hsapiens | Took the Plunge

I've been putting off dealing with the fact that I need more exercise for a long time. Yesterday I finally pulled up my big girl pants, joined a gym -- and got a personal trainer. It's not cheap but I feel as if I need one. I hit plateaus that can last for months; that just demoralizes the hell out of me and I do the unhelpful thing: I stop working out. I've never before had a personal trainer. I'm so out of shape right now that I expect I'll see some immediate results (I picture some perky coach telling me, "nowhere to go but up!" but thankfully my trainer seems friendly but not perky) but eventually I'm going to hit one of those speed bumps. Hopefully, this will help me break the doldrums before I allow myself to give up. My membership includes 3 "free"** personal training sessions but I bought a few more because I need that motivation while I'm learning to make this a habit.

The gym has lots of classes, including some that sound cool: dance, pilates, and balance ball. I'll finally try out an elliptical trainer, something I've been wanting to do for a long time. I'm actually looking forward to dancing again on a regular basis; I've really missed it. There are also the much-dreaded weight machines. It has been 20 years since I last used one. I'm going to have to learn to not hate them but that will be a...challenge.

I still don't want to exercise but I want even less to suffer heart disease and crumbling bones. (And, you know, in the short term I'd like to lose body fat and be able to climb four flights of stairs without losing my breath.) At least, that's what I think now. We'll have to see how I feel on Friday after my evaluation and first workout. ;)

** "free" being code for "already added into the original membership price we quote you"

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I loved loved loved working with a personal trainer. I REALLY miss it. One of the best things about it is having an appointment with SOMEONE ELSE to exercise. The accountability of that is very useful. And learning exercises from an "expert" actually makes the weight machines less scary. If you're lucky, maybe your trainer will have the same philosophy mine did - work with an exercise ball and free weights, which is more fun and gets faster results than the machines.

Go, you! I'm right behind you, as soon as I have a job again. :)

Not only will I have an appointment but I plan to have standing appointments; if I had to make the time to call every time, then it would never happen. I schedule the dentist and my hair appointments this way and found it keeps me on track. I stink at tasks that require my doing them repetitively. Add in that I don't actually *want* to exercise and it's best if someone else is waiting for me and if it requires no additional effort from me.

I'm looking forward to seeing how a trainer can help me. I'm hopeful that I'll learn to do something other than hate the machines; my past club experiences were all about hating the weight machines. But I was young and already in shape from dance; the parents were dragging me there before school, which meant I was starting at 5 a.m. Needless to say, I stopped as soon as I could.

I'm not switching over my yoga classes, even though I could and it would lower my costs, because despite the too early work on inversions, I enjoy those classes right now. Maybe eventually I will switch but for now, I like that I get a lot of focus on form. I still need that. Besides, Amy and I meet every Monday for a Bab 5 episode, yoga at the institute, and dinner. It's a nice ritual.

Nobody's opinion about your yoga class matters but yours. If you're happy with it, more namaste to you. :) And your weekly ritual with Amy sounds awesome.

Good luck with that AND the gym. I bet you find some things at the gym you enjoy. That is part of the trainer's job, too.

Oh, I agreed with you that we shouldn't be doing work towards inversions and I appreciate your having brought it up. If nothing else, I'm clearly not in any such shape to be doing more risky moves but I think we were doing that stuff way too early regardless of one's fitness.

After your comment confirmed my feelings, I resolved to pay more attention to my body when doing yoga. I tend to put up with a high discomfort level because, (a) everything is uncomfortable when you start, and (b) I want to give it a real try and that means doing stuff I don't want to...But between the pain from the toes and your comment, I decided I need to take a more active role in choosing.

Since I came to that conclusion, we haven't repeated any of those moves so I haven't been forced to sit something out. :) I do like the class and it pushes me in a way I've never been pushed before. Yoga forces a different posture and foot/leg positioning from the ways we learned in dance classes.

You know what I always enjoyed at the gym? Being done. ;) Seriously, I need to play Pollyanna, find something to look forward to even if it's just, "being done," and focus on that. I don't think I'll ever be the sort of person who enjoys exercise, though I'd love to surprise myself, but I am the sort who can logically choose to endure because it gets me something I want.

It seems to me that you obviously have SOME reason to want to exercise, and you seem more enthusiastic about it than just, "I should do it." In my opinion, no exercise program will ever work in the long term if you don't find something you enjoy. There are many forms of exercise I like a great deal. I love cycling, I love kayaking, I love doing yoga, I love hiking, and believe it or not I actually really enjoy spending half an hour - or sometimes more - on an elliptical machine listening to tunes or a good audiobook. Because I enjoy those activities, I'm more likely to stick to an exercise program when I try.

I would discuss your antipathy toward exercise activities with your personal trainer. She just might have some good suggestions for you about ways to find an activity you enjoy, rather than always thinking of it as medicine you have to swallow. If you can find one, you'll have a much better chance at sticking with it and seeing the benefits.

Part of my enthusiasm is due solely to my finally taking the step of doing something about my personal needs. I kvetch and kick and whine but I'm intensely aware that exercise is good for nigh on anything that ails you, raises your mood, and doesn't have nasty side effects like liver damage, muscle spasms, or driving while asleep in the middle of the night. I have tried exercise programs many times, always gearing it towards activities I like. Nothing has stuck. I've never thought, "Yay! Time to work out!"

I am, however, a creature of habit. If I can make this a habit and mold my schedule around it, I'm far more likely to stick to it. I love to dance and that will always be a huge part of any exercise program I choose but I don't enjoy physical challenge for the sake of physical challenge. I'm not the sort who will climb the mountain because it's there, but I would try if there were a good book up there. In this one case, the end will have to justify the means. ;)

For as negative as I'm being, I *am* happy that I've overcome the hurdle that I've put in my path in the past. I'm going to make another attempt to get fit but this time around I'll have someone helping me when I get stuck. *That* excites me and makes me more hopeful about my success.

Good point about bringing my attitudes/feelings up with the trainer. I need to go for full disclosure if I'm going to get the most out of this experience. Amy has mentioned several times that she downloads podcasts to listen to while working out because that makes it more palatable. Once I feel comfortable that I know what I'm doing and can safely zone out, I plan to do the same. (Amy is very good at talking about what she does in a non-demanding way but which, in retrospect, I realize were gentle suggestions for how I could take better care of myself.)

I'm trying hard to be realistic about what will work. Yoga has become a habit and I no longer have to force myself to go. (Even when I love something, I have to force myself until it's a habit. I think it's part of my being an extreme introvert.) I want the gym to be the same way.

I haven't yet begun to have some dire physical problems like my mother has. My blood work always come back astoundingly healthy (except for that pesky thyroid thing *g*) and my bone density scan showed that I'm in good shape there, too. If there's one thing I've learned, maintenance is far easier and less painful than regaining ground is. That is a huge motivator for me. Perhaps fear isn't the most positive reason in the world but I'll take it until I manage to find joy in becoming healthier and more capable.

Took the Plunge

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