This is my essay.








Finally I decided to go to a fitness club. Since ten years ago, I have made a rule to play tennis once a week. To compare with playing tennis, I have been thinking that to make an exercise using some machines in a small room at a fitness club is not always a sport. So I have looked down a fitness club and a sports gym. However a happening during the Golden Week Holidays in May totally changed this kind of my view on an exercise.

One holiday, I happened to swim slowly in a pool of a hotel. Two brothers of primary schoolboys came into the same pool. As it was in the evening, there were no other guests swimming. Naturally I happened to play with them through swimming. The younger brother challenged me for swimming. I accepted and we started at the same time. At first I thought I could easily get win. I was swimming in a breast stroke. With leading to him by 10 meters or so, I arrived at the other side of the pool. I was a winner. Then his elder brother asked me to make a competition. I said yes. We started together. However this boy was swimming in the crawl style and he was so fast. On the way, he led me by a half of his body. So I dashed to swim and managed to reach to the other side of the pool faster than him by the difference of only one touch.

Then, he seemed to be so vexing, he challenged me a few more times. As I did my best, I could get win. However it was deplorable enough that my breath was almost stopping at the final match. I was really aware that this was because of lack of daily exercise. As I noticed like this, I made up my mind to it to join to a fitness club.

Just after the holidays, I researched some sport clubs near my office. Nowadays they don't call themselves as "a sport club". It was "a fitness clubs". I found two clubs in Akasaka. I called one of them and asked its good points to compare with the other. One of them said, "The view from our club is very nice to compare with our competitor and that there were few people in our club.” To compare with their monthly charge, the good view one is slightly cheaper. I don't know why.

At lunchtime, I went to see these fitness clubs. First of all, I visited the near and cheaper one, which was located at the prosperous area by only 3 minutes from the Akasaka subway station. It was in the building of 2 stories. It seemed to be small place and does not fit to my image of a fitness club. So I don't like it. I did not look around. I went out looking for another club. It was not so easy for me to find it. I went up along a slope and finally I found a high building of 23 storied. They wrote that they were only 5 minute’s walk from the subway station. But this was wrong, I thought. The security of this building was so tough. The guardsmen did body check on the people going in. I explained them that I am going to the fitness club.

The club was at the top floor. They guided me the whole club. The changing room was covered by wood floor and it was very clean. Their pool was small but very beautiful. The most wonderful thing is their view, because their club is located at the 23rd floor of the building, which stood on the top of a hill. There were seldom people. I was pleased with it at a glance. The only problem is that on the way to come to this club I have to go up the slope from the subway station. In summer I will be sweating heavily. But it should be good exercise for me. I should think of it positively. I soon joined in this club.

On the first day that I joined, I have to get a guidance of the trainer how to use the machines and pool. I went there at the time of reservation. A young boy was the trainer. He asked me to wait for a while, because one young girl would join. After a while a woman in the second half of the 20s' came and joined to us. First, he measured our weight, height, the rate of body fat and blood pressure. After some calculations he said, "Your blood pressure is completely normal. Moreover your BMI and rate of body fat are a sport type. Frankly speaking you need not to come to this kind of gym for exercise, however if you would like to shape you up, we are willingly to help you." Well, I think he knows how to make customers happier. If it would be true, I am sure I would go back on the spot. I wanted to say "As I couldn’t continue swimming, I came here for training." However I dared not to say like this, I continued to listen what he said. After his explanation, I looked into the picture that he had in his hands. It illustrated the pentagon picture on my body condition. In this picture, the normal figures are drawn in blue. It is true that my body condition is within this blue zone, however most of my figures were almost going out from this blue zone and approaching to red zone. He said a bit too much on my body.

At first he asked us to ride on the aero-motorbike. I have to set a small pinch on my ear for measuring cardiac beats. A few minutes later from the start, my cardiac beats had been going up gradually and would settle down about 120 or so. After I continued for more 5 minutes, he said all right. The next was calisthenics on a mat. There were various pauses. For example, a girl took a posture to the extent that her breast which pushed down adheres to one of her two legs. I couldn't believe that she could do so. I just passed it.

