This is Andrew Duffy, signing in.
This week's personal training session with Marilyn started emotional and finished strong. Marilyn is a strong woman and often has a sassy attitude. She has acknowledged that she wants to be more fit and lose some weight. (Flashback to a previous blog entry: our goal weight loss is twenty to twenty-five pounds). But today, we tapped into the stream of emotions related to her body image that revealed a deeper discontent and concern for her health and well-being.
Early in the session, Marilyn woefully compared her lack of fitness now to her hay day years ago. She was a gymnast, and her metabolism was high. She had a physical foundation and youth working for her. Her recent injuries and physical obstacles have stifled her confidence about her body and physical abilities.
As she wiped the mascara away from her tearing eyes, I reassured her that positive change is coming. I thought, even though she's sustained some tough major injuries and surgeries in the last few years, even though she was sick and inactive last week, even though she's not at her goal...she's already lost close to five pounds.
I just have to make sure that she sees what I see: that the effort she's putting in is already paying dividends, and her goal is achievable within months!
Marilyn and I resumed training after an emotional start, and she jumped into it full force. One of Marilyn's strength is her upper body ability. One of her weaknesses is core strength and lower back posture. So, after working on her strength, we worked on her core stability and posture with a plank.
With audio to help educate on her movement, here's a video on how to properly perform a plank, starring Marilyn:
She aced it, and we finished the session strong.
Andrew, Over and out.
Showing posts with label personal training. Show all posts
Showing posts with label personal training. Show all posts
Tuesday, February 1, 2011
Friday, January 28, 2011
Pam, Success, and Priorities
Hi everyone, this is Andrew Duffy, personal trainer.
I met with Pam yesterday at the BODYwork SF studio, and we had another great, productive session that shed some light on a few road bumps.
Coming in to the session, she had been able to perform the exercises less often than we had discussed. But, to her credit, she some great questions about the exercises that make up her home routine. Although I gave her just six exercises, they are complex, and each exercise has several elements. After a half-hour of sweat and elevated heart rate, Pam felt more comfortable with the exercises.
Here's one of the tough ones that Pam is performing at home:
+++
This is a GREAT exercise, working major muscles in the legs, arms, core and shoulders. The lateral/side lunge recruits muscles that are often overlooked in most exercises, and the balance component at the peak of the exercise challenges her stability as well. Finally, notice how she's working out bare-foot: this allows for her feet to bend and stretch and for her foot muscles to do some work while the rest of her body works hard.
This is an intermediate level exercise that requires good proprioception, balance, and foundational strength. It is also a testament to Pam's continuing devotion to yoga.
+++
After reviewing the exercises, we sat down and discussed my concern of her time management. We had talked about her performing the exercises on a regular basis, and I know she cares. I know that her health is a priority for her. But devoting time to improving it is a little difficult for her. For a woman as level-headed as she is, I had to ask her about it, and what she told me was very helpful.
Pam, like Eva and Marilyn, is so used to dedicating time, love, and resources to her children and her life obstacles that focusing on developing herself in any aspect is hard for her to do.
So, Pam and I worked together on listing her priorities and setting up a plan for taking care of each priority. For me and for my successful clients, this is the single most important element for successfully improving health, especially through diet and fitness. As Pam learned, scheduling time for each component of a priorty (a "to-do list") is a great way to make sure that she effectively uses her time to accomplish what she needs to in every aspect of her life. And that includes taking time for herself.
She's a full-time mother of four who is going through a divorce among many other things, and she has to find a job. Staying healthy is hard, but it's doable and it's important for her well-being and happiness. She knows that, and she's determined. Pam's got spunk!
The prognosis for Pam remains very positive, and I am confident that our discussion about priority and planning helps her with more than just fitness.
I met with Pam yesterday at the BODYwork SF studio, and we had another great, productive session that shed some light on a few road bumps.
Coming in to the session, she had been able to perform the exercises less often than we had discussed. But, to her credit, she some great questions about the exercises that make up her home routine. Although I gave her just six exercises, they are complex, and each exercise has several elements. After a half-hour of sweat and elevated heart rate, Pam felt more comfortable with the exercises.
Here's one of the tough ones that Pam is performing at home:
+++
This is a GREAT exercise, working major muscles in the legs, arms, core and shoulders. The lateral/side lunge recruits muscles that are often overlooked in most exercises, and the balance component at the peak of the exercise challenges her stability as well. Finally, notice how she's working out bare-foot: this allows for her feet to bend and stretch and for her foot muscles to do some work while the rest of her body works hard.
This is an intermediate level exercise that requires good proprioception, balance, and foundational strength. It is also a testament to Pam's continuing devotion to yoga.
+++
After reviewing the exercises, we sat down and discussed my concern of her time management. We had talked about her performing the exercises on a regular basis, and I know she cares. I know that her health is a priority for her. But devoting time to improving it is a little difficult for her. For a woman as level-headed as she is, I had to ask her about it, and what she told me was very helpful.
Pam, like Eva and Marilyn, is so used to dedicating time, love, and resources to her children and her life obstacles that focusing on developing herself in any aspect is hard for her to do.
So, Pam and I worked together on listing her priorities and setting up a plan for taking care of each priority. For me and for my successful clients, this is the single most important element for successfully improving health, especially through diet and fitness. As Pam learned, scheduling time for each component of a priorty (a "to-do list") is a great way to make sure that she effectively uses her time to accomplish what she needs to in every aspect of her life. And that includes taking time for herself.
She's a full-time mother of four who is going through a divorce among many other things, and she has to find a job. Staying healthy is hard, but it's doable and it's important for her well-being and happiness. She knows that, and she's determined. Pam's got spunk!
The prognosis for Pam remains very positive, and I am confident that our discussion about priority and planning helps her with more than just fitness.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)