To a gym! I never win anything.
I go tomorrow for orientation with a personal trainer.
I almost don't know what to think.

Susan -- That's terrific!! Tell me more... how long is the membership for?

I hope you like it!!

Oh, I'm jealous!

I don't remember ... I'm so jaded ... I just wanted to make sure there were no strings attached. Three months I think. He admitted quite readily that it's to get people in the door with hopes that they'll renew. And he also said that lots of people quit in the middle.
We decided that my focus is weight lifting. I get an orientation and two sessions with a personal trainer ... one of which is tomorrow.
Hopefully they'll give me something on paper tomorrow. I was a bit stunned on the phone.

Allison ... all I did was shop at a sporting goods store in a town that has a Goodlife Fitness and filled out a ballot.

Guess I should shop more! LOL

Oh no ... just walk around malls filling out ballots!

Thats so great!

You'll be amazed at how much of a difference the trainer makes - at least it did for me. My gym comes with 2 included personal trainer sessions a month...the main reason I picked that gym, in fact...and just having someone set up a routine for you can be so helpful, even if you have one established.

Congrats! Thats awesome!

Congratulations Susan! It'll be a nice change for you, and even if you don't continue, you can get lots of ideas for stuff you can do at home.

PS - never forget that the trainer works for YOU, even if you did win his or her services.

That means that if you really aren't planning to continue the membership, tell them at the first session that you'd like to focus on exercises you can do at home with minimal equipment, or whatever equipment you have on hand. If you're bothered by being so transparent about the fact that you don't plan to continue, you could always say "I am really interested in developing a routine that I can take with me when I travel or can't get to the gym, so I'd like to work on exercises that I can do with my own body weight and/or minimal equipment".

Then you get a whole routine you can keep going with, even if you don't maintain the membership. Otherwise, your trainer might put you on a lot of gym-only resistance machines, and that isn't as applicable to your home workout.

Susan - that is wonderful!! I just bet it is going to be so fun! Definitely a change of pace for a while. Glad you are going to take advantage of it.... enjoy!!!

I really like working with a trainer too. Mandalinn, those are some excellent suggestions!

I'm nervous now. Worried about looking stupid ... remembering to shave my legs ... walking into a room full of strangers.
Do you go in in your sweats and get cleaned up and changed after?

You won't look stupid! Shave your legs? Probably (at least I would ). Yes to the sweats and clean/change after. Deep breath. You're gonna love it!

Just wear your regular workout clothes and you'll be good. I was nervous before my first session, but my trainer made me really comfortable and it was fabulous - don't stress!