The trainer showed us how to use training machines. He explained to us "This machine is for our arm training. That one is for legs. Here, for our back muscle, etc." I tried one of them. As he set the load so small, I could easily move it. I happened to ask him, "Is that enough to do such a light load?" He said all right and added that 15 times trial is enough for each machine. I continued to move these machines, using my hips, falling sideways etc. Like this I finished all of them. Although I had still some more power, I stopped the training and took sauna. I felt my body was in an insufficient combustion.

On the next day, surprisingly enough, I had a slightly pain on my neck and shoulder. When I moved my arm, I felt a sharp pain. Then I found that I had enough exercise on the previous day. I should be careful from now on. I don't know until when I could continue, but I would do my best for training my own body.

(May 11, 2002)


 Half a year later

I joined to the fitness club in May, last year. Since then, I make it a rule to go there at least 2 times in a week. The menus of my exercise are as below.

(1) Firstly I have the bicycle stroke for about 15 minutes.
(2) Next, I do the muscular motion to an upper-half-of-the-body subject for about 20 minutes.
(3) Sometimes instead of (1), I swim for about 30 minutes.
(4) After these exercise, I go into a sauna for about 5 minutes.

I think that these menus are effective for me as following.

[1] Although it is not so outstanding, but I think I put on some muscles of both my arms.
[2] Usually the service of my tennis is not so strong, but in these days it has become slightly powerful.
[3] I feel that the meal after the exercise has become delicious and I have more appetite than before. However, I try not to drunk any alcohol.
[4] I have never catching cold since I started these exercise.
[5] However strangely enough, I put on weight by 2 to 3 kilograms for only a few months!


Thinking these items, from [1] to [4] is wonderful, but [5] is really unexpected thing. Because of this, my BMI
(Note) soared up from 24.8 formerly to 25.1. As the border line between fat body or not is 25, I have already become a fat man. When I had the annual medical checkup, I was said that I was over weighted.

As I had nothing special from this end-of-the-year to the beginning of the year, I considered why I put on weight. For the past ten years, my weight had no changed. I kept quite a good physique. Especially in these few years, I have refrained from drinking alcohol. And that playing tennis once a year should be effective to keep my weight. But why I put on weight after I started to go to the fitness club? Maybe it is because of the changing life-style before and after the fitness.

Before I joined to the fitness club, I made it a rule to walk quickly for at least 1 hour every day. This walking was quite a long distance literally. After I walked in summer, my body was full of sweat. According to the book of health, this is seemingly an aerobics and very good for combustion of fat. So, I have done it for over many years every day. However after I started this fitness, I need not to walk on that day, when I carried out fitness. In addition, it is natural for me to become lazy to walk on other days, because I have become satisfied to go to fitness for a few days in a week. No wonder why I feel that I am doing exercise when I am in such a place where many people are doing exercise, using various machines. In my mind, did I feel inclined to have become conceited of the splendid sportsman, didn't I?

Since I thought like this, I improved the menus of my exercise since January. I stopped the bicycle stroke. Instead of this, I started to have a running for about 25 minutes. Walking along about 15 minutes of the beginning by quick footwork about 6km/h, the remaining time is 8km/h running. This seems to be the most ideal speed for burning my surplus fat. Sometime the runners on my both side are running at the speed of more than 9km/h. I have the temptation to cope with, them. But I refrain from doing so and keep my own speed.

As this plan was successful, my weight has decreased by 2 kilo grams and returning to the former level. For the purpose of making my BMI to less than 24, I have to reduce my weight by more than 5 kilos. But I have no idea how to do so. Anyway I think I should reserve some surplus weight, preparing for such case that I would have some serious sickness in future.

(Note) BMI (Body Mass Index) = Weight (kg) / Height 2 (m)


(January 1, 2003)


 More one and half years later

( Please click the following title. )


 More half a year later




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Essay of My Wonderful Life

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