I Suck At Personal Training

this week is the first week of the ymca's "mad dash". the "mad dash" is the ymca's version of the biggest loser, just without the weekly weigh-ins, the reward challenges, and the $250,000 grand prize. it's basically a competition to see who can lose the most percentage of body weight while exercising and following a sensible nutrition plan.

anyway, my favorite sister-in-law (janine) asked me to help her with the strength training aspect of the competition. usually, when friends or family ask for my help with certain things, i am somewhat skeptical because i tend to push and challenge people (which is probably why i am sometimes labeled as an "instigator"). what inevitably happens is that they end up doing whatever they want regardless of whatever i suggest. and that's fine. i have no problem with that. in my opinion, i have always found that it is better to have people you do not know push you in achieving your goals because there is a comfort level with friends and family that a person can sometimes "get away" with.

needless to say, i agreed to help janine. unfortunately, i suck at personal training. janine called last night and had some questions about a routine i suggested for her. her strength training routine involves using the workout machines at the ymca. now, the south shore ymca protocol for working out is doing 1 set of 8-12 repetitions on each machine. (now, the ymca has reasons for that protocol. the reason is because there was "research" saying that the particular routine yielded the best results in terms of strength gain. unfortunately, i disagree with that research for a number of reasons. some of those reason include the sample population, the methodology, etc. which i have been privy to because i work there as an instructor.)

anyway, janine felt comfortable using the ymca machines for her strength training, so i suggested a routine for her that was different from the ymca protocol. the routine i suggested is called "super slow" and it involves (as the name implies) very slow controlled movement of the weights during the repetition. the slower movement reduces momentum and keeps the tension within the muscles longer. the workout is a form of high intensity workout.

well, i had suggested that janine try that routine while she worked out during the day. i'm actually quite proud of her too. little did i know, however, she was doing the super slow workout in addition to the regular ymca standard workout. i assumed she would do either/or, not both. oops! i'll need to work on my communication skills some more.