Lunging in the Dark

Last week I went in to XSport Fitness to check out the gym. I know many people who have memberships there, and they like the wide spectrum of features including a salt water pool, climbing wall, classes, basketball court, cardio equipment, and of course, personal training. I figured I would at least take advantage of a 7-day pass to try out the gym, but I did have an ambition to possibly get hired as a trainer. I have been able to do a lot with Team Beachbody and home fitness coaching, but I realize there is much more I can learn and contribute in a Personal Training/Gym setting as well. Anyway, last week the rep convinced me to pick up a membership, try full access for 30 days including a one-on-one assessment session with a Personal Trainer as part of the 30-day guarantee. I bit because I really have nothing to lose, and it seemed like a win-win. Further, if I ended up getting hired there or somewhere else in the next 30-days, I could cancel and not pay anything. Cool.

So yesterday I had my appointment with a Personal Trainer. As it turns out, I got set up with the Fitness Manager, and we began to talk. He asked me what I did for a living, and I explained I work for a restaurant but that I had gotten my certification and I was looking to get experience inside of a gym. We talked further about what I had done to this point, about my personal fitness and health goals, what is important to me, and what I had hoped to get out of the session. Then we did some assessments to check my level of balance, stability endurance, and to see if I had anything that could use corrective training. Sure enough, I do have some tightness in my shoulders and lower back, but I also am a bit weak in my right adductor muscles (the muscles that bring your hip/leg toward your body in a lateral sense). It is amazing what you can find out by doing some simple exercises and tests, and these are the same ones I had learned about in my training, just not yet put to use. Also, it really helped to have mirrors for reference to actually see what's going on, and to have a professional there to point different things out. We then did some other exercises that would help improve my weak points, and the craziest thing I would have to say is a coordination exercise I did with my eyes closed. I struggled to maintain my balance on one leg with my eyes closed as I did several step-back lunges with forward leg-raise, and my trainer explained that I am so used to using my eyes that when that sense is taken away, I am forced to use my other senses. He further explained that there were so many sensory receptors in the foot that were not being utilized. I could see that I have some newer balance and stability endurance exercises to integrate for correction, and surely integrating even the few he showed me would help tremendously in my training.

I felt a sense of humility as well as appreciation and excitement to know that I have an opportunity to improve myself in these areas and what it could mean for my athletic training as well as the education I had just received. We sat down, and as it turns out, I may soon be working as a Personal Trainer there! My trainer said he liked me but that I need some more practical experience before getting into training officially. If all works out, I will go through five sessions as a client to learn and absorb more knowledge, and also to launch my Personal Training career. I need to pray on that this week and into the weekend as there may be other opportunities in the works, which are too early yet to mention. It seems though I can see what may be possible, I am still lunging in the dark a bit and need to feel my way to a solid decision. Please pray for me as the decisions I make within the next week will surely effect my future greatly. Thanks for your support everyone, and thanks for reading!