I’ll just have to trust that he knows what he is talking about. I’m at the beginning of a 12-week program. GAC is utilizing the most up-to-date knowledge available to shake up the way people get their bodies in optimal shape. When GAC owner George Gagnon asked me to participate, I eagerly signed the dotted line.

I’m starting the program in fairly good shape. I ran a half marathon in February and did a triathlon in May. But I’ve been amazed at how these workouts have found a way to exercise every muscle in my body. My abdominals are sore and I haven’t done the first crunch or sit-up. This approach engages my core (the entire width and breadth of my stomach) in other ways. I perform balance exercises using planks and suspension ropes. My workouts will consist of group personal training, Afterburn sessions and solo workouts following a plan made for my specific capabilities.

More adjusting will come as my body adapts to the program. Don said once my body begins to flourish in one program, he’s going to throw another one at me. When we continually sustain the same workouts, our bodies tend to adapt so much that we have to shake them up to keep making fitness gains. Over the course of the program, I’m going to take you with me as I learn to “adjust.” I know that even though I’ve practiced a lifetime of fitness, there is always more to learn, especially as I hit those middle years of life.

The program is for beginners too. Whatever a person’s goals, a program can be designed for them. The best part is that I should see changes earlier in the process, according to Don. Even though I can run five miles, my endurance will increase through short burst cardio activities. That’s the beauty for beginners too. Even if you can’t sustain a long session on the treadmill, you can do anything for 20 or 30 seconds.

My first full week started Monday. I’m stocking up on Epsom salts, both the regular and eucalyptus varieties, for soaking. I’m drinking lots of water and starting to track my calorie intake. I’m looking forward to showing Guerri that I can keep up with her, because at 5 a.m., she can rock out circuits with more vigor than I can.
If you want to know more about the program and learn to adjust, call Don or George at 877-4647.

In the same way, the first week of workouts with my new fitness program at Greer Athletic Club were fraught with watching the clock. The five-minute routines with a mere minute of rest in between seemed endless. Even the workouts with 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off were doable but I found myself glancing at the timer, hoping to make time fly.

After six complete workouts in my new fitness program though, I think I’m finally making a little progress. At 6 a.m. last Friday, I walked a straight line to my car, nary a wobbly leg in sight. I had a slight feeling of accomplishment with the relief that the hour was over but more so because I had handled every twist and turn thrown my way. I barely flinched when Elizabeth changed out my 15-pound kettle bell for a 25 pounder for a clean-and-press move as I jumped down to do a burpee.

Feeling that bit of hope let me know that as long as I keep my perspective, the incremental changes are achievable. Of course if trainers Don or Elizabeth are reading this, they are sure to change up the routine to keep challenging my body from getting used to a pattern. That’s the point of the program: continually mix up the workout to keep the body from adapting and becoming complacent.

The biggest issue this week is that I’m hungry. The intensity of the workouts is working every muscle in my body. If I’m not careful, I eat whatever I find in reach. This part is going to take some planning. On one hand, I tell myself it’s fine to eat whatever I want because I’m working out like a fiend. On the other hand, I tell myself that I shouldn’t waste the extra metabolic boost by not choosing food wisely.

I have fairly decent eating habits, but hunger makes us all do strange things. My goal this week is to not only make sure I complete every workout, but to plan all three meals in advance and make sure that I eat balanced, nutritious foods.

It’s a daily process, but with small victories in just over a week, it’s well worth the “adjusting”.

This weekend though, I didn’t have access to their gaze or their equipment as I traveled to Boone, N.C. with my son’s baseball team. I had the opportunity to find out what I would do when no one was looking.
I asked Don Lowcavage, my trainer, to give me a plan and he did. I know from experience that without a plan, I’m destined to blow off workouts when I’m cooped up in a motel room or bouncing from field to field with little down time.

My first obstacle was the size of the motel room. Don had worked out a lunge/resistant band workout that should have been easy to accomplish with a door to hook the bands to but the way the doors were set, I would have lunged right into the wall. I decided to find a track and at least get in a run before our Friday morning game. We played at Watauga High School, home to a brand new rubberized track surface. First workout accomplished.
While at the track I noticed that the fence poles could be used to do my band workout. Sunday morning I returned to complete Don’s plan.

