First Gym Session

The ice is broken, I have taken the plunge and am fresh from my first workout with the personal trainer. Yesterday I arranged a ten o'clock appointment at the gym for the first of my three training sessions. I was told that I would be allocated a personal trainer that would be able to help me in my quest to lose weight. The trainer apparently specialises in assisting people in my situation. I was subsequently contacted by the personal trainer and told to meet her at the gym.

I arrived before 10:00 and met my trainer who was waiting for me at reception. I deposited my gear in the changing room and met her at the seating area in the gym. We had a discussion about where I was at, my goals, and if she could assist me to reach them. I told her that I had set aside the next 6 months to focus solely on reaching a goal weight of 100 kilograms. She said that this would be possible, but would require a lot of work to achieve this by January 2007. This was encouraging.

I then asked if she would be designing a program for fitness training tailored to me. She told me that she wouldn't be doing this. I was a bit disappointed as the gym I have joined does not appear to have people that design training regimens for members. So, either I will have to do it myself, or I will have to continue to use the personal trainer. It is therefore imperative that she impress me with her skills if I am to pay what it will cost (which I have not been told because the first three session were part of joining up).

The personal trainer stressed how iumportant diet was. She said that it was about 80% of the battle that I was getting into. Exercise was the remaining 20%. I asked if she was going to assist me with my diet and she indicated that she would design a plan, however that would be after the three free sessions. She asked me to keep a record of the things that I am eating and stated that there was no point in changing diet at this stage as the increased exercise would be enough for my body to adjust to. Sounds like what I was thinking!

She also stressed that I needed to look after my joints as they would likely have been stressed by carrying extra weight for a period of time. I asked if she was going to take my weight, however she said she wasn't. She instead asked me how much I weighed. I don't know and told her so. She then estimated my weight at 140 kilos. She indicated that the workout we would be doing would be tailored to indicate to her how fit, or unfit, I was. I had previously indicated on the gym forms, and to her when we were speaking, that my fitness level was zero.

After the discussion we then went to the workout area. She had me jogging on the spot, using the stairs to provide some resistance. After this warm up she had me walk back and forth as fast as I could over a 20m distance inside the gym. I was holding 8 kilo dumbells for this exercise. I did the 40m return trip about 6 times. After that I did some exercises on a bench holding a 9kg medicne ball out in front of me as I stepped up onto the bench and back down again for 20 reps on each leg. After this followed as many press ups as I could do and the workout was over. I finished by doing 25 minutes walking on the treadmill. The next training session is two days away.

I felt good when I finished, however I did feel that I wasn't really being told anything that I didn't know, and I was disappointed that I wasn't going to be provided with anything that might help me unless I signed up to continue going to the trainer. I felt like the assistance I was getting was really only to provide a taste so that they could land me as a client on an ongoing basis. I guess that the main assessment I will have to make is whether or not I think it is financially viable (difficult when I don't know what the cost will be - I will ask her point blank next time). I was also perplexed by the trainer not weighing me, or taking any other objective measurements that would help me determine what my starting point is and measure subsequent progress. It appears that I may have to do this myself, however I could not locate the scales at the gym but will keep an eye out for them next time.

I do feel good that the ice has been broken. I now have nothing to fear except fear itself.