The Muscles I Knew I Had But Didn't Use Much Anyway

On Tuesday I met with a personal trainer for my very first personal, one-on-one, 30-minutes-of-me-time training session at the gym.  I almost cancelled the session due to the really cold weather and my near-refusal to poke even one more toe into the bitter night.  My husband, however, successfully encouraged me to stick to the plan and carry out my end of the bargain. (Never mind that his first response was "It's up to you, Angela." When I asked him to reconsider, he remembered his role and told me to go).

All in all the evening was a success. I did make a poor decision and ate a pork chop and some mashed potatoes shortly before working out--the eating was a good decision as it was delicious, but the timing caused me to get a bit nauseous on my 3rd rep of across-the-floor lunges.

As I was staring at the black, wilting exercise mat while doing the plank (see image below), I came to an understanding about why trainers are awesome.  If I was here by myself, I would've put my knees down about 20 seconds into this exercise.  However, being of a somewhat competitive nature, I don't want to appear weak or defeated in front of someone...especially someone I'm paying to make sure I don't suck. I push myself way harder with an audience...which I believe is a typical human tendency.  The constant volley "good job, nice work" didn't hurt anything either.

The rest of the workout went well and after I regain the use of my knees, abs and elbows, I'll be ready to get back at it!

The Plank: Someday I could look like her...except with brown curly hair and bigger...well, never mind.