I felt like I had hit a wall with my exercise regime, partly because there wasn’t one. I hadn’t been to the gym in two months and I felt like I needed help to achieve my weight loss and general fitness goals.
It was for this reason that I enlisted the help of Sam, a personal trainer.
Day 1
Sam went through a consultation with me about what my diet and exercise were like at that moment in time. He also asked me what I wanted to achieve. I told him that ideally, I wanted to lose a stone in the space of six months and also to gain confidence in the somewhat daunting weights area.
Day 2
Today was the first day of training and my personal trainer wanted to gauge the kind of fitness level I was at. I spent the first 15 minutes walking on the treadmill at a very high incline. Then we went through chest presses, the plank, push-ups and then a short circuit which included weighted squats, etc. I left feeling very pleased with what I had achieved in just an hour and Sam was great at helping me correct my form.
Day 3
“Leg day,” those dreaded words! We started with the leg press, which was challenging enough. These were followed by jumping lunges, which I couldn’t actually do, so I stuck with regular lunges. Then straight back onto the leg press machine, for a further two sets. Next, it was time for hatch squats. The best way I can describe hatch squats are: an actual nightmare. I survived 3 sets, with squats in between sets, but they were super challenging and I actually hated them. However, I managed to do more sets than I thought I would be able to, which was actually quite encouraging. We finished the session with weighted lunges and squats and then my legs ached for the next four days!
Day 4
The warm-up was so intense. I thought Sam had lost the plot! 10 burpees followed by squats, followed by 1 minute, at high speed, on the rowing machine. Repeat 5 times. I was so tired I almost blacked out and had to cut the session short. We realised this was due to poor nutrition on my part and we discussed ways to prevent this happening again. Sam was very supportive and told me everybody gets fatigued at some point and it’s important to stay safe.
Day 5
Today I was on the cycle for 1 minute, followed by 12 burpees, ball slams (which are really fun) and weighted lunges with a 22kg sandbag. I repeated this 5 times. I did get tired again and decided to try half an hour sessions twice a week, going forth.
Overall, I have improved stamina, fitness and form in just a few weeks. My confidence has also improved, although I haven’t lost much weight yet. What feels good, though, is knowing that I am improving my fitness and getting stronger in the process.
I have found having a PT very useful as Sam provides encouragement and pushes me, yet is always supportive.
By Narzra Ahmed