I’m going to New Zealand in three months.
That’s Feb 2012, to be exact. And I. Am. Stoked. YEAY!!
Can’t believe that this, one of my ultimate dreams, is about to come through sooner than I thought it would. It was so exciting in the beginning, when I booked the flight. Then the stress kicked in because of the planning – I was only going for 12 days – on where to go and not to go. There was much to see!
The plan’s done, finally, and the little thing left to do is prepare myself for this holiday, physically.
After all, you can’t go to NZ and just sightsee! OMG, the no. of things that one can do in this picture postcard-perfect land, home to the Southern Alps and Marlborough country… I needed to prepare.
So I’ve begun my mission of being healthy enough to take long walks, hikes even, when I eventually get to the Land of the Long White Cloud. To do that, I’ve got to “hike” the treadmill, cross train at higher intensity levels and “climb” the stepper. Well, it’s only been three days and I know I’m doing it right because my thighs are on fire!
And when the pain eventually dissipates, I must push some more. But I will be ready come February. To dance with Aotearoa.
Saturday, November 12, 2011
To PT or not to PT... I chose the former
For four months now, I’ve been actively working out at the gym, after more than two years of dragging myself over once, sometimes twice a week at most, in order to contain my blood pressure.
Every time I get a migraine, I hate going to the doctor’s because I know what’s coming: they check my blood pressure first, then tell me that it’s just a little too high for comfort. Then they give me a form which requires me to come in 5 times in a week, practically daily, to check my BP. I was certain that it was due to a lack of sleep. After all, I worked the night shift, permanently. And sometimes, I don’t sleep so soundly. Determined to prove them wrong and that I did not have blood pressure issues (no meds for me), I convinced myself that exercise was the key to keeping my BP at a normal rate, a healthy rate.
But try as I might, I just could not motivate myself enough to visit the gym at least thrice weekly. And even when I did, I was not pushing myself hard enough, but sufficient to keep my heart rate at its maximum to reap any benefits. I was getting bored.
I considered paying for sessions with a personal trainer, but the last time I got a free session with one, all he did was injure me. I was in a special group of members, you see: I am bow legged, complete with two busted-up knees. There were certain exercises I just could not do. So the thought of getting a personal trainer that was just going to make me worse turned me off the idea. That was, until Kuna introduced himself.
Kuna was a new personal trainer at the gym. After showing me how to use one of the weight machines correctly, he then started asking me about my workout frequency, or lack thereof, and asked if I considered working with a personal trainer to help my motivation. I explained my reasons, but then when he said that as a trained physiotherapist, he could tailor a workout that would work with my injuries and improve the strength in my knees, my ears perked up a little more!
So I gave him the time to explain what working with him would be like and what he could do for me, and I was hooked! But I had to consider the cost, and the consequences. Then I told him what my expectations were, that I wanted to be stronger and for my knees to hurt less, and he assured me that the exercises he would have planned will help a great deal.
After a week of contemplating, I signed up for 20 sessions, not realizing what I had gotten myself into. The first two weeks of my PT sessions with Kuna started off with gusto, followed by aching muscles from my neck to my toes. But with every session, he pushed me to do better, faster, harder, heavier! There was no room for excuses, or whining as he kept telling me that I was strong and that I could cope with the ton of weights he had me pulling, pushing, lifting 30, 40, 80 times in a row! Halfway through each session, I wanted to kill him. But once I was done, I didn’t want it to be over! He even used reverse psychology on me, by telling me that I couldn’t do something and I found myself falling for it every time, because it made me want to prove myself that much more!
That is what’s so great about getting a personal trainer to work with you. You get the motivation you need to start, and once you do, it’s hard to stop. To have someone there to push you and tell you that there’s nothing you can’t do and that you shouldn’t doubt yourself, made every extra pound lifted so much easier.
It’s been four months now since I completed my sessions with Kuna, and I wished I could still work with him. Being out there, on that treadmill can sometimes be a nightmare, especially when I’m tired... The urge to reduce the speed or incline is just. so. tempting. But talking myself through it is sometimes the only self motivation I have. That, and knowing that Kuna is lurking, observing and peaking over my shoulder, makin sure I don't cheat!
Every time I get a migraine, I hate going to the doctor’s because I know what’s coming: they check my blood pressure first, then tell me that it’s just a little too high for comfort. Then they give me a form which requires me to come in 5 times in a week, practically daily, to check my BP. I was certain that it was due to a lack of sleep. After all, I worked the night shift, permanently. And sometimes, I don’t sleep so soundly. Determined to prove them wrong and that I did not have blood pressure issues (no meds for me), I convinced myself that exercise was the key to keeping my BP at a normal rate, a healthy rate.
But try as I might, I just could not motivate myself enough to visit the gym at least thrice weekly. And even when I did, I was not pushing myself hard enough, but sufficient to keep my heart rate at its maximum to reap any benefits. I was getting bored.
I considered paying for sessions with a personal trainer, but the last time I got a free session with one, all he did was injure me. I was in a special group of members, you see: I am bow legged, complete with two busted-up knees. There were certain exercises I just could not do. So the thought of getting a personal trainer that was just going to make me worse turned me off the idea. That was, until Kuna introduced himself.
Kuna was a new personal trainer at the gym. After showing me how to use one of the weight machines correctly, he then started asking me about my workout frequency, or lack thereof, and asked if I considered working with a personal trainer to help my motivation. I explained my reasons, but then when he said that as a trained physiotherapist, he could tailor a workout that would work with my injuries and improve the strength in my knees, my ears perked up a little more!
So I gave him the time to explain what working with him would be like and what he could do for me, and I was hooked! But I had to consider the cost, and the consequences. Then I told him what my expectations were, that I wanted to be stronger and for my knees to hurt less, and he assured me that the exercises he would have planned will help a great deal.
After a week of contemplating, I signed up for 20 sessions, not realizing what I had gotten myself into. The first two weeks of my PT sessions with Kuna started off with gusto, followed by aching muscles from my neck to my toes. But with every session, he pushed me to do better, faster, harder, heavier! There was no room for excuses, or whining as he kept telling me that I was strong and that I could cope with the ton of weights he had me pulling, pushing, lifting 30, 40, 80 times in a row! Halfway through each session, I wanted to kill him. But once I was done, I didn’t want it to be over! He even used reverse psychology on me, by telling me that I couldn’t do something and I found myself falling for it every time, because it made me want to prove myself that much more!
That is what’s so great about getting a personal trainer to work with you. You get the motivation you need to start, and once you do, it’s hard to stop. To have someone there to push you and tell you that there’s nothing you can’t do and that you shouldn’t doubt yourself, made every extra pound lifted so much easier.
It’s been four months now since I completed my sessions with Kuna, and I wished I could still work with him. Being out there, on that treadmill can sometimes be a nightmare, especially when I’m tired... The urge to reduce the speed or incline is just. so. tempting. But talking myself through it is sometimes the only self motivation I have. That, and knowing that Kuna is lurking, observing and peaking over my shoulder, makin sure I don't cheat!
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