New balls please

Last week I was a bit lax with my exercise routine and finished the week with a massive night out during which I drank an entire bottle of wine. The day after it was weigh-in day and, as it was also Election Day (shake head as you note which is first in my order of importance), I headed down to the polling station. My altered state of consciousness (read heavy, horrid hangover) led me to stand for 20 minutes in the wrong borough’s polling station before realising that I live in Camden, and the residents of Brent really didn’t care about my political inclination. Stumbling over to the correct side of the road I mused regrettably about how easily I was swayed to neck that bottle and to stray from my well-thought-out slimming plan.

So it was with a heavy heart that I fell onto the scales at Weight Watchers. But no! Smug ha ha. I discovered that, in spite of this horrible wino lapse of judgement I had, in fact, lost 2.5 pounds. Apparently this, my Weight Watchers leader grudgingly informed me (she wasn’t too keen on my wine diet theory), was probably because I tried so hard the week before and it often takes a while to make its mark.

Hoo-bleedin-ray. Thus far my success has been gradual (I’ve lost 5.5 pounds) but I still don't feel that my body has changed that much. And, as is so frequently suggested, if something’s not working for you, adapt your routine.

The other week, during a lovely scenic walk in Kilburn, J & I stumbled upon quite a cracking find – an actual piece of grass. And, not only that, it housed an outside gym, 3 tennis courts and a rent-a-drunk-tramp-cheering-crowd. In Kilburn Park Grange we had found our new fitness stomping ground.

I LOVE tennis. If you’re good you can really unleash your frustrations and if you’re just alright then you can still have a good run-around. And, knowing that I was playing for a fitness, as well as an enjoyment purpose, I tapped into my contacts and asked Tom Inskip what his tips were on how to make the most out of my game. Here’s what he came up with:

Drill one – Weight Loss

Two on ones – Two people on one side moving the lone player around the court as possible as possible. Ensure you have a basket of balls so rallies are continuous. Do 2 minutes intense, then 30 seconds rest.

Drill two – Leg Strength
One on One rallying. One player has to maintain their position on the baseline and cannot go behind it on one shot. This mean that you have to stay very low and bend your knees on virtually every shot. The lactic acid really build up and you can feel the burn in your legs!

Drill three – Arm strength
Smashing Practice – One on one drill. Feeder has a basket of 50 balls, who feeds you smashes. This is a fantastic drill to build up shoulder and forearms strength. Be sure to only do this once a session though. Overdoing it can have a bad effect on your neck

Take that, flabby bottom. And that, bingo wings.

Game, set & match

To book a session with Tom Inskip (LTA licenced coach) at £40 p/h call 07985 445 430