Fit For Purpose, Go The Extra Green Mile, In The Pink & He’s Hilarious, He’s My Brother

Taken from Lynne’s weekly column ‘Green Scene’ for the Western Mail
16^th October 2021

Fit For Purpose

I am already a month in to my (part-time) college course at Usk and it’s been a steep learning curve – a hair-pin bend even – with my first exam tomorrow (17^th). Studying to be a personal trainer, I am quickly learning the names of the parts of me that ache the most – and why, and the bits that are wearing out – and why.

I’m loving the course content and am shocked that I have managed to get this far in life knowing so little about how my body works or understanding the nutrition it needs. Let’s face it, what else do you use every day without ‘reading any instructions’ or having any instruction on it at some stage. My mum taught me how to cook. My dad taught me how to ‘garden’, my brother taught me how to drive and a variety of other people in my life have taught me other skills, but I have had absolutely no ‘tuition’ about the mechanics of my body or the fuel it needs to perform optimally.

I know more about how my truck works. It just amazes me – especially having such a physical job and having been a runner and ‘fitness freak’ for so long. Our bodies are truly remarkable – and the only thing that we will have with us for the whole of our lives – surely it makes sense to understand them and be able to take care of them.

I also have a whole newly elevated regard for teachers. All teachers. I’m the first to admit my respect for them was a little lacking the first time around but I have realised that whilst we hear so much about the importance of various employment sectors, without teachers we would have no NHS staff, no lorry drivers, no care staff – nothing. Hats off to them.

As you can imagine, learning all about anatomy and physiology, motor neuron units and mitochondria has impacted my gardening. I can’t bend over now without analysing which muscles I’m using to do so – which are the fixators and the synergists, the agonists and which are the antagonists. Up until now my brother has been the only antagonist I’ve been aware of.

It’s a bit tough fitting in college with work, especially as now is the time to start ‘putting gardens to bed’. But I’ve had to pal up with my parasympathetic nervous system and chill out about work a bit. As rewarding as it is to see a garden nice and neat for the winter, it’s far more beneficial to the wildlife to have areas of safety for them to utilise during the dormant months. Old herbaceous stems will provide refuge for bugs and tumps of spent growth will provide a warm haven for all sorts of wildlife.

Thankfully clients are being very understanding as I am being courageous enough to say, ‘I can’t do it all’.

So as well as learning a new skill, I am learning new behaviours too. It’s a great journey and who knows maybe I’ll have a column on lifestyle and fitness next.

Go The Extra Green Mile

Once qualified as a personal trainer, not surprisingly, I will be concentrating on training clients outdoors and utilising all the benefits that fresh air and challenging weather add to a workout. So I was ridiculously excited to find ‘outdoor fitness facility’ which has opened up in Cardiff, and is the ‘realised dream’ of an ex-commando keen to improve people’s physical and mental wellbeing.

Already having created the Green Mile Movement in 2019, Chris serendipitously met up with Craig, another entrepreneur who was designing and manufacturing outdoor fitness rigs. Last year the two ‘visionaries’ partnered up to form the ‘Green Mile Training Camp‘, with Craig’s custom built equipment set into woodland, mountainside and meadows over a 110 acre site in Taffs Wells. It’s a powerful partnership offering the first of its kind training facilities in the whole of the UK – we are so fortunate to have it here in Wales.

‘Green Mile’ offers 1 – 4 hour training sessions, which can include callisthenics, circuits, yoga, obstacles, running, strength and conditioning – as well as great banter and lots of fun.

I am learning about the many different modalities of fitness training and I must admit this is my absolute favourite. As well as improving fitness, mobility, flexibility and strength, it is perfect for improving strength of mind and mental resilience – which is so important for navigating every aspect of our lives. We all have more and more challenges unfolding in our day-to-day lives and to be able to develop and be confident in your mental ability – as well as being physically fit – is a fabulous skill.

As is being able to climb a rope. Whilst you may not need that particular skill in your every day life, trust me, the confidence it will give you is absolutely priceless.

Call Craig or Chris for more details – yup, you can get to speak to them. And you know how much I like that. www.thegreenmiletrainingcamp.com

In The Pink

One of the tasks I have been engaging my quadriceps, hamstrings and gastrocnemius in this week has been to plant Nerines for a couple of clients. I adore these beautiful late bloomers. They provide the cheeriest, brightest splashes of bright pink in borders, and even containers, at this time of year. They have proven to be quite hard to source in pots to plant now so if I have convinced you to add them to your garden, make a note in your gardening diary to plant the bulbs in the spring.

The Nerines you are most likely to see in gardens now are the Nerine bowendii, with their bright ‘Barbie’ pink blooms, but you can also get Nerine bowendii ‘Alba’ with white flowers, Nerine ‘Mr John’ with vivid dark pink blooms and Nerine sarniensis with beautiful red flowers. And whilst they are perfect for brightening up the garden during these grey days they also make beautiful, long lasting cut flowers – if you can bear to pick them.