Love hate relationship

One of the most unexpected, and interesting things I've discovered about being a fitness instructor is the love hate relationship my clients have with me.

Clients HATE, can't stand and even curse me on facebook when I lead a particulatly tough workout.
The very same clients LOVE me when they fit into a size they haven't fit into for years, or even ever!

For example, this past weekend was a cross training workout for our run/walk team. We did tons of walking lunges, squats, rows, pushups, you name it. Everyone worked hard and got in a terrific workout.

The very next day, a client posts this status update on our facebook page.

Walking lunges = EVIL! I am sore today!

Immediately several other clients chime in about how they cringe when they see stairs or how they are still sore, etc. At first glance, it may seem as if these gals were complaining about the workout but in reality they are so proud to have done all those pushups. The woman talking about EVIL lunges is really thrilled she is improving her hamstring strength and therefore her running ability. She may not say so, but I know it. And I also know that next time we do all those walking lunges, she'll be able to do a few more without cringing.

The room echos with moans and groans when I announce planks are our next exercise in the core team workouts. If I look up, I might even get an "evil eye" from a client, but thank goodness it's always followed by a laugh. One client in particular gives me a hard time after every class about how that was a tough workout, ironically she is 2 dress sizes smaller than she was when she started the workout last Fall...and regularly voices that too.

I've always enjoyed the banter, the back and forth, the challenges, pushing people to work a bit harder, and even the facebook curses make me smile. It's the challenge that creates the result, if it wasn't hard, we wouldn't keep trying and I know that exercise works...you just have to do it.

I know what you're really saying girls keep it coming!