Two Awesome Ladies

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That heart monitor is off, and I am very happy. Now, I just wait for the results and hope they are okay.

Tonight I had drinks with Former Coworker Abby. I really miss our Twitter meetings. We used to discuss Official Woman’s Day Twitter business for about 5 minutes and blogs for another 25 minutes. Now, we just meet up and talk about blogs with no pretense of Twitter meetings.

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So about that new trainer of mine.

See the lovely lady who isn’t me, Tina or Anne? That’s Jaz, my new trainer.

I’ve taken a bunch of her classes in the past, and I just love her upbeat attitude and how her classes go by so quickly. I struggled some last year with runner’s knee and I’ve had some recurring lower back pain for awhile. I know the lower back pain is due to my weak core, and a few months ago Jess suggested I work with a trainer to figure out how to put an end to it.

Jaz is awesome, her rates are incredibly reasonable for half-hour sessions and her studio is very close to my apartment, so I decided to work with her.

Either that’s a terrible picture of me or I’ve lost weight since then (both?), but my goal really and truly isn’t to lose weight–not right now. I want to have a strong core that can carry me 26.2 miles in less than 4 hours, a lower back that doesn’t hurt, and some other buff muscles.

Jaz works a lot with TRX and kettlebells. I’m going to try to pay much more attention to the exercises we do than I did with trainers in the past so I can maybe one day be confident in a weight-room setting by myself instead of resorting to classes to get strength training in.

How do you get strength training in? Have you ever worked with a trainer?

17 comments on “Two Awesome Ladies

  1. Allison

    i LOVE my trainer. seriously. he is amazing. I’ve succeeded more with him than i would have ever dreamed. so far I’m down 45 lbs. not close to being done though.. i find i do most of my weight/strength training with him and work on cardio and spinning on my own. I am trying to psych myself up to do CrossFit ( i bought a living social deal) i just can’t bring myself to do it yet. I’m a wuss. lol

    Reply
  2. Charlie (The Runner Beans)

    I totally rely on classes for strength training or going to the gym with friends (usually male) that are far more confident in the weights room than I am. I usually feel totally out of my depth. ALthough the other thing I do find doable is completing a circuit with freeweights.
    I have signed up to do a kettlebell class at my gym on monday, I’ve heard they are great for strengh and getting your heart rate up! Good luck with the new trainer, I’d love if you could share some of her tips for improving core strength and to see some of the moves she has you doing!

    Reply
  3. Elle

    I do weightlifting – the Big Three: squats, deadlifts, and bench press. Funny coincidence, but I’m starting to write about this on my blog too.

    Reply
  4. Glenn

    Jaz sounds great. If you ask, she will probably right up some programs for you to do when you are in the gym by yourself or for a rainy day workout at home. That is the mark of a great trainer. If others are looking for a personal trainer or instructor in New York City, I personally recommend http://www.NeighborhoodTrainer.com. Full disclosure, I am the founder of the site. There are about 90 trainers and you can easily find one using your NYC zip code. Keep it up!

    Reply
  5. Dori

    I definitely rely on classes for strength training. I’ve tried a few times on my own, but I just can’t push myself beyond my comfort zone. I need outside forces to push me.

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  6. Lauren

    I worked with a trainer while marathon training and I think it made a word of a difference. She helped strengthen muscles I would need during the marathon as well as just overall strength! If something was hurting one week we would spend extra time stretching that area. I actually gained confidence from my trainer and I know work out with the boys all the time in the weights area of my gym…don’t be scared!

    Reply
  7. Lauri

    I have worked with a trainer twice – once about 2 yrs ago for 12 weeks and again about a month ago for 4 weeks. LOVE it. They push me harder and I get in heavier weights, different exercises, etc. Now I am trying to committ to 2x/week weights on my own, I asked the trainer to create a program for me, which he did. It’s just harder to motivate on my own…

    Reply
  8. Kristin Miller

    I love TRX and kettlebells! So glad you’re playing with them! 😉 Truthfully, I’m at the chiro right now a couple of times a week for lower back pain. He told me that poor core strength is NOT a reason for lower back pain. I, being a non-doctor, of course assumed he was wrong! However, I’ve started to believe it’s true. I found a good website doing some research on it, feel free to check it out! http://www.bettermovement.org/2010/back-pain-myths-posture-core-strength-bulging-discs/

    Reply
  9. Jess

    I worked with a trainer for a couple of sessions two years ago and loved it. I’d love to get a trainer again because I think it would really help with some of my muscle imbalances and just overall pushing me to be better. My problem is that I don’t belong to a gym (free fitness center in my community and at work) so I don’t want to pay a membership fee and a trainer fee on top of that. Blehhh. Any suggestions on how I can get around that whole having to pay for a gym membership and a trainer? I just want to pay for the trainer.

    Reply
    1. Theodora Post author

      @Jess: That’s what I’m doing! I don’t belong to a gym any more. I’d see if you can either bring in a trainer to either of those other fitness centers or if any instructors at anywhere you’ve ever taken classes also train on the side–they might train at a studio you don’t have to join.

      Reply
  10. Emily @ www.main-eats.com

    I’ve been using Jamie Eason’s LiveFit from bodybuilding.com and really like it. There’s a Facebook group where you can print out all of the worksheets. I just take one to the gym with me and it even has a little picture on the side if I forget what I’m supposed to be doing! I really like the structure and it pushes me to do WAY more than I would do on my own!
    Glad that pesky heart monitor is off!

    Reply

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