Random reminder

Press, 19 August 1981, Page 32

Random reminder

iTNESS TEST

It pays when on holiday to check carefully whether the social ground one is about to traverse is actually the firm, clipped lawn it appears to be or whether it is, in fact, quicksand. A Christchurch man visiting Australia found himself at an informal gathering which the host insisted on interrupting to watch a short television programme on physical fitness. Physical fitness is, as they say, very big in Australia at the moment, especially in Sydney, where even the most forelorn of" bodies tries to look as if it has just come from an earnest set of repetition interval sprints, whatever that means (see what I mean, you can’t spend two days in the place without picking up athletic jargon which may or may not mean nothing at all). The conversation after the programme was over turned naturally to fitness, and , the Christchurch visitor, himself due for condemnation as an earthquake risk and long talked about as a public eyesore, decided, in a moment fuelled by'excellent wine and the welcome anonymity of being in a strange place, to berate his rather heavily built neighbour on the subject of the need to

keep fit. He lectured his attentive dinner companion on the need to keep the body in shape as a temple for the soul, the joys of firm tendons, the deep satisfaction of taut pectorals (whatever they may be) they sound like exotic fish, but everyone in Sydney is after them.

Waxing verbose, if not lyrical, he ventured to comment on his companion's rugose features and suggested that a loss of weight and a bit of toning up might be in order. Why, he asked, should the ageing man give up the capacity for flight or fight that was man’s heritage, locked in, alas, decaying muscles and in a brain surfeited by stress and cholesterol, worry and alcohol? Why, it was clear the man who was the subject of this well-meant, wine-fuelled homily would be a much better performer in his job, and be much more relaxed, if he took this wise advice and got himself in shape.

What, er, job did he do, by the way? ‘Tm a professional rugby league player, mate." replied the one-man congregation. "I play tor New South Wales and Australia."