Workout Buddy, My Husband – (My Fitness Journey – Vertex Fitness Diary 6)

I finally have a workout buddy. I actually got my husband to join Vertex Fitness.

Now, technically Dwayne is actually my workout buddy. As my trainer, he’s the one who brings me through the whole routine, corrects my form, and keeps me informed of my progress. My husband and I don’t work out together—we actually go on different days.

I had to be kind of sneaky to get him to go at all. I’ve been doing this for nine months now, and he knows that I love it, but he didn’t think it would be for him. We tried indoor rock climbing together, and we loved it, but it was too expensive and far away to realistically become part of our routine. He signed up for yoga just down the street, but he only got to go a few times before a serious injury sidelined him for almost a year. He was struck by a car crossing the street, and he wasn’t allowed to pick up so much as a five pound milk jug for a few months.

Getting Back on Our Feet

He’s never really recovered his previous level of fitness since before his injury, and I knew it was getting him down. He gained weight, and he was more depressed than ever. I knew my husband wanted to get into the swing of something physical again, but he wasn’t sure what. He was talking about joining a CrossFit gym, which I didn’t like, because people get hurt so often doing it.

So, one day, I asked him if he would drive me to my workout. Once he got there and I introduced him to Dwayne, I suggested, “Hey, why don’t you get him signed up for one of your complimentary first training sessions?” I railroaded the poor guy, but it was for his own good. If figured, if he showed up and he hated it, I would never bother him about it again. But he didn’t hate it. He wanted to go back–abd now I have someone to compete against.

I know, I know, it’s not a sprint, it’s a marathon, and all that. And one of the perks of Vertex Fitness is that you have the studio nearly to yourself and don’t have to worry about what anyone else is thinking. But I’m a competitive person by nature—it’s always more fun if I can stack myself up against someone else. There’s also a huge difference between getting side-eye from a lug head by the free weights and with comparing my progress with my husband’s.

The Competition

So, after he went for his introductory session, we peeked at our charts side-by-side. I couldn’t wait to see how much stronger I would be, since I’ve been working out weekly for nine months, and this was his first journey off the couch in about a year. And the results?

…He creamed me. He was already doing more weight and more reps in every single machine except for the hip abductor. And you know what? I still have not shut up about my superior hips. When I said that I am a competitive person, did I mention that I’m also a brat?

It’s all good, because it’s not serious. I already knew that men have a lot more muscle tone than women. It was actually pretty eye-opening to see just how much. Without even trying, he was beating me cold and pulling way more weight than I was, even after a nine-month head start of hard work. But I can live with that, because the person I’m really competing against is myself. I notice the difference in all kinds of little ways. The other day, I couldn’t believe how much lighter my full watering can felt–I used to hate lugging the watering can back and forth. I can also walk and hike much longer without getting fatigued. I almost never get sore from doing those kinds of things anymore, either. Pretty soon, my husband will be firing on all cylinders, and we’ll both get to enjoy that much more of life together.

“Workout Buddy, My Husband”, was written for Vertex Fitness Personal Training Studio by Nicole Hallberg