Alrighty...so, Nicole's been out of the state since last Friday! Since she's outta town, she made sure I'd still have my workouts on Wednesday and Friday of this week with another trainer, Rosemary! Gotta love Nicole's dedication to getting me in-shape to tackle my walking goal!
So, today I showed up to the studio kinda nervous because Nicole wouldn't be there. She is familiar with how my body works and is totally comfortable with what I'm capable vs not capable of doing. I have developed this insecurity of having people work with me that are not familiar with how my body reacts in different situations. I hate having hospital nurses, for example, approach the situation in all their connfidance, attempt to move me, and then my body responds in a less-than-ideal manner and their cocky attitude turns into distress and something uncomfortable is bound to happen. About 6 years ago in Denver, I had gotten a shower by a caregiver, was being wheeled back into my room, and the caregiver was just too confident in her actions and the wheelchair tipped backwards. I hated the helplessness I felt in that moment. It was so scary to unexpectedly tip over and not be able to protect yourself from hitting the ground! I have a number of stories of instances that have shook my nerves and made it harder for me to just trust that my body is safe with any and everyone.
But, as time passes and I slowly, but surely get better, I find myself trusting more people and feel more and more able to "protect" myself. Now, I just want to clarify that not one of these "uncomfortable situations" was ever done on purpose, and I know that. Every person that offers to help me should get gold stars in heaven for that! It's just a "trust issue" that I have to deal with!
So, going into this workout was a little nerve-racking, but I was happily surprised with how comfortable Rosemary was with me! Good pick, Nicole! We started out the workout with the 4lb weights. I did a few sets of bicep curls, and a few sets of these elbow raises...bent arm at the elbow, brought elbow up to shoulder level, and released arm back down.
Then we did some pull-ups with the pole...those are getting a lil too easy for me! I'm deffinitely getting buff! Rosemary also brought out the resistance band, which she wrapped around the pole to provide a stable base for the band while I did some pull-backs and push-forwards with the band's handles.
After we dicussed my leg-exercises that I have done with Nicole, Rosemary had me do some leg presses with her. Unlike Nicole, Rosemary sat down on a block that was against the wall. I leaned my chair back a lil bit, and tried to push my individual legs into her hands. I also did leg raises, bending and straghtening my legs individually. One special thing Rosemary did, was placed her hand on my quad muscle that I wanted to engage. Having her hand there really help me in directing my efforts to that specific muscle. It really helped me to know which muscle I should be focusing my energy on. We did countless leg-raises...enough to feel the burn!
Then, Rosemary got me to try something new to me! She wanted to hold one foot at a time up and have me point and flex my foot to work the muscles in my calf, and even work my "helper muscles." I was convinced that I wouldn't be able to bend my ankles forwards and backwards, but my comfort-level working with Rosemary was high and we gave it a try. To my surprise, I was actually able to do it! Rosemary and my ankles proved me wrong! My mind may have reservations, but my body can't succeed if I never try. That's a motto I'm trying to keep reminding myself of!
We did a few sets of those...enough to make me calves sore tonight!
Afterwards, Rosemary went out to her car to get me a tennis ball...purple. To match my purple leggings and purple cheetah print sports bra! She had me grip it in one hand and squeeze the ball with my fingers. This was an exercise for my forearm muscles. The exercise may sound easy, but it's one of those super painful ones for muscle ya didn't even know you had! I did multiple sets, switching the tennis ball from right to left hand and back again.
Next, we did my favorite; arm circles. Then, I stretched out my arm muscles and Rosemary stretched out my calves.
Despite the fact that Nicole was absent, I had a really good workout...I'm actually super sore!
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