I began playing squash quite late in life when I was 25 years old. I couldn't motivate myself to run or go to the gym and I was putting on weight, but squash involves a commitment to a partner, and I hate letting people down, so I always turned up. Well I got hooked, and more to the point I realised that it was doing me some good. I felt better, had more stamina and it reflected in my work output.
After about a year of playing steadily, I reached the stage where I was able to play for a couple of hours each session (with a change of partner), and maybe 4/5 times a week. Aged 35/40 I felt fitter than I had ever been in my whole life and I realised the importance of what I was doing. Yes, there were so many times when I had a physically exhausting and generally **** day, and the last thing I felt like doing was running around a court for an hour shedding another five pounds of sweat. But coming back to that partner/commitment thing, you have to do it, and you know what, every time without exception I felt so much better after the game... well after the shower!
This year I will be 60. I have never stopped playing for the last 35 years, and I still play squash twice a week now. My main game partner these days is the coach at the local club. He is well experienced having been playing for the last 25 years plus he is also 15 years younger... He wins probably 70% of the time, but the games are always close and so I ask you hey, should I be complaining about not winning more?
The point of the story really is just to illustrate to some of you younger guys (under 25), that you do need to be fit to stay ahead of the (refrigeration) game and on course in our industry - at least in a hands on situation. For me management has no interest, I work alone, I climb ladders, scramble over rooftops and squeeze myself into all manner of impossible situations. 12 hour days in 40+ degrees of heat is normal for 6 months of the year. And trust me without that squash fitness I would have had to give up years ago as most of my peers already have.
When I started as an apprentice in the commercial refrigeration industry back in 1966, the enginner to whom I was 'attached' used to say to me. "There is no such thing as an old refrigeration engineer - they never make it" OK part of that was because in those days we used to be regularly breathing in *****, Methyl Chloride and sometimes Ammonia and the dreaded Sulphur Dioxide. H&SE hadn't been heard of, but we all kind of knew that what we were doing wasn't right, and almost certainly wasn't going to help us live longer! Perhaps that's another reason why I decided being fit was a good option - I hoped to counteract all that bad stuff, and go on to prove them wrong!
