Personal Training @ MindSay

after this morning's weights, it occurs to me that i'm in significantly better shape than i thought i was. when my body is working properly, it responds to more aggressive training by relaxing. (today was a circuit that yielded a little over 1000 total repetitions) sounds backwards. but it works. i know i'm training at a higher level because the workouts are getting harder, but my body is having an easier time adapting to them. i know they're benefiting me because i'm still sore afterward. the senior club level training season is so much longer than the college season. it's nice to really be able to spend enough time training rather than rushing into racing too soon. i'm nowhere near peak, but my physiology is responding to the longer cycles of training far better than it ever did with the short ones in college.

if this keeps up, good things will happen.

a

Had the second class of my Basic Fitness Theory couse last night. Going "back to school" is another example of how the more things change, the more they stay the same. Prior to class, I experienced the same silly concerns I had back in junior high and high school -- heck, even university: Where will I sit? What if there are no seats left? What if nobody talks to me? What if we have to do group work and I'm left without a partner? It was amusing but humbling all at once. As it turned out, of course, there were seats left, I wasn't treated like a pariah and I did find a partner for group work -- a very nice German girl called Tina who's an aspiring Pilates instructor and says "wein" instead of "vein."

One interesting aspect of the course is that the instructor, a personal trainer, is borderline obese. I have to say I was a bit taken aback the first time I saw her. It seemed so incongruous that I concocted explanations like "maybe she's pregnant" (she isn't, as it turns out). She addressed her appearance at one point, saying something to the effect of "Some people might look at me and think 'You're 50 pounds overweight, what do you know about fitness?' while others think 'I can relate to her.'" Relating is all well and good, I suppose, but it inspired an internal debate -- should it really matter if a personal trainer/fitness educator is unfit, as long as she knows her stuff? In the end I decided that to me, it does matter -- just like it matters if a dentist has bad teeth or a therapist is an emotional wreck. To give a bad example, if I was in rehab I wouldn't want to be counselled by an off-the-wagon alcoholic because they can sympathize -- I'd want someone who could serve as an example of the beautiful world of sobriety. It's one thing to know how to be fit in theory and another to live it. To be fair, there are a few possibilities that could figure into the great weight equation -- has she only recently become unfit? Is there some other contributing factor (an accident, disability, thyroid issue) that I don't know about? Her kids are three and a half years old (twins) so I know she hasn't recently given birth.

At any rate, while it does matter, it's not so great an issue that I'd drop the course or anything like that -- because while I probably wouldn't hire her to be my personal trainer, she does know fitness theory like the back of her hand. But it did seem a bit weird that the fitness theory instructor was the largest person in the room, especially with the emphasis our texbook places on being an example to clients by demonstrating your personal committment to fitness and proper nutrition. Thoughts? Am I just being a skinny bitch? ;)



Lindsay Lohan...my doppelganger? (*shudder*)

It seems many of my entries these days revolve around public transportation, but you just can't pass up material like that. I was thinking today about things people carry on buses after seeing a woman commuting with an enormous hardback case labelled "pipe and drum kit." Other things I've seen carried on buses:

• A kitten hidden (not very well, I might add) in a man's coat
• A huge oil painting, of which the owners were very protective (if you can afford what I presume to be fine art, why are you taking it home on the bus?)
• A large case of beer
• Stolen stereo equipment (three or four kids rushed onto the bus with an armload each; a couple of panting cops caught up and promptly escorted them off)

It's been a few days since I've written and the withdrawal finally forced me to a fix. I've been doing terribly practical things like budgeting and researching and returning phone calls. All very necessary but uninspiring stuff. One inspiring thing did come out of it, though -- I've officially decided to become a certified personal trainer. I'm very very very very excited at the prospect of a career in the area I love, with flexible hours to accommodate my writing life and triple the pay I'm currently making (I work in a Curves-style circuit training gym but am only certified on the specific equipment we use). Another big plus is that it's work I can do anywhere, which will put me in good stead for my eventual American migration (sorry Canada, but I do love that Yankee). And when Eric and I someday churn out the babies, it's something I can do part-time and even at home with the proper equipment. Ahhhh, my own home gym...psyched psyched psyched!

Working in gyms for the past year and a half has given me a whole new dimension of confidence, which I refer to as my "gym courage." I'm still shy by nature and occasionally falter, but I've learned that I can deal with many types of people and crank the perkiness up to previously unforeseen levels. Most of all, though, I've tapped into the power of my body, as flaky as that sounds -- I'm clueing into its potential and am working, ever so steadily, on becoming a lean, mean muscle machine. It tastes even sweeter when I remember those torturous junior high gym class days and the highfalutin' girl-jocks who sneered in the direction of those considered "just not athletic types." It was a label I dutifully swallowed -- I certainly never saw myself as having the potential or passion for serious fitness. But I've learned that there are many flavours of fitness and athleticism, and I'll probably always be scared of the ball but damned if I can't outrun it.

So now that I'm nearly convinced I can do this, I just have to decide which of two training courses to take -- the YMCA's, which is more expensive but more thorough, or CanFitPro, which is shorter, cheaper but internationally recognized -- and wait for my tax return bonanza to show up (maybe it would help if I filed). I'm also working on streamlining my body with new eating habits and continued exercise -- my first month of the dietary revamp has gone extremely well, better than I'd hoped, but my monthly measurements/weigh-in/body fat%/BMI calc tomorrow will tell the true story.

HUHHHHHH! (That's the sound of an aubree grunting and flexing, tough-guy style)