Fighting Age:

A Trainer Can Help

by Robin Bonner

A Talk with the Doc
It all began with a visit to the doctor. I was there for a sore throat, but we got to talking about other things. Like arthritis. “Can you prescribe something?” I asked Dr. Burt Ginsberg, my physician for more than 20 years. I was hoping for some relief from joint pain. I had gotten to the point where I’d wake up in the morning and think, If I don’t move, it won’t hurt, so it was time to do something about it. Burt and I talked about medication but also about chiropractics and exercise. In the end, though, he said, “You’d be better off spending your money on a personal trainer.”

A personal trainer?

That sounded ridiculous. “I go to the gym. I work out. What do I need a trainer for?” I asked, rolling my eyes. To me, hiring a personal trainer always sounded like an extravagance, an option for people who can’t work out on their own. “Maybe you don’t do your exercises properly,” Burt replied. “Or maybe you don’t do the right ones. A trainer can help make sure you’re on target to achieve your goals. I’ve had a trainer for a while now, and work out with him regularly. The idea is to build your muscles, then let them take stress off your joints. You want to do it right.”

Hmmm, it sounded as if I would need to go to the gym several times a week. Every week. Well, I thought, maybe that’s also part of the problem. My track record for working out wasn’t great: I got to the gym when I got there; things would come up and it would easily not happen. I’d shoot for three times a week, but often it would be only twice, and sometimes it was only once—for the 45-minute Pilates class I attended religiously and so was least likely to miss. If I had an appointment with a trainer, though, especially if I was paying for it, I’d surely make it to the gym. Maybe there was something to the idea . . .

Signing Up
Next time I was at Genesis, I stopped at the front desk. “I’d like to see about meeting with a trainer.” Bernadette was very helpful:
• My trainer, Ray, and I would meet to talk about my fitness goals. He’d set me up with a program suited to my needs.
• I’d meet with Ray for half an hour, once a week, for 10 weeks.
• Ray would watch how I was executing each exercise to make sure I was doing each one properly. He’d adjust my routine as I progressed, increasing weight and adding exercises.
• I’d fork over my Visa card and be set back $250.

This had better be worth it.

I explained my problems with arthritis. “It’s my age, you know—I’m 53.” “You’ll love the workout,” she said, “I do, and I’m 51.” Really. Thin and toned, she looked about 35. So what was I waiting for? I signed the credit card slip; I’d begin the following week.

I met with Ray, a friendly young man, probably in his late 20s, that Sunday afternoon. (And of course he was cute. They’re all cute; that’s part of the joke: “Middle-aged woman hires cute personal trainer . . . ” and one reason I thought the idea was ridiculous.) I had to change the date three times to fit in our chat before the first workout session the same week. Once I committed, I didn’t want to delay. I told Ray about the conversation I had with my doctor and how I wanted to relieve joint pain by building muscle. Yes, I’d like to use the various pieces of equipment. They fascinated me, but I wasn’t much for figuring them out on my own (they look dangerous to the uninitiated), so this was a good time to learn. I’d meet with Ray on Tuesday; he’d have a program ready for me by then.

Week One
On Day One, I got to the gym 10 minutes early and warmed up on the elliptical trainer, then met with Ray. “Okay,” he says, “we’ll begin with the leg press.” He shows me how to adjust the settings for my short legs. I start with 50 lb of weight, which seems easy enough but soon becomes cumbersome. I feel as though I’m pushing against the broad side of a barn. And I am. “You’ll do 15,” Ray says, “then take a 30-second break and do another 15. That’s how you’ll do all the exercises—15 reps, 30 seconds off, then 15 more.”

Wow. “Slave driver!” I retorted.

I used to do about 15 reps altogether: 8 and 8, maybe 12 and 8 if I was really gung-ho. Already this was a rude awakening. I eventually did all 30, but with difficulty. It was going to be harder than I thought.

And we’re going to do how many different exercises today?

Soon we moved on to standing calf raises (at 20 lb), which I’d never done before, then leg extensions and seated leg curls, both of which I had done. Ray was about to start me at 30 lb, when I said (ha!), “Oh, good! I’ve already been doing these at 30.” So, he made it 35.

Hmmph.

Torso rotations (at 10 lb) were next that day, then back extensions (60 lb), the Roman chair, and knee-ups (both at body weight). Ray said we’d do a lower body workout at the first session, and an upper body one at the second. I was impatient to do a complete body routine in a single workout session, but the way things were going, I saw the wisdom in his plan.

