Recap: My Session with the Trainer!

*A little long, sorry*

So on Friday, I had a free session with a personal trainer at Bally's gym. The night before I was totally nervous! I was telling Matt and you guys that I hope she doesn't kill me. I was thinking of Jillian Michael's on the Biggest Loser and was a little frightened! Her name was Sue and she has a totally hot body, which wasn't as intimidating as I thought. She was pretty nice, even though I kind of expected she would be because it was our first session. I really enjoyed the whole thing! She only kicked my butt a little :)

So here's how it went. I met with her in one of the offices and we talked about what I wanted to achieve, medical history, what exercise I was currently doing, and she measure my BMI and Body fat (which was a disgusting 43%. That will change VERY soon though.) I told her all I was doing, my recent weightloss, and my exercises. The first thing she did was map out what I should be doing. I should try and hit 45 minutes of cardio a day (which my draw dropped) and she said it'd be easier if I split it by doing 15 minutes on elliptical, 15 minutes on bike, and 15 minutes on stairmaster (RIGHT..). Which all sounded great but scared the crap out of me. That is def a challenge I want to work my way up to!!! She also said I should be doing some resistence training about 3 times a week and aerobics too. (I'm thinking I should try and make some classes. Any ideas?!)

Then we moved over to the maps and she showed me 5 basic exercises that work each part of the body. Here they were:

The Plank: You stay on your lower arm and keep your body straight (no dipped backs or arched backs). You hold it for about a minute and then you can add to it. You can lift one leg in the air and then the other, etc.

Side Plank: Lay on your side, with one arm on your hip and the other you should be laying on. Keep your body straight, only your elbow and lower arm & ankles/feet should be on the mat. Then do reps of 10, dipping your hips up and down. (Does that make sense?)

Chest Pulls w/ resistence band: You can use any sort of weights, bands, etc for this exercise. I used the resistance band that Sue was holding. You basically hold your arms out, grab the handles of the band, and pull.. you have to keep your elbows as close to your body as possible. Imagine your crushing a almond in your upper shoulders, because you want them to touch. Also, to add more to the exercise, keep your body in a slight squat position.

Chest Presses w/ weights: You can do chest presses on the workout bench but I did them on those big ball things. Sue said this is more effective because you are engaging your core as well. So you lay on the ball with your shoulders being the only thing on it. You keep you hips and belly button towards the ceiling, so you have a flat back. Sucking in your belly button to your spine keeps your abs engaged. You do reps of pushing the weights into the air.

Push ups: I did the normal push ups on your hands and feet. Then I got tired, so I switch to on my knees. Important note! When you do them on your knees.. make sure your not cheating by not going down all the way or keeping your butt in the air. Your upper half of the body should still be going down like your in a normal push up!

Lunges: These are your typical lunges. Just make sure when you go down, your knee doesn't go over your foot. Also, try and go as deep as possible (like a 1/2 inch from the ground) to make it a better work out! You can add weights and things to make it more challenging.

Squats: These are your typical squats too. Imagine your about to sit in a chair. Just let your butt sink, without loosing balance. Again, don't bring your knees past your feet. You can add weights to your hands and push up as your body sinks into the squat.

So needless to say, it was a good time. We ended the session by talking about training prices. She said she'd like to see me buy a 2 month package with 24 sessions so we could work out 2x a week for 2 months. I was like sounds good.. until I saw the price. It would be almost $1100 bucks for 2 months! Right now, that is nowhere near my budget. But I know someday I will totally sign up for it. Until then, I can continue to do these exercises and add to them. I like that I can do them all at home!! It'll make my already hectic schedule a lot easier.

I ended the gym visit by doing 5 minutes on the stairmaster, 10 minutes going super fast on the bike!! I was ready for the rest of my day! Now only if I could do that all every day!! Goodness!!

I've decided I really need to step up my working out if I want to see more results. I want to get a cheap treadmill or elliptical for my garage! Any ideas?

Phillipians 4:13: "I can do all things through Him who strengthens me."