My Very First Workout

Over seven years ago, sick of the way I looked and felt, I called the YMCA and asked to be set up with a personal trainer. I don’t remember all the questions they asked me, but I do remember giving my age and saying that I would prefer to work with a woman. A short time later I received a call from Becky, my new personal trainer, who was approximately my age (actually a little older, as I like to point out).


Our first meeting nearly killed me. Becky has since told me that she never expected to see me again. And the thought of never returning did cross my mind. But I did not want to let myself down, and more importantly, I did not want to let my son down. He really wanted to go to the Y, and as long as he was there, I figured I might as well stick with it and see what happened.

Seven years later, sixty pounds lighter, and in better shape than I have ever been in my life, I can truly recommend taking that first step! Someday I will work up the nerve to post “before” and “after” pictures of myself on the blog.

I saved the very first workout Becky had me do. For our five year anniversary of working out, we did the exact same workout. It was amazing to compare the number of reps I could complete and how much weight I could lift, then and now. Below is the workout. Give it a try, keep track of the number of reps (try for three sets of 12 reps each), and how much weight you use. Then check back in with it periodically and see how much you improve. It is really a morale booster!

Leg Press - machine

Step-Ups – with free weights

Bench Press - machine

Flyes - machine

Lat Pull-Downs - machine

Assisted Pull-Ups* - torture machine

Upright Rows - barbell

Shoulder Press – free weights

Triceps Pressdown - machine

Triceps Cybex - machine

Bicep Curls – free weights

Crunches

*Just a note about the Assisted Pull-Up: this is the machine we call the Torture Machine. See the blog from August 12 if you want to know more about it. The first time I did the torture machine I had to use the maximum amount of assist, plus Becky was pressing down on the weights to give extra assist. I was able to complete one set of 8 and one set of 6.