At my gym there’s a banner on the wall with the ad slogan: “Think of a personal trainer as a tailor for your body.”

That’s not a bad way to think about it, really. I don’t have my clothes tailored 5 days a week, but if there’s been significant change in my measurements, I’ll have an adjustment made every 6 weeks or so. That’s about as often as I could justify having a personal trainer modify my routine to shock my body back into progressive change.

After floundering with putting together a strengthening routine (and injuring myself once), last Wednesday I finally accepted a friend’s recommendation to take advantage of my freebie 1 hour session with a personal trainer named Andrew. I met him this morning at 5am and we walked through my current routine. I had most of my bases covered: 5-6 meals a day, no junk food, cardio + strength training, and 8+ hours of sleep a night. This felt great considering the last time I saw a trainer I weighed 380 lbs, ate 2 meals a day (lunch and dinner), and did no exercise.

We agreed to set the current routine aside and start from scratch with a full-body workout. There was very little rest between sets. My heart rate was elevated after the first set of leg presses and it stayed raised throughout the entire workout. I was hating life toward the end, but shortly after I felt *really* good.

We talked about protein intake. I’d been having a hard time getting enough every day with the limited sources I have in my diet. He suggested a breakfast replacement and I picked up a box of the chocolate shake (45g of protein, wow!). I welcomed not having to prepare breakfast on weekdays anymore beyond doing some blending because I still have to put together my lunch.

( View the Workout )