NEW LIFE:Never fit or sporty and overweight since he was a teenager, Andy Kenny has now made health and fitness his life, writes RONAN McGREEVY.
AS A TEENAGER and as a man in his early 20s, Andy Kenny was, by his own admission, “far from the fitness type”.
Like many others without a sporting prowess at school, he believed that sport was not for him simply because he was not adept at either GAA or soccer at school.
“If you were not good at those sports, you were left on the backburner,” he says.
He started to pile on the weight as a teenager and his weight gain continued in his 20s, not helped by the sedentary lifestyle as an office-bound worker in product management and human resources (HR).
By the time he went backpacking to Australia in 2003, he was 17 and a half stone with all the misery, both physical and psychological, that went with being so overweight.
Backpacking can demand a certain level of physical conditioning and when Kenny found himself sorely lacking he embarked on a strenuous exercise and dietary regime which saw him lose five stone in a year.
Startled by his ability to transform his own life, he returned to Ireland to make a profession out of his hobby of personal training and staying fit.
In 2006 he qualified from the National Training Centre as a fitness instructor and personal trainer. He now operates out of a gym in Ballsbridge.
“I’m a firm believer in people maximising their potential. Until relatively recently, I certainly wasn’t coming close to making the most of my potential and since getting into shape. I can’t believe the difference it has made to my life,” he says.
“For people who may be perhaps in a similar position to how I was a few years ago, I would really recommend that they do something about it. You’ve got to commit to changing your life, it won’t be easy but with the right help anyone can do it.
“You’ve got to make a clear decision to alter your eating and drinking habits permanently and include some form of exercise or physical activity into your weekly routine.
“It does take commitment, hard work, dedication and consistency to change your life, but make a firm decision to maximise your potential and be determined to be the best you can be,” he says.
Having worked in personal fitness for the past two years, Kenny is returning to the country that persuaded him that he needed to change his whole lifestyle.
He has begun a cycle across Australia from Perth to Sydney, a journey of more than 4,100km to raise funds for the Burren Chernobyl Project. Based in Co Clare, the project helps children who were affected by the Chernobyl disaster in 1986.
Kenny has been inspired by his brother Hugh who has travelled to Belarus over the past two years as a volunteer to help out in orphanages there.
At one time such a journey seemed alien and impossible to someone who found even climbing stairs a tough work-out.
As the months went by and the weight fell off, the idea began to surface that maybe the ‘new’ Kenny could now be able to even consider doing this cycle.
“Until recently I hadn’t cycled any further than a short journey to work, so this epic cycle presents a huge personal challenge,” he says.
Kenny left Perth, Western Australia, on Sunday last week (April 5th), and has travelled more than 500km through the outback. It is a daunting challenge, given the nature of the terrain and the weather.
It is currently the Australian springtime and temperatures along the coasts are in the 20s, but, in the interior, temperatures are closer to the 30s.
It has been something of a journey into the unknown, both literally and figuratively.
All his training was done during the winter in Ireland and it will be something of a gamble to undertake such an arduous journey in temperatures that will have extremes of both heat and cold with temperatures falling to -5C in the middle of the desert at night.
As he has progressed, the temperatures have risen and the number of people he has met along the way has fallen.
“I have travelled through towns, then villages, then a roadhouse once a day, then a roadhouse every second day. The terrain is flat, it is hard sometimes to keep concentrating. There’s a mental fatigue that comes with long cycles.”
Kenny is carrying everything he needs with him. That includes all his clothes and a tent, along with the copious amounts of water he needs for the journey.
The payload slows him down, especially in windy conditions, but it is the only way to travel light.
“I was very much inspired by ‘Bear’ Grylls [the BBC adventurer], but he travels with a film crew. I want to see if I have the mental strength to do it on my own.”
He is operating to a tight timetable and has given himself 42 days to make the trip, aiming to finish at the Sydney Opera House on Saturday, May 16th, just six days before he intends to fly out again.
The last part of his trip will be one of the hardest as he must make it over the Blue Mountains which ring Sydney.
He is hoping at the end of it all to prove to himself that he can do it and raise some money for children affected by the Chernobyl disaster.
Anybody wishing to donate can do so by texting Give to 57001, or call 1518 555650
If you wish to make a larger donation go to his website pedalpowered.ie