Long story short, my wife and I are both starting a new journey w/ fitness and food. We're seeing a dietician soon to get some help with the food part, but we've also been considering getting a personal trainer (either one for both of us or separate - either option is on the table).
Does anyone here have experience with one? What are some good questions to ask to make sure I get the "right" one? Any tips to set us up for success in this process? [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bearcat:
Yeah, my attitude has complete changed... at one point I had my alarm named "torture" for early morning workouts. I would think it ruins more people on exercise on average.
When I was researching weighted core exercises, someone on YouTube made a comment that I think rings true for some of the p90x stuff as well... just because your legs burn during a wall squat, would you skip leg day at the gym?
It reminded me of plyo in particular... of course your cardio will improve over time with that insanity (and mine did), but does that constant leg burn for an hour really mean a ton compared to a few sets of squats and so forth? And of course they also did wall squats and bodyweight core and other "feel the burn" exercises that just don't seem efficient or even particularly helpful now.
Oh you don't like wall squats either? You motherfucker. We're gonna have to fight soon.
I love wall squats. However i do a Wall Squat/Calf Raise combo when i do them. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bearcat:
Yeah, my attitude has complete changed... at one point I had my alarm named "torture" for early morning workouts. I would think it ruins more people on exercise on average.
When I was researching weighted core exercises, someone on YouTube made a comment that I think rings true for some of the p90x stuff as well... just because your legs burn during a wall squat, would you skip leg day at the gym?
It reminded me of plyo in particular... of course your cardio will improve over time with that insanity (and mine did), but does that constant leg burn for an hour really mean a ton compared to a few sets of squats and so forth? And of course they also did wall squats and bodyweight core and other "feel the burn" exercises that just don't seem efficient or even particularly helpful now.
"Burn" is meaningless when it comes to muscle building, as is soreness. Progressive overload (either more weight or more reps) coupled with proper recovery (food, water, rest) is the key. [Reply]
I need so recommendations for shorts for lifting. Too many long ass basketball style shorts that suck and drag below the knee or the short nut huggers that cup my balls too tight while I squat and show off my creamy white thighs.
Can't I get something right above the knee!?!?! [Reply]
Originally Posted by lewdog:
I need so recommendations for shorts for lifting. Too many long ass basketball style shorts that suck and drag below the knee or the short nut huggers that cup my balls too tight while I squat and show off my creamy white thighs.
Can't I get something right above the knee!?!?!
I buy Lululemon clones off Amazon and I love them. Baleaf brand [Reply]
Originally Posted by Bearcat:
Man, their yoga is so fucking boring... slow and repetitive. If you can get past that by maybe having a hockey game on while you're doing it, I'm sure it's beneficial, but damn.
Exactly. I have to be watching something on TV or listening to a podcast or it seems like it goes on forever. The P90x yoga is the only yoga I've ever done, so I have nothing else to compare it to other than Early Bird Yoga with the naked chick - which I was a big fan of the couple months I had the Playboy Channel. But you're right it's so damn boring and repetitive. I had no idea how freaking hard yoga can be, I thought it was just stretching. [Reply]
Originally Posted by Megatron96:
You might want to look into Orangetheory if there's one close enough to you. It's something like $180/month, which breaks down to just $15/session if you go just three times a week.
I was a member for 4 years, before a rash of injuries (unrelated to working out) forced me to cancel my membership last year. I'll probably reup later this year if my health remains stable until then. But without question those 4 years marked the healthiest I've been since college when I stopped playing soccer. I lost a ton of weight, returned to about 85% of my 20-something strength, and regained a lot of real-world stamina and strength.
Basically, it's a scheduled workout combining both cardio and strength training with a group of other clients and one or two qualified trainer/instructors. Each workout is different, so it's hard to get bored (in 4 years I never repeated a workout and most of the time I was going at least 4 times/week). They professionally design the workouts, so no more guessing what you should next or even how or what to train from one day to the next.
Also there's a nice social aspect as well as a bit of competitiveness if that's your thing.
For example, i was going to the 7am class a lot at first right after work and ended up having several friendly competitions with another client. It started out with who would lose more weight in thirty days, then who would have a better heart rate average, who could hold a plank longer, row farther in 10 minutes, and so on. Loser would buy the other a smoothie or something next door. I'm competitive, so this worked out very well for me.
As for results, well I lost 27 lbs. in the first 40 days. I ran a sub-7 minute mile 2 months after my first day for the first time in over a decade. I cut over 100 seconds from my first mile run from that first week.
Even if you don't stick with it forever, OT an teach you a lot about how to design workouts that are extremely efficient, proper forms, appropriate expectations and the like. It seems kind of pricey on the surface, but you get a lot of value for your money, imo.
P.S. another issue people don't think about is how well you get along with your trainer. The nice thing about OT is that each class time is usually the same trainer. So Monday at 8am is pretty much always going to be steve or Tracy or whoever. 9am will be someone else usually. So you have a great opportunity in the first month or so to figure out which trainers you like; who gets you/motivates you best. All just by clicking on whatever class you want on the schedule, as all classes online let you know who's teaching every class. Each OT employs several (up to a dozen?) trainers, so you probably will find a couple that work best for you and your wfe.
