Gulik Gym

Today I met with my assigned personal trainer at the YMCA for the Lance Armstrong Cancer Survivor strength program. My doctor had whole heartedly signed the permission to participate form and was very much in support of my joining. So I took my forms in hand and drove up Long Pond Road to the Northwest Branch of the Y for my 'intake' session.

The parking lot and the facility was packed. Once again I was impressed by how happy and friendly everyone is, how caring and attentive the instructors are. Its not the Y of my youth where I learned to both swim and be afraid of the water! I asked for my trainer at the front desk and she appeared before I barely had time to sit down.

We went to her office in the back for a brief conversation and signing of papers, then began with the initial assessment of where I am. First I had to walk on a treadmill for 6 minutes, and I could select the speed. The speed it started at was so slow I could walk faster standing still! Piece of cake. I didn't push hard, just did what felt reasonable to me.

Then we did a flexibility measurement. We stretched out a bit, and I had three chances to stretch while sitting on a mat with a yard stick attached to it, legs in front of me, my heels on the marked line. I reached up with my arms, breathed in and then out as I bent my face towards my knees and touched the mat. I was surprised to find that I can actually reach beyond where my toes are!

Then we were supposed to do 2 machines - one a chest press and one a leg press - to see how much weight was comfortable for me to lift. I declined the chest press as I was concerned about aggravating the pinched nerve in my neck. Measurements done, we headed to the Gulik Gym.

What an odd name! I'm not sure what it means, but when we entered the room, it was in full swing. Catchy dance music was playing, and people were at different stations (there are 16 altogether) doing different activities. Every other station is a machine of some sort that will work muscles. The inbetween stations were movement activities for cardio workout - stepping and bending etc.

My trainer walked me through the different stations, showing me how to do the activities, asking the instructor to advise when she wanted me to have a better understanding. It was a bit awkward. Every minute (yes, 60 seconds) a bell would sound and you move to the next station. The idea is to do all the stations twice, but not get bored or overwhelmed. We set all the machines on 2 (just a little resistance, not much) to get a feel for whether I would need to just do the motion without the resistance, or whether I should add more resistance, make it a bit more challenging.

After we had worked through it once (and I was encouraged by the others working out), she asked me if I wanted to do it again, but I declined. Still a bit wary of overdoing. We made an appointment for next week to meet again, and in the meantime, she encouraged me to come try other things. I can walk on treadmills to my heart's content (and condition), swim, sit in the whirlpool, participate in classes.

Monday evening I am planning to try a Tai Chi class. You don't have to sign up, just show up. That is, providing I recover from today! Such a little bit of movement, but already on the drive to work I could feel muscles I haven't talked to in awhile. They weren't complaining, mind you. Just letting me know they are there. Kiel tells me I will really feel stiff tomorrow. I'll see. I mean really, it was just a half hour of working out. And not with any kind of heavy weights or anything. It seemed easy and my trainer was watching out for me to make sure I didn't do anything wrong, damaging or stupid. Of course, I haven't done anything but walk (slowly) in a long time, and some days I can't even manage to do that (like the last week). So we will see how it goes.

I'm actually hoping I can keep with it and that I end up stronger and healthier and maybe even make some progress with the chemobrain issues. I think I like being a statistic in this study. Its way better than the drug ones!