Lady

Rosenburg Kanyunyuzi: never in my life had I dreamt that I would actually step in the gym. To do what anyway? Yes, I play rugby but the gym does not feature in any of my to-do lists. As much as I love rugby I still want to be a lady. Ok, what I mean is that I want to retain the lady-ish appearance of my body. You know, the curves … etc. I have played rugby since 2003 yet this is my first time to step into the gym and oh my God, how horrible it was. Yes, we qualified for the World Cup and we were overjoyed and I was grateful to be part of history (Coach David said we would be put in the museum as national sporting heroes) but now I feel it is too much for me … going to the gym – how weird.

In December 2008 I was privileged part of a team that travelled to South Africa. We won all our group games and the semi final and met South Africa in the final. Here is where it mattered. I won’t say the South Africans were so hard but still they look so much better than us in terms of physique i.e. they go to the gym and we do not. So we were forced to do something about it and now we all go to the gym, whether we like it or not, including me.

I will never forget my first day in the gym. During our Christmas break, I jogged from home (about 2kms) so I would be already warm then took my time stretching to put off the inevitable moment. I entered the gym and found my friends already hard at work. My first bench press was 30kgs. I could only do 4 reps and yet I was meant to do 5 sets of 7 reps. I struggled through the 5 sets but I stuck to 4 reps then moved to do squats. I was ok with the squats and did them with 60kgs then moved on to dead lifts with 30 kgs. That wasn’t too bad as well. I wound up with 100 sit ups and called it a day. I jogged back home and wolfed down a 1 litre flask of maize meal porridge, 4 boiled eggs and 6 slices of white bread. I was unbelievably hungry. The rest of the day passed without incident but when I woke up the next morning I was in serious pain. Every part of me ached: my shoulders, arms, thighs, even my toes. I could barely move. I could not believe it: it was total madness. I gave myself a 2 day rest: no running and definitely no gym. I attempted press ups and sit ups but it was so so painful. I had to re-think this gym thing.

Ok, 2 days later the pain was sort of a distant memory so I went back to the gym. Back to the bench press: still 30kgs but much more determination from me. To hell with my shapely body: I’m going for the World Cup. 2 weeks on and I can now comfortably bench press 5 sets of 10 reps with 30kgs, do squats with 75kgs and dead lifts with 70kgs. Recently some guys came to the gym and they could not even bench press 30kgs. Worse still I was taking turns doing the dead lifts with them and when it was their turn I’d have to take off 30kgs to make it lighter for them. What a great way to have my confidence boosted. Next week I want to bench press 45kgs and I am sure that I can do it. Qualifying for this World Cup has changed me in ways I never thought possible. Although I had no choice about it, weight training is something that must be done, even if my lady-ish shape is lost.