Earlier this year I started a training regimen that was quite frankly a shock to my system. After years of relative inactivity, I embarked on a new adventure into what I hoped would result in a fitter me.

I’ve been hard at it, at least twice a week for past few months and I have to say it is making a difference. People are saying I look different and although I don’t see the gradual improvements myself, I can definitely say it’s an improving picture! My PT sessions continue to be strenuous and never seem to get any easier and I guess if they did, then Philip (my personal trainer) wouldn’t be doing his job would he? Recovery times have definitely improved and where I struggled to drive my car after the first sessions, I’m now more or less fully recovered after a day or so.

After embarking on this regimen, I bought a Nike Fuel band and this has really helped me to stay focused on achieving my goals on a day-to-day basis. This neat gadget tells you how active you’ve been by using an accelerometer to measure the movement of your body, which it turns into fuel points for you to accrue. It’s very motivational and combined with the training, it’s helped me keep momentum. As it stands right now, I’m on a 61 day unbeaten run where I’ve hit my goals every day.

I’ve even bought my own boxing gloves and wraps, such is my pugilistic enthusiasm for weekly boxing pad sessions. Your own gloves make a huge difference in boxing as the gym gloves are ill-fitting and smell really bad. The wraps go under the gloves and they give you the confidence to hit the pads hard without hurting your wrists. The gloves, although entry-level training affairs are great too, well padded and impressively branded by Everlast.

If you’d have told me in January that I’d have my own boxing gloves and I was quantifying my exercise using a wrist device, I’d have thought you mad!

The key driver for me has been the trainings sessions, with each session different and seemingly getting harder than the last. There’s a marked difference for me when I go to the gym alone, left to my own devices I have a good workout but never push myself to the very limit. It’s certainly not in my psyche to drive myself to the edge and over it as I see in other people. I fully accept I need spurring on and I’m completely fine with that. Augmenting training sessions with mini workouts suits me just fine at the moment due to my current lifestyle.

I said at the outset I just wanted to get fit and I think I’m on the journey there with some way to go. I’d like to think by the time I hit 50 in December this year, I’ll be even further down the track. Watch this space…