Personal Training For the Win

I’ve never had a session with a personal trainer before. (Well, until this past week. But we’ll get to that.)  To be truthful I’ve always found it a bit intimidating. I mean, I’ve seen Jillian Michaels on tv. Do I really want somebody to scream and make me work so hard that I start to cry? Sure, I’m pretty darn fit but I know there are things I’m not so good at- and those things are exactly what I avoid doing when I’m at the gym. This is probably not the best way to get the most out of my time there, I know. Yes, I’m good at running. I’m even pretty darn strong but for some reason I always stick to the same weight machines every time I’m at the gym.  I have my little area, my sequence of exercises that I knock out. Bada bing bada boom.  If I get tired or find my muscles failing I have a hard time sticking it out for another set or a few extra repetitions. A rut, I am stuck in.

Recently I re-joined Wisconsin Athletic Club and I was offered two free personal training sessions, something I neglected to do the first time I was a member because of the reasons mentioned above.  This time I decided to suck it up and do it. If I’m paying good money to use all of this awesome gym equipment then why am I not taking full advantage of it?  Enter personal trainer Coreen at the Greenfield WAC.  I told her I’m a running junkie who needs to get back into strength training and she schooled me on the need to ditch the rows of weight machines in favor of free weights, cables and even my own bodyweight.  You see, apparently weight machines were designed for bodybuilders who wanted to target one particular muscle or muscle group.  When you use a specific machine you are working that area and that area alone.  Not necessarily a bad idea.  However, when you take yourself out of the structured machine weights and start using free weights, you force your body to use all kinds of muscles at the same time- in addition to the targeted muscle group.  For example, she had me standing on a Bosu ball doing bicup curls with a 20 lb barbell. Of course the main muscles I was using were my biceps but I also had to use my core and legs to balance on the ball as well as other muscles in my arms in order to keep the bar stable and centered.  In between sets with the weights she also had me jumping on and off the Bosu ball.  This way, while I was “resting” my arms I was still keeping my heart rate up and working my lower body.  Cool!

So I took my little list of new exercises Coreen gave me and I went back again today to go through all of them and let me tell you, IT KICKED MY BUTT.  I felt way more tired in the same amount of time I usually spend in that area of the gym.  I must be doing something right.  If you find you are stuck in the same sort of situation at your own gym, I can’t recommend enough signing up for a training session in order to get introduced to some new things. If it’s too much of a budget stretch maybe just go with a friend and dedicate one day to trying out different areas and weights. It can be less scary if you have backup.  Trust me, you’ll end up viewing the same old gym in a whole new light.

*Photo by localfitness.com.au.