A review of my history of fitness.
I have always invested considerable time in my fitness. My
health watch provides a wealth of data, as far as I can determine, for only 90
days but going back to my high school and uni days I have strived to be fit. As
a teenager I was passionate about skin / SCUBA diving and achieved an A Class Diving
certificate which apart from the theory involved 10 free dives to 10 metres (an
atmosphere) in 10 minutes. No problem. At the University of Western Australia,
we regularly played underwater hockey which far exceeds water polo in effort.
See google for details. Back in those days I was able to swim the length of an
Olympic Pool, wearing fins, with deep breaths at the start. I was a pool
attendant at the Beatty Park Aquatic Centre which hosted the Commonwealth Game.
In those days I automatically bounded up stairs and walls of over a metre in
height. I was also a daily gym junkie and played squash. I also gained a
lifesaving certificate which requires a long swim.
Before that I was in the Vietnam war which wasn’t exactly a
walk in the park. In my 30s a medical researcher, Claire Nixon, suggested I
should become a study as I rarely got sick, and when I retired, there were a
lot of sick days I hadn’t taken.
But I wasn’t into competitive sports. My wife bought me a
Fitbit which I found tiresome as I would reach a target and some old guy in
Perth, 2 or 3 hours behind, would gloat when he exceeded my steps.
Swimming remained my passion. When I was about 70 I fronted
up at the Lawson Pool at opening time, 6am, 7 days a week in spring and summer,
did 24 laps (not in the fast lane) before driving home. I turned to walking as
the drive was adding to pollution and I’m very concerned at climate change.
We’ve since bought Kia EV3 but that’s another matter. Oh yes we’ve also bought
an electric lawn mower and that requires a lot of muscle as our rear garden is
large and steep.
I have also done activities as diverse as boxing, jujitsu
and tai chi.
Which brings us to the present and my Kogan smart / health
watch, which stores data for up to a year. Before my diagnosis of chronic kidney disease
(CKD) a couple of months ago now I have increased my steps to 16K and then on
to 18K+ at least 5 days a week. I can’t do it when we are looking after our 3.5
year old grandson Lachlan on other days, eg when we have visitors, so the
weekly average is slightly less. I simply don’t rest until I have reached my
targets but I engage in many other activities: Facebook, reading, music, quizzes,
movies etc, the list is long. I also do extensive upper body work – I have a
home gym – which increases my overall fitness. In sum I may have many faults,
but laziness isn’t one of them. I exercise over 3 hours a day. My legs are
testimony to this never-ending activity. I used to joke that I was looking for
a modelling contract for my legs, but signs of diabetes are present. Not to
worry as my readings on blood sugar are very good and dropping. I’ll show this
data when we meet. I want to bring your attention to this as you are a sports
dietician and it should be central to our focus.
The name of the games is that I want to avoid dialysis at
all costs, and it’s possible according to Dr Bose my nephrologist says and I am
succeeding.
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