Alternative Medicine

It is possible that I love working out more than anything. And while I write mostly about running and it is the core of all my training and fitness goals, I really just love being in the gym and working out. But more than that, more than the accomplishment of achieving my own goals I love training people and helping them meet their goals.

OF course this means I have to tweak my plans, I have to research, and be open minded. I have to treat each person different, find what motivates them, what their goals are, what they want the end result to be. Most people find my method of training incredibly boring. And I'll admit it is very boring, running on a treadmill mile after mile, day after day, week after week. Adding more endless miles in what feels like a vacuum. I spend hours just staring at my reflection make the same repetitive motion. I compose a new playlist almost weekly to keep me interested never knowing what song will come next is sometimes the highlight of a workout. But I digress.

So when my bosses boss asked me to help her out at our work gym a few nights a week I was beyond excited. All I ask of people is that they show up willing to do whatever it takes. I see this as an easy request but I forget how hard it is to adopt the mental toughness required to stick with something even when it is hard. I look to this as an experiment, and I mean that in the best way possible. Of all the people I have helped, very few have seen results, or have been able to take my teachings and adopt them into a consistent lifestyle change. One thing I strongly believe is that a good trainer doesn't need to train forever. A good trainer should be able to give someone enough skills to workout on their own and through positive results.

After a bit of hassling we had finally cemented a day. Monday. The week before I would plan out workouts while doing my runs. This proved to be a great way to pass the time but it was nothing more than the general idea of how I would break things down. The weekend before I had wanted to plan out a routine but of course by the time Sunday night rolls around there are never enough hours to sit down and to the kind of research I always wanted to do. When I get to work Monday I am getting more nervous. My one downfall is my failure to quickly learn choreography. And because of that, I lack the skills to also plan choreography. So when I have to actually lead someone through a workout I get nervous that I can't remember everything! Oh crazy me. luckily super-boss didn't have a ton of time so we had about 15 minutes to do some full body cardio with 3lb hand weights. I thought up enough moves that weren't too hard, or boring. When that was done we did 10 minutes of solid abs.

The best part, was whatever I said, she did. I loved it. And the whole workout was over in half hour.

As soon as we were done, I hopped on the treadmill and began my four mile run.

Today, my whole body hurts more than it has in weeks. Doing a workout other than running felt great, energizing and motivating. And I love it. I am already brainstorming ideas for Friday's workout with the super-boss!