Ze lovely Sarah Devlin!
A little over a month ago I started on my journey to fitness once and for all, by enlisting the help of the lovely Sarah to help me navigate the jungle known as “Doing More Exercise Than Just Walking to the Bus Stop Each Day“.
It was an unknown world to me, full of strange creatures such as the wild lunge squat, the dreaded tricep dip, which tend to travel in packs of ten…(at this stage, I hear they get more prevalent the further into the jungle we go), the gentle plie (plee-yay) and the common press up. There are also some ultra rare beasts known as ‘rest periods’, but we haven’t seen too many of those during our travels.
Dreaded tricep dip, for reference!
So what have I learned so far on my trip? Here are a few of my discoveries.
♥ I am capable of so, so, SO much more than I ever thought possible. Despite being in the early stages of training, I had very low expectations of how much exercise my body could cope with. The great thing about this style of training is that we work on so many different areas (eg. not just cardio, although there is some) that most muscle groups are nicely exhausted by the end of the session.
♥ I was scared at first. In the past I’ve heard of trainers who make you work out until you can’t see / throw up / emotionally break down. My training sessions are not like this! By no means will Sarah let me slack off, but she’s not there to make me cry or be sick.
♥ My bum, thighs & tummy are getting tighter and stronger all the time. How do I know this? Well first up it’s the aches and pains that come the day / two days after training!! This has got to be the worst part, but I’m told it will get better in time. It just means I’m working muscles that have been taking it easy for WAY too long!!
Secondly, I can visibly see / feel that these areas are getting firmer and it’s such a great feeling. As a reminder, I’m pretty small already and not trying to lose weight, but I’m very happy to be getting firmer and more toned as that was my goal 🙂
A pic of me at the beach after some workouts… oh wait. Maybe one day?
♥ Better posture – as you can imagine, running a website requires a fair bit of computer time. My ‘real job’ also involves a hefty amount of staring at screens also, so partially rounded shoulders tend to come with the territory.
We’ve been working on my posture, strengthening up the back / shoulder / chest muscles and even the work on the core helps too! I’ve definitely noticed an improvement which makes me super happy! My spine is beginning to ♥ me again.
So overall starting personal training is definitely one of the best things I’ve ever done for my health & wellbeing and I’m only just beginning to see the results.
I can’t wait to see what happens as I continue with it!
If you want to find out more about Sarah see her website!
Tell me your personal training stories of joy / woe!
Be well,
Annette
xoxo
Great to hear you’re having such a good experience with this Annette. Your will be thanking yourself in years to come if you keep up the strength training 🙂
But oh god… tricep dips… I’m still trying to make friends with them and they’re really playing hard to get.
I hadn’t even thought of it in terms of bone strength Conor so thanks for reminding me of another reason why this is a great move!
I also wanted to mention that I feel my skin glows a bit more after the workout + the day after.
Something which is lacking at this stressful time of year!
I have just started training too! Yesterday was my second session and i LOVE it. I havent exercised in years and i felt the same way you did… scared and unfit!
Even after two sessions i feel better (Thats probably in my mind haha) and i love feeling sore the next day, it makes me feel like ive worked hard at something!
Im so motivated now to do more. Oh and i have more energy in the mornings. YAY!
Hey April!
I would love to hear more about your training! Who are you going with and where are you training?
I feel all the benefits you do too, it feels like a wonderful new world to me! xox