As my cardiac rehab nears the finish line, I need to find a gym that would work for me and my goals. I began my search online looking for potential gyms that looked good functionally and what the resumes of their personal trainers showed as experience. I knew that there are so many gyms that advertise specials and try to sell you more than what you really need. I needed to avoid these types of gyms. Then there are some gyms that are not interested in you joining because of your major health event and they don’t want to have something happen on their watch. I also don’t need a gym that only considers how much I pay with little interest in my true interests and goals. I had a fear of joining a corporate gym and becoming an absent member because I lost my motivation. I really needed to find a gym that cares.
Then there were the more local gyms with high membership costs, but would still not align with my goals because they are to invested in extreme workouts and results. I am not a body builder and will never be one. I began to wonder if any gym really existed that understood how to work with a cardiac survivor.
After many gym visits and tours, I actually found a gym that would work for me and knew how to work with a variety of major medical event survivors. On my tour they knew how to engage with me to develop a baseline beginning effort for success related to my goals. Believe it or not, I found this gym located at the hospital medical campus and it had the right people running it. I must confess, at the cardiac rehab center was a promotional brochure for this gym. I had actually taken a brochure at some point during my rehab and found it in my car.
So, after a personal consultation with myself to make sure of my commitment, I joined the INOVA Joan & Russell Hitt Center for Healthy Living gym. This gym made me feel welcome, and it was clean and fresh smelling. Plus, the staff were so, so friendly and knowledgeable. I scheduled times when I signed up to meet with a personal trainer weekly to get myself started, at least for the first two months of my beginning Phase II. I also scheduled multiple appointments with a massage therapist for bi-weekly assisted stretching. I felt that the assisted stretching would help me in my beginning strength training.
So, I have now joined a gym for my Phase II effort and selected my personal trainer who has experience working with cardiac survivors. Now I need to complete my Phase I cardiac rehab effort and begin my search for a therapist to, as they say, clear my head. Yes, I will admit that with everything that has happened since my event including the recent personal life challenges, I recognized that I do need help in reconciling my mental wellbeing now that my physical wellbeing is progressing.
If you too have experienced a major medical health event and are looking to continue improving you overall physical wellbeing, I do recommend that before you join a gym you should establish what your goals are and define what you believe to be your limitations. Without doing this you are more likely to pick the wrong gym and the wrong people to help you along your journey. This recommendation also applies to anyone looking to join a gym. Good goals that are well conceived and that are achievable builds confidence for success which is what we all need for moving forward with a healthy life.
I am now looking forward to this next phase of my recovery. I have made a deeper commitment to start the effort to build a better me both physically and mentally with my new beginnings and my new life goals. I also need to contemplate what my lifestyle change may need to become. I am very uncertain about this at the moment.
And now my new journey begins…
“Follow my story for new chapters.”