JUST SO HAPPY TO BE BACK IN
IHAVE a confession - I am a gym bunny. I try to go at four times a week and feel like a complete loon if I don’t.
There’s a number of reasons I adore my workout time. The knowledge I’m keeping myself trim certainly helps, but there’s the endorphin highs, the fun element, the time out to do something for myself that doesn’t involve cartoons or playdates.
Plus, I am lucky enough to be in a gym, Nikafit that is unlike any other I’ve been a member of before. The Nikafit concept is of small group sessions of weight training and fitness sessions, with a coach looking after no more than four people in any one group. For me, it’s essentially training with pals. So when lockdown hit I was devastated. Not only was I dealing with the psychological fallout of living in a global pandemic, working and looking after children from home, but there then seemed to be no outlet of release for the foreseeable future. Plus, how the hell would I keep the corona stone at bay?
Well, luckily Niall and Katy, owners of Nikafit, were on the ball, devising online workout programmes on Zoom, both live and recorded, and personal training sessions via a fitness app. Then, when restrictions were further lifted they switched to outdoor sessions in our local rugby club’s field, followed by the opening of their gyms on June 29th.
You book a time slot in advance and the sessions last for 50 minutes, leaving a gap of 10 minutes between sessions to allow for sanitisation of equipment. You enter the gym, sanitise your hands, and then go to a designated workout space where you have your own equipment. There’s loads of room for social distancing and I’ve only ever felt safe and comfortable in this environment. It’s in no way offputting, with Perspex screens or glaring stickers.
And the relief of being back - working out in the land of the living! It feels amazing and finally, normal. I’ve really missed the banter - not to mention access to proper weights and equipment – and a professional training coach watching to make sure I actually do the exercises properly.
Getting out of the house is a huge win these days. The gym is my lifeline to the outside world – and for me, it’s worth every cent of its membership fee.
■ See nikafitstudios.ie