New Year, New Glamorous, Polo-Playing You
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With the bid from the Fat Bankers (and rotund recruiters) to lose weight now made public (it's all for charidee, mate!), what are YOU going to do to get in shape?
Walking over to your colleague's desk instead of emailing them is not going to make a 'new you'. Thy gym is full of New Year Resolutionists. All together now: "Cross training is my salvation, cross training is my salvation." Yuck!
Time to start thinking outside the box-ercise class.
The 'new you', craved by men and women alike, need involve nothing more than a pair of jeans, some boots, and an exercise manual by Jilly Cooper. Now that's what I'm talking about!
Move over Mr Motivator, and welcome to your Polo Coach. That's right, 2008 is the year you learn to play polo.
Ah, yes. The sound of hooves thundering across the polo ground, the crack as the stick hits ball, the glamour of the spectators. It's all a far cry from challenging a co-worker to a game of golf or squash only to discover they were a three-time University champion or something equally dull.
Polo is a rarefied sport, it creates a level playing field for men and women and - this is the good news for 'new you' - it's that very clever type of exercise you don't even realise you are doing. You don't need new fitness attire, and you don't even need to be able to ride a horse - 80% of newcomers to the sport can't.
Playing polo brings with it some side effects you should know about. As word spreads around the office, you will start to get lots of attention. Old (and new) friends will view you with a mixture of curiosity and adoration. Your name will now end in - "my polo playing friend". Conversation with your new polo playing pals will take on its own flavour, with terms such as chukkas, hook, ride-off and sandwich (not the ham and cheese variety), and odd references such as 'taking the man' thrown about.
On a social note, the next time you're at Cartier, you can smugly say, "I play at [insert name of club where you had your first lesson]. It truly is the king of sports", and then sit back and wait. Champagne all round, I reckon.
What better way to shed the pounds than in such a glamorous fashion? And that is pounds in weight, not pounds from your pocket. You will discover that learning to play polo can be as cheap as your gym membership, and is free of lock in clauses that commit you to an eternity (or 12 months minimum) of damnation and insanity on the treadmill next to the other gym rats.
You can also join the City Polo Association, which represents 90 City businesses and hundreds of polo-playing City employees. More people play polo than you realise (including, perhaps, your fit colleague with the flat tummy and the fresh complexion), and with the Association, you'll quickly find yourself among like-minded people.
There are a handful of clubs within an hour of Central London, which don't require membership. Visit Polo Networks for more on how to get started.
What could be a better incentive to ditch the typical routes to a 'new you' than picking up a new sport, new friends and new, glamorous lifestyle in the process?
Time to start thinking outside the box-ercise class.
The 'new you', craved by men and women alike, need involve nothing more than a pair of jeans, some boots, and an exercise manual by Jilly Cooper. Now that's what I'm talking about!
Move over Mr Motivator, and welcome to your Polo Coach. That's right, 2008 is the year you learn to play polo.
Ah, yes. The sound of hooves thundering across the polo ground, the crack as the stick hits ball, the glamour of the spectators. It's all a far cry from challenging a co-worker to a game of golf or squash only to discover they were a three-time University champion or something equally dull.
Polo is a rarefied sport, it creates a level playing field for men and women and - this is the good news for 'new you' - it's that very clever type of exercise you don't even realise you are doing. You don't need new fitness attire, and you don't even need to be able to ride a horse - 80% of newcomers to the sport can't.
Playing polo brings with it some side effects you should know about. As word spreads around the office, you will start to get lots of attention. Old (and new) friends will view you with a mixture of curiosity and adoration. Your name will now end in - "my polo playing friend". Conversation with your new polo playing pals will take on its own flavour, with terms such as chukkas, hook, ride-off and sandwich (not the ham and cheese variety), and odd references such as 'taking the man' thrown about.
On a social note, the next time you're at Cartier, you can smugly say, "I play at [insert name of club where you had your first lesson]. It truly is the king of sports", and then sit back and wait. Champagne all round, I reckon.
What better way to shed the pounds than in such a glamorous fashion? And that is pounds in weight, not pounds from your pocket. You will discover that learning to play polo can be as cheap as your gym membership, and is free of lock in clauses that commit you to an eternity (or 12 months minimum) of damnation and insanity on the treadmill next to the other gym rats.
You can also join the City Polo Association, which represents 90 City businesses and hundreds of polo-playing City employees. More people play polo than you realise (including, perhaps, your fit colleague with the flat tummy and the fresh complexion), and with the Association, you'll quickly find yourself among like-minded people.
There are a handful of clubs within an hour of Central London, which don't require membership. Visit Polo Networks for more on how to get started.
What could be a better incentive to ditch the typical routes to a 'new you' than picking up a new sport, new friends and new, glamorous lifestyle in the process?
Here Is The Writer : JohnnyBoy
Johnny Boy has worked in the City for 11 years and heads up the IT search practice for a niche head hunter. Johnny plays Polo quite badly, is more accomplished at cooking, and reads voraciously.
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