My experience of sport, fitness and exercise has changed a lot over my five years at CLC.
When I started in LC3, I joined everyone else in the mandatory core sports: netball, hockey and lacrosse. Lax was new to me, but I stuck with it, playing for the 2nds until I dropped out towards the end of SFC1. SFC2 has been my most active year yet – football and yoga entered the scene, and I finally figured out how to use the gym in a way that best suited me personally. Now, with the hindsight of an SFC2, I can pick out three key things about exercise that are most important for me.
The first is balance. I never really saw myself as a ‘sporty’ person, believing that this required being able to throw and catch well, whack a rounders ball out of the field, or have crazy skills with a hockey stick. My thing has always been academics, but I used to think this meant I could neglect sports, especially seeing as my throws often went backwards and I always got a sore back after hockey. I couldn’t have been more wrong.
I have learnt that without regular exercise, my academic life suffers, as does my mental health. I quite like Jill Willard’s theory of the Four Bodies, that our ‘bodies’ are actually four separate parts – physical, mental, emotional and spiritual – and to be our best selves these must be balanced. The need to achieve this kind of balance became clear in SFC2 as A levels loomed closer and closer. As the academic pressure increased, I found the necessary balance through Friday football club, and Tuesday yoga.
This summer term, amid 10 A Level papers, I’ve tried to go to the gym daily, having finally realised that an hour in the gym the evening before an exam is far better spent than one more hour cramming facts in the library.
The second point for me is the social element of sport. It may therefore seem counterintuitive that I dropped lacrosse in favour of solo fitness in the gym during PE.
Playing a team sport was exactly what I needed during those three years. Lacrosse gave me incredible friendships, brought me out of my comfort zone, and taught me perseverance (anyone who has endured a cold and rainy winter’s afternoon on a lax pitch will understand). But by the end of SFC1, I realised that the competitive side of lax was not for me. Fast forward 6 months, and I found myself playing on the CLC football team.
One rainy Friday in October of SFC2, some friends convinced me to turn up to football club, for a laugh. It turned out to be one of the best hours of my life, and I had a sort of epiphany that every now and then I needed this chance to run around outside with friends, get sweaty and blow off some serious steam, so we went again the next week, and the weeks after that. What I love most about football club is meeting lovely people from every year group at CLC, from LC1s to SFC2s. I still got my social fill from sport, but in a way that suited me better than lacrosse since, though both are great fun, I preferred football’s more relaxed vibe.
The third and final valuable thing about exercise is understanding myself better.
Perhaps the most important thing I’ve learnt is that we are all vastly different – different needs, wants, interests, and ideas of fun. I finally found what works for me, but I had to figure this out on my own.
When I dropped lacrosse I lost the structure and routine of exercise and fitness, and was left entirely to my own devices. It was when I stumbled across football and yoga that I realised that I can keep fit and active because I want to, not because someone else wants it for me.
I found a gym routine that worked for me, and for the most part I stuck to it, but crucially, I also learnt to recognise when to give myself a break, to listen to my body and understand when I needed some fresh air, or when I needed to lie in bed and watch some TV.
There is absolutely no “one” way to manage one’s fitness and engagement in sports. It’s highly likely that my needs and wants will continue to change in the future, but now I think I know how to recognise them and respond effectively.
You can hear more about sport and exercise at CLC in our fourth podcast episode ‘How does the menstrual cycle affect female athletes’ performance?’, with Jo Hucker and Hannah Clarke from the Sports Department.
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