The Lazy Journalist - Gym-dodging on cherished sunny days

W ho goes to the gym on a baking hot day when the sun is shining and there’s not a cloud in the sky?
Steve HollowaySteve Holloway
Steve Holloway

Thin people is I suppose the obvious answer.

Unfortunately, on the Venn diagram for sunshine and gym use I’m generally found in the beach and a n other sections.

Last week I took a week out from the endless slog of the Fifth Estate (for younger readers think of Game of Throne’s Night’s Watch but more arduous and less appreciated) and attempted a week off.

"He doesnt look as if hes about to the go to the gym any time soon." Two-likely looking lads survey Brighton beach and may well have spotted a portly middle-aged man busy doing nothing SUS-190509-115642001"He doesnt look as if hes about to the go to the gym any time soon." Two-likely looking lads survey Brighton beach and may well have spotted a portly middle-aged man busy doing nothing SUS-190509-115642001
"He doesnt look as if hes about to the go to the gym any time soon." Two-likely looking lads survey Brighton beach and may well have spotted a portly middle-aged man busy doing nothing SUS-190509-115642001
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For virtually the whole time, the sun well and truly shone on the self-righteous.

Sadly, my attitude to hot blazing sunshine is still very much mired in the 1970s and I felt nothing but misguided admiration for a girl I saw broiling on Brighton beach on a reflective foil-lined mat.

In short, I spent a fair amount of time under the late-summer soleil and not quite so much under the gym lighting.

I’m not sure how I’d resist the temptation in balmier climes, I think if I lived near Venice Beach, California I wouldn’t spend too much time angrily elbowing my way to the front of queue for the massive weights at Muscle Beach outdoor gym.

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Does anyone have any tips on how to focus the body and mind into looking forward to a workout on a lovely warm day? Although it obviously won’t be such an issue in the coming months, but who doesn’t love a good Indian Summer? And I’m not putting my jeans back on until at least October (I will still be wearing shorts, I’m not advocating walking around in my pants for the onset of autumn).

The highlight of my week came on a plate at the wonderful Isaac At restaurant in the North Laines (see page 28) rather than at the end of a weighted pulley at the gym, but I have managed a few visits to the Prince Regent gym and the small but equipment-packed facility at Moulsecoomb Community Leisure Centre.

I also managed a couple of good eight-mile walks, taking different routes to Brighton Marina and back (I’m very much an urban/seafront stomper), so the week wasn’t entirely sedentary and sun-drenched. The Prince Regent will be my destination again later today (it’s cloudy out, naturally) and the unspectacular long-range weather forecast bodes well for more of the same, unless I can think of another good excuse to vegetate and become one with my office chair, like Davros the leader of the Daleks, or a disappointing modern version of a centaur.

To find out more about Freedom Leisure’s gyms visit www.freedom-leisure.co.uk