Melissa does: A session with a personal trainer

I’m going to start a little series off called Melissa Does: with this post. I have been offered a three month pass to the YMCA in Auckland and they offer heaps of things I haven’t ever done before or haven’t done in years so I thought it would be fun to try them all out! First up is a session with a personal trainer.

Thursday: Tonight I’m meeting Adam one of the trainers at the North Shore YMCA for the first initial visit. I have seen a couple of personal trainers in the past but the last time was probably about eight years ago at least. From what I can remember the first visit consists of them weighing and measuring you, something that for the first time I won’t want to shrivel up and hide in a corner over, talk with you about your goals and decide on a way forward. Let’s see if I remember anything!

Later that day: So much to my surprise there was no initial weighing and measuring done. Maybe this is because my goal, for the first time in my life, is not to lose weight. I sat down with Adam and we talked about what I wanted to achieve and what kinds of previous experience I had had with gyms before. He is going to go and work out a program for me and we will meet again soon.

A couple of weeks later: I met Adam again and he has taken me through the program he has devised for me. Since I can only find time in my schedule to get to the gym 2-3 times a week Adam has made a whole body strength training program as I will get the most out of it with the time I’ve got. He took me through each of the machines and got me to have a go so that he could give me any tips on my form and get the right start point in terms of what size weights I start with.

The first day: About a week and a half after I saw Adam to go through the programme I finally made it back to do the whole programme. It went really well, I got it all done at the weights we discussed when I saw Adam and I really enjoyed being back in a gym environment. Let’s see how I feel tomorrow, jelly legs anyone?

The day after: I was expecting to be a bit sore the next day and have trouble moving around. To my complete surprise I was totally fine, maybe I need to put my weights up earlier than expected. I did really enjoy it and I’ll be aiming to get to the gym two to three times a week.

Now it’s up to me! Adam has recommended I up my weights every couple of weeks or as I feel I can progress. I have no trouble getting cardio workouts in as they are very easy to do without a gym but working on making my body stronger is something I have been wanting to focus more on. I love a new challenge and can’t wait to see some more changes to my body. Let’s hope life calms down a bit and I manage to get to the YMCA at least a couple of times a week.

Please note: I have been given a three month membership from the YMCA to try them out and see what they offer! If you would like to find out more about them you can here.