Marcheline's Muscular Mayhem

THIS IS NOT ME.

Now that we have that out of the way... these are photos of my personal trainer. If paying someone one time for one hour of personal training makes them "yours", then yes - she is my personal trainer.

I just got home from said hour of training, and it's all I can do to hold my arms up to type this. A lot of deleting and backspacing is necessary. That being said, I am so glad I decided to do this!

I think if you want to go somewhere and don't know how to get there, the best way is to find someone who's already where you'd like to be, and ask them. This chick is so incredibly in shape, I told her that "my current goal is to look (when my muscles are 'pumped') the way you look when you're relaxed." She laughed. And then told me to do another set of reps.



She so completely does not fool around. I told her that I am not a "treadmill queen". My goal is not to spend three hours at the gym, walking to nowhere, chatting with the neighbors. I want to get in, work my ass off for half an hour to forty minutes, and get the hell out. She nodded. And told me to do another set of reps.



I determined not to whine, not to complain, not to beg for any extra rests. I listened to her instructions, and did however many reps she requested, even if I had to grunt to get the last two finished.

The only weaknesses I revealed were medical (my right rotator cuff and neck injuries) so that she would know how to craft my workout to avoid further injury. She listened, and specifically told me how to position my body during each exercise to maximize the effect on the target muscle group and minimize impact on the injured areas. She frequently asked how I was feeling, and when I said I felt great, she smiled. And told me to do another set of reps.



My favorite thing about the session was that she never once had me do anything that I normally do when I go to the gym. Each exercise used a "new" piece of equipment, or a new motion with a free-weight that I hadn't done before. This is what I was looking for - fresh puzzle pieces to shift around when crafting my weekly workouts.

I had been doing the "same old same old", week in, week out, and frankly getting bored. I'm sure my muscles were getting bored, too. The body has an amazing way of getting used to things, and then ignoring them completely. A workout should shake up your body, make it pay attention, make it work.

She showed me some great "combo moves" wherein you do one exercise, but by tailoring your movement, you work out two or three muscle groups simultaneously... thus making a quicker yet more effective session! Exactly what I need.

Also, I had been completely ignoring my hamstrings and the tops of my shoulders, not to mention my abs. She remedied this situation - and how!



I thought she would go easy on me when I told her I was 44 years old - but she told me she's got two kids and she's going to be 40 on her next birthday ... and then she told me to do another set of reps.