September 25: At the Gym

It's been one year since I broke my shoulder.  A year ago yesterday I slipped on some crabapples that had fallen in an alley and came down with a crash.  A hard one that left me crying in pain and out of commission for a month or so before I could begin even the most rudimentary rehab to get me moving again.  Seven months later, in early May, I moved up to a gym-based program under the guidance of a private trainer.  I now go three days a week, two on my own and one with Tim, who is slowly but definitely working me up to lifting heavier weights and doing harder movements. 

Getting to the gym isn't always easy, though it certainly helps that the one I use is the closest to my house!  But once I'm there I feel really good about being there.  It's a small private gym owned by the daughter of our next door neighbor, and it's a friendly but serious environment.  I quickly lost my initial discomfort of trying something new with other people around, and feel right at home there now. 

Besides special movements to strengthen the muscles in and around my shoulders, I'm learning how to do squats.  I started off doing them using a chair....

...and now do them holding a 3-pound weight in each hand. 

I imagine that Tim is moving me towards doing them without the chair... 

..and I can tell from what all the advanced folks are doing in the gym that the goal is to someday do them with fairly heavy weights.   

We'll see!  I'm catching the vision and am doing the work, so who knows what will happen! 

Here's the gym owner, sharing her passion for weight lifting with us.  I wouldn't quite say that I'm passionate about my workouts, but I sure do like the results.  My shoulder is doing about 90% of what is should now, my posture is better,  I've lost a few pounds, and I generally feel more energetic, and that's all good!