O2 - Me too

I hereby formally announce that I have joined a gym - 02. I paid the money on Wednesday - 6th Jan. Yesterday - 8th Jan - was my first day at the gym, but it was spent evaluating my present fitness levels and collating all necessary data to prepare my workout schedule.

As part of this evaluation, they first measured my height and weight. Between these two measurements, they asked me to sit on the floor with my legs stretched out against some equipment. They asked me to raise my hands up and then bend down. There was a scale on that equipment and I was asked to touch it. Apparently, the farther you touch the scale, the fitter you are. No guesses on where i was marked on this scale.

Then, they put me on the treadmill test. Started it walking at 5.6 Kms/hr (3.5 miles/hr) for 2 minutes on zero degree inclination. Then next 2 minutes were @ 6.4 Kmph. From the fifth minute the inclination was increased gradually. I failed to notice how much it went to, but the whole thing stopped after the 8th minute.

They allowed me to take some water after this and the therapist took me to another trainer. He then asked him to spot me do some push ups. I managed less than a handful and he then asked me to do a variation of the same, by resting on my knees. I barely managed a handful even then. I was no expert in push ups earlier, but ever since I developed the carpal tunnel problem, I have been very afraid to try it at home. So I was not surprised with my inability to do a decent number of push ups.

I was then asked to do some basic sit ups and managed more than 15. I guess I wasnt doing it rightly, coz the trainer said that I was stressing my neck a lot. And my neck couldnt agree more to what he said.

After this was done, the physiotherapist gave me an instrument that looked like this, basically to find my BMI and my body fat percentage. It was to held with both hands and the thumbs had to press some sensor at the top of the grip.

The physiotherapist said that, according to my BMI score, I was only a few 100 grams away from being labeled Obese. And that I could achieve it with that night's dinner. After hearing this scientific confirmation of a visible fact, I felt very proud of my growth, especially in the last 2-2.5 years.

He then checked how often I could come to the gym. Taking into consideration my daily travel to work, I decided that 4 days in a week would be the best I could do and that too mainly because of the weekend. And he asked what my goal was going to be. I clearly told him that it was tummy reduction and overall fitness. I also told him about my carpal issues and he said he'd suggest some exercises for that as well.

He then asked me to have a 20 minute walk on the treadmill in the 5.6-6.4 Kmph range. Once that was done, he asked me to spend another 20 minutes on an elliptical trainer. I did that as well.

The guy then told me that he'd be preparing my chart when I come the next day. I will be heading to the gym after publishing this post and hopefully the chart is really ready by then. Also, there is a meeting pending with the dietitian.

I have signed up for an annual package at this gym and I hope that this latest fitness endeavor of mine lasts forever!