In the gym

[Monique]

^^ Also I'm quite pleased with visible hamstring development. I may or may not be checking my legs out in the mirror between sets ...

 

[mdf]

THe gym I've been going to for 13 years went out of business!

 

[Monique]

THe gym I've been going to for 13 years went out of business!

Boo!

 

[Monique]

When I see my trainer, we usually mostly work on technique and body mechanics for a few key exercises, and I ask a few questions. But the instructions he'd given me for ski season were confusing me - I haven't been skiing as much or as hard as I'd planned, so I'd been "improvising," and I tend to improvise in the direction of "push harder." I've felt great and have been getting stronger. I like the muscles I see forming under my protective layer of insulation! But when I offhandedly said to my boyfriend, "Things are going so well - but I worry because I always get to this point and then something falls apart," he heartily agreed with me. "Yeah, you're pushing the envelope. You'll make big gains that way, but you're taking a risk." That wasn't the response I'd expected. When your boyfriend who's been consistently lifting for 20 years says that, and then he also says that he thinks my workouts are insane, and most people think his workouts are insane ... it gave me pause.

So I asked my trainer to spend one of our sessions in pure Q&A session about "How do I know what to do every week?" - or, I guess, the technical term - "programming." He wasn't able to consolidate decades of knowledge into an hour long conversation (jerk!), but he was able to give me a solid plan for how to manage gym time and other activities each week based on how much I'd been skiing. Also, I learned the word "cycle" in the context of "programming." (So much vocab!) Also, he reminded me that my boyfriend works out purely to develop strength, while I am still effectively in a mix of rehab and general fitness. BF doesn't ski or do any similar sports - lifting is his passion. His workout plan is going to look different than mine. I can't lift like a beast and also ski like a beast in the same week (booooo!). At least, not for long. This is always my problem. I want it all.

It's pretty simple, but still hard for a stubborn mule like me. Yes, I need my trainer to help me with form and give me pointers - but his primary job is to keep me from pushing too hard. It is not an easy job. It's not that I've been ignoring him - it's that I've been sort of ... elaborating on what he said, or filling in the blanks incorrectly. I didn't mean to. It's just my natural enthusiasm and goal-driven mindset coupled with, well, not knowing any better.

So I have some ground rules. I am going to try really hard to stick to them. No, wait - I am going to stick to them, dammit. I'm proud of myself for asking for clarification and requesting the "Come to Jesus" meeting - BEFORE I hurt myself.

If I skied hard all weekend (or tore down my body in subzero temps, or otherwise wore myself out), I don't progress to the next week of the cycle.

If I can't do 10 reps of the last set and feel confident I could have done 2 more with excellent form, I don't progress to a higher weight in the next cycle.

If I get to 10 and feel good, I don't do more reps just to see if I can.

I don't just go and do extra gym workouts (like, say, an extra 90 deadlifts on the weekend) just for the hell of it. (rude!)

Also, while he'd previously given me a schedule for what body parts to exercise on which days, I was all over the place in terms my exercises every week, and doing too many of them (apparently). I just don't think I'd understood his previous instructions. Now I have five specific exercises for each of the three days, and I stick to them for at least a cycle.

Generally speaking, I need to remember that my goal is to keep myself healthy and fit through ski season - I can switch focus to gains in the spring. My knee and spring skiing don't get along, anyway.

I do think I'm going to feel like I have too much energy left over, which probably means I should actually *koff* be doing the cardio that I've conveniently been neglecting.


GOOD NEWS though: my programming includes deadlifts! Real ones that make me feel like a beast, not the annoying ones with the fat bar that make me feel like a wuss.

 

[Chef23]

THe gym I've been going to for 13 years went out of business!

Encompass in Natick? My gym also.

 

[mdf]

Encompass in Natick? My gym also.

Infinity Fitness (originally Fitness for You ) in North Andover.
I just joined Planet Fitness today. It's actually pretty nice and only about a 5 minute detour off my normal commute. Feels a bit like surrendering to Vail, though.

 

[Chef23]

Infinity Fitness (originally Fitness for You ) in North Andover.
I just joined Planet Fitness today. It's actually pretty nice and only about a 5 minute detour off my normal commute. Feels a bit like surrendering to Vail, though.

Kind and f a bummer there were multiple gyms that closed. I have been working out at home I haven’t figured out my gym strategy yet.

 

[Monique]

I just joined Planet Fitness today. It's actually pretty nice and only about a 5 minute detour off my normal commute. Feels a bit like surrendering to Vail, though.

I have no idea whether this is actually a common thing or if people just focus on it, but there are a lot of videos and stories about PF kicking people out for grunting while lifting (heh) and for being "too toned" (wearing a sports bra while actually having muscles). I would DEFINITELY get kicked out (for the former, not the latter). So ... maybe Disney more than VR? But if it works for you, that's what matters.

