#physicalactivity

Mona's Mitten: A Story to Move encourages physical activity in children by incorporating physical activities on each page and active learning through storytelling. Kristina Orliczky, a licensed physical therapist and Feldenkrais practitioner, aims to teach children about themselves and develop strength, flexibility, coordination, balance, and posture.

Real.

1. ‘actually existing as a thing or occurring in fact; not imagined or supposed.’

2. ‘(of a thing) not imitation or artificial; genuine.’

Perhaps controversially, something that I think can get lost in the 21st century. What’s real anymore? One reason why I wanted to write this blog, another reason is because, well, I’ve always wanted to write a blog.

I’m at a stage in my life where I want to be clear and transparent, talk about facts, be genuine, try and relate to people, something that led me and a good friend of mine to another project I’ve always wanted to do, a podcast. We’re ‘Two Lost Men’ go and check us out, maybe even follow us on Instagram?

Me and Arron, my co-host, met just over a year ago and since the lockdown started, have spoke pretty much every single day about our thoughts, our feelings, we were honest, we were genuine and we decided that we wanted the world (or rather, more people we know) to hear us. There’s such a stigma around Mental Health, about talking, about feelings, especially for guys and we wanted to start to break down that barrier, talk about ourselves, our experiences and if we can help or relate to even one person, we’ve succeeded!

So I guess that’s what led me to writing this blog, I wanted to expand on some of my thoughts, feelings and opinions that come up on the Pod, starting with Purposeful Physical Activity (PPA) but that’s going to be the next post I write, for now, a bit about me…

My name is Lee, at the time of writing this I’m 26, which blows my mind because sometimes I feel a lot older than that, probably because I joined the Military at the tender age of 17 and spent 8 years ‘growing up’, which happened pretty quickly, I was always one of the youngest and was surrounded by older people, older role models, some might say (Mikey Adamson, here’s your shout out you’ve wanted... thanks for rooming with me on footy and cricket tours!). I left the military last year and made the move down to London, where I now live, via a short stay in the USA, to follow a passion of coaching. I’m currently a sports coach and a Field Manager, responsible for the coaching operation of the company I work for and I’m at a stage of my life where I’m learning, learning more about myself, about sport, about physical activity, about coaching children, about teaching, about coaching, about being a manager, about being a civilian and about life…

I’ve loved, I’ve had my heart broken, I’ve broke a heart (maybe more 🤷🏻‍♂️), I’ve experience grief, after losing my dad at 18, experienced success, experienced failure, I’ve made friends, lost friends, fought mental battles in my head, contemplated life decisions, made good decisions, made bad decisions, questioned on numerous occasions my stage in life, had financial difficulties, struggled motivating myself to workout, the list goes on.

I’m a pretty ‘normal’ guy, whatever normal is defined as now, there’s not necessarily anything ‘special’ about me, I have high standards, I’m picky, I live by certain values; be kind, be honest, work hard, don’t be a dick, I want to succeed in many senses of the word, I will succeed, in many senses of the word, I want to be nice to people to the world and I want to learn how to say ‘no’, it’s down in writing now!

Surprisingly - or maybe not? - I’ve never been very interested in physical activity, despite having always pursued medicine. Even when I got a MS in nutrition, I was much more interested in the diet aspect than the exercise part - despite learning about the phenomenon of “skinny fat.” I think a large part of it has to do with the fact that I’ve always been blessed with a relatively small appetite and a petite frame; I never felt anxious about my physical appearance, and I was always too clumsy to enjoy any physical activity besides DDR. 

The first time I actually exercised seriously was in Haiti; there was nothing to do in the afternoons, and I joined in on the program director’s daily Insanity sessions. I stopped when I went home. 

In the years since, I’ve exercised regularly for spurts - a few weeks at most, during step studying, and in fourth year. It was simultaneously frustrating and thrilling; I needed someone to shout at me to keep going because I often wanted to fall to the floor in exhaustion. It was hard to push myself - a creature of comfort - past my physical limits, but it was exhilarating to finish a workout, knowing I had truly done my best. 

It never lasted, though, because I always knew what was coming. I’ve done the videos so many times for the first time that I would remember the soreness that lasted days, and save it for another day.