Those pumping irons in the “weight section” of the gym – working out on their biceps and triceps and their quads, glutes and hamstrings and their core they always looked like the dedicated bunch to me; who were truly working their ass off in dire desire to change the way they looked. They looked like the true ” workout-holics”. Grunting through their pain and still going for more reps; it always amazed me at their will power. As I took my strides on the ellipticals, my eyes still grazed through that corner where the power work was in session; hoping to get glimpses of the moves – how the pros (I thought) would do it. Weights always intimidated me. I had no clue how they could be used and the big secret is that there was no way I was going to let myself be humiliated by picking up weights and doing it all wrong in front of that many people. No way. What if I could not pick up them up? What if i dropped them before I even picked them? Which weight would be right to start with? How about my postures? How would I know if I am even doing it right? The unsure world seemed too scary for me. And the voice inside my head said “Nope, you do not want to bulk up and look like a man.” Deep inside I believed that weight lifting would turn me into a masculine frame. But I had to try it once.
Since I was obsessing about weights too much, I decided to sign up for a group resistance class. Looking back at it now, it was more of an aerobic class incorporating weight training in between – mostly squats and lunges. The first day of the class wowed me. I sweated big and I felt worked out for sure. In sheer excitement I decided to go for a few more. There were way too many people in the class and the instructor just did not have enough time to eye everybody for their postures. And well I cannot blame her fully as I did not dare to camp in the front row of the class.(Then perhaps she would have got a better view of me to correct me). I always made sure I got a spot on the last row. I did not know if it was the weights (40 pounds including the rod?) or my posture, I ended up with bad back pain which gave me enough reason to not pursue the class.
One of my friends who is BIG into weight training constantly told me that I HAD to do weight training if I wanted to see true results. She vouched that “Body for Life” worked and that she had learned all the weight trainings proper postures and moves from the video clips that they had on their website. After eying her toned arms, rock tight abs and lean and muscular physique there was no reason for me not to believe what she sworn by. She had enough prove (or should i say more than enough?) to stand her ground. You see what I am talking about? 😉

And she was right about the website. The information and the workout demos were there for sure. But it just did not workout for me. I was too worried and scared to try big weights and I did not want to get hurt. The two thoughts chained me down. There are some who do not think too much and dive into what they want and there are some like me who think a lot even to dive into something they really want. But today when I look back, I do not regret that I did not dare to.  Because that is how I discovered the world of personal training. [More to follow…]