How did David PERFORM?
When I first began my quest to get in shape in January, my cardio and strength levels (upper body and chest) were below average for my age bracket. Since then, I have been consistently exercising at the PERFORM Centre twice a week, plus or minus the odd week when I was too swamped with schoolwork. With the winter term behind me, it was time to see if my strength had improved or not and if I had lost some weight.
My trainer, Alicia Wright, would carry out my final evaluation. She has been tracking my weekly progress and constantly pushing me to work out longer, but how would she react when the final numbers came in?
The evaluation began with my waist and height measurements. When I asked Wright if I had grown fatter, she responded that I would have to wait until the end of the evaluation to find out. While Alicia strapped me up to get my blood pressure, she asked whether my eating habits had improved. I admitted that they had actually deteriorated as the end of term approached.
I could not endure the suspense a moment longer as we approached the scale. “You've gained some weight Mr. Adelman,” said Wright. I had gained two pounds since I began working out!
“Is it due to more muscle?” I asked. Wright explained that had I been training like a body builder this might be the case. However, she thinks the small increase was most likely due to the deterioration of my eating habits.
“So, I’m guessing you have been eating a lot of fast food lately?” Wright asked me while I was midway through my cardio test. She was right; usually I’m never home during lunch hour, and I succumb to my cravings for smoked meat sandwiches or hamburgers.
Yikes, I thought to myself before jumping off the treadmill. At least I didn’t feel as out of breath as when I first started working out. My endurance had improved, and my breathing was finally synchronized with my movements.
Next up was the strength test, which involved the low row, chest press, and the leg press. The goal for me was to do 10 repetitions at increasing workloads with rest in between. When I first did the test, I thought I was a lot stronger than I actually was. This time around, I could feel that my breathing was more synchronized with my movements and that my endurance had definitely increased.
Now that all the tests were over, I was anxious to find out if I had made any positive improvements. Wright brought me the results of my evaluation. The good news was that my cardio level had improved by 13 per cent since I first visited the PERFORM Centre, my upper body strength by 14 per cent, my chest strength by nine per cent, and my legs by five per cent (I received a SUPERB rating).
Though I didn’t meet my initial goal to lose 10 pounds, I like to see the glass half full: I have the whole summer to exercise and sweat my weight down in the sun. And now that I’ve developed the habit of exercising, it shouldn’t be a problem.
What are your summer goals for getting healthy?
Related links:
• PERFORM Centre
• “Breaking a Sweat at PERFORM” — NOW, January 31, 2012
• "Personal Training at Le Centre" —NOW, February 29, 2012
• "The Challenge of Eating Healthy" — NOW, April 17, 2012
• Eating Healthy (Video)