People have asked, at the grand old age of 50, “What has lead you to enter fitness competitions?” “Where does the motivation for this come from?”
Coasting through middle age my weight began to increase and I felt well past my best.
So why do I push myself to train six days a week, what motivates me?
The buzz when you know how hard you have pushed, the mental focus and the feeling of accomplishment. Its weirdly relaxing and very therapeutic.
It’s a break from all the daily stresses and often solitude of my daily life in farming.
Then there was an event last year that was to be a huge turning point also. Britain’s Fittest Farmer. When I discovered this in Farmers Weekly I knew I had to compete, after all I was getting stronger and fitter so why not? It’s a common misconception that farming is always a very physical job, and of course yes it is at times, it can also be a job of many long hours sat on your backside on a tractor seat or in the office.
I entered Britain’s Fittest Farmer, initially not thinking anything would come of it but eventually found myself in the finals, luckily for me held at Farm Fitness, although at that time I wasn’t training there. One of the biggest achievements of the day was that I was in fact the oldest competitor by sum 20 years. The entire event changed me completely, opening my eyes to my strengths and weaknesses. On reflection I had failed to implement a lot of good training advice and this taught me a huge lesson.
I came away with a new drive and focus motivated by all the amazing people I met that day. Not only the competitors but the Farm Fitness staff, Tom Kemp and everyone involved. Shortly after that I decided to make changes in my training, dropping the running, partly due to a foot injury, and began to regularly train at the Farm Fitness bootcamps alongside a variety of classes and a more focused approach to weight training. I can honestly say I love every training session!
So now into my 50th year I have some amazing goals in front of me. Strongly guided at FarmFitness by the dynamic Clare Shepherd I have entered once again Britain’s Fittest Farmer and also the National Fitness Games and Turf games.
Age should never be a limiting factor! Embrace it and challenge yourself. Farm Fitness is one solid squad, a motivational and inspiring place to train!