Monday, July 16, 2007

gym culture

on saturday, i entered new gym status. i worked out with a trainer. oh yes - you heard me right. a trainer. at VRC, having a meeting with a trainer is free so you sign up, you have the initial meeting where they meet you and ask you a bunch of questions and then they develop a workout routine for you. on saturday, i met with tammy to go ove my new routine.

well...having been a just ladies only gym member, i'm a little thrown by all the guys in the weights room. there was one woman in there. tammy had asked me if i'd rather have my workout designed for the just ladies section or the regular weights section and i said, whatever. umm...maybe i would've liked the ladies section better. on saturday when i was there, these guys working out are huge and scary. they know the machines better and what if they come up and want to use my machine? augh!

so tammy takes me around to show me the machines i'll be using and on every machine i'm changing the weigh from 235lbs to...15 lbs. i bet that starts to get you down after awhile. but i learned a lot things. for example, i've never been keeping my wrists straight when working with weights! who knew i was bending them? and then as tammy's about to show me this squat machine, she asks me to do a squat and i do. she's like, "oh no no. stop." umm, i gues i was doing something wrong. so she tells me to do another one. same reaction. "oh - i guess we better not use this machine actually" she says. haha. i got demoted to an easier squat machine. but she says my lunges are beautiful.

so my "program" includes a one day arms and core workout and then the next day legs and core workout to be done about 4 times a week. PLUS 4-5 times a week, i should be doing 60 minutes of cardio. what? who has the time for all this? well...i do right now...but that's not the point. it's no wonder these guys at the gym are crazy huge - it's because it's all they must do. work and workout. so sure, i can maybe make this happen for the next free 4 weeks of summer but then what?

i guess we'll see. i'm doing my first arm workout today. i'm going to be hurting.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...

I'm so proud of you. You can do it! GO REBECCA!!!

Anonymous said...

Hi Rebecca - this all sounds very familiar - I've been going to the gym working out on these machines for the past year and a half - 3 times a week without fail. It takes a commitment to health, and heavy-duty prioritizing that's for sure.

One thing that helped me a lot was having a workout partner - one of those big guys you're referring to, and my friend from work; however, his work schedule has changed, and of course I've lost my job so I'm on my own again - it's so much better to have someone to partner with - it helps with the commitment, encouragement and sometimes they remember something you don't. I really saw amazing results in working this way.

At my gym, we can get re-assessed every 8 weeks - I usually do this about once every three months or so, and have progressed each time, which is also very motivating. I do some cardio, but feel that with all of the Ballroom dancing I do, this is the cardio bit for me.

Maybe by the time school starts again, you'll have your routine/schedule in place enough to keep going - as I said, especially if you start to see results - that helps a lot.

Good luck!

Aunt Laurie

Anonymous said...

well, 5 years ago i never would have guessed you'd be in the gym 5 days a week, with 60 min. of cardio. wow. proud of you man.