Phase 4

O.K. So off to the gym we go......... So in the beginning we went a couple times a week, we tried different days so we could try all the different instructors. It was interesting how different the classes were depending on who was teaching. I mean the basic moves are the same but as far as energy, music and overall intensity of the workout really varied from instructor to instructor. There also was a very obvious "culture" within these classes among the people in the class. So we went a couple times a week trying to figure out the moves, trying to figure out where and how we fit into this group. I am not sure exactly why in retrospect but for some reason we got a little frustrated so after a few months we actually decided to look into a personal trainer. (I KNOW! Who am I and what have I done with Kathy??) I could hardly believe it myself, not only have I been working out for some time now , starting at curves, but I joined a gym and was looking into personal training...... It was interesting because it just seemed like the next step and I really did not think too much about it at the time. So we did end up buying 5 sessions together with a trainer. What we did not know was the man who we would be working with had the nickname of "The Sergeant" ! Yep he lived up to that name. He came by it honestly..... He was very serious about health and fitness, he pushed and did not find anything less then 110% acceptable. So he would shout and push us, "Kick higher" , "Faster" , "Get your toes out of the water" ..... the list goes on...... and on....... He was definitely the drill Sergeant with the high expectations that his name eludes to............ However ...... The other part of this was he had so much information about everything health related that we not only got instruction in exercise but he always gave us information about why we would do the moves we did, what muscles we were working, as well as nutritional information and all kinds of health tips. Being new to all this I of course had so many questions and I actually became interested in this whole new world that had really been foreign to me before and honestly I was O.K. with not knowing, so this was yet another change that was taking place. So as the knowledge and information grew I had also been experiencing something for the first time..... This man who really did not know me at all, before working with me, took a genuine interest in my health. No one including myself had ever taken a interest in my health. It was not as though he was getting the big bucks or anything and he clearly spent more time talking to us after our workouts then he was getting paid to do. Anyway I can go on but let me just say here I will always be grateful to this man who not only educated me in so many ways abut so many different aspects of health but he also made me look at myself differently............... I remember him telling me I would one day be in his sculpting class doing all the things I never thought I could do..... For whatever reason he had faith in me and believed I was capable which really turned around my own belief in myself and my abilities. Anyway so Wendy and I did a few sessions with Brian (Sergeant) and then decided to go workout on our own following the workout he had written out for us and skip a class or two. Before long there were a lot less classes and more of our own..... But then at some point my workout buddy was bored with the water and that was where most of our workouts happened. We did get a "land" routine written out for us by Brian but I was having a hard time with a few things, getting on some of the machines and the impact was hard on my body, especially my knees. I was just so heavy it really was hard on my body to exercise on the land (sounds funny but that's how I differentiate, water vs. land exercise. LOL) So I went back to Aqua class and my buddy would go workout on land and we would meet after.... Eventually for a variety of reasons I lost my gym buddy and was faced with another decision..... Can I keep this up on my own????