I take it personally (Session 1)

Today was the first of 11 personal training sessions. I say 11 because I went on to buy a 10-pack after my complimentary session today, because it’s just a goals & achievements session with a test of my Fitness Age.

So what did I think of it? I enjoyed it to be honest. It was good to get reassuring feedback on what I’ve achieved so far. The guys there are great and were impressed at my gains over the last 2 years, but my main reason for going is to try and make better gains over a shorter period of time (so: more gains, faster) but focusing on correct form, new exercises and building a better core (like the foundations of a house) to work from.

The rundown was to talk a bit about my goals to begin with – where do I want to be in a years time, what do I want to achieve and what did I want these guys to help me with. In other words, what could they do for me. After that, I did the Fitness Age test – which consisted of four core areas. First, he took all kinds of physical measurements and wrote them down. Then he took my pulse before and after a step-up test (1.5 minutes per leg).

Then he measured my bodyfat with these caliper thing’s. Then we did some stretches together to warm up for a device called a Sit & Reach. You basically sit on the ground with your legs out in front of you and put your feet up against the inside of this metal box. Then, while my trainer held down my knees (to prevent them bending), I had to reach forward with my hands and push a little metal slider as far as I could – and hold it there for 3 seconds. I did this three times. The first time, I got to 0 (so, not in the negative and not in the positive). The second time I got it to +2.5cm (+ is good). The third time +2.4cm. God it hurt in my legs though – I really need to stretch more often!

After that I had to do as many pushups as I could in 1 minute, using proper form with my chest hitting a small cone he’d placed on the ground under me. I managed to do 37. Then I did proper situps (knees bent with him sitting on my feet to keep them down) – elbows crossed over my chest, hitting me knees with my elbows. Interestingly, I also managed to do 37.

Based on all of these measurements, weights and results combined, my Fitness Age (as at 7th December 2009) is 31. Considering I am 27 years old, I’m apparently not as fit as I should be. Thankfully there’s a breakdown…

• My Body Age (based on bodyfat, measurements & heart rates, etc): “18 or below” …awesome!
• My Cardio Age: 50 (ooooh dear)
• My Flex Age (based on flexibility): 25 (yay – just under!)
• My Strength Age: 26 (also just under)

Having a look at the facts and figures (I get a print out & apparently it’s also online – somewhere) really demonstrates the accuracy that proper testing has over home equipment used by an untrained person like me. My home scale (as you can see over the last few days) has been reporting my bodyfat between 10% and 20%. Yet my properly-measured bodyfat it 6.9%. I was advised that this differs slightly from person to person (not me, but the trainer who measured me) – but so long as the same trainer remeasures me in a months or so time, then there’s an accurate comparison.

So where to from here? Essentially my first step is to continue as per normal – but I now have a food diary to fill in. Every meal, every drink, gets written down – in detail. Fat, carbs, what it was and how I felt before and after. Also, I’ll attend additional sessions (one 45 minute session per week, over the next 10 weeks) with the personal trainer to get some expert advice and tips on form, etc.

I will also be able to use their own gym to work with a proper trainer (and spotter (!!) – heaven forbid I’ve needed one of those!) to push me to my limits. After all, I was able to belt out 37 push-ups in one go today – normally I can only do 20 – 25 in one hit before needing to rest. Was it because I was in front of someone else? Was it because he kept saying “one more, one more Andy! C’mon!!”? Who knows, but if I can keep this up, then I think I’m set to achieve some of my goals sooner than I may have anticipated.

None the less, I’ll be sure to kep you posted .