Something to Say: Couch Potato

It would appear that it is that time again, folks, when I use Kitti's face to tell you about something that has more to do with the first world than the second - though you should read it anyway - and this month, it's exercise.

Kitti the Couch Potato

There are a lot of things I could say to you about exercise, and let's face it: we all know that we ought to do some. The problem isn't, I don't think, that we are ignorant to the need to exercise - Hell, I'm sure most of us want to do some! - but that, for whatever reason, we just...don't do any! 

I'm sure that I don't need to tell you, either, how good exercise is for increasing energy levels, dissolving stress, or warding off disease. You know that it's good for you to put your heart through its paces, if you'll excuse the pun - and you know that, when you're exercising, you generally feel better about pretty much everything. Nope, you already know all that.

So what I am going to say is this: I personally find that I spend far too much time in front of my computer. As an undergraduate in my final year at university - exams beginning next week - I don't think there has been a day when I was not at my computer in the last three years. Hell, I've probably been plugged in since I started sixth form college. It's essay after essay, project after project, and then, once that is done, I'm skyping my family who live halfway across the world, or hopping in to Second Life to escape from my first life for a little while and ending up three hours later wondering where the time went. I've just found out, too, that BBC One are airing a new season of Have I Got News For You, so I've been watching some of that on i-player. So you see the trend, here? I never seem to be away from my computer for more than a couple of hours at a time.

Plugged In?

After a couple of days, I start to feel the effects. I don't sleep properly. I don't seem to get very hungry. My legs get sore, my eyes tired, and I find it increasingly difficult to actually get my work done. The words stick in my head, and although I might know the answers, I cannot get them down onto the page with any sort of eloquence at all. What I need is to do some exercise - even if it is only to get up and go for a twenty minute walk to the supermarket, or the post office, or around the marshy field about five minutes walk from my house. Just get out of the house for a while, get some fresh air, and give my body the chance to stretch. And that isn't even trying to get fitter, or to lose weight - that is purely to keep my brain functioning and my body limber.

When it comes to fitness, I imagine I am pretty poor. I have determination and endurance, which can see me through a whole days' worth of practical theatre workshops or rehearsals, but I cannot run for more than about five, maybe ten, minutes at a time, and it has been a good few years now since I played any kind of sport. It's saddening, and is something I intend to remedy once my degree is over. If going for a walk makes me feel better, imagine how good a good game of tennis is going to make me feel!

There was a video doing the rounds on tumblr a short while ago which I think is enlightening and useful. It's positive, and doesn't ask anything more than we are capable of giving.

Once again, for some unknown reason, it will not allow me to embed the video. Click here to go to it on youtube - 23 and 1/2 hours. Please do go and watch it, because if nothing else it is quite inspirational and leaves you with a sense of "well, I can do that!"

Refreshing yourself, losing weight, getting fit: whatever your reasons for exercising, get off the couch, get away from your computer, and go and do something!

This has been a public service announcement on behalf of the Concerned Bloggers Association.

For more information, or if you would like to be involved, please contact Marleen Vaughan.