Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Round 2 - 11/02/10

Today was Day 2, and my first official day as a member of the gym. It was also my first real session with the trainer. The gym was a little busier today and there was a good bit of turnover in the time I was there. My workout wasn't as intense as yesterday, but I really liked it. The focus was more on getting the right techniques so I'll be able to complete the WOD when I'm on my own. One of my favourite things about the gym is still that the trainers will help anyone at anytime with anything... form, spot them, give them a little push. It's a very interactive gym (though I'm still a little intimidated by all the people that obviously know each other when I'm obviously new, hahaha). You never feel alone or isolated.


So today, like I said, we focused mostly on technique. We started with back squats which felt so weird. She only had me squatting 42lbs and it wasn't because my legs were tired, it was that my shoulders just felt weirdly stretched. I kept asking if my technique was right and she helped me a few times, but said my technique was good. Those will take some getting used to. My legs do hurt a fair bit now, but I probably could handle a good bit more weight once I'm more comfortable with the exercise. We did 3 sets of 5.


Next we did some presses. I liked those more. They were also done with the barbell and I ended up doing 27lbs (though I might be able to increase that a little). They were a lot more comfortable and really worked your shoulders. I could've kept going for a while on those. Same thing, 3 sets of 5.


Last we did some deadlifts, which were kind of in between the first two exercises in terms of comfort. It took me a few tries to get the hang of it, but I seemed to manage better than I did the squats. We did 52lbs on those and I felt every one of those 52 pounds. Haha. It was good though, I like working out my back.


And then we did a little mini-workout before I left. First thing we did was try to get me to do a pull up (which I knew I couldn't do). We tried doing it by jumping up into it off a box and that was a little too easy. We tried it with some resistance bands assisting me (these are some thick bands!) and that was a little too hard. In the end I chose to double up on the bands. The box was too easy and I just needed a little more...It was really cool to finally see the top of the bar! Hehe.


I rowed 500m as fast as I could, then 40 (unweighted) squats, 30 full sit ups, 20 pushups, 10 pull ups. I did that in 6:19. Apparently that's a pretty competitive time for a newbie so I was pleased with that. The most exciting thing was definitely the pull up though. My goal for the three months is to be able to do a real, unassisted one.


After my workout the male trainer came up to ask me how my workout was. He was helping one of the other girls with a clean and press but I thought it was cool he made a point to talk to me.


I'm going back tomorrow after work for the same kind of thing. I think I need to buy some more crop pants because the shorts are kind of uncomfortable on the rowers. My legs are stiff, my shoulders are dead and I can feel those dead lifts all in my lower back.


I'm definitely excited to go back though. :)


Also, question, when would you guys like me to post picture updates? I was thinking every month or every two weeks. Thoughts? I could post stats updates every 2 weeks and pictures every month...


- N

4 comments:

  1. Very cool! Glad to hear the second day was as good as the first!

    I like that you're telling us when you have a specific goal (like the unassisted pull up) you want to accomplish. Do you have any other task-based goals like that? Or is the rest kind of a learning, see what you can do, sort of thing?

    Also, pictures every couple of weeks would be cool! Maybe every month, but if you have a week in the middle where you just want to share you could do that, too. Stats every 2 weeks works.

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  2. I'm so annoyed I can't figure out how to reply to comments. Grr.

    Thank you, I like that too. As of right now I don't have any other goals, but I think I will once I'm more familiar with the weights and stuff. I'll know what's realistic and stuff.

    Kay! I'll take them after two weeks and see if there's any difference. I'll definitely post measurements.

    Thanks lover. :)

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  3. pictures every few weeks is great if you can swing it. I love seeing the subtle changes over time. I wonder if you can have some sort of slide show or album where you see the comparisons.

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  4. I probably can once I get enough of them. I'll play around on the Macbook and see how it works. I'll try taking some pictures at the end of next week to start. :)

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