I am a 26 year old girl (I say girl, because I definitely don’t feel old enough to be a woman, and I am most definitely too much of a tomboy to be considered a lady) who enjoys any exercise, but I am pretty much obsessed with squash. I live and work in Cape Town, South Africa, one of the most beautiful cities in the world. Squash has been a big part of my life, for as long as I can remember. Both of my parents played league squash, and my earliest memories of the squash courts, are running around on an empty court while my parents played. My dad took an old wooden racket, cut off the handle, and wrapped a grip around the shaft of the racket – this was my racket from about 3 years old – because my had was too small to hold a full-size grip! I used to push a foam tennis ball around the court (probably more like hockey). From then on, I was hooked! I have participated in most sports (tennis, hockey, netball, badminton, swimming, cross-country, track and field, gymnastics, ballet and modern dance) but have never found another sport I enjoy as much as I enjoy playing squash. I would love to be able to be involved in more sports, but I have to work full-time (I am a number-crunching statistician), and this means that my time available for hobbies and sports is very limited. Despite not being able to train as hard or as often as I would like to, I have been reasonably successful in my squash “career”. I represented my age-group at provincial level from u11 to u19, while at school, and since leaving school, I have represented my province (open category) at the National Inter-Provincial tournament for the past four years, and I play ladies’ first league every week from March to October.
What do I want?I would consider myself a reasonably good squash player, but would like to improve my provincial and national ranking a little. Currently I am ranked between 10th and 15th in the province, and would like to be nearer to 5th (this would guarantee me a place in the provincial team next year). To assist me in achieving this goal, I have enlisted the help of a biokineticist to help me with a training program which is squash specific, and a dietician to help me lose weight without compromising my body’s ability to train hard and recover afterwards. This means that I need to lose fat, and not muscle, essentially improving my fat %. I also spend some time with a sports psychologist once a month, because I find that when I am at work, I end up thinking about squash, and when I’m on the squash court, I end up thinking about work. He has been helping me to focus on what is important at any given time, and also to help me be less stressed about matches. I would like to be able to play more consistently, and focus and relaxation will help with that. Because I am not able to play professionally, and have to work full time, I need to pay particular attention to the time I am spending training or working to ensure that I don’t over-train, I must still do my job at 100%, I also need time to spend with my boyfriend (who is exceptionally understanding of my training routine), and some recovery/relaxation time is also an essential part of any training program. A side-effect of getting myself into shape for squash, is that I am forced to eat healthily, and will remain fit.
How can I help you?
The intention of this blog, is to document what I am researching / learning, and the results I achieve using these methods. Also, I would like to be able to assist those of you who are also trying to stay fit, and healthy. It is so much easier to stick to a program when you are not the only one. If my attempt to lose weight, get fit, and keep a balance in my life can inspire just one of you, then it helps me stay motivated too! I would like to discuss what my training program entails, whether or not I feel that I am getting any benefit from it, and possibly delve into why it is working or not. Similarly, I would like to discuss healthy weight loss – I am not interested in losing weight using a “magic pill” or supplement, as this is not sustainable weight loss (and I am expected to conform to the IOC anti-doping rules, since I represent my province). Some posts may be more of a commentary on how the training and weight loss programs are going, as well as any matches I am playing, to document where I am improving, and what still needs to be worked on.
Where to from here?Is there anything in particular that you would like me to discuss? Let me know, by posting me a comment.
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