‘Twas the Night Before Christmas…
Yes, you're reading the date on this post correctly. Christmas Eve and Todd was there at the studio willing to put me through the paces before the holiday season. I know it's been a week since the last post and I apologize to those out there just chomping at the bit to see the next chapter in this ongoing story but to be honest, writing would require me to sit down at my desk and frankly we've just done way too many squats over the previous four days!
Or maybe I'm just not in great shape yet... Hmm.. Regardless it's been a great week at 360. I'm found a rhythm working out in a group every atternoon with my two boys from St. Mary's. Each day is a little bit different than the next and Todd's been great about working different areas of the body so we're all getting a total body workout. One of the highlights of the past week has been an increased attention on pushing myself through Todd's guidance. There have been exercises such as agility and jumping that I'm excelled at and we've been able to make it harder and incorporate different techniques such as throwing a medince ball back and forth to me while I do ladder jumps and making sure that I'm not getting to comfortable. I love these exercises more than anything because it closely shadows basketball workouts I've done in the past that require you to do more than one thing at once.
Very rarely are you playing a sport and only running or jumping. You're dribbling, looking to score and also looking to pass so multitasking is at a premium. On the flipside Todd has also worked me up in areas that I'm weak in; most notably the fact that I couldn't do a proper squat, clean jerk or push-press - some of the most basic exercises that weightlifters learn early on. We started me at a very light weight and got my technique solid before I started working up towards heavy weights to see results. That example right there best exemplifies why personal training is so great in my mind. The fact that you've got someone looking at your form and realizing that you might be ahead or below the curve and adjusting accordingly.
The BENefits of Mackie
I decided to switch it up a little for my fourth day at 360. Ben Mackie, one of Todd’s first trainers to join the studio had an opening in his afternoon group so I jumped at the chance to get away from the balance balls and squats with the small hope that maybe we’d be getting into something that I would do well at. Having seen women twice my age (god I hope I’m right on that or someone’s going to be mad at me!) doing drills twice as good as me has left me the need to boost the ‘ole self esteem. Ben’s group was composed of a handful of his regular clients and he would pair us into teams, give us a dozen exercies to complete together. For instance we had to run three laps, 300 jump-ropes, 300 sit-ups... etc.
I could perform all 300 sit-ups and my partner, a co-ed from Pacific (thank you Ben!), would do all three laps and so on. It was a great change of pace and involved a great deal of competition against the three other groups. Finally, I thought, something I can really get into. And I did. Now I don’t know whether it was the exercies that appealed to me, the injecting of competition or simply the wanting to not look bad in front of a college girl but it was a great workout. Completely different from what Todd has previously put me through but also very, very effective. Ben’s workout had a certain degree of laid-backness to it but at the same time no one took it for granted and got after it. He, like Todd, kept everything fun but made me work to finish sets and get a little more out of myself. At the end of the day we’re all there only because we want to be there but it’s great to have someone like Ben in your corner getting you to the next level.
Just Getting Through The First Week
On The First Day…
I arrived for my first personal training session with Todd at 4:45 on Monday afternoon. The Lincoln Center studio location was busy as Ben, Lurysol and Todd all were working with a clients in various aspects of training. Ben had a group of three girls on mats working on reverse lunges as Lurysol was in the corner with a woman and Todd ran a group of four people through various circut trainings. I made my way around the gym, trying out the equipment and seeing what was available and of course comparing it to other gyms that I had worked out at. But it's hard to compart Fitness 360 in that way because it's not a gym. It's a personal training studio! I jumped rope, hit a few sets on the bench press and threw some punches on the heavy bag as Todd finished up with his 4:00 clients and called me over to join his group.
There were four of us in his group, a girl and two high school boys and myself. We started right at 5:00 and immediately got into a furious collection of jumping rope, step-ups and leg and ab exercises. We went at a good pace, doing some exercises for time like the "quick feet" and others working on perfect form and taking our own time. Todd observed all four of us at various points making sure that form was good and offering encouragement toward the end of our sets. Numerous times he came over and corrected either my posture or my balance. Having been an athlete my entire life I had done many of the exercises before but working closely with Todd helped me get the most out of them and realize that I had been doing some of them incorrectly. Our session lasted nearly an hour and I must admit I was sore but not exhausted at the end. I knew that was far from the hardest workout we would do but my goal was to simply keep good form and complete each drill without giving up or slowing down.
During the session Todd had noticed that I pronounced my left foot inward while jumping rope so following the session he said wanted to test my hip flexor and my flexability. Laying down on a mat he put me through a number of leg twists and stretches designed to help get some flexibility in my very, very tight left hip. He asked about my previous athleti history and any injuries that would cause it to be that tight - such as my ACL surgery I had while in college. Getting done with that "physical therapy" session I realized how great my hip felt in just twenty minutes of stretching it out. All in all the personal training session was great but really set Todd and Fitness 360 apart from everywhere else was the personal touch. I could have done those drills on my own but probably would not have pushed myself like he did. Observing something in my physical attributes and helping me with it was simply what sold me after one session. I wanted to continue to work out at 360 no matter what but my excitement in doing so has increased greatly with Todd's knowledge and ability to help me reach new levels.
