Fitness

About three weeks ago, I joined a health club. It gives me a destination in town, and a place where I am able to meet people and have a little fun, not to mention the possibility of getting into shape. I don't know why it took me so long to join a club.
Throughout the winter and spring months, I stayed in relatively good condition by walking almost every day, gradually lengthening the walks up to a regular of 3 miles, 3 or 4 times a week. I also included a couple of 5 mile ventures, and one into the unknown forest to the fire tower, and down the other side of that "hill" for a total round trip of about 6-7 miles. It was fun doing the walks, and on the off days from the club, I will continue to do them.
The problem with the walks are many. Most of the time was spent along a busy highway with trucks flying by at 60 mph. I injured myself one day when a truck's wind blew my hat off, and as I reached over my head to grab it, I jammed my left middle finger against my right hand. Ouch! It throbbed for the next two miles. Just walking a mile and a half one day, a total of 12 18-wheelers rolled by. So the road is hazardous. If I venture into the forest, like the fire tower trail, there are supposedly all sorts of wild animals waiting to get you. No matter where you walk, there is no cell phone service.
So I am glad to have joined the health club. There is a trainer who developed a plan for me, and showed me the machines. Start out slow he said. then he proceeded to show me a machine for my upper back, set it at 50 pounds, and had me do 15 reps. A piece of cake. We proceeded to the next machine for chest muscles. I almost fell over trying to get into the seat. He set it at 60, and told me to do 15 reps. Not bad! Next, to a machine for the biceps, where the weight was set at 20 for 15 reps, and this hurt a little. Finally, he brought me to a fourth machine, set it to 85 and I did 15 reps there. I thanked him profusely for showing me the secrets of the machines, and said I could do this. I was about to leave, and he said, "No, do it again on each machine 15 times." I thought to myself, I am starting slow, but he wants me to do this so I better. I struggled through the second set of exercises. He told me I was doing well, and now I had to do it again. I drew the line. "If I do this again today, I will probably have tight and sore muscles all over my upper body, and especially in my chest. I will think I am having a heart attack. I can't do that today. Next time." I was happy that he was so reasonable, saw my point, and let me off the hook.
I went back again after a couple of days, did the whole routine, and now I feel comfortable there. I raised the weight on all machines today, and look forward to continued progress into the triple digits of weight on some machines.
The real benefits of the club... air conditioning, bug free, sun free, and some good camaraderie among the people who go there and the trainers who do care about you, and also fitness.