Wedding Blog

Personal training, that is. Although I’ve recently had great success with weight loss, I’ve pretty much plateau-ed since returning home. My cousin (and BM) and I decided to start buddy training with each other and our new personal trainer - Robert. We chose to train with Robert because of the crazy success of some of his past clients. I don’t mean the kind you see on an infomercial; I’m talking about people I actually know - a friend from my high school who lost over 50lbs since January, or Robert’s own younger brother who, no joke, completely transformed his physique over the course of a year. I wish I had before/after photos of these guys to show the hive, because you can’t help but be impressed.

Buddy training has been pretty great for my cousin and me. We are teammates, there to push each other along and we root for each other. There are even several exercises which are more fun to do with a friend, like medicine ball squats! I thought Jilian pushed me hard, but I had no idea! I can honestly tell you that in all my years of dance, rugby, and soccer, I’ve never worked as hard in one hour as I have with Robert. We’ve been doing resistance training 3 times a week, but I know I need to step up my cardio game on the off days if I want to hit my goal weight by the wedding. Going practically every other day also helps me stay on target with my dietary goals. Have you ever visited a personal trainer and had a hangover? It’s a bad idea, and reminds you to just say no to those liquid calories.

Buddy training also inspires me to work harder.

There are the occasional exercises that count on one of us doing XX number before the other can finish - for example, one does 20 ball/wall squats while the other does as many burpees/jumpees as they can. Sure, this may cause you to temporarily hate or curse your buddy, but you get over it quickly.

Have you considered a personal trainer? Do you have a training buddy? What or who is your biggest exercise motivator?