Day 1 – Personal Training With James O’Rourke In Valencia

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Today is my first personal training day with James O’Rourke in Valencia.  That is actually a lie, because about a year ago my daughter wanted to change gyms because the training staff at LA Fitness was hitting on her and we were introduced to James O’Rourke who at the time was doing personal training at Big Johns in Valencia which has now closed.

At the time I was not looking for personal training for me (even though I needed it) but signed up with him because my daughter wanted me to work out with her.  How could I say no? I hung in there for about a month or so, but when your head is just not into doing something, it sure effects your motivation.  So I stopped going.

When I decided this time to start working out and to get a personal trainer in Valencia my first call was to James.  When I met up with him to talk about my new goals, I could not believe it that it was almost a year ago that I started the first time.

Man, I always think, “what if i stayed then? I would be in amazing shape!”  Okay, I am over that now.

Well, the reason for this article was to introduce you to James O’Rourke with Survival of the Fittest  (that is his business Facebook page)

The other thing I want to introduce you to is the new gym we are at called Ignition Fitness in Valencia. I will talk more about that in tomorrows article.

How Today’s Training Went:

Today was weights day.  Thank god.  Not that it was easy by any means, but the cardio days can be very tough, especially for me.  I am in very poor cardio shape.  You know this if you read my article about my kids and I running the Spartan Race a few weeks ago.  I get tired after just a few minutes.

So today I got there a little early and warmed up.  For me the warm up seems the hardest.  So I did 10 minutes on the stair climber just to get sweat going and it seemed to help.

Today’s workout was weights and hitting every body part.  We started with 150 sit-up/crunched and then pushed this box with weight on top around the gym.

We then did 4 rounds of weights hitting every muscle group.  Because you are moving from one exercise to the next, there is a definite cardio component to it.  This is why I signed up.  I am the guy that does a set and then takes 2 to 3 minutes of rest and never breaks a sweat.

I needed this type of workout infused into my regular gym days, where I still like to go heavy and take a few minutes break in between.

The great part about working with James is that he corrects you.  Even If you have worked out since high school like I have (so for about 20 sum odd years) there are still some things to be corrected on.  Today I was doing seated dumbbell shoulder presses and he said it was better to stand.  I said, “for some reason, i have always sat for dumbbells and stood for barbell presses”  His reply, “Yeah, that is how it was done in the 80’s!”  Lol

So one day down and feeling good.  I think the personal training, new gym and writing daily about working out will keep me in the game.

Tomorrow I am going to talk about the new gym Ignition Fitness in Valencia.

Here was today’s check-in on Facebook.  Talk to you tomorrow.

Really, Really Starting To Work Out This Time

Posted by Tim Blankenship on

Okay, so I may have had one or two false starts at working out.  Okay, maybe 4 or 5, but I swear this is it.

How do I know?  Because I am taking drastic measures this time.  Last time, I just said, “okay, time to start working out again” and then it would only last for a few days.  I think I was failing because I didn’t make a real plan.

This time, i took measures for success.

First, I hired a personal trainer.  I did this so I would have some accountability.  The accountability is from both a financial one ( I paid up front for 3 months of training) and second, from a personal, well thought out commitment I am making this time.

I had to ask myself, “why did I want to start working out again”?  The reasons this time around were about health.  Health to the point of the fact I am now 45 and I need to have good health If I plan on making it to old age.  That and the fact that I just have not been feeling “healthy” for a long time.  And what frustrates me is that just 4 years ago, I weighed 75 pounds less and felt great.

In addition, I decided to change gyms.  I thought I needed a change of scenery (and plus this new place is where the trainer does his thing).

The last thing I decided to do is to write about my progress.  Not necessarily every day (although that is the goal) but often enough that it becomes a habit, just like working out.

So here we go.

Tomorrow will be my first personal training day.  The last 3 days, I did go to the gym on my own, mostly just to test myself if I was really committed.   These last few days I have eaten right, and even decided not to have my evening cocktail, um cocktails, which proved more challenging than I thought.

Do you know how much more you get accomplished at night if you don’t spend the time with a cocktail in your hand in front of the TV?  Even now, here I am after 9 p.m. writing this article (because I can’t sleep). Usually, I would be watching TV and ignoring the family. (sorta).

But not today.  Got home from work, cleaned the house, made dinner, paid the bills, watched tv for a bit with the wife and now just trying to find something to do to pass the time. Weird!

More tomorrow. Promise.