I wanted to thrill you with my very keen observations today, but I discovered at the gym that I had put on my Adidas tights backwards, and then I thought if I am going down this road, I had better start with that information so that you will know that I can be just as deft.
That said, I have a pair of Apple earbuds my husband gave me as a gift, and I love using them at the gym with my Apple watch that has my playlist loaded on it so that I never have the hassle of carrying my enormous iPhone, which is the direct result of my age and needing reading glasses pretty much all the time. They earbuds are noise canceling, and truly, if you see them in my ears, I cannot read lips and cannot hear you.
Unless you happen to be the two ladies talking on the treadmills next to me on the elliptical this morning. Seriously, y'all: if I can hear you over my music with these in, you are being rudely loud. I am not the only one being bothered. I appreciate the desire to visit and share, and that there are no kids around. I am a mom of four, and no one appreciates the ability to visit with a female friend without the constant interruption of children like a homeschool mom, but the whole 'do unto your neighbor as you would yourself' still always applies, even during a conversation on the treadmills between moms.
I had considered asking them if they could talk a little quieter, but much like the speeders and stop sign ignorers I wrote about previously, I tend to think they don't care and would consider me to be the rude one.
I was glad when the 20 minute HIIT session was up.
Which leads to the matter of the hamster-wheel elliptical devotee.
Can I just help someone here?
In my former life before I was home full-time, I was a trainer of trainers, a trainer myself, and a group fitness instructor. I have even spoken on sports nutrition at an international conference in the absence of a scheduled physician. I don't know it all, but I do know at least a little to get to do that, especially when it comes to exercise.
I would love to lead with safety. If you aren't doing something in a safe manner when you are exercising, there is a good chance you will at some point sustain an injury. It's a great reason to hire a personal trainer to show you the ropes and design a program for you that targets your personal goals. It's an investment in yourself.
That said, let's move on to the hamster-wheel thing. This applies to anything, not just the elliptical: if you don't put some resistance on the machine, your body will not be doing enough work to be effective. It can also be very dangerous and cause an injury.
Even if you are a novice, this applies and should simply be adjusted accordingly so that movement is natural, but not easy. If your legs or arms are flying, you have no control over the equipment or yourself. I cannot explain how many times I have had to correct this when teaching instructors and students. When you train instructors, they may occasionally challenge something, but generally, they realize that the one teaching them has more experience, special training, and knowledge, and if something they have been doing needs to be adjusted, they will change it and be thankful for more information to help their clients. With students, you have to generally earn their trust first if they have been doing something the wrong way for a long time. I have never minded spending that time because who and what is more important than the client whom we are trying to serve? But it's also true that the more you incorrectly perform a movement, the harder it is to correct. This is again why you need to hire a great trainer who will make absolutely sure you understand and that they spend time working on your form and really watching you move.
Now that brings me to the hamster-wheel devotee.
I tend to just look away. I am there for my own workout.
There are personal trainers to hire employed where I work out, though I have never seen any of them address unsafe and ineffective things happening with anyone they are not directly working with paying them. I actually think that is a missed opportunity to develop a new client, but I digress.
I am not saying that I never butt in and offer some help. I have many times, but I have realized that it's not entirely appropriate for me to do this. I have no liability policy and don't represent the gym. It's a difficult position to be in trying to decide if I am compelled to help because I know how to or if I am compelled not to because they have someone for that, and it's not me. So with feet flying six feet away from me for years now, I am dying to help but won't. Instead I am writing this hoping to make some change in this world.
Maybe she will read this.
Maybe we can just all share the knowledge and somehow, it will make its way back.
Please: there is no such thing as a sprint without it being unsustainable due to speed or resistance resulting in your body forcing you to slow down and recover. You cannot deeply affect your muscle fibers without the strain. And while the next thing I would advise is to please do everything safely--it should never be so difficult that your movement isn't still smoothly done, even as you overcome the inertia of resistance. Let it be said if your feet are flying even with resistance, you didn't put enough on there. If you are in a class, like a Spin class, and you are told to sprint: 1) if you are new, you need a good solid base first. Give it a few weeks of consistent training, and you will be ready. and 2) there should also be instruction on loading up that flywheel so it's hard to get it going, but it should produce smooth pedal strokes, unattainable effort pretty quickly causing you to back off and need to recover. If that isn't what is going on, I would find a new instructor.
If you are looking for a great trainer for at least some basics, look for someone walking the walk and in great shape. Yep, I just said that. I cannot advise you to trust someone who isn't. Make sure you take classes from great instructors who keep your safety first and pay lots of attention to your form and make the class about you. It isn't their workout, and they should be there to lead the class and help individual students. You rarely ever get a group class that doesn't have a mix of experience levels.
And please, never any hamster-wheel legs.
Let's just not.
Maybe my next creative endeavor should be to create a heavier hamster wheel abolish stereotype and help hamsters everywhere exercise more effectively too.
May your day be blessed with quiet and enough resistance to make you stronger, Nicole
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