A Needed Change

There are so many things that I have learned about myself and about training over the last few months.  It felt awkward to just start blogging in the middle of my journey so I decided to post on some general ideas before I get into specific workouts and weekly updates on my training.  It will give a better picture of what I have been through on my way to met my training goals.  Plus...I don't know how to do those awesome flashback dream sequences, so you're just going to have to put up with this.

I started taking classes at the local YMCA a few months ago after moving to a new area.  I would go a few times a week and either run on the treadmill or prance on the elliptical.  I wasn’t really seeing any benefit or improvement in my fitness.  I seemed to have hit wall and couldn’t progress.  I was also getting bored with working out alone and not really knowing how to vary my workouts. 

I was always skeptical about paying someone to stand around and tell me what to do at the gym.  I’m smart.  I’m sure I could figure this out.  I mean…if those meatheads can figure it out surely I must be able to.  I can pick up weights.  I can make intimidating looks in the big mirror.  I can grunt.  Then I looked at the meathead.  Studied him and his fellow comrades.  I didn’t want to look like that.  They all looked like upside-down triangles.  Like a turned over Christmas tree…with tiny…ornaments.  *sigh* Back to prancing on the elliptical it was for me. (If you are confused about what exactly a meathead is please click here)

I then decided to come to some of the classes that were offered at my Y in the evenings.  I don’t normally like working out in groups because I am always self-conscious about how I am performing compared to the other people in the class.  The classes turned out to be pretty fun.  It was always the same small core group of women that would be there for each and every class.  I was able to see improvement after just a few weeks, which was really motivating after having been seemingly stuck in one place for such a long time.  I also found myself unable to slack off or cheat while in class because I knew the trainer would call me out on it.  I didn’t really know this guy all that well, and I shouldn’t have cared all that much about what he thought.  For whatever reason though, I was afraid to let him down and felt like I had to push myself when I was there.  It was as if he could read my mind and knew that I really wasn’t giving it my all.  Like a trainer with Jedi mind powers….

I  also really respected the fact that in spite of him having classes that were exclusively comprised of women, he didn’t treat us like it.  He corrected our form, pushed us to keep going, called us out for quitting before he knew we had reached our end point, and didn’t pay any attention to complaining.  It wasn’t that he was putting us down for being weak little women,  he wanted to give us a quality workout and to show us that we were capable of these things and improving each week.

That’s when it clicked.  He was the one.  The one that I needed to help me push myself.  The one to help me develop a new workout program and to set me on the right track in my fitness journey.  He was going to be my Jedi…errrr…trainer.

I learned that you really need to find someone that you trust and feel comfortable around when searching for a personal trainer.  You’re going to have be honest with them about your goals, your body, and what you are feeling physically, mentally and emotionally.  They need to be supportive of you but also firm.  Tough love.  If a trainer is really into his job and wants to be there, you will be able to tell very easily.  You are not just extra money in their pocket.  As much as you are invested in paying for a personal trainer, they need to be invested in you as a client.  Honestly, I don’t pay him to stand around a look pretty (I’m not sure that anyone would), I pay him to be that jerk that makes me curse when I try and roll myself out of bed the next day.