If you’ve been reading my blog for the past six months or so, you know that I used to belong to a gym and completely loved it!  Because we moved away from the convinient location, we decided to stop our membership, buy a treadmill and just workout at home.  It was a simple enough decision because it’s what I had been doing for the past two years on St. Paul Island.

Yes, that is a giant paper clip to keep the Kindle from shakin from my thunderous strides.

Some friends of ours joined a new LA Fitness location and invited Dan to play basketball on several occasions.  I toured the LA Fitness and was hit my Cupid’s arrow!  MUST JOIN GYM!

It would be a slightly larger investment than when we were members at Snap Fitness, but this time there were more perks added to the pot:

• Group fitness classes
• Locker rooms with showers
• A lap pool
• Sauna
• Seven times more space
• Personal trainers

The last bonus was what really caught my eye, that and the group classes, which I am sporadically taking advantage of.  Remember my early Spin Class days?

Anyways, when you sign up for a membership, included is a free, one-hour assessment.  I went in and talked to a very nice, former-Marine named Dion.  I explained my fitness history to him:

• Former fatty turned runner
• Know basics about weight loss, but not muscle gain
• I can squat and lunge until the cows come home, but can’t get rid of my damn jiggle.

After putting me through the ringer, we both decided (with Dan’s blessing and $) that I could sign up for a personal training package.  It’s definitely a bit of a splurge, but Dan and I have our reasons for why it is worth the investment at this point:

• I’m not starting from scratch – AKA not completely ignorant of what to do, but need some help
• I am just enough aware to be dangerous in the gym = INJURY AND INCORRECT FORM
• Motivation to keep it up
• A happier wife = a happier life

The same day as my assessment, I was paired with my new gym best friend, Celeste.  I honestly was against working out with a woman.  Call me sexist, but I just felt at the time that I would be more comfortable working out with a guy.  Here’s why:

1. I’m 5’9″ and around 155lbs.  All the female trainers I had watched were all 5’3″ and 110lbs.  Intimidate me much??
2. I thought the bigger the muscles, the better the trainer
3. I’m 31; the female trainers are all 21.

Despite my fragile ego, I began working out with Celeste with the backup plan that I could always request someone new.  I am glad that I didn’t protest too much because Celeste is great!  She’s motivational, supportive, a great personality, and she has been kicking my butt for the past four weeks!

I meet with her three times a week, and will be dropping down to two for the month of March.  In those sessions over the first month, I have seen a lot of growth in muscles that I never thought I would see again/ever.

Here are some of my favorite exercises that we do and have far I’ve progressed:

1.  Leg Press

I started out with 70 lb. and when I maxed out on Thursday of last week, I was at 125 lb.

2.  Dead Lift

I started at a wimpy 25 lb. and am up to 85 lb.

3.  Bicep Curls – 21s

I do each of the exercises above seven times.  I complete each set 3 times through with a 30 lb. barbell.

4.  Yates Rows

It’s an underhanded grip applied to a row, and I love it!  I perform 3 sets of 16,12,10 reps with a 40 lb. barbell.

5.  Hang and Clean Press

I asked Celeste how to do these moves because I had just watched the 2012 Cross Fit Games over the weekend, so she taught me the form, and now I do 4 sets of 12 reps with a 30-35 lb. barbell.

6.  Back Squats

These are my absolute favorite!  Most likely I favor them because of how much Celeste pumps up my ego by telling me that my form is perfect when I do them.

I started out doing 16 reps with a 45 lb. bar, but now I’m up to 90 lb!

Tomorrow I go in for my one-month progress update.  I will for sure let you know the results.