Yes, I’ve been naughty again and fell behind on my posting. Although Michael Jackson counselled us not to blame it on the sunshine, I’m afraid the recent balmy, tropical weather is completely at fault for my lapse.
You may recall, I had scheduled a training session at Impressions Fitness Studio. This hour-long session consisted of a one-to-one talk with a Fitness Consultant and an introduction to a basic training programme geared to my specific needs.
We discussed my personal health issues, medical history and goals. She took my blood pressure, height and weight, inputted these details into a computer which in turn downloaded it onto a key. We went into the gym to start planning out my exercise regime.
The Consultant explained that the key held all the information I would need to get the best out of my work-out and that I needed to bring it every time I came to the fitness centre. She demonstrated how to use the key to record my daily work-out and then we began roughing out a plan.
As this was the first time I had set foot in a fitness centre for more years than I care to remember, we had to play this first session by ear. The Consultant started me off on a 20-minute warm-up consisting of five minutes on the reclining bike, five minutes on the cross-trainer and ten minutes on the treadmill. In order to use these machines, I needed to insert my key into the slot. The key would download my specific details and programme the exercise machine accordingly. Without this key, the system would not be able to keep track of my progress.
Because of my balance and weakness issues, adjustments needed to me made to compensate for these. For example, I’m only doing leg work on the cross-trainer. This is so I can improve my balance as well as my cardio fitness. The arms will be introduced at a later date.
My left knee was painful while pedalling on the reclining bike so a seat adjustment was needed. It’s a tad cramped but it is less stressful on my knee. Once I was warmed up, we moved on to the free weights.
I attempted to do bicep curls and tricep extensions, but that proved painful as I had recently been diagnosed with tennis elbow. I could only manage front raises with 2kg weights. But all was not lost. The Consultant demonstrated how to work my biceps and triceps using a high and low pulley machine.
The Consultant then introduced me to the BOSU ball. This was to help me work on my balance. The object of the game was to stand on it with both feet and maintain my balance for 10 seconds for five reps (repititions). ‘Oh really now,’ I thought, ‘I’m not that bad off.’ What the Consultant didn’t mention was that the ball was rather squishy and staying in place wasn’t as easy as I had naively thought. I found myself reaching for something to hold on to every two seconds to keep from falling off. ‘This will help build up your core as well as improve your balance,’ the Consultant assured me.
Once I finally finished on the BOSU, the Consultant showed how to do single-legged free squats. The trick here is to shift your weight back towards the heel as if you were sitting; all the while maintaining your balance. It was challenging on my left leg but nearly impossible to do on my right. This was going to take some time to master.
My hour session was up and the Consultant gave me a pat on the back for a job well done. We went back into the office where the Consultant loaded all the details of this training session onto my key and showed me how to end the work-out session using my key.
My exercise programme was far from complete. During this session we did the warm-up and some upper body training. The next session would pick up from there with more upper body work, lower body training and the cool down.
It was a good start. I felt a bit awkward and clumsy at times but it's still very early days. After all, it took me 3 1/2 years to get in this shape. It's going to take some time to get re-shaped.
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