I go to the gym twice a week.

Thursdays is cirkelfys, circuit training, with Lasse. Lasse’s cirkelfys class was the first one I tried, and I often think about how lucky that was, because it’s still the class I enjoy the most. Lasse is tough and demanding and makes me achieve more than I think I can, but he does it with good humour and I’ve never seen him push anyone too far. I schedule my Thursdays to make sure I can attend this class.

I haven’t yet found another class that can compare. I tried early-morning cirkelfys but concluded after a while that my body simply does not function effectively too early in the morning. I tended to just get dizzy and couldn’t do the exercises properly. So I gave up on that. Now I alternate weekly between a barbell class and a kettlebell class.

The barbell class is kind of weird because you’re supposed to do it in time with music. Lifting weights at someone else’s pace is distinctly odd. But for most exercises, the pace is slower than I would normally do, which is a good thing. Just takes some getting used to.

The kettlebell class is a tough one. In cirkelfys I feel like I do pretty well. Maybe I don’t pick the heaviest weights for all exercises, but I do for some, and in general I just feel like I’m keeping up. In the kettlebell class, by contrast, I barely manage to finish each section, and towards the end I definitely don’t manage, and afterwards I feel like a limp rag. On the plus side, it’s challenging, but at the same time it can also be a bit demoralising. Which probably means it’s really just right.