Wednesday, May 23, 2012

The new PT

In the coming weeks I hope the acronym PT leaves my vocabulary entirely.

But on Wednesday I met with a personal trainer for the first time.  My trainer is a Mom who won a lifelong battle against weight and found herself to be a runner on the other side of the fight.  Of all the choices I had at the gym I chose her because she's been where I am now and she has a lot of tools for getting out of my situation.  Also.  Possibly more important.  She's happy to meet with me at 5:30am.

So here's what we did:
10 min Treadmill warmup - 2mph
Circuit Rotation - 12 Reps of each - weight is in parenthesis
Leg Extension (30)
Leg Curl (30)
Leg Press (40)
Adductor (30)
Abductor (30)
3 min Cardio (Elliptical or Arc Trainer moving fast!)
Circuit Rotation
3 min Cardio
Circuit Rotation
3min Cardio
Shoulder work - 5 lb free weight in each hand - 10 reps each
Front Raise (arms moving forward from side to just below my shoulders)
Side Raise (arms moving out to the side lifted no higher than my shoulders)
Shoulder Press
Crunches on a Swiss Ball
Stretch

At the beginning of the workout I was a little concerned.  I'm not a huge fan of the circuit machines and it has been months since I've used them.  However, I really liked mixing the cardio in between sets.  I'd never thought to do that before. By the time we got to the stretch I really felt satisfied with the workout.

The other lesson for me what to maintain my form by supporting all my movements with my core.  I know core strength is important, but maybe my abdominals have been so weak for so long that I really didn't know what it felt like to use them during strength exercises.  It made a huge difference in performing the exercises correctly and keeping the hurt away.  Thankfully I didn't have so much as a twinge in my knees during the workout.  I'm at a loss to describe how big a relief that was.

As my husband purchased 3 sessions for me (I love that man), we meet again this coming Wednesday.  I don't have PT next week, so I'll be attempting to repeat this Wednesday's workout on Monday and she'll come up with a more PT style work out for me on Wednesday.  I can't believe I'm excited about this, but I really am.  I love feeling strong and positive!

No comments:

Post a Comment