Tail of the snake

When you’ve built up your strength and fitness, it’s tough when you realise you’ve lost fitness.

You’ve slid down the snake and there aren’t any ladders in sight. And the square you used to be on seems unreachably far away.

It can happen so easily – injuries, illness, life events or just getting older.

It can be frustrating, depressing or just embarrassing – like my recent attempt to hold a plank after months when I couldn’t do any upper body work due to a frozen shoulder.

But looking up at where I used to be and getting frustrated doesn’t help. I need to reset my expectations and start building again.

Here are some of the things I’m holding onto.

I’ve made huge progress from last month when I couldn’t get my arm into a plank position at all.

I know what the journey looks like, and I know I’ve shown in the past that I can put in the work needed to start improving.

I know that when recovering from an injury you have to take things slowly, get good professional advice and find the Goldilocks zone where you can improve without setbacks from rushing.

I know that the lower the base you start from with strength work, the faster you can make progress.

And so I start again.

Square by square.

Plank by plank.