners (unfit), red for fit and green for seasoned particpants and really fit people.

Needless to say I was given a blue vest for the team led by Lalil. Everyone is very friendly and I was told that there is a thriving social scene including an annual ball.

There is no hanging around - we get our orders to jog off and I follow the others up hill and down dale! An hour later - after doing what I can only describe as an aerobic circuit, including jumping jacks, on the spot running, stomach crunches, press ups, we finally run down hill back towards the car park for stretching exercises. And I was not the last person back!

Running through a park like Hampstead Heath in the summer is glorious - much better and more interesting (stimulating) than being in a smelly gym. And Ian Finch tells me that the Hampstead Heath mob are not just fairweather exercisers - they turn up in the depths of winter, come snow or rain! Last January when London ground to a halt in the snow there were 30+ of them on the heath...

Afterwards I feel good - my legs felt exercised but I was not exhausted - the longer it went on the easier it was. Twenty four later my muscles are pleasantly aching and I know it has put me on the road to being fitter and my next jog round the park will be a whole lot easier!

Needless to say exercise does really make you feel a whole lot better.....not just in body but also in mind too - I feel a whole lot more positive today about everything. I can't wait for my next session!

WE LOVE THE ROLLER-BLADING PENSIONER

At ELIXIR magazine we love rollerblading pensioner Geoff Dornan.

He is the fantastically fit septuggenarian who was fined by a UK court for 'endangering the public' by skating through a shopping mall.

We at ELIXIR think Mr Dornan should be given an award. At the age of 71 years he skated with respect to others, unlike others half his age. We assume the only reason he was caught because he did respect the law and stopped when he was asked.

The retired youth worker, who says regular skating keeps him fit and healthy, had now had his rollerblades confiscated by police.

The truth is that the rather large people in our community are far more of a danger. For example, how many times has a public bus braked abruptly and the huge person next to you come dangerously near to squashing the nearest passenger.

Mr Dornan, who now has a 2,075-person Facebook group devoted to him, was rollerblading in the seaside town of Southport, Merseyside and CCTV footage from a Marks and Spencer camera recorded in October 2008.

Outside court Mr Dornan said: 'In the months during which I have been unjustly deprived of my blades, I was shocked to discover how swiftly the health of someone of my age can deteriorate.
'At the time of my arrest, I was as fit as a flea, and entirely free of pain. Yet by Christmas, I found myself confined to bed with severe back trouble.'

He added: "I would never want to put anybody in danger and always adopt a good skating practice, which means nobody should ever feel threatened. I don't believe I'm a danger to anyone. This case should never have been brought to court.'

We have all seen people, mostly young men in my experience, cycling on public pavements even past policemen who take no notice. Since most policemen and women on foot appear to be overweight maybe if they were given some rollerblades they might not only get fit but also be fast enough to catch the real criminals rather than OAPs?

RUNNING AND THE ELIXIR OF LIFE

Researchers at the Stanford University School of Medicine recently published the results of an extremely lengthy study into the benefits of aerobic exercise, in particular jogging, for older people.

The study lasted for over two decades and tracked 500 runners aged 50 or over at the beginning of the study. 284 of the study participants were regular runners, while the remaining 156 healthy "controls" were non-runners.

At the start of the study, participants ran for an average of four hours per week. By the time the study wound up, these people were in their 70s or 80s and ran about 76 minutes a week.

The outcome of the research revealed just 15 percent of the regular runners had succumbed to the ravages of age and had died, while 34 percent of the non-runners had died during the same time.

The study's lead author is Dr. James Fries, an emeritus professor of medicine at Stanford said people who had regular exercise regimen would spend less time being disabled even as their days neared an end.

Dr Fries said exercise was by far the best thing to delay aging, "The health benefits of exercise are greater than we thought. If you had to pick one thing to make people healthier as they age, it would be aerobic exercise," he added.

Some 21 years after the study all participants experienced some amount of disability, but for the runners, the onset was delayed. Also deaths from heart disease, diabetes and neurological disease were also less in the running group.

This report confirms the obvious that you not only look and feel better if you take reasonable amounts of exercise but you will also look better. We are not talking marathon running here which is excessive and does cause damage to the joints of the body but a gentle three-mile run three to four times a week and some stretching.

One thing the research did not go into was the effect exercise has on hormones - it is scientifically proven that you produce more Human Growth Hormone as a result of exercise - this is one of the key hormones that declines with age.

Also you produce more of the feel good hormones such as a Seratonin after exercise.

So after a few months of neglecting my usual exercise regime - two hours cycling to work and back and a 45 minute jog - I have started to get back into regular exercise.

It is wise for those older individuals who have never exercised to seek doctors advice and get a checkup before embarking on anything too strenuous which might be a shock to the body.

I began my regime yesterday with two circuits round my local park. On the way back home I popped into my local shop for a bottle of water, covered in perspiration, where the young lad said: "Have you been running - you look really tired!" Hmmm - but 10 minutes later after a shower I felt better than I had in weeks. And no aches or pains.

So the best advice for older consumers appears to be to put on your running shoes and start going - this may delay aging in more ways than you know.