I’m not much for reality TV shows, but the program “SAS: Who dares wins” sucked me in. Maybe it’s because it allows me to reminisce about my own time in the army, or maybe it’s because there is something nice about sitting on a sofa at home with a cold beer, watching others push themselves physically until they drop. (Not the spirit of a new year resolution - I know…)
I met up with Ant Middleton, the main officer in the program, that puts everyone through their paces and figures out their mental triggers. Whilst everyone else is gaining a little pudge during lockdown, Ant looks like he’s fitter than ever! His every muscle fitting snuggly into each nook and cranny of his T-shirt. I could off course talk to him about my time in the army, how I climbed the ranks, but I often find it best to not talk too much about those days. Especially to a man who’s been in the Parachute Squadron and Royal Marines. I acknowledge them, but soon move on to talk about other more trivial things, worried that he’ll have me down on the floor doing pushups just to prove myself. Yep - set me a challenge and I’ll do everything I can to prove it. And, although my mind is convinced that I am not a day older than what I was over twenty years ago, I know my body disagrees. Even though my mind might try to practice Ant’s slogan, the title of the book “Zero Negativity” - I know that 50 pushups is not where I am after months in lockdown and having lived a considerably less physically demanding life than my time in the army.
After a nice shoot, getting the images we were after to be on the cover of Ant’s newest book, I carry my equipment out of his house with my assistant, into the car. But this time I make a point of carrying the bags just a little higher than normal, straining my biceps a little more, chest out, straight back, just to feel like I have accomplished at least some weight training that day.
Shot for HarperCollins