The challenge came 2 days later, when I attempted to repeat the circuit on my own. Ray had given me a sheet listing the exercises we covered, but already I was forgetting things (like what the heck a Roman chair was). It came back to me eventually as I wandered around and did a few of the other exercises. I had to complete the movements accurately and move slowly and maintain control. No momentum assists are allowed—moving quickly is cheating! People who rush through their workouts are just gypping themselves. If I was going to get the maximum benefit, I needed to do things properly. I began to think carefully about the exercises as I was doing them, about the muscles as they burned. To not do that meant that I couldn’t maintain the control I wanted. I had to be “present in the moment,” and it wasn’t fun. Or was it?

I made it to the gym three times that week. I piggybacked my weight routine onto my workout after Pilates class that Thursday, then came back Sunday afternoon. I noticed that each exercise had become a little easier, a little more doable.

Week Two
Just when I thought I had the routine down, we began the upper body workout. Dear God. I had never done bench presses! Ray handed me two 10-lb weights and instructed me to lie down on my back on the bench and, basically, push those weights straight upward. I followed his directions, as odd as it felt, and it occurred to me why I needed them. I had lost a lot of my upper body strength over the years, and the effects were obvious—especially when I found myself dragging a carry-on and laptop through an airport. If I was going to regain my strength, then, this was how it was going to happen. The weights wobbled, but I managed to get through all 30 reps. We did Arnold presses, with 5-lb free weights, which went well enough.

Then we moved to the other side of the gym, where we hit the workout equipment: standing cable curls (20 lb), triceps pushdowns (25 lb), and pull-ups (with a 16-lb assist, which, after some whining on my part, became 17 lb). The pull-ups were my nemesis; while doing them, I felt lightheaded and so feared them. What if I passed out while I was up there? What if I put too much strain on my chest and had a heart attack? Ray was standing below, so I did my best to banish such thoughts, as they certainly weren’t helping.

Later that week, I needed to repeat everything on my own. To complete both the lower body and upper body workouts in an hour, I had to alternate equipment—one 15-rep set of cable curls, then one set of triceps pushdowns, then back to the cable curls, with no 30-second rests in between. Taking a moment to sip from my water bottle was about all the time I could spare. So, I upped the ante on myself and found I was getting in the groove with it.

Stronger Every Day
As the weeks passed, Ray added more exercises (hip adduction at 60 lb and hip abduction at 50 lb) and increased the weights (leg presses went to 60, then 70, then 80 lb; standing calf raises went to 40, then 60, then 80 lb). I was now doing 18 individual exercises, and nearly all had multiple weight increases. I was also attending Pilates class for flexibility and using the elliptical. Outside the gym, I was seeing the results. I lost about 5 pounds (without paying much attention to my diet). The kids came home one weekend in March, and I was able to hold my own on a family bike ride. (“Hey, wow, what’s with Mom? She’s setting the pace!”) My annual visit with my daughter Amie in Los Angeles saw me carrying, rather than lugging, my laptop through the airport. I was feeling stronger and more in control of my workout, my day, and my life.

Before I knew it, the 10-week training session was over, and it was time to say goodbye to Ray. Oh, he’d be around, but I’d be on my own again during all of my workouts. I was going to have to police myself now. Soon, I zeroed in on exercises that called for increases in weight. I added a few old favorites, notably glutes, which targets the butt, and increased from 37.5 to 42.5 to 47.5 lb. With activities outside the gym (Gary and I were now into the spring bicycling season, and we continued our hikes up nearby Spring Mountain as the trees blossomed), I approached the summer season with hope of once again donning the bikini I had purchased for our British Virgin Islands sailing trip last year.

For a 53-year-old who had never been athletic, that ain’t too bad. Oh, and the arthritis pain? Yeah, it’s still there, but I don’t notice it as much. My muscles really work now, for what seems like the first time in years, and they propel me out of bed in the morning. The sun rises early now, and I don’t want to miss anything. By the way, we just got back from Tampa, where we celebrated my niece’s high-school graduation. While we were there, we hit the beach. And, I wore my bikini.

LINKS
Physical Fitness and Middle Age
Study: Middle-aged women need 1-hour workouts to avoid weight gain
Aging and What You Can Do About It
Exercises for Middle Age Women
Just Do-It Attitude Works with Exercise
Yoga Practice Is Associated With Attenuated Weight Gain in Healthy, Middle-Aged Men and Women