Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff

[Auspice]

My 'ohnofraud!' radar went off so fast when I got a 'Your order is preparing to ship' notification from Walmart (esp. since it was going to my old address) that I didn't notice the last 4 digits of the card number are not a card I own at all.

So even though it was just a package of cookies I now think it was someone trying to do something nice for me and my panic on the CANCEL button may have been a bit quick (though, I mean, it was going to the wrong place). Derp.

But hooray for the 'gotta stop fraud!' reflex of adulthood.

[mietze]

@arkandel yeah that makes me cringe too. I mean hell, just do some jogging in place or jumping jacks or just walking around the field at a leisurely pace a few times, anything. Or people just diving into full huge stretches when you are pretty sure they literally just put their athletic clothing on. Or watching impacts at sporting events.

Or people finishing up a long running event like a tri or half marathon and then...like not doing anything. I know they’re going to hurt like a mofo the 2nd and 3rd day! Ice it down folks!! Owwww!

[Arkandel]

@mietze There are several charities where people climb the CN Tower for charity. Climbing 147 floors is not an effortless thing at all.

I mean I get it, it's inspirational and for a good cause, but every year there are people who have no business trying it with zero preparation behind it. The first 20 floors or so - every time - are just packed with folks leaning against walls unable to move until they can move to where the paramedics can bail them or just throwing up. Pulled muscles are far from rare, too... there are a bunch of ambulances on the standby, every time, and not just as a precaution.

It's great to have goals and setting the bar high. But dammit, don't just wake up one morning and go for it, prepare just a little bit first. Go up and down our own building's stairs first, take a long walk... see where you're at.

[Auspice]

Fine.

Fiiiine.

The stretching itself sucked because even fifteen years later (since my soccer days) my calves still tend to be tight af, but I cut 5 minutes off my mile and a half and the first half mile didn't suck so bad.

[Arkandel]

I dislike change. Even when it's a good thing, I am naturally averse to it.

I got promoted internally at work. All it means (for now, before discussing salaries and hours) is that I'd be moved from my current team, with whom I've been for about five months, to a different team whose desks are about twenty feet away. There isn't even a door between us.

I had to say yes - when your boss' boss offers you what he calls a career opportunity for upwards movement it's hard to say no, or next time there'll be no reason to do it again - but I like the people I'm working with. I know and get along with the other team's members, but they are not the same.

Meh.

[SG]

Labrum tear is almost healed. I can't wait to start doing stuff again, like remembering to stretch and warm up more before squats.

[SG]

In the grown up stuff category, I just outed myself as old by referencing the Pointer Sisters, and getting a room full of blank wondering stares.

[Arkandel]

<blank wondering stare>

[SG]

Someone mentioned their new phone was arriving today.

I asked, "Are you excited? Can you not just hide it? Are you going to lose control? Do you think you like it?"

[Arkandel]

@sg That makes way more sense now.

[ThatGuyThere]

@sg said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:

Someone mentioned their new phone was arriving today.

I asked, "Are you excited? Can you not just hide it? Are you going to lose control? Do you think you like it?"

I recognize the song but couldn't have told you who sang it. granted that is more due to musical tastes than age.
I had a similar "god i am old" moment not too long ago when I made a Clash reference and it was met with crickets.

[Tinuviel]

This post is deleted!

[Auspice]

Why does having asthma as an adult make me feel so embarrassed? Why is it so embedded in my head as a 'childhood condition?'

Either way: I hate waking up to stand over the sink coughing to the point that I can barely hold myself upright.

[Sunny]

@auspice Because parents are told again and again and again that their kid will probably grow out of it, that it's one of those things kids grow out of, etc.. Not that they always do, but that's why that particular meme exists.

Sorry you're having a hard time with it.

[Derp]

Question:

Does anyone have any experience with personal trainers?

I am thinking of looking for one, but I honestly don't even know where to start. Do certifications really make that much of a difference for the cost increase? Are certain certifications better than others?

How long did you work with them? When did you decide it was time to do things on your own?

Halp?

[Ganymede]

@derp

My thoughts.

Have you been working out long? Are you sensing that you're not quite doing the exercises as diagrams show? If so, get a trainer for a couple of sessions, and they will help improve your form and technique.

The benefit to signing on with a trainer is that they will help you keep motivated and on track towards your goals. For some people, this is worth the premium in price. Good trainers will remain in contact with you via text and e-mail to remind you of sessions and to pump you full of slogans to help you stay on target.

I've used them before. They were helpful. For average consumers, the best thing to do is go with your gym's trainers. Those trainers know the place well enough. If you like the training, then hire a private one.

Myself, I've been working out fairly regularly for about 20 years. I've done a lot of exercises and exercising, from when I was fit and in shape to the present. Frankly, I've gotten the most mileage out of online programs, but those have a plethora of routines available, along with the ability to track what you've been doing. I've said it a million times, but it's worth checking Daily Burn out.

[Derp]

@Ganymede

Honestly? I have no idea what I'm doing. I don't know what's safe, or what realistic goals should be. Total noob in this area. It's a weakness that I would like to fix, because I'm not 20 anymore and it's starting to become an issue. But it was never an issue before, so I spent no time learning this, compared to other things that required my attention.

Which is why I need someone who knows what the fuck they are doing. I basically need a fitness Yoda, but I don't really know what 'overkill' looks like, either, so the fancy letters after their names mean nothing to me. Thanks for the info, though. There's a place I'm looking at that offers the gym for free, and you just pay for the trainer. It sounds like that might be a smart place to start.

