The journey begins

I have been exercising at the 24 Hour Fitness Club in Frisco, Texas for about four months. My trainer asked me to do a write up as his success story. Here is what I turned in. This chronicles the beginning of my journey.

After retiring, I moved to Frisco to be near my sons. I had chronic knee and neck pain and chronic fatigue. I was tired of being tired and in pain. I had been to physical therapists, and various specialists, none of whom helped. I knew that being overweight and sedentary were major contributors to my problems and I’ve had a history of starting physical fitness programs on my own which I inevitably abandoned after a few weeks. My sons encouraged me to join 24 Hour Fitness and begin working out. I decided a few sessions with a trainer was probably a good idea to get me started and help me get on track. At the first session, Jesse analyzed my physiological issues while watching me walk on the treadmill. I knew his analysis was right on target and we set about correcting my problems. He started my exercises at the level that I needed, explaining why we were doing each exercise. He continually monitored my comfort level, especially asking if the exercise hurt my knees or neck. If it did, he modified the exercise so that I could do it without pain. After four months of having Jesse as my personal trainer, I can walk up and down stairs without hurting my knees, my neck pain is gone and I have an energy level that is higher than I have had in decades! My strength and stamina continue to surprise me. Now, I can easily tolerate activities that would have put me in pain before. Jesse is a great motivator. He helps me stay on track with nutrition, encourages my cardio workouts on days I am not training with him, and steadily increases the difficulty of the exercises we are doing. I really like the fact that he explains why we are doing each exercise and that he watches and corrects my form so that I am getting the maximum benefit for my efforts. He is very knowledgeable about exercise physiology. Jesse suggested that I use the BodyBugg to help keep track of the calories I burn as well as how many I consume. This kind of feedback has really helped me keep on track. It’s very encouraging to see how many calories I am burning every day as well as how many calories I burn during each visit to the gym. I am losing weight at a safe and reasonable rate, but more importantly, the shape of my body is changing and my health is improving. I really enjoy every visit to 24 Hour Fitness in Frisco. The staff is very friendly. Many of them know my name, smile and greet me when I come in. They share in my excitement at the progress that I’m making. I’ve told Jesse that he has one year to make me fit into a dress that I wore 30 years ago. I know we’ll make it. I’m willing to do the work and Jesse has the expertise to get me there.