I've just experienced Jillian Michaels for the first time and I'm impressed!!

Her training style of combining strength and cardio is not new to me. There is a similar class at my gym that I go to and really enjoy. What makes her special is what she says. All that encouragement to keep going and not to stop - it is so motivating and so very true. Consistency is the key to exercising and it was so wonderful to hear a trainer saying that - encouraging me to keep at it.

It led me to think about a visiting instructor that we had at the gym. She kept on saying 'power' (in that loud strident gym instructor way) while we were kicking and punching, and that little word made me get my muscles to work harder and realize that there was definitely more I could be doing in a class which has much the same routine every week. That trainer taught me just a little bit more about how I exercise and it's going to go a long way.

The other thing that is very useful for me is when they say - 'push your belly button in' - this still makes more sense to me than 'activate your core' (which I'm starting to get). I have a tendency to completely forget that i have to think about using the muscles in my belly and need reminding all the time!!

I guess there are little things that may seem like common sense to a seasoned athlete, but to beginners are pure pearls of wisdom, and, every so often we come across instructors who are able to say it in exactly the way we need to hear it so that the light bulb switches on.

Then, there are the times when they actually take you seriously. Years ago now I told a gym instructor that I wanted to learn how to jog. This was after I had taken his class with the big balls (i still don't remember what they are called) and spent more time rolling off them than staying on them. The next day he found me waiting for a class and gave me a photocopy of a 6 week training plan for learning how to jog in 30 minutes. At the time I thought the guy was insane - I didn't believe I could do it!!! But, I held onto that scrap of paper and every so often I'd have a go at it. It took me nearly five years to manage to run my first five km - but I did it - and I wish I could tell that trainer I did it and how much his thoughtfulness motivated me. He sparked the belief that it might be possible in me.

I guess that's what the good instructors do: get us believing that even in our current state of fitness we can do it. We can reach those goals, whatever they may be.

Postscript:
whilst in the shower, I realized something else my gym instructors were telling me: you have to be eating properly as well as exercising to lose weight. I was in total denial about that one, but, after losing all the weight I thought I'd never lose by beginning to count calories and think about what I'm eating, I believe them. Maybe I'm just a slow learner!!