@deansteeples

I’ve always had a hang-up about my weight. How do I look? Am I fat? Are my arms big enough? Why isn’t my abs a set of abs. It’s probably not a thing most guys admit to, I don’t know.

It’s not something you sit and talk about over a beer or a Forge cocktail. But I grew up in a time when there wasn’t much coaching around, nothing on-line because the only line you were on was a phone your dad was telling you to get off, ”I’m not made of money you know. And someone might be trying to get through!”

I played football for years, then got into cycling, but never any coaching. And never enough belief in my own ability. I tried triathlons and mountain marathons. I always kept fit. Not necessarily fast. I still couldn’t catch the kids I chased when I was a police officer, but it’s always better to be able to walk, admittedly out of breath, back to your patrol car than call an ambulance when ‘another one gets away.’

Fast forward to 2020 and 2021. Retirement. Covid. A turbo trainer in the front room or some old weights in the garage. Then the call comes, little brother telling me to get out to Bali. Three and a half months on and I’m one of those guys who takes their shirt off in the gym. It’s nothing to do with how you look (much), it just means your body can breathe a little in the heat and humidity, although dropping 5 kilos and being able to feel some abs trying to break through does make one walk a little taller! The coaches at Wanderlust now ask if they can train with me...actually that’s not entirely true. Or even remotely! But Dave, Sam and Nathan ask if I want to train with them. I might have to scale it down a little but I can’t explain the feeling of training with people like that has. It’s awesome. It’s inspiring. It drives you. You feel better about yourself. You notice massive differences in your body shape and your fitness levels.

My advice to the young and old, sorry, older, at heart? Other than don’t retire after 35 years as a cop at the start of a pandemic. That’s crap timing. Get over to Bali, and get down to Wanderlust Fitness Village. It might not necessarily be a life saver, but you know something? It just might be. It worked for me. It works for me.