 

[TheArchitect]

Kind and f a bummer there were multiple gyms that closed. I have been working out at home I haven’t figured out my gym strategy yet.

Did all of the Encompass locations close? I used to go to the Ashland location.

 

[TheArchitect]

I have no idea whether this is actually a common thing or if people just focus on it, but there are a lot of videos and stories about PF kicking people out for grunting while lifting (heh) and for being "too toned" (wearing a sports bra while actually having muscles). I would DEFINITELY get kicked out (for the former, not the latter). So ... maybe Disney more than VR? But if it works for you, that's what matters.

I've never been to to a PF but I have read online stories about people being spoken to for making too much noise.

 

[Chef23]

Did all of the Encompass locations close? I used to go to the Ashland location.

No just the Natick location. They are independently owned and the Natick location had some uncertainty about being able to renew the lease and lost members as a result. I am sad about it as it was very close and had the equipment I use for my workouts. I hate having to find a new gym.

 

[Chef23]

I've never been to to a PF but I have read online stories about people being spoken to for making too much noise.

If you want to do cardio, use machines and maybe some dumbbells PF is fine. For squats, deadlifts and functional kind of stuff it isn’t that good. They are generally inexpensive and clean though.

 

[mdf]

If you want to do cardio, use machines and maybe some dumbbells PF is fine. For squats, deadlifts and functional kind of stuff it isn’t that good. They are generally inexpensive and clean though.

Yep, they have everything I do, and being open late is a big plus. My old gym had started closing at 3 pm on weekends!

PF does have quite a few "no lunks" signs (i.e. no serious lifters) -- I guess they are only "judgement free" in one direction. Like the rest of the world, I'm guessing a lot of that depends on how big a jerk your fellow customers are. But I'm not a serious lifter, so....

I didn't think to look, but reviewing my memory I don't think they have any free barbells -- only the ones in those vertical safety tracks.

 

[Monique]

I didn't think to look, but reviewing my memory I don't think they have any free barbells -- only the ones in those vertical safety tracks.

BUT as you say, they have the equipment you need, and I do think that it can be intimidating or distracting to see/hear people doing heavy lifts. PF clearly provides an environment that draws enough people that it's plenty successful.

 

[mdf]

BUT as you say, they have the equipment you need, and I do think that it can be intimidating or distracting to see/hear people doing heavy lifts. PF clearly provides an environment that draws enough people that it's plenty successful.

Personally I think it is ridiculous. If they put the serious free weights in one corner the "lunks" would stay in that corner. I wonder if part of the problem is that gym rats actually go to the gym, and the pricing strategy is to sell cheap memberships that are rarely used.

 

[Chef23]

Personally I think it is ridiculous. If they put the serious free weights in one corner the "lunks" would stay in that corner. I wonder if part of the problem is that gym rats actually go to the gym, and the pricing strategy is to sell cheap memberships that are rarely used.

They don’t really have serious weights you can only squat or deadlift in a Smith machine. I think they had a bench but I don’t recall for certain. It is fine for its target market but it isn’t targeted at serious lifters.

I have a cousin who has lost substantial weight and gotten much more fit at a PF so it has worked great for her.

 

[Monique]

Personally I think it is ridiculous. If they put the serious free weights in one corner the "lunks" would stay in that corner. I wonder if part of the problem is that gym rats actually go to the gym, and the pricing strategy is to sell cheap memberships that are rarely used.

Could be. A good lifting setup is also expensive, of course, and if you're not chasing that demographic anyway, why invest in it?

"My" weight room is a tiny space inside a climbing gym. It has to be on the second floor of a building not designed for it, so when you drop big weights, sometimes the lights in the locker rooms below will flicker. I really like the space, and there are a lot of women training with barbells, so it feels very welcoming to me.

This is the whole thing (plus some hang boards and stuff to either side of where I was standing).

 

[no edge]

[QUOTE="mdf, post: 306539, member: 141"and the pricing strategy is to sell cheap memberships that are rarely used.[/QUOTE]

I call it a donation, but I couldn't write it off.

 

[Monique]

I call it a donation, but I couldn't write it off.

Funny how that works, too. I've been a member at my rock club for over a decade. There have been months at a time when I didn't go, but still paid. I could have frozen my membership for a while during injuries, but I only thought to do it for a few months well after I tore my ACL. Anyway, I often consider it a donation - I love the place, and I sort of think of it as a Boulder institution more than a corporate entity. But there have been times when I regularly climbed three times a week, and right now I'm going there three times a week for the weight room. I figure it evens out.

 

[no edge]

I don't like Planet Fitness, in fact I can't stand the place. But I am a member

The reason I don't like the place is that I am a slacker and I don't like cardio. I don't like machine type strength training and I like to moan and groan, drop weights and swear.

But there are some very fit people that train there... mostly women. I am not one of the fit people in fact I have fallen off the treadmill several times.