Guy I used to work with was fat.
Really, really fat.
Quite how he passed the fitness test to join the major incident team, I do not know. But he did, and Yours Baldly got saddled with him on my team for an exercise.
The task was to go down into pitch black and steaming hot basement complex while wearing breathing apparatus to retrieve a casualty. (In this case, a sand filled dummy weighing somewhere in the region of fifteen stone).
Our team was three strong. Me, a chap who was fit as a fiddle, and fat bloke.
We descended into the darkness and began picking our way through the rubble-strewn corridors.
It wasn’t long before fat bloke started to lag behind.
A real problem, given we were connected to him by a cable, so fit bloke and I were actually dragging him (and all his gear) along.
Not fun when you yourself are weighted down by breathing apparatus and other gubbins.
Anyway.
We got to the end of the passageway without finding the dummy. There was no radio signal, so we couldn’t call back to the man in charge for instructions.
After a brief conflab between me and fit bloke ensued (fat bloke was too exhausted to contribute), and we decided to go back the way we came.
Halfway through the return journey, fit bloke spotted the dummy. The instructors had decided to have a little “fun” by making us go all the way to the end of the maze of tunnels, slotting the enormous dummy behind us so we’d be confused and ultra tired by the time we came across it.
So, fit bloke and I had to drag this fifteen stone dummy between us (a task better suited to three or even four people) plus fat bloke who could just about shuffle along at this point.
Much sweating and swearing ensued as we hoicked the “casualty” back to base but we made it – no thanks to fat bloke – with only a sliver of air in our tanks to spare.
The point?
A simple, albeit potentially shame-inducing one.
If you are fat and out of shape there is no getting away from the fact that – to a greater or lesser degree – you are a burden to the people around you.
Could be your colleagues, your friends, your family – or, most likely, a combination of all three.
Not an enviable position to be in for those with a conscience.
However.
I’m not going to sit here and pretend it’s easy to get yourself sorted when you’re being pulled hither and thither by the shifting demands of work, family, and life generally.
Doubly so when your job is a serious one with an unpredictable schedule.
Triply so when you don’t have the right tools for the job.
Hence, I’ve written a book, “Shift”, containing all the tools any man who works long and perhaps irregular hours needs to build and maintain a strong, trim, and healthy body.
It’s on sale with a big discount until Sunday the 26th of May at 23:59.
All the information is on the below-linked sales page which I recommend you read very carefully before purchasing.
Enter the code TIRED at the checkout to claim the discount.
Make sure you see the price drop before you proceed with your purchase.
Aforementioned sales page is here:
https://philtyreman.co.uk/shift
Thank you,
Phil Tyreman