Ian K
04 July 2017
Ian moved to Rossendale aged 56 in February 2017 from Oldham and now lives in Bacup.
During Ian’s appointment with a GP at Irwell Medical Practice, he mentioned that he had given up sugar at the start of 2017 and up to date lost 8kg. He was interested in what else was on offer, to help him continue with his weight loss and was at this point told about ‘Up and Active’. Ian was particularly interested in the Up & Active Couch to 5K programme at Marl Pits and decided to give it a go.
Ian started the Couch to 5K in April weighing 98kg (BMI 36.4) and attended every Monday and Wednesday evening. Ian felt that the instructors, Zarqa and Janet, made him feel very welcome, were informative and approachable. Ian was concerned as he had not exercised since school, but felt that he was given good advice from the instructors. Ian says that being told to start slowly and that it wasn’t a race really helped him to learn how to pace himself.
In Ian’s own words - ‘’I feel fitter and I cannot believe I enjoy going to the session whatever the weather. I completed my 5K run on Monday 22nd May. A lady from the group joined me to run the last lap with me, which was a great support. My wife and daughter came to watch on the last week which was also a fantastic support.
Twelve week follow up
Ian would definitely recommend the Up and Active scheme to others. For him, the Couch to 5K programme was the perfect re-introduction to exercise. Ian has lost 6.6kg reducing his BMI to 33.9, he is still attending the sessions and intends to complete his second 5k run in 7 week’s time.
Ian concludes by saying – ‘’If I can run 5K with years of not exercising, anyone can! So get up and give it a go.’’