Falling in love with Fitness

As both a player and fan of rugby, the last few weeks have been an exceedingly exciting period for me, thanks to the World Cup. Living in Cardiff has let me experience the tournament up close and personal, due to both the Millennium Stadium, which has hosted several games, and the fan zone, located in Cardiff Arms Park next door, where games are broadcast live on large movie screens.

                                

Not only is this world cup, as is every other, a fantastic advert for the sport in so-called first-tier nations, it is, for the first time, a real showcase of the second tier teams. Japan's impressive and surprising win against South Africa helped set the tone for a fantastic tournament for many teams that had been written off before the World Cup even began. Georgia recorded a surprise win against Tonga, and their captain, Mamuka Gorgodze, was named man of the match against the All Blacks, the second time he received the award this tournament. Argentina, a team that fairly recently became a first tier nation has reached the quarter finals, defeating Ireland last week in Cardiff


Sadly, all has not been positive, and this year’s World Cup has seen its fair share of controversy. Discrepancies in ban severity between first and second tier teams has been highlighted as a concern, as have the comments, and involvement, of ex-players, particularly in their criticisms of the England coaching set up, and early exit from the Cup. Despite this, and despite my own team, Wales, being knocked out by South Africa, I have remained in high spirits and have now switched my full allegiance to my country of birth. My second team, like that of most people, is the mighty All Blacks, current world champions, and, if the crushing defeat of France is anything to go by, world champions for the next four years as well.

Having been born and raised in New Zealand, you might be forgiven for thinking that my sports career has consisted of nothing but Rugby. Strangely though, I never played for my school or a club until I moved to the UK when I was thirteen. Up until then my sport had been Field Hockey, which I was very good at. But, by fourteen, in a country that expected me to be a rugby player based on my accent, I had switched to my current love of the oval ball, and I’ve not looked back since. Thus, While my primary sport has changed drastically, my basic love of athletics and hatred of distance running has remained constant: at school and at rugby I regularly come in last for anything over 1500 metres, yet in year 10 I won both the high jump and shot put on the same sports day, and placed within the top five in multiple other events.

                                    

Then, at some point between year 10 and 11 I sustained a major back injury that put me out of rugby for a year and has hampered my training ever since. A basic lack of core strength was possibly a cause of the injury and has certainly been enhanced because of it. While I am once more active and fit, my core and back remains a weakness: one I am, however, determined to defeat.

These days, my training consists of a combination of Rugby training (and sometimes fitness) sessions run by my club, coupled with personal gym work. The gym component of my fitness comprises of both weightlifting (which began as body building and now resembles power lifting) and body weight exercises- press ups, pull ups and box jumps, sometimes supplemented by a weighted vest. My fitness goals are currently to bulk and increase my max lifts, get visible abs, hit a 50inch box jump and seriously consider competing at a powerlifting meet.

Nat 

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