May 1 – Teaching the Trainer

I had my introductory session with the trainer at the gym I joined, and we both had some explaining to do. 

I tried to describe my overall health & exercise plan, and how the gym exercise would fit into it.  (I’m too heavy for my strength, and too weak for my body weight.)  So, because I mentioned weight, he wanted to teach me about calories & design a nutrition plan for me.  No thanks, I’m knowledgeable & already working on that end.  I want to get strong enough so that I can walk confidently & climb stairs.  Maybe someday dance gracefully again.

I told him I want to challenge my muscles but protect my joints.  I believe that my stronger muscles will protect my joints. 

I’m riding 14 miles, 2 days of every 3, to strengthen my legs & cardio endurance.  I want a strengthening plan that will complement that.  I’d like to strengthen my core (back & abs), and I’d like to imagine, occasionally, that I’m rowing a boat.  He wants me to start & end every gym workout with cardio exercises.  What part of “14 miles in 16th gear” do you not appreciate?  Beyond a warm-up, I want something different at the gym.

I want to challenge my weak muscles to improve in gentle, baby steps.  That’s how I’ve already improved as much as I have.  I told him about Milo of Croton & the bull calf.  He talked about working the muscles to exhaustion.  He advocates working each muscle group to the point of “failure”.  I want to challenge myself & improve bit by bit, but not set myself up for failure.  I want to set myself up for more & more success.  Incremental achievements keep bringing me back for more!

sustainable improvement

I don’t need to measure myself by objective standards of fitness or normative standards of performance.  I’m not trying to be average; I’m trying to be the best me that I can be now.  And to get there, I strive to be better next week than I am this week.

The trainer showed me which machines he recommends that I focus on.  His ideas & advice are a starting point, at least.  Even though each machine has a sign with simple instructions, finally he was able to show me how to use some that I hadn’t understood before.  This is a distinct disadvantage of the cut-rate gym.  There’s only one trainer, and he can only be there part of the time that the gym is open.  I really wanted a gym orientation earlier.  I wanted his general exercise guidelines & input soon, so that I could begin to individualize & tweak it for myself.

The trainer gave me a checklist of exercises with my particular settings on each machine.  I redesigned it, attached it to a half-sheet clipboard, & plan to take it with me next time.  (If I lived on my teeny phone instead of my laptop, I’d probably use an app for that.)  Now I'm looking forward to designing my own plan for challenging play.