Personal Narrative: My Weight Room

Many people look for an activity that will better them in every way possible; weightlifting is the greatest activity in the world for such goals! Weightlifting yields so many benefits and it can improve the quality of life for anyone who can do it. Weightlifting is one of the activities that, in conjunction with other exercise and proper diet, will improve overall health, physical performance, and mentality.

I've always been the odd man out on any sports team who looked forward to conditioning at the end of practice and would hold my plank an extra few seconds until I really felt the pain. I loved pushing myself beyond my expected limits and the satisfaction of leaving the gym knowing I gave my full effort. Although the thought of taking a weight lifting class was extremely intimidating, I acknowledged my deep love for training and bettering myself.

As the famous bodybuilder Arnold Schwarzenegger once said, “Training gives us an outlet for suppressed energies created by stress and thus tones the spirit just as exercise conditions the body.” During my 3 years of training, I learned much about what it takes to make an out of shape person to a healthy and fit person with just the right decisions and knowledge. For instance, I learned the importance of consistency, in which in order to be actively fit and healthy, there must be consistency. As a young fitness fanatic, I

When I stepped onto the blue mat in this new gym, I knew this was where I wanted to be. After years of dreaming of going to this gym, reality finally kicked in and I was ready to start my journey. I had cheered for five years in McKinney, Texas and I started out loving it. That gym made me realize cheer was my sport. The reason I loved it so much was because of my coach, Raul. He was like a brother to me and pushed me to do my best and try new things even when I was worn out and felt like giving up.

The gym was so confusing. Everyone had an odd lingo that I had never had any experience with. They used certain words that I had never heard before. They dressed in revealing clothes. I was unable to figure out the distinction between sets and reps, which it turned out that those two words are the most utilized terms in weightlifting. I always heard words like lat, core, one rep max, spot, lower, etc. It was comparable to learning a new language for me. But with time and learning, I came to understand what was being said or asked in the gym environment. Seeing my father go everyday and him being an authority figure, definitely inspired my love for weightlifting. To this day I love the discourse community of weightlifting and consider myself an avid member who plans to be a member until my body ceases to cooperate.

The gym where I practice to win, the YMCA, is a place where I know who I am. It is a place I can go to escape my problems for awhile and release some stress. It is not the actual physical building, but rather the events that have occurred over the years. It is where I have formed some of the closest friendships. It is the place I have invested years of hard work for many of my accomplishments. To some it may seem odd that a place associated with sweat and physical pain can mean so much to one person. However, in my eyes it is almost like a second home.

Everyone remembers that one place, that one place that instantly makes you feel good, that one place where you can completely act like yourself. For me, that one special location forever remains Texas Best Gymnastics, in McKinney, Tx. What I always adored was practicing with my team.I began competing there at the age of eight, and I competed my last competition shortly after my thirteenth birthday. However, even though I no longer spend half my time at the gym like I used to, it still invokes the same effect on me. Now that I stepped away from competing for a few years, when I look back on how stressful it seemed, I can still see all the wonderful memories I created. More than anything, I see what a wonderful impact the gym had on my life.

A weight room can inspire people to work out, because if they see their friends working out they might want to join. If they start working out at this early age they might realize that they are being healthier and they are more in shape.

The sport is not about how good you look in a bathing suit, contrary to what you might think. Rather, it is about using the weight as a tool with which to sculpt the body. Maintaining mental focus in the face of excruciating pain is a hard thing to do; and while the body may be performing every rep, the mind is overall controlling the

Some people say that the journey is more important than the final destination. I agree with that. Last year I wanted to get stronger for softball. The school opened the weight room for girls, so that we could work out also. We got to do different types of exercises to make us stronger. If I wasn't able to go to the weight room all summer, then I wouldn't be as strong as I am now.

I actively participate in a variety of extracurricular activities. Both seeing a need and having an interest, I along with some other girls founded our school’s first Athletic Training Program during my freshman year. In the program, we educate students on common injuries seen in high school sports. As the head trainer for our school’s swim team and girl’s track team, I attend to athletes’ sore muscles, apply wraps, and provide assistance to our new trainers (2015-2018). I’m also a leader within my school’s division of Future Health Professionals of America(HOSA), helping to energize the students preparing for healthcare jobs in the future. I became one of the founding members of Stem Moms in 2014, a program that educates students about

As a member of the wrestling team, I developed the physical toughness to become a member of the U.S. armed services. There, I learned what hard work was. After running as a team for miles on end, we moved to the mats to work on individual technique. We wrestled and struggled till we couldn't move. It was more about outlasting the other guy for six minutes straight in a true match, therefore the guy most in shape won. When the coach

Not being active can lead to many health complications such as diabetes, heart disease, some types of cancer, and other obesity related diseases. A personal trainer can make a huge impact on people in an effort to increase people’s lifetime fitness achievements. It’s important that personal trainers try to make an impact on their clients the best they can. Pushing them and working hard to implement the right exercises and lifestyle can change their lives forever. As a personal trainer, it’s essential that you stay positive and keep encouraging them to reach their goals. If all personal trainers work together to get people to transition into a healthier lifestyle with physical fitness, it can help alleviate the health crisis we’re facing right

Weeks later, everything about powerlifting meets seemed ordinary, I had begun to learn the ropes. After weigh in, you could always find my team eating some sort of food involving peanut butter. During this time, our coach took the opportunity to run through the basics with us. Which weight classes everyone was in, which rack they would compete in, who was wrapping knees and the starting weights. Then each athlete would have a moment to state their goal for the day. Looking back now, this was our coach’s way of allowing us to have control over our performance. For me, this goal setting was incredibly

I enjoyed the relaxing music, voice, tension building and then letting it go. This muscle relaxation was something I enjoyed very much. The only thing that was distracting was my fan making noise, but it was one thing. The room and house were silent. Yes, I would us progressive muscle relaxation again. I will use it again because while I was building up the tension by squeezing my body parts then letting it go it felt good and relaxing to me. I would use this again because the voice and music were soothing to my ears, her voice helped me relax more than I have been. This relaxation has helped me be at peace, and calm than I have ever been this past week, it really does work and help. This muscle relaxation worked very well for me, I never