Hear Me Roar!

Hear Me Roar!

Ok the term 'grunting' is probably more closer to the truth! But hey, I am a journalist so exaggeration just comes to me naturally.

Honestly, I used to walk past the boys in the weight room and hear their 'grunts' and be alarmed.

"Was it really necessary to make noises like that?"

But two months down the line and who would've guessed, that me, a lady, would be erm grunting too!

I'm afraid to admit it but it is the truth.

I've tried and tried to internalise my pain through gritted teeth but as the training is becoming tougher so is the pain.

And seriously there really is no other way of expressing myself as the ever watchful eye and shadow of Ben Wilson (a PT at my gym) is over me as I do my workouts.

You may recall that I have a trainer called Tony who sets out the exercises but it's either Andy or Ben at the gym who actually oversee what I am supposed to do.

Or another way of putting it is, they like to whipp me into shape so that I don't' deviate from my goal and am continuously being challenged.

So as of last week, Ben really has come down me like thunder and has been there to help me out.

It wasn't until this week that I realised I had it in me to 'grunt'.

You see, there were some exercises Ben pulled me up on and said that I needed to correct my technique so I arranged three full on sessions with him.

Now Ben is a big lad and he didn't care that I may need gentle coaxing. He's focussed and wants results from me and made me work.

So yes we went through my leg and ab programme at the first session and it really was an eye opener because by making minor adjustments, I felt I was recruiting the right muscles for the right exercise.

For example, when performing squats, he made me dig so deep that I almost toppled backwards.

But equally the pressure that was laid on my legs while lifting 40kgs on my shoulders was so immense, I really could see my muscles lengthening and shortening in my front thighs.

I was sweating after the first set.

On day two when I moved on to my chest and back, Ben showed me how to make the lat pull down more effective.

This is where I hold on to a weighted bar from above my head in a seated position and bring it to me chest and up again.

But Ben corrected me by encouraging me to stick my chest out as far out as possible while closing the gap between my shoulder blades at the back.

It sounds easy but who knew sticking the chest out so far was damn hard work?

There were various other exercises that Ben corrected for me and it started to occur to me that while performing these reps, I was unknowingly letting out these grunts in pain.

It finally clicked to me that these grunts men let out aren't always necessarily put on.

You really can't help it when you are working real hard and lifting heavy.

However, having said all that I think there is a fine line between normal grunting and over-grunting.

Some guys do do it for effect and when they have some mass weight over their head on the last rep they seem to yell so loud that it alarms everyone else in the room.

I'm pleased to inform that I definitely haven't got to that level and neither do I intend to turn heads by competing for the loudest grunt in the weights room any time soon.

But let me tell you, I've been in pain all week thanks to the gym session this week.

Secretly I've been extremely grateful to Ben as I needed that kick up the backside to keep form.

But at the same time away from the gym, I've not been grunting but more developed a tourette syndrome each time I move my arm or leg to do various chores around the home.

I have mastered the art of grunting though and it's unintentionally become part of my gym etiquette.

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