I lost half a stone in the month after my motorcycle crash last June.

Unfortunately, my injuries (especially my back) then meant I couldn’t really do anything training-wise, and when I went to a medical appointment in December I found I’d gained a stone since then!

More importantly, my fitness was screwed.

I’ve been doing Pilates (and another therapy I’ll do a blog on) to keep things moving, but I can’t class it as ‘real’ exercise – that is, it’s not exactly the intensity I’m used to! Don’t get me wrong, it’s great and has helped me a lot, but you’re never going to hear an interview where a boxer has used it to train up for his next fight…

So what to do, now I feel I can start to push things again?

I very nearly joined a “Couch to 5k” course. 9 weekly sessions to get you from nothing to being able to run for 5km. I love the idea, and know that running is the ultimate exercise – but I don’t actually LIKE running. So that came and went, along with all the Park Run events that you could follow it up with… not for me!

Should I join a gym?

It’s great if you can motivate yourself to go, but I know after 3 months I’m going to be bored with it and make excuses. Plus it costs far too much for my budget! I’m still open to it, and may pay for the odd single session – I actually will run on a treadmill, weirdly. Not that I run weirdly – I mean, for some reason I don’t mind doing that.

It’s a fact that if you’re doing something, it’s better than doing nothing. So, short sharp bites to wake things up again.

Years ago I used some Billy Blanks workout videos. He does Tae Bo – like kickboxing but more focused on your aerobic fitness. Or like less poncy aerobics, if you prefer.

On YouTube, he even has some “10 minute” fitness vids. You’d think this would be a nice, mild workout to fit into your day, and you’d be half right. Give one a go and you’ll soon see that they’re anything but mild, though!

How hard is it to get yourself up off the couch for 10 minutes? So I have an alarm set and I’ll be doing this on a regular basis.

There are actually a load of 10 minute workout vids on YouTube – so there’s enough variation there not to get bored. And remember it’s all free!

Sure, if you want something even easier then drop and do 20 push-ups, 40 squats, 40 seated leg raises but you will get bored of that quickly. And Billy Blanks is actually quite entertaining!

And speaking of entertaining, Karting has to be the most fun training – and it is very hard work. OK, so it costs a bit, but there are usually offers around the ease the pain…

The best thing is you’ll be using the actual muscles you use for racing, so will strengthen all the right bits, and it is an awesome workout for your heart and breathing.

After finally going for it, I’ve also found out that the one part of my back that it doesn’t make ache is the damaged bit, so I’ll definitely be doing more of that!

I feel a bit like I’ve been beaten up and was starting to make some very strange noises around the hairpin turns towards the end of the second session, but it’s good pain! I also set a personal best lap at Teamworks Halesowen, so there’s still life in this old dog, yet! And more motivation to knock off the few hundredths of a second that will drop me into the 22 secs… And of course it keeps that competitive edge nice and sharp!

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There will be some sim work before I race again, and I’ll cover that in another blog.

What are you doing to keep you race fit? Any interesting revelations that you’d recommend?