As promised, I started my personal training with Nate. As expected, the first day I felt like my legs were going to fall off. The next time I came in the morning. Let’s just say, we’ve determined I am not a morning person. Not even a little bit. The feeling of getting familiar with muscles you didn’t even know existed until the after workout burn kicks in is offset slightly by the sense of accomplishment that you just kicked butt through a solid workout.
As I indicated earlier, there are a lot of reasons that I think the training regimen is a good thing for me. I needed a kick-start to getting in a routine while also being introduced to a workout that offers variety. I think overall I have made more conscious food choices while also finding a rhythm in my schedule. Nate is able to help me learn about different exercises that will help build my strength while compensating for the physical limitations imposed by my wrist. It’s interesting though, the exercises that I have been shown have had a significant impact on my rehabilitation progress. In conjunction with the gym, I have also been working a PT and OT regimen. Yes, it is a lot of appointment’s a week that keep my schedule quite busy but it pleased me to see that what I was doing at the gym was truly improving my “recovery statistics”.
This is not to say that after these workouts I don’t find myself to be a little swollen or sore. I definitely do and ice has become my best friend. I would even say workouts that heavily involve my injury are almost a little nerve-wracking. However, I feel like it would be normal not to be. I am sure most of you have had an injury that impacted you at some point in your gym-career and can relate. I think the biggest gain for me has been knowing when to draw the line, knowing when to drop the exercise, knowing when to express that I just can’t do it. Nate has an ability to push me so I am not being a wimp (or let’s face it, really lazy)… but also help me create modifiers in my workout to relieve some of the pressure. He is helping me work towards specific fitness goals while also taking a pivotal role in my rehabilitation process.
Training with an injury is an interesting process. It’s entertaining to say the least – even just based off the range of facial expressions I flash during my workout depending on how I feel about the exercise. I’ve learned you can’t win them all in the moment. It may be difficult to let go especially if you have been able to do so much more in the past. Identifying my limitations and listening to that has been a key role in helping me move forward.
*The Girl in Neon