During Friday’s game I was talking to the Watauga coach tending the baseball field and he told me that right behind the track there was a greenway trail similar to our Swamp Rabbit Trail in Greenville. After my Sunday workout, I headed out on the trail that snaked across streams and cut through the green mountainside for a short run.
There will always be obstacles to working out. On the road away from our routine, there will be even more. Having a plan helped me stay the course. Talking to a local resident helped me find the gorgeous trail. I can go into this week’s sessions knowing I haven’t fallen behind. And that’s good news because two weeks into the program, I’m seeing enough results to keep me finding a way to do the work; no excuses.

Afterburn is a series of movements that involve the entire body. Whether I am doing my personal workout alone or in a group class, the pace is swift and intense. Moving through a circuit of specific exercises set up by the trainers, the goal is always to give maximum effort throughout.

On some days, we work for increments of 20 seconds on with 10 seconds of rest for a total of five minutes. Between stations, there is one minute of rest. Other days we work for 30 seconds on, 15 seconds rest for five minutes. This past week, the goal was endurance so we completed eight stations working for one minute on, 30 seconds rest for two rounds. The exercises vary too. We may use only our body weight for some exercises or we may use kettle bell weights or dumbbells for others.

The best part is there is no time to think. The clock keeps ticking so there is always something to get ready to do. The hardest part for me is remembering to breathe through the entire timed circuit. I’m concentrating on completing the task with good form and forget to multitask and take a breath while I’m at it.

As my co-workers can see when I come back from the gym after my afternoon workouts, Afterburn keeps my body working long after I have showered and left the gym. I “glisten” the rest of the day and lifting my hands much higher than the keyboard can be a problem. I can feel that the work I did in an hour at the gym is still lighting me up on the inside. But I don’t stay tired. I actually have more energy and I’m sleeping better at night. Well, that is if getting up at 4:20 two mornings a week counts as sleeping through the night.

I’ve done many different types of workouts through the years. There is always something new that comes along that promises bigger and better. Afterburn is a new approach that is working. It reaches into the crux of my middle-aged problem: low metabolism. I need to surprise my body into submission and sneak up on the aging process. I think I am on the right track.

I love being a student. I love to learn. I still read fiction and nonfiction books that expand my view. I try new recipes that claim more health benefits from my food. I’ve also tried to learn new ways of exercising through the years, as science and research have found better ways of working out. But through it all, I have not just wanted to learn, I’ve wanted to get to the bottom line: what is going to work for me.

In junior high, we were given salt tablets to beat the Texas heat. In high school, aerobics were the rage. By college, I learned new stretching techniques and the benefits of staying mobile with a variety of activities from racquetball to walking quickly to my classes.

In the 80s I actively lifted weights the way “muscle heads” in my gym taught me to do it. I would start with a high repetition and a low weight and progressively increase the weight while lowering my repetitions to build muscle.
My husband talked me into a 10k race the first year we were married so I also began to run regularly. I could barely finish a mile at first, but after six months completed the race without stopping.

With my new program at Greer Athletic Club, I’m still learning. The latest science proves that toning muscles and achieving weight loss, a goal of most of us in the middle age ranks, is best done by mixing up lifting weights and cardiovascular movements.

There is also new equipment that I have found beneficial. We use kettlebell weights. They are cast iron weights that resemble a cannonball with a handle. They can be “thrown” from the hips in a swinging motion. They can be used to do clean and press exercises or held during a lower body motion like a squat or a lunge.

We also use stability balls. They are like huge inflated bouncy balls that are used to work on balance and core strength. Bosu trainers, half of one of the stability balls on a plastic base, are also used for balance. Suspension trainers are used to do a variety of exercises that are familiar to most gym rats, but they are done using straps that hang from a pole in the ceiling. My trainer has me use the suspension ropes to do push-ups, rows, curls, triceps extensions and lunges. I’m not just actively engaging the targeted body part, but working my abdominals and what is referred to as the core when I’m doing these exercises.

Performing the exercises in a quick and efficient manner is also part of my new skill set. I am learning so many new types of exercises and movements. It is hard work, but my favorite part, the bottom line, is that it is working. After a month, I can see and feel results.

It’s worth re-evaluating how you work out. It’s worth taking the time to learn something new and coming to the knowledge of a new truth.