It was really nice to go back to the gym again. In the week I was away, I clearly didn’t go to the gym, did barely any exercised, and pigged out.

I wanted to go for a morning session, but had a 8am call, so ended up going after work, so met a different crowd, including one guy I had met through HV before. He and I got to chatting, so we paired up and it ended up being a nice, social session.

At some point my coach commented: “You can add a bit more weight for the next round if you want to” (for a barbell squat). Since it was framed as a choice, I decided I didn’t want to – Ha!

My coach checked in on me and asked: “Why didn’t you add any weights to it?”

I responded: “Well, you said – If I want to – and I didn’t want to…”

He snorted and said: “Add the 2.5s on both ends”, and shook his head and chuckled: “If you want to”

A few weeks ago, when a new trainer joined the gym and was being onboarded, my coach commented to the new trainer: “E* here, she likes to stay in her comfort zone”, which amused me. It’s funny how he quickly had me pegged.

It is true that I always to opt for the lowest weight I can get away with, while targeting the highest rep range that the coach suggests. I always prefer to do lower weights and higher reps because I don’t want to over extend myself and risk injury given I like training frequently on my ‘on weeks’, and I had already busted my left shoulder in August. Besides, I don’t want to bulk up, and prefer to build lean muscle…

But as it is, I am already deadlifting my full body weight, up from a 35kg start not many weeks ago, never having deadlifted before in my life – using a more challenging grip too. And I am now doing 35kg barbell squats from a start of 25kg barbell squats. And let’s face it… before August, I never touched or used a barbell in my life!

I like the banter, and the fact that my coach pushes and challenges me in a fun and friendly way. He often pushes me to do more, rather sneakily. Like he got me to do a barbell (20kg) floor press today, which is heavier than any dumb bell floor press I ever do, because I’ve never done more than 8kg x 2.

I felt much better after working out today. I can see why and how it gets addictive.