Regulars
MY HEALTH
OPERATION GET FIT: THE RESULTS

by Andrew Begg

I won’t write this column again, for a while at least; it’s about time the World Class staff had a look in – after all they are the experts, and having been muscled out of the way since September, they are dying to get back into print. That isn’t surprising since next month their brand new health academy, Downtown, will have opened in what used to be Hotel Bucharest, in Calea Victoriei. There was a time when the gym at Hotel Bucharest was the only place you would dare swim in this town. Back then they had a unisex sauna and people would cram in – you’d be lucky not to be literally rubbing shoulders with a guy shaving himself and a visiting babuschka flicking her sweat onto you (or was that the other way around?) There was a plunge pool, filled with icy water into which people would submerge themselves before stepping into the sauna. The number doing so who closely followed this procedure with heart attacks isn't on the record.

Times have certainly changed since then and if Romania has progressed, then developments and progress in good health has developed tenfold in the last few years. It will be fascinating to see what World Class has done with the place. I can remember it for what it was: essentially a swimming pool and a rudimentary gym, but World Class has completely refurbished the entire place, upgraded the pool, and brought in new Nautilus fitness machines, new, enlarged aerobics studio and a weight management area. There will also be a holistically designed spa and emphasis on facials, hair and nails. Which all sounds pretty fantastic to me.

Unsurprisingly, my exercise routine was interrupted by Christmas and the New Year. But being vegetarian and teetotal over the holidays in Australia means that one avoids hoeing into the turkey and pig like everyone else, and wine, beer, champagne and brandy and cigars afterwards; the warm climate meant that running is done outside, rather than inside on a treadmill. That was nice too: running on a quiet road past cows that would look up questioningly, and up and down and natural hills is more challenging than any treadmill-programmed incline, with the odd parakeet swooping by in a flash of red, blue and green. I played golf and tennis several times, so my exercise routine was interrupted, yes, but it didn’t go away completely. It was just different.

This is a point that World Class is keen to emphasise. All too well aware that a daily visit to the gym may not be practical for Mr or Ms 21st Century, health professionals are keen to strike a balance between what is and isn’t doable. They fully understand that holidays and business trips threaten routine, and that we must account for that.

Anyway the net net net result of my three-month workout routines at World Class is that I lost 8 kilograms. Most of this came off my waist and thighs, where it needed to, and most of this, I’m convinced, was because of my attending the spin classes. The very first spin class I attended I thought I was going to die. Literally, I thought I would expire right then and there, on the bike. Fortunately though I lived to tell the tale, and the strange thing is that I never really looked back. The first spin class was the hardest. Three months later they are still hard, but oh so enjoyable. Yet it wasn’t just the exercise. Knowing what to eat, how much and when helped a great deal too, and this is all good advice that World Class specialists will impart to members.

There must be very few better ways to invest money than on your own health, and even though the three months is over, I am hooked. I used to wonder what World Class General Manager Michelle Dietrich meant by that ‘blaaah feeling’, which is how she described how she felt when she hadn’t exercised in, say, three days. I used to wonder how that could be possible but now, having worked on this issue of the magazine for the last seven, and barely seeing the light of day, I absolutely know what she means. There are no prizes for guessing where I will be headed as soon as the magazine gets to the printers.