Progress
Yesterday, I had my 12th workout session with my trainer. After one month, I can say that the money I’m spending is well worth it.
The first of three months was intended to focus on fundamentals. That’s exactly what we did. The first week was extremely basic. She instructed me on proper posture for each exercise she showed me, explaining how good form is more important than the number of repetitions for any exercise. A deviation from the proper form could cause a muscle group other than the one you intended to be exercised, could lead to no muscles getting any effect at all, or could cause injury. With the explanations out of the way, she spent the second and third week pushing me into the proper position on each exercise. Some felt so awkward to me that it seemed impossible to get my body to do what she wanted. By the fourth week, I was falling into each position naturally, without her having to push, pull and twist me into them (with the exception of a couple of even more awkward exercises we hadn’t done before).
As for the strenuousness of the workouts, the first week was pretty much a breeze, as each day we focused on different muscle groups and she was more concerned about form than results. She gradually ramped things up over the second and third weeks. That was primarily because of the abdominal exercises she had me doing. The weight training was quite light for the first three weeks, with no more than two sets for each exercise and no increase in weight for the second set. I felt it, but it wasn’t pushing me over the edge. The abs were a different story.
We do ab exercises for each session. The first week was relatively easy, but weeks two and three were rough. She explained how strong abs are important for every exercise you do, something I had heard before but never appreciated. Given that my lower abs were weak and my mid abs were practically non-existent, we did a lot of work on those. But we certainly didn’t exclude the upper or the sides. By the fourth week, my abs had come along that I could see the outlines when I flex, the ab exercises had become easy enough that she increased the number of reps, and I no longer teetered one way or the other doing balance exercises. Stronger abs also contributed to overcoming the awkwardness in many of the positions.
With the weight training, she did focus on pumping my triceps and pecs from the third week, mostly as a motivational factor for me, I think. So for exercises related to those muscles, she did increase the weight for each set. And for the pecs, I did three sets on some exercises (like the bench press) rather than two. In week four, she did the same for all exercises. It’s amazing to me that it can happen so quickly, but my tris and pecs are already bigger than they’ve ever been. Muscles also started showing on my back by the end of the third week, where they had never shown before. For several of the exercises, I was able to up the weight for the first set by week four. That was a big boost for me. Particularly so with my tris, given that I started out with the pink, girly 1kg and 2kg dumbbells.
The hardest day each week has been leg day. We work the quads, the hamstrings, and the groin, both with and without weights. I never knew there were so many different exercises for the legs that didn’t involve weights, nor that they could ever be so strenuous. Coupled with the ab and back exercises we do on leg day, I’m more tired by the end than I am on the other days. In week four, she moved leg day from Tuesday to Sunday without my asking her to, since I no longer have to work on Sundays and could relax. Given that all three days in week four were exhausting, it didn’t really matter 
Aside from the pumped muscles and faint outlines, another big result of the first month is a smaller waist. I was ecstatic two years ago when I lost 13kg and watched as my pants got bigger. Even after I got lazy and gained weight again, my waist stayed the same. When I did start doing cardio again a few months ago, I was hoping to lose another size, but it didn’t really happen. After only one month with my trainer, pants that were tight when we started now slide down my hips if I don’t wear a belt. My love handles are smaller, and the fat that was still stubbornly clinging to my belly is evaporating.
So month two starts tomorrow. The next twelve sessions will focus on strength. I got a taste of that in week four, so I know what to expect. The exercises are now going to become more exhausting. She’s also going to have me do more difficult ab exercises, again something we already started in week four. Once upon a time, I would have looked upon the coming month with dread. Now, I’m actually looking forward to it. I’ve come to enjoy the feeling that comes when it seems like my body just can’t do one more rep, but I push and push and get there, sometimes with her help and sometimes without. Often, when I’m lying on a bench after a strenuous ab workout, I don’t have the energy to sit up and instead have to roll off of it to stand. It’s quite addictive.