[Arkandel]

@derp said in Health and Wealth and GrownUp Stuff:

Does anyone have any experience with personal trainers?

Yup.

I am thinking of looking for one, but I honestly don't even know where to start. Do certifications really make that much of a difference for the cost increase? Are certain certifications better than others?

A lot of certifications don't mean much because chains (such as Goodlife in Canada) churn them out by the shitload. It takes them a couple of weeks and a hefty fee paid to the mother company and they get one of those, which doesn't amount to much at all.

It doesn't help that most gyms will cram PTs down your throat, whether they are good or not. A "free consultation" for an hour is basically a marketing opportunity for them to have your ear for that long, and at least at first you don't know who's going to be much good for you.

A way to go about this is to look at yourself and answer some basic questions...

• What you can start with is figuring out what your goal is. Is it to lose weight? To gain something (flexibility, strength)? General conditioning?

• What is this worth to you? How many hours per week are you willing to put into it? How much money are you willing to spend? You should be aware ahead of time since it will absolutely come up when you are deciding on whether to give it a go.

The goal of any PT theoretically is to bring the trainee to the point where they are no longer needed. That's what the best of them will do - start you on more hours, then ween them out as you become more proficient with form and confident in your limits, until you want to go further.

Do you need a PT? That depends on your current level of fitness and general experience. Personally I got a lot of traction out of reading articles, watching a lot of youtube videos by reputable people, subscribing to subreddits (/r/fitness is pretty good, for example) and then hiring PTs for short bursts to go over my form and correct specific issues.

Another factor is that many gyms offer classes for free. Depending on what you want to do (say, yoga or pilates are pretty common) you might get traction out of those, at least while you determine what you want to do.

A third factor, if you can manage it, is getting a workout partner; they are worth their fucking weight in gold; they are the ones who sometimes make the difference between "meh, I don't feel like getting off my ass today" and "shit, it's more of a hassle to call and cancel than just put my shoes on and go". Plus, y'know, your buddy might be able to help you with some tips too if you find someone who's slightly more advanced than you are - for the price of buying them a beer after.

Whatever you do, don't commit to a long term plan with anyone, about anything, until you know it's for you. The best workout plan or PT are useless if you don't do them. Start slow (and they'll always try to give you discounts for more commitments, it's gym-running 101), see if you like it. You need to like it. If you don't like it you won't do it, not in the long term, and the long term is all that matters.

Edit: You can also consider an online PT for hire. I know Stefi Cohen's program is very good for instance, at least for the kinds of stuff they cover, and they will go over your form through videos for a fraction of the price. Plus there are communities you can join, etc. It might be worth your while.

[mietze]

I found a good personal trainer to be very helpful. Honestly, I would go with someone certified. It doesn't necessarily mean that you are immune from someone who gets you injured or otherwise harmed because they're incompetent, but it reduces the likelihood. I agree with Gany that if you already belong to a gym, start there! Many times you can also do small group personal training to see if you like it. I've done both with the same trainer once I found someone who was an awesome fit for me, and to be honest I preferred the small group and not just because of the much lower cost.

I do think you should examine your goals for getting a trainer. Why do you want one?

*Do you want different accountability than what you've been trying?
*Do you need extra help with your particular circumstance (once I'd lost 80 lbs but still had around 40 to go, I wanted to find someone who'd been on a similar journey that I could bounce ideas and motivation off of. I found a great trainer who was a little older than me--I was in my mid-30s at that time--but who had started her weight loss in her 30s and had kept it off for 10+ years without using a product. She'd also done her weight loss post abdominal surgery and childbirth. And we really clicked personally, she's been in my corner since even though my health is a flaming dumpster fire right now.)
*Do you need to have things changed up but you don't want to/get confused with the resources out there so you want someone else to put together a program for you?
*Do you have special health concerns that you might need some extra support with if you are new to your exercise program? (I have hypermobile joints. I needed someone to teach me what normal range of motion was, and to spot me and help me come up with ways to be able to perceive where I should stop, because my joints would keep going and I could seriously injure myself otherwise).

Those are all pretty solid reasons to get a trainer (one on one or small group). Some trainers will also have additional certifications (or maybe the other way around); my registered dietician that helped me was also a certified personal trainer, but I didn't use those services with her, just the nutrition/eating program services.

So it really depends on what you want.

I didn't look for a trainer until I was frustrated with my triathlon time training, I was hitting a motivational plateau, and I wanted someone who could help me think outside the box.

[Derp]

@arkandel

See, that's the thing. I would -like- to focus on strength training because I have an injury that prevents me from doing high-impact cardio at my current level (ankle is too fucked to run right now but is stable and can easily bear steady, low-impact weight), so what I really need is someone who can show me how to do strength training stuff without, you know, killing myself or fucking something else up. I'm not currently strong enough to do most of the recommended 'here is some beginner bodyweight workouts', so I need something that can let me work up to that.

I think I really need a live person for that, rather than a video, since I don't know anything about it. At least for a couple of months, until I get a more solid grounding. I'm more than happy to put in the work. I love being physical and active. Add social into that, and we have a winner. What I need is an expert, in the sense of 'someone who knows enough to help me figure out something that I can stick with'.

Those are good suggestions, though! I will certainly check it out! Thanks for the feedback!