Whee! I’m finally cleared to go back to the gym for the first time in about six months. My back’s okay, my toe has healed up, and my knee is at a point where workouts are encouraged to strengthen it. So I called up my trainer and booked 20 sessions.
I haven’t lost as much ground as I had been afraid I would; Elizabeth, my trainer, told me it’s much easier to regain lost ground than to build up the muscles in the first place.
The coolest thing is the whole chest business. There came a point, about a year into my workouts, when I suddenly felt my chest engaging when I did bench presses. It was very odd; I had thought it was working before, but apparently not. According to E., it takes a while for the body to learn to do that instead of relying on the arms and back. And the cool part was that my body remembered that when I got onto the bench.
I also was able to bench-press the 45-pound bar plus two 10-pound plates first time out. I had last gotten up to the 35-pound plates, so it was pretty great to see I hadn’t deteriorated back to square one. I think it had taken me six months to get to the bar alone.
The only real drawback is that E. is leaving the gym in a few months, having had it with being a trainer. But we’re going to work out some kind of “workout buddy” arrangement to continue, where we train together on the weekends and I’m on my own during the week. I may also take the money I save from not buying training sessions and start going to a yoga studio as well to increase my flexibility. Because one of the things that doomed my knee was tight, very tight, super tight IT bands and calves.
Re: super-tight IT bands, may I suggest the FOAM ROLLER! I think they cost about $10 at back stores/sporting goods stores. Wow, do they ever make a difference! It’s painful when you start using one, but they really get in there and work on the IT band.
Yeah; they have them at my gym, and they’re a revelation. I feel like Madeleine Kahn at the end of Young Frankenstein whenever I use them: “Oh.. oh.. what are you doing?…Oh…Sweeeeet mystery of life, at last I’ve found you….”
I’ve gotten my knee fixed through a combination of the ultrasound, stretching, and Active Release Technique, which does some really deep (and painful!) work on the IT band that releases everything in a snap. And leaves a lovely trail of bruises, too!
But I still have some calf tightness, since I was limping and had the knee bent for about a month because I just couldn’t straighten it. I hit a spot on the calf on the foam roller that made me jump, but immediately had a positive effect on the knee.
Is having a trainer helpful? Also, since I’m a bit self-conscious about exercise, I was wondering whether it’s awkward having someone watch you work out.