Whatever Happened to Personal Training
I spent much of 2006 in the massive, capable, and torturing hands of personal trainers at my gym. I haven't totalled the exact amount of money I spent last year on having experts tell me what weights to lift and for how many reps. But it's surely in the thousands of dollars. And while I really didn't achieve my (ridiculously) high personal goals, I did achieve something. I realized, once and for all, that to be massive with non-massive genetics, you need illegal help.

But that's a step I was unwilling to take. So here I am, back to working out on my own. I'm the same weight I was last year at this time. I think I'm going through some kind of withdrawal, in that I'm finding it tough to get motivated to actually go to the gym. Last year, it was the money I was paying, along with the knowledge that I really didn't have to think once I got there, that kept me going and going and going.

But I have noticed one thing now that I'm back to working out by myself. I can concentrate better and get into a zen-like (like I know what zen is all about) state when lifting. Whether that's just because nobody's watching me now, or because I've actually progressed somewhere in my workouts, is hard to tell.

One thing for sure. If I don't go back to the gym, all last year will definitely be for nothing.