Pingles Leisure Centre ‘Everyone Active’

The day had come for my first meeting with ‘Anneka’ my exercise referral fitness instructor!

It was Wednesday 9th July (I am a little late updating this part of my blog!) I was so nervous! I didn’t know what to expect! So I went to my appointment wearing clothes I thought appropriate for a gym! I had never been to a large one like this before!

I arrived before my appointment time as I always do and went to the reception desk. There always seems to be a cue when you really don’t want there to be one! Because of my issues with my back and legs I can’t stand for longer than a few minutes without being in extreme pain & feeling as though I may pass out! Seems extreme but I am telling it like it is!

Luckily the cue didn’t last to long & my wonderful pink walking stick kept me upright! I advised the person on reception my reason for being there and the reply I had back was so obvious… ‘You need to go to the gym’ Lately I seem to lack the common sense to know that’s where I would be seeing a ‘gym’ instructor! The clue is in the name right!?

I then had to ask for directions! The gentleman kindly pointed at the sign and said ‘its upstairs!

I think if the sign was flashing & in my face I still wouldn’t have seen it!

I made my way up the stairs feeling a little silly, this time I was looking at all the signs & following them correctly!

I was out of breath and my heart was pounding, surely my workout was done for the day just by climbing those stairs! Thank goodness for my walking stick and the rail that went up the stairs!  I live in a bungalow so other than having MS this is my excuse for not handling stairs well!

I walked through the doors into what felt like a cool box! I went straight to the next reception, now I was a little late! My anxiety was right at the top of the chart! I’m not good in these sort of situations and now because I had to wait in a cue in the wrong area I was late! Great!

I explained to the next gentleman my reason for being there and he was lovely! He told me Anneka was still with someone and she would be with me soon, he also asked if I would like a chair while I waited! This of course was a lovely gesture and without a second thought I politely said ‘yes please!’ whilst in the back of my mind thinking Really! Do I look that bad just from climbing the stairs! Wow! Everyone will definitely be staring at me when I start my workout!

The door opened to where Anneka was and out came two young women. I felt like I was about to be charged for some awful crime I hadn’t committed!

One woman walked away whilst the other called my name, I followed her into the tiniest room where she introduced herself as Anneka and invited me to take a seat. This is where I have to control my nervous blurting out and dry sense of humour! Instead of asking where she would like me to take it to, I just sat down!

Whilst I was in the room Anneka explained to me about the exercise referral scheme:  A 12 week course where I see her at the beginning for an induction, halfway through for a ‘checkup’  and then at the end of the course. The rest is up to me!

My physio ‘Emma’ had already explained this to me but I listened intently! She told me the price which includes visiting the gym at anytime and using the swimming pool if I wanted to! £8.50 per month for the 3 months! I was amazed! So cheap! What a great incentive! Of course when I finish the 12 weeks (3 months) the price does go up but I think I get a reduced rate if I decide to continue. This I will have to check up on!

Next she took details of my medication, my weight, measured my waist and I then had to blow in a tube so she could check my ‘peak flow’

Peak expiratory flow

Anneka imputed the results onto her laptop and then stuck extremely sticky pads to my feet and hands so she could work out my BMI

Body mass index

The sticky pads also gathered other information for her, she complimented me on my water intake! Yes it even showed that!

She also asked me to take some deep breaths and try to calm down as my heart rate was extremely fast! I explained to her that it could be due to my anxiety & also climbing the stairs. At which point she was very impressed that I used the stairs rather than the lift & I was showing great enthusiasm!

My reply to that: ‘theres a lift!?’ Like I said earlier, I have no common sense to look for signs or in fact a lift when presented with stairs! You would think I would learn but I don’t! In these situations I find it better to be amused by my error than upset or annoyed!

She asked me why I was so anxious, I explained that it is a part of my MS and just the thought of going into a gym terrified me! She said that I wasn’t alone with those thoughts and that most people feel the same which I kinda expected that to be the case but it didn’t help to calm me!

She said that my anxiety was a good thing in a way because it meant my heart is constantly pumping fast but in a bad way because it was doing so for no reason, therefore it is wasted energy.

The best part of my reading was that I have more muscle than fat and I just need to wake them up! She said it is a good thing that I was very active in the past and before my legs got weaker. It means it shouldn’t take much to get reasonably fit again! Yay! Some good news!

I took a picture of the results & I’m not afraid to share them! Thats the thing with me is, if I think by doing this blog & sharing with you the start of my:

will inspire and give incentive to others then I’ll do it! And here they are:

Good luck if you know what it all means! I only know the bits that I need to!

Anneka then got out her diary and we planned for our next meeting, the ‘Gym induction’ So i’d worried about going into the ‘gym’ for no reason! I could now leave that until the real day!

….to be continued!