June 19th, 2009
On the bench press sweat dripping down my face a whole five minutes into my first training session – thinking to myself “what the hell was I thinking??”
I stretched my arms cracked my knuckles and prepared myself mentally – did a few deep Lamaze like breathing techniques – revved up like all the best body builders do. I let out a manly grunt and pushed the barbell off the safety latches down to my chest and back up again. I managed to do this 8 times – not bad for my first try huh?…. Gasping for air and quickly losing color in my face I went to write down the weight and reps I had done.
Hey Dan, how much weight was that? …
……..uhhh… I didn’t put any weights on the bar yet…
I was a little embarrassed but Dan was real cool about it – we all got to start somewhere, right? He was less worried about how much weight I had on the barbell and more focused on teaching me some fundamentals:
Breathing: Breathe out when you exert (push or pull) and inhale when you are relaxing (bringing the weight back in).
Counting: 2 seconds when you exert (push or pull) – 4 seconds when you are relaxing (bringing the weight back in).
Form: Doing exercises in proper form will ensure maximum results and avoid injury.
On the bus ride home in between trying to remember when to breathe and tending to my sore limbs - I remembered being on a stationary bike [doing about 0.2km] at a community center in Japan watching in amazement as this tiny girl [90-100lbs tops] raised a loaded barbell over her head [Olympic weightlifting style] like it was a [insert something ridiculously light here].
One day I hope to be as strong as that a girl.
for the record the weight of the bar is about 35-45lbs
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June 15th, 2009
The Questionnaire.
Rate Your Habits on a scale from 1-5
(1 = Chris Farley and 5 = Christian Bale)
• Eating 1 2 3 4 5
• Exercise 1 2 3 4 5
• Sloth 1 2 3 4 5
Write down your goals/reason for joining the gym
Lose weight. Not feel and look like sloth.
The questionnaire was a bit longer than that but the questions were all focused around those areas – I believe they also asked about being a Smoker and/or a Drinker – of which I was both. Needless to say… I didn’t score very well.
Had a seat with the fitness consultant – we reviewed my questionnaire and he asked some follow up questions. The main one being how much weight I wanted to lose? – I estimated approx 30-40lbs would be reasonable. (to be honest I wasn’t sure how much I weighed at the time). Finally he asked me to set a goal [time frame] to loose this weight. I gave myself 6 months at first but then he had me work out the math and we agreed 1 year would be a far more realistic goal.
40/12 = 3.3lbs a month versus 40/5 = 6.6lbs a month.
He brought over a 1 year contract and explained the pricing would be approx 28$ paid bi-weekly – I asked if there was a corporate discount – there was – he asked what company I was with but did not ask for any proof. Regardless he knocked the price down to 23$ bi-weekly . I was ready to sign up – thought of it as a commitment and an investment – if I am paying I will surely go!. The consultant sales guy mentioned they had a special promotion where I could try 6 – 30 minute 1-on-1 sessions with a professional personal trainer for the “low low” price of 120$ (regularly 220$) – Yeah.. I am sucker and bought it. – to be honest though I really would benefit from fitness instruction. – besides what have I got to lose? money, weight?.
Scheduled my first 1-on-1 session for the following day. Nando went through the same process but scheduled his first 1-on-1 later that week.
ON THE RIGHT TRACK
See you tomorow goodlife new life.
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June 10th, 2009
Summer 2007
Must’ve been a nice day out.. I thought to myself as I watched the sunset from my balcony. I’d been out partying since Friday afternoon and finally gotten to bed that morning around 5AM. I sat on this old wooden table my roommate had brought from his old place and lit my cigarette. I took one haul and started hacking uncontrollably, inadvertently waking up the rest of my body and boy was it ever upset!.
I turned to my roommate who had just walked out on to the balcony and asked him if he wanted the rest of my smoke because I wasn’t feeling so hot. Truth is I felt like death and not that mid 20′s hangover “death” either – it was like I was falling apart from the inside out and my body was ready to give out at any second. I was genuinely worried that I would not make it through my second smoke let alone the night.
I went back to bed with the realization that something was not right in the world in my world and at 25 I should not be feeling like this.
Something has got to change, I have got to change.
Stay tuned…..
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