Today the experience is training arms and core. (God that's a douchey way to start a post..."Oh you know just workin' the lats and the tris baby, gettin' swole". Kill me for that.)
I've decided the reason to have a trainer is mainly to have someone tell you "Oh no you're not done yet."
When I train by myself I lift until I'm pretty sure I'm done. That I can't do anymore. Everything I've read says you should lift to exhaustion when you're looking to gain muscle.
Well my idea of exhaustion on my own is different from exhaustion with a trainer. I lift to my idea of exhaustion and then Chandini says "Ok 8 more to go...for this set."
What the hell do you want from me?
It's good though. It's good. I've just resigned myself to being sore for the rest of this year. I hope that by the end of all the PT time that I'll have learned more about where "actual exhaustion" is and have some lifting regiments I can do on my own.
I think one thing I have to stop doing is equating lifting and the gym with douchey. While yes often times the two do indeed go together (stop bouncing your pecs in the mirror when you're done with a chest press asshole...you know who you are) they aren't necessarily always tied together. I've learned a lot working out with intelligent and informed trainers about the body, nutrition, health, wellness and being sore. Having a commitment to being healthier is actually pretty awesome and making lifestyle changes that positively effect both my body and my health are good steps to take. I think growing up in a pretty unhealthy environment engrained in me the idea that being healthy and fit was a bad thing or something to be looked down on. "Why waste your life in a gym or eating healthy foods when you can be fat and happy?" Well fat was certainly not happy and while I'm sure some of that is mental, a lot of it is biological. Low energy levels, inability to walk long distances or even stand for long portions of the day and low self esteem tied with poor body image from years of being unhealthy certainly aren't the way to go. There's a balance between letting the gym and your eating habits take control of your life and letting them govern your decisions. All sorts of studies (which I will leave unreferenced because I don't feel like looking them up right now) have suggested that working out during the day actually makes you more productive and while yes you do have to give that time to being in the gym, it's not a waste at all. I'm starting to look at the time I spend working out or the times I skip the free bread bowl or a slice of pie at the beginning/end of a meal as investments in the future. Sure I "lose" an hour now but it's hopefully going to help me live longer and improve my quality of life when I get old. Growing old (and I mean actually old as in nursing home old) is terrifying to me. I have been to those places and the people who are confined to rascals and walkers with tennis balls on them are pretty depressing. I want the ability to walk and move unassisted as long as I can have it and if that means I have to spend some time in the gym now and maybe skip a movie on the couch now and then well then so be it.
Changing a lifetime of unhealthy choices and habits takes a lot and it's hard most of the time. Of course I'd rather have Doritos than green beans for my snack but I'd also rather be confident going to a beach and taking off my shirt. I spent too much time apologizing for how fat I was (or how fat I perceived myself to be) with my body language and attitude. Shaking all of that off (literally and figuratively speaking) has taken a pretty intense borderline obsession with this process but I keep looking towards the light at the end of the tunnel. When I've built up the body and the health that I'm aiming for and I can start the "maintain" phase I hope it will be a bit easier than the "swimming against the current" mentality I have now. I've still got a ways to go before I'm there mentally but each day is a step in the right direction. (How motivational.)
Huh, this was supposed to be a boring short post about an arm work out.
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