I have persuaded myself to hire a personal trainer.
After six-plus decades of regular exercise, mostly running and bicycling, plus weight machines in recent years, I’ve decided that I need professional help. Someone who’ll stand there watching me, noting flaws or inefficiencies in how I stretch or lift. Someone who can teach me exercises that will improve the strength and flexibility of my knees and ankles. Someone who can coach me on building my core.
Cardio workouts? I think I know how to make good use of those, but I’m ready to have someone confirm or correct my thinking. And there’s this large inflated ball in my basement, acquired from somewhere. Is it something I should be using? How?
As for my core … whenever a generic word takes on some particular technical denotation, I wonder whether someone is trying to sell me something by making it sound new. Is “core training” a trendy way of referring to strengthening my abdominal, pectoral and lateral muscles? I researched situps and other abdominal exercises in 1985. I’m sure exercise scientists know more now than they did then, but what?
“You do need core training,” said a local trainer with whom I spoke on the phone a few days ago. The tone in this certified expert’s voice was compelling in its matter-of-factness. We talked for several more minutes about other things I think I need to work on. Better balance, for one. I used to water ski, walk on stilts, bounce on a pogo stick, balance on a roller. Now I look twice before I walk down a short flight of stairs. And I want to improve my posture. And, yes, my core.
I phoned my friend Phil in Nashville. Two years younger than I, Phil has always been athletic. He played Division III basketball in college and serious recreational tennis after that. With a busy practice as a psychotherapist, he has always paid attention to maintaining good health, he is constantly interested in learning new things, and for several years he has been working twice a week with a personal trainer.
For exercise, Phil said, “I wanted something more sophisticated, in a place with a large assortment of equipment.” I haven’t seen the fitness center he visits, but it sounds impressive. The owner, and Phil’s personal trainer, Irv Rubenstein, holds a Vanderbilt Ph.D. in exercise physiology. He employs 30 other trainers. Their center occupies an entire floor of a large office building near Music Row, and the business apparently covers the $22,000 monthly rent easily.
Phil is enthusiastic about the whole experience — not just the exercises but two other elements as well. One is the scope of his conversations with Dr. Rubenstein. “We talk about all kinds of things. I send him articles I’ve written. He sends me articles from the Washington Post that have caught his attention. I think that conversation is an important part of the process.”
The other element is the way Phil’s personal doctor can offer a kind of editorial control over the training program. “She sometimes tells my trainer to back off a bit.” For example, after several weeks of workouts, his PCP found that Phil’s red and white blood cell counts were low, and so they reduced the number of repetitions in some of the exercises.
I asked about other constraints on what the trainer and trainee attempt to do. I did once have a session with a trainer who showed me a couple of good exercises on machines but who also directed me to do a set of jumping jacks. I declined to do them. I suffered once from achilles tendinitis, and I knew jumping jacks could bring back that condition.
Phil offered reassurance. “We don’t do jumping jacks,” he said. “We do squats.”
I plan to schedule sessions with a personal trainer soon. Meanwhile, I’d like to hear from readers who have used personal trainers themselves. What’s the experience like? What motivated you? What exercises seem to help? My email is below. Write. After two or three months I’ll follow up with a report here.
If you haven’t already signed up for the incomparable Bridge of Flowers Road Race, held in Shelburne Falls on Aug. 9, you can still do so before 5 p.m. on Aug. 6, online at https://www.runreg.com/bridgeofflowersrace. (There’s no race-day registration.) The main event is the 8km. (5-mile) race, starting at 9 a.m. The 3km family run/walk starts at 8 a.m. The entry fee is waived for runners over the age of 70.
John Stifler has taught writing and economics at UMass and has written extensively for running magazines and newspapers. He can be reached at jstifler@umass.edu.