I started my getting in to shape journey months ago, you know the kind where you have to think about it first. Then you start researching where you want to begin and at what gym. While at Physical Therapy (Institute for Sports and Physical Therapy) I was invited to a free boot camp class starting in January to promote their new gym (HitFit 509) so I went. Boy did that workout kick my rear and I never quite realized how out of shape I actually was! There were many things that I couldn’t do well yet my friend Julie encouraged me telling me I can only improve from here! The instructor Rob was patient and modified some of the exercises to fit my ability and work with my foot since I had just started using it again a few weeks before hand.
My first month had been one of great gain in my abilities! Starting out I couldn’t ride a stationary bike with no hands, I couldn’t balance myself on the half ball thingy, lifting my legs off the ground was a serious embarrassment and a “you want me to do a plank whaaa?” Squats and TRX bands were not part of my daily routine …. Seriously who created this torture? I now ride with no hands and for longer than I did when I started out, I was able to do the side lunges on the half ball thingy, I can lift my legs off the ground with out to much embarrassment and while planks are still difficult I can at least do them and the squats, well we have become intimately acquainted for sure!
Weight being added and every time I go in there is something else that I am learning that I never thought I would do. While dead lifting using the “sissy bar” (you know the one that doesn’t weigh 45 pounds) might not seem like a big deal but adding weight to it and doing a clean is such an accomplishment!
The physical effects of my workouts have started showing up as well! My clothes fit better and I know that I have lost weight (which is part of my goal) and there are things I can’t wait to do once the weather turns just a little warmer!
While this was torture, it is just what I needed to get myself into shape. I enjoy the small class and the work with the instructor in that small setting, it’s like having a personal trainer right there with you the whole time. I could certainly be in a gym with 50 other people but is that instructor going to see when I don’t have my hips out enough for a squat or if my shoulders are in my ears while on the TRX bands? The encouragement when you think you can’t do one more yet right behind you, you here “you can do it”. Learning to push myself just a little harder and to work just a little harder, I like that even though my abilities are not the same as my friends, knowing that I can only improve from here is what keeps me going.
I can’t wait to see what this month brings!
-Jessica L.
