[partisan]

You are me, almost down to the word, but I am 41 now. At 38, I decided to pay for a trainer for a year and a half. At 40, just before pandemic, I was in the best shape of my life. Unfortunately, I let the stresses of pandemic and end of a marriage derail me, but I am remotivated to get back on track now. I agree that health and relationships are the most important things in retrospect, but I think you can still get to where you want. There is time yet.

[mod]

I've been thinking a lot about hiring a personal trainer. Can you tell me a bit about how you selected one? And what your fitness goals were like?

Thanks!

[partisan]

Truthfully, I was assigned one by the gym as I had little perspective on it, but I was clear about my goals and they assigned someone who had experience in helping clients reach those goals. I would say that you shouldn't feel strange about switching trainers if needed. They are people, like us, and so some are more dedicated to the task than others.

My own goals were weight loss and regaining mobility. I played a lot of basketball in high school, college, and then again in my late 20s. By 38, I couldn't go down stairs without pain nor could I jump nor run. I achieved those goals with the help of the trainer and even played some basketball again, which I had completely written off as a possibility. In terms of weight loss, I lost 50 lbs and gained about 10-15 lbs of muscle.