Personal Training - a Walk in the Park?

Yesterday I took a free "toning" session with an outdoor group personal training session to see if it would be something I could do instead of the gym.

It was an interesting experience. There was the male trainer and 4 unfit women in the group.

Let me first of all say that I am not a fitness snob. I applaud the efforts of women wanting to get fit and healthy, and personal training sessions are a great start. We all have to take the first steps at sometime - good on them!!

What was disappointing was that I was treated like some sort of inconvenience. It reminded me of being the brainiest child in the class and instead of being nourished and encouraged, being ignored for being different or too much work.

So I was basically ignored. No making the exercises harder for me, no pushing me, no getting me to help the others - just ignored, or at best, treated as if I was at the same level of fitness as everyone else in the group.

It almost seemed like they thought I had turned up to show them all up [including the trainer]. I felt like shouting out - "I used to be 80kg [no-one in the group was anywhere near that size] and I only got this way through 2 years of hard work, pain and discipline. This is not natural or easy for me - it's just as hard as is it for you".

Strangely though, for whatever reasons [was I showing off??] I pushed myself as hard as I could. In fact, I was the only one who was covered in sweat by the end of the session ...

On the way home, I wondered if I could have done a better job than that trainer. It seemed like a bit of a cruise for him - he didn't do any work himself, he just demonstrated the exercises and then counted out 30 seconds for each set. We did the old standards - pushups, tricep dips, bicep curls, skipping, plank, crunches, walking lunges etc. Not much that was inspirational or different.

What would I have done?? Maybe the same exercises, but with a different attitude. I would have pushed people to be sweating and puffing. To be in some pain. To do some work!!

And most of all, I would have worked too - with heavier weights, with full pushups. I would have at least skipped!!

So I had a thought ... what if I started my own group fitness session?
I could train a group of my own every morning in the park. We could work-out hard together and I could inspire, motivate and encourage them, and they would motivate me to work harder as well. This sounds like a plan ...

No charge [as I'm not qualified], just a group of people getting together to work on their strength and fitness. Mutual motivation, mutual benefit. That would be great!!

So how about it?
If you
~ live in inner west Sydney
~ can commit to a couple of mornings a week for 45 mins [7:15am to 8:00am]
~ are at any level of fitness
~ want a workout partner
then email me or leave a comment. I propose we start next week either at Wentworth Park or Blackwattle Bay.

Come on people, it's 1 March - a new month to start afresh. If your New Year's resolution hasn't yet stuck and you need an extra push, I could help you out and, in turn, you would be doing me a favour. Who knows where it might lead? We might discover new friends ... and new bodies!!