Hey everyone– I just had this really great new exercise experience and wanted to share it with y’all. It’s called weight training. You do it either with machines like this:
Or you can do it with weights that you hold in your hands:
Or you can use big weights that are on a bar. And you can use your own body weight, as I have learned.
So I thought it imperative to share all this new information with you ASAP.
Of course I’m kidding. Well, not completely. Here’s the real story:
This week in physical therapy my therapist got me started on strength training to help me be more stable, given that I have had multiple sprains and some fractures in both ankles. We’re working on hips and glutes, among other muscles. It’s hard work, but I’m finding that I like it.
This is the real news: I am really loving weight training. I always thought I hated it. In the past, I’ve gone to gyms, gotten rudimentary info about using machines, worked on them half-heartedly, and then abandoned them in favor of cardio workouts and stretching. I never made the effort to get proper instruction, and I never really experienced what it’s like to do these workouts over time. But now, recognizing the importance, nay imperative nature of this kind of workout to my future self, and experiencing how interesting and cool it feels to my current self to work my body in these ways, I am pretty stoked. Sam predicted this, and you’re right!
Now, I just need three more things, and I will be all set.
Thing one: a gym. I’ve got to go shopping for a gym, as I’m in between memberships. I’ve been a member at an all-women’s gym, which I enjoyed, but it was expensive and had no pool. And the chain gym I tried, I didn’t love. But of course that was before I discovered weight training. So that is a task before me.
Thing two: a personal trainer. I’ve tried reading books and even cutting out pages from magazines or printing out web pages with workouts, but I’ve never managed to translate the print into an actual workout over time for me. I would like an actual person to help me get started on figuring out where I want to start, how to start, and what to do once I’ve started.
Thing three: some aspirational goals and realistic plans for them. I don’t know how much time I want to or can or spend on this, as it’s all new. Of course the trainer can help me.
All of this (except maybe picking out a gym– I can do that) seems pretty overwhelming. I’m not sure how to start. Except I guess I already have.
I’ll be posting some in the upcoming weeks/months, asking advice about personal trainers, gyms, workouts, etc. And I’ll let you know how things are going. But for now, I just wanted to say that I’ve found my way to the weight room, and I’m ready to… uh…pump some iron? Do people still say that?
Help on weight training slang would also be most appreciated.
