Too Young to Feel Old
I can confidently walk into a gym and know how to utilize the equipment. I feel the best I have felt in over 25 years.
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My clock turned 50 in January 2019. Despite the fact that I have always been pretty athletic and not over-weight, I did not feel great. I often had pain in my one of my knees. I was sometime bothered by hip pain. I got winded walking up a flight of steps. I thought, I am too young to feel old.
I decided I could invest the money in the future in health care payments or I could invest the time and money in myself now. After some research on my options, I decided to get a personal trainer. For a few months, I booked sessions with a young trainer at my local gym. They worked with me once or twice a week for a few months. But they did not teach me about using the gym. They just told me what to do. I felt they were making me dependent on them and their routine to improve my health.
I wanted to learn how to use the weight equipment properly. My goals were to build strength, improve my balance, eliminate any pains due to improved core strength, brace and breathe, tighten and tone, lose inches around my waist and hips. But most importantly, I wanted to gain confidence in using the weight room equipment safely and correctly so I could create my own workout routines and remain injury free.
I needed to find a personal trainer who had the experience, confidence, and patience to meet all my personal fitness goals.
For the past nine months, I have been training with Wendell Navalta at MANA Sports Performance. Wendell has a long list of accolades that made him great at what he does (I will let you find that out for yourself). What worked for me is that he has a lot of patience and utilized his experience and wealth of knowledge to make me confident to utilize the gym. With each session, he made certain that I knew the name of the machine, the name of the exercise, and how to use the equipment properly and safely. He educated me on what muscle group I was using. He introduced me to the importance of breaking my sessions down into upper and lower body and the suggested frequency of working out each body part and muscle group. In addition, he educated me knowing how to gauge how much weight to use when using the machines.
Wendell genuinely cares about his clients. Shortly before I started with Wendell, I started a new job that required very long hours and a lot of mental energy. I often came to the gym physically and/or mentally exhausted. Over the course of the months I worked with Wendell, he met me where I was that day. He gave me a ton of advice on how to deal with my stress level. He pushed me only on the days that I had taken care of myself (enough food, rest, reasonable amount of stress). I had big goals that I wanted to meet. He was aware enough that he was not going to add to my stress level with unreasonable expectations from my workout. I cannot say enough how much he helped me keep my sanity and perspective during a difficult time.
The bottom line, I accomplished all my goals. I can confidently walk into a gym and know how to utilize the equipment. I have many different routines to vary my workouts. I know how to use the equipment safely and correctly. I feel the best I have felt in over 25 years and I am back to the size, shape, and weight I was over 25 years ago. I believe there really is no shortcut to meet these fitness goals. One must be willing to work hard in the gym, monitor their food intake and their lifestyle. I worked hard to meet these goals and I am grateful that I had Wendell Navalta and MANA Sports to help me along the way.
Mary Kuether
