The first day

Every first step begins with the decision to try….

As a personal trainer, I will admit that I have, in the past, been guilty of rattling off inspirational phrases such as the above to motivate new clients.

But nothing quite prepares you for the cold, dark morning on which you have to throw on your gym clothes and brave something completely new and unfamiliar at an hour when most of us are dreaming f what we will eat for breakfast.

By far, the intimidation factor is generally the biggest deterrent in moving forward with anything new in life (let alone fitness). In particular, the thought of being judged or sized up by a super fit trainer who does this for a living is something which can be hard to live down.

I don’t know If my colleagues will be appreciate this, but I have news for you: we are as anxious as you are. Even though I have done this for over ten years and owned a gym for five, I still get goose bumps every time we start a new cycle with unfamiliar faces.

How will they respond to our program? How are they enjoying the workout? Were they able to clearly follow the orientation/diet/etc? Will they laugh at my corny/recycled jokes?

All of these thoughts and many more pass through our minds as we meet you for the first time, lead you through the warm up and coach you throughout the program.  I know the first time I worked with my personal trainer, I was an over weight 17 year old that actually did push ups and curls before meeting him to look “swole” as we began the session.

His name was Alan and he was probably about my age now (33) wearing a gym polo and slacks to look “professional”. We began training and I could tell he took an interest in me by asking me questions about my soccer team and pumping out a few reps of each thing I did as if to assure me it was cool.

But while he managed to play it cool throughout the session, I will never forget him trying to explain nutrition to me after the session. We sat down in his office and discussed a pretty simple meal plan not completely dissimilar to the one our clients receive with bootcamp.

Everything was going smoothly until Alan got so excited with his gestures he accidentally spilled coffee all over himself and his computer in one fell swoop of his arms.

We both broke out in laughter after a…wait for it…pause and I can definitely say this broke the ice better than any exercise ever could.

My point with this story is that we all share the same emotions, hopes and fears when it comes to starting something new. As the program goes on and we will learn your names, more about your goals and experience improbably funny and stupid moments together (see coach Chris doing BAD karaoke at our open house many years ago) you will understand what I mean when I say we become like family.

Afterall, how many family members do you see five times per week? All I ask is that you give us a try, stay the course for a few weeks and it is my firm belief your life will be changed forever (not by our program, but by the fact that you can always do this at any day and any time)

Always remember, we are in this thing together.