I bought a gym membership (at my gym 24 Hr Fitness) for my oldest two boys. The middle one needs it because his habit of being sedentary has put lots of extra pounds on him. And my oldest needs it because he’s a string bean who wants muscles (and he doesn’t know it but his torso is low-muscle-tone and to achieve that goal he’ll need to work hard on that).
When we finish, my heavy boy is sooooo happy. He thinks its cuz he’s DONE! I know that may be part of it, but its also the endorphin rush of the work out! Ha! On the opposite scale, when we START my oldest is thrilled, cuz he loves the gym and the goals he thinks he’ll be achieving. His enthusiasm gets compliments from fellow members at the gym.
The first week of this was a challenge. I had to reign in my over-enthusiastic oldest son so he wouldn’t try a machine without me guiding him. Last thing I need is for him to give his body a permanent injury out of ignorance! Took two weeks before I could trust I wouldn’t turn around and find him on a machine even I had no idea how to use!
And I had to push my other boy to make sure he did it correctly without slacking off. Fast little reps that we’re doing him ANY good. Being a mini-training is irritating because I wasn’t getting very much of my OWN workout.
But after that first month we got it down. Plus my oldest now has practice showering in a gym by himself. Just in time for High School. (YIKES!) And my middle son has learned to change his clothing from work out outfit to clothes in a public area. He’s too terrified & shy to shower at the gym, so he does it later. I’d hoped he’d shower & save me money, but I gave in to his shyness. I did insist he change clothes at the gym. He’ll be doing it soon enough at Middle School… with his mean peers.
The second month is a breeze. I can tell them we’re doing legs or arms today and they do 3 sets of 4 reps at a hard weight and 30 reps at an easy weight. I instruct them to chose 4 of the 6 leg machines I’ve shown them and run between them getting in my own workout and checking on theirs. I praise them A LOT. And push my heavy boy delicately. I have to find the balance between his effort and his shyness.
Luke doesn’t need excessive cardio so I have him running the treadmill. He likes to run and might be good at track if he can develop his lungs to stick with it and conquer his body’s desire to stop. Last week, I taught him to run without thunking the shit out of the machine! And he did it beautifully. If I can get him into a sport in high school, that he can DO, he’ll make friends. He needs that.
Working it like a slot machine you can ride!
Evan finally found his groove next to me on an elliptical machine. Plugging my headphones into the system he cracks up to Regis & Kelly! Before he knows it, he’s worked that machine for 20 minutes and burned 170 calories. I glanced over one time and saw him riding the machine on one side like a roller coaster!
What he’s not aware of yet is how well this is working. I’m already seeing him able to do heavier weights and do better working his abs. And while he may not actually be losing pounds, he is getting thinner. His clothes fit better AND you can see the change in his face.
And I’m losing my extra pounds also. 🙂 Although that may be due to the fact I’m not eating ICE CREAM every night! Ha!