Becoming Weightless

Mama_Hradek
43 F , Fife ,WA
 Rating: 5.0/5.0

A Rough Four Days

 Unrated
Monday, July 13, 2009 at 7:07 PM filed under Exercise & Fitness postings
I haven't posted in a little bit, and I guess its because I was feeling a little down after my workout on Wednesday. Remember the "Fitness Assessment?" Well, let me tell you about it...

I went to the gym excited to see what more I might learn about my fitness and how I should be thinking about reaching my goal of losing 100 pounds. I got there promptly at 4:00 and I put the kids in the Kids Club. I didn't think that they would need to be in there for much longer than an hour being that the receptionist had told me that an assessment last about 30-60 minutes. No problem.

I went over and introduced myself to Sean, my trainer for the assessment. He was a nice guy, but it was already a little annoying that he was hanging out with the other trainers and they were all joking about whether or not I would show up. I checked in right at 4, but it took me a few minutes to put the kids in the club and then stash my stuff in the locker. The fact that the trainers were all concerned about my potential no-show already had me thinking that this was definitely going to be a personal training promotional thing. But...I was still optimistic that I would learn something.

So Sean and I went and talked about my goals and what knowledge that I had. He was pretty good at listening to me and understanding that I have a pretty good grasp on how my body works. I may be overweight, but I know a good amount about healthy living. Unfortunately, he seemed to have a set spiel to give, and so even if I mentioned something and tried to steer the conversation in a direction where my knowledge was lacking, he seemed to always just forge ahead. It was ok though and I did learn a little.

He took my body fat content with a little machine that I held in my hand...not sure how that works. I should look it up. Its at a whopping 43%. I definitely have my work cut out for me.

So we went to go do a workout together, and we started with lunges. I was definitely impressed with how well this simple move that we were all taught in school works. My thighs were getting a fantastic workout with just the first set. My form was really good, and he seemed surprised. (news flash...not all of us fatties are un-athletic) After that, we added 10 pound dumbbells and then repeated the set. It was tough at the end, but I got it done. Then we moved onto a "sumo squat" where he fastened a rope around his waist with two handles coming out for me to hold onto. I leaned back into a squat and he held me up while I "waddled" backwards. This was also a highly effective exercise.

At this point, my thighs were already getting very jello-y (haha, like that word?) and so I wasn't able to do the next exercise, although I really tried. He wanted me to stand on half an exercise ball that was on a platform, and then do squats with a barbell over my shoulders. I couldn't balance though because my legs were too shaky (I am pretty sure I could have done it if it was the first exercise though), so instead I just did a wall burner. Remember those from junior high gym class?

Then we moved on to a machine squat. With 10 pounds on each side, I did 15 squats. The HARDEST part of the whole workout came next when he had me hook one leg up and then do one-legged squats. I was only able to do 5 each leg and I needed the spotter. It was VERY hard and he had to egg me on to complete them. He wanted me to do 8 reps, but I could barely do 4. I pushed out 5 and was pretty happy with that.

The final couple exercises were PLANKS! (haha my friend, we meet again!) Plank position into push up position. Hard, but I did a couple. Plus I held the plank for a while. And finally, I sat back and balanced on my rear, drawing my legs up to my abs a bit (I needed a little bit of spotting on my feet) and keeping my shoulders off the ground, I passed a medicine ball over my abs from left to right, 10 reps.

Finally, I was done. It was grueling, and I definitely had a better appreciation for strength training. I knew at this point that I was going to need to step up my game, but I also felt that I better understood how to do that. So he asks me if this is something I can see myself continuing to do in the future, and I think maybe he's just asking if I'm going to do any of the exercises he showed me. So I say yes, and then of course he points out that there were a few exercises that I couldn't do alone. Here comes the sell...

I got the information on training, and its way too expensive. I said no, talked about how we might be moving soon, and told him that I would rethink it in the future. So he goes and gets Lee, his boss, and the "closer". Now, I liked Sean. I thought he was a nice guy and I could totally appreciate the fact that he has a job to do and that includes pimping the training to me. But his manager was just sleazy. He left me with such a bitter taste in my mouth. Up until now, I have had nothing but positive experiences at the gym and I've loved every minute of it. Lee basically tells me (after he realizes that I'm still saying no) that I have too big of a goal, that I will need 1 on 1 training in order to ever make it, that I should be worried about diabetes and high blood pressure (neither of which do I have) blah blah blah. He makes me feel so deflated and upset. Basically, if I don't work out to that extreme every day, then I'll never make it. I have to get blunt with him so he'll back off. I try to end it all on a smile, but my mood is ruined.

It took 2 hours and I didn't even get to clean myslef up because the limit on the Kids Club is 2 hours. So I pick up the kids and wobble my way to the car and home. My legs are so bad that I can hardly drive. Little did I know...

The next day is HORRENDOUS! I understand that your muscles should be sore if you worked them. But this is too far, an obvious injury. I couldn't sit at all, I couldn't get up from the couch, chair, floor, etc. I have 2 small kids to care for and my legs are useless the next day...and the next day. They start getting better on Saturday, and by Sunday I can walk even though my thighs freeze up occasionally and I trip. I missed my workouts for 4 days.

I got discouraged big time. I didn't eat right, I didn't work out. Thank goodness my determination far exceeds the desires of the trainers to convince me that I can't do this without them. I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me. No exceptions.

So today is Monday and I have eaten well today, been tracking my food and stuff on FitClick and I'm heading to the gym as soon as the baby wakes up from her nap. I've revised my workouts a bit based off of what I learned during the assessment, so I guess that it wasn't a total loss. I just need to move past the way that they made me feel. I'm sure that I'll have a great workout today and feel much better.

I'll have to let you know!
































1 Comment (add) | Tags: Exercise, Fitness Assessment, Missed Diet, Missed Workout
Last comment by TedD on 8/26/2009 9:10 AM
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