A 50 yr old and a 19 yr old walk into a gym
Hello Beautiful People,
Well, it's the last week of preschool. Hooray! I'm excited to get away this weekend. Memorial Day Weekend is my annual weekend in Washington D.C. with Ms. Kristin and her family. This year we have tickets to the Air and Space Museum. It's been ages since I've been there. One highlight from our past weekends includes a man giving me a $50 bill on the National Mall. I cannot wait and I'm sure I will have lots to share.
Let's start today with an update on the knee. It appears to be back to normal. Thank goodness. I still have some skin missing, but I don't think there was any lasting damage. Just to my pride. I did make an effort this past weekend to keep resting it. In fact, I didn't even put my Garmin watch on all day. It felt good to step away from that mindset.
Okay, let's get down to it. Why are we here today? Well, I want to share about the past couple of trips to the gym. One of my favorite persons is home from college and will be my co-teacher for part of the summer session. I started as Miss Ashley's youth leader when she was in 6th grade and now she just finished her first year of college. She is one of my roller coaster buddies and I have joked that she could have been my daughter. Last week we got to talking and I invited her to join me at the gym whenever I go. She immediately took me up on it and we went the day after my stupid knee injury. I had to take it easy so the treadmill was out. She wanted to do weights and I was happy to oblige. It's so nice to have a gym buddy.
I should have taken pictures of my face during our first conversation about this. I asked her what she wanted to work on and she mentioned that she had a list. She had a trainer at school. I was pleased to hear it and then when she gave me her list my brow started to furrow. I asked who her trainer was. It was a friend who was a Senior. Ahh...yes, not an actual trainer. I've heard this so many times.
I'm not saying that you shouldn't work out with friends. And yes, they can probably help you out, but it's not always for the best. More often than not, you will be doing what works for them which isn't always what works best for you. You may be working muscles in the wrong order. You may not be using the proper progression. Make sure to find someone who can help you achieve your goals. I don't want anyone to get hurt and I don't want anyone to get discouraged if they aren't seeing progress.
Miss Ashley has a lot of questions and I love being able to answer them for her and building a foundation. She has asked a lot about building muscle mass. We have talked about the importance of eating properly. I have told her about my struggles with eating enough protein for muscle mass since becoming a vegetarian.
Our first workout was for Chest, Triceps, and obliques. When we were finding the right weights I was impressed that the amount she wanted to start with. And then when we corrected her form we needed to drop down. This happened several times. This is just a reminder that if you are using weights and your form isn't right you can hurt yourself. We started on machines that provide support for your posture. Making sure your back is straight is pivotal.
Another thing that we talked about that we have in common is our Scoliosis. We talked about the right muscles that you want to strengthen the help. I also stressed the importance of stretching. I told her how much my regular stretching has greatly helped with my back pain. I still have tight hips and shoulders, but (and I'm probably jinxing myself) it has been years since I have needed to lay flat in the middle of the day because my back hurt so much. I saw one of my regular Stretchers outside of class last week and she mentioned how great it has been for her back.
*If you know me personally and want to join our zooms on Tuesdays/Thursdays please drop me a line.
So back to the workouts with Miss Ashley. I'm not going to lie. I got a little competitive. It was dumb and I knew it. It wasn't a competition. I have been strength training for years longer than her. But, yes, I wanted to make sure my numbers were a little impressive. Now here is the trainer in me talking. Don't do what I did. I have been strength training, but I haven't been using these machines in several years. And here I was going right to the amounts that I left off on. In my case, it worked out, but in theory, I should have bumped it down a little.
Today we worked Back, Core, and Biceps. We also used the same oblique machine today. I asked if it felt easier. She said yes. When we used it last week those muscles weren't really warmed up. They were today. We did a little more cardio this time and we were using some of those muscles on other machines. My knee was fine. But, I was breaking in my new sneakers. It was my second day in them. Yesterday was wacky socks day at preschool. When I got home I had received a birthday package. It included a rocking pair of fluorescent unicorn socks. Of course, I had to wear them today. They are cute, but they are not practical for working out. In my last post, I stressed the importance of proper tread/support for your sneakers but neglected to mention the importance of the proper socks. These socks had my feet sliding all over. I wasn't going at my full cardio pace, but I was getting nervous that I was about to get a blister. I did not thankfully.
In case you were wondering, today was wacky hair/hat day. Sadly, I phoned it in. I mean I wear hats all of the time. But, I hadn't worn my bucket hat in a while.
We are taking tomorrow off since I have multiple clients after preschool, but we will be back on Thursday. I requested a cardio day. I have a client after and then stretching before I will need to finish packing for my weekend. Hooray!
Okay, well I'm typing this as I am watching the newest Ted Lasso episode. Next week is the finale and I don't know if I will be able to handle it.
I appreciate you.
Have a Blessed Evening,
Jennie
xoxo
jhendersonfit@gmail.com
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