[Wynton]

So, on a whim this morning, I called and found a different trainer available. (I didn't really consider it an option to go back to the same guy, if for no other reason, that he spent way too much time talking about himself for my personal taste.)

Anyway, I made it quite clear at the outset to this guy that I wanted FREE WEIGHTS. After completing some forms, though, he said he wanted to show me some of those "secondary" machines also. I said fine, as long as we get to the free weights too.

Inexplicably to me, we then spent most of the hour going over machines, albeit ones which were supposed to be a much closer experience to free weights than what I had done before. As this was happening, I was just reconciling myself to the apparent fact that NYSC personnel, for whatever reason, have trouble deviating from this particular "transitional approach." Later, he elaborated that I should be able to move on to nothing but free weights within a few months, once I felt the motions were more natural. I suppose I could have kept arguing with him, but I didn't think that would be a productive use of the time. (Believe me, sometimes people are so committed to an approach that their minds really can't be changed.)

In addition, I was content that, unlike the first guy, this person was at least moving through the machines quickly and giving me common sense advice about proper form. In total, he showed me about 10 exercises. Of those, the only ones that were truly with free weights were a bench press and bicep curl. The machines included ones for:

squats
leg curl (for hamstring)
leg press (which incorporated a stretch in the middle)
hip abducter (and another hip one, going in opposite direction),
chest fly
shoulder press
triceps (with a cable machine)
pull down (for lats)

Note, I asked specifically whether a dead lift would be good for me at this stage, and he didn't think so.

At this point, I'm actually content. It so happens that I've been shown true squats by someone else, which means that I have at least 3 free weight type exercises I'm comfortable doing right now. And my plan is to substitute free weights for the other exercises gradually, casually enlisting the assistance of the trainers who happen to be nearby at the time.

Since each of these training sessions have been free, I can't complain too much. Considering I was doing virtually no lifting before, perhaps a little transition phase to free weights is fine. Either way, a few months is not a big deal to me.

Only thing that bothers me about the end result is that I strongly suspect my time could be used more productively. According to this trainer, the upper body stuff he showed me should take about an hour and the lower body stuff about 45 minutes. (This assumes 3 sets of 10-15 reps, resting about 45 seconds in between.) My impression is that many of you here have routines that go faster and are more concentrated.

Anyway, this should be the last of my posts about the great personal trainer experience, at least for a couple of months. Thanks for reading.