In the Media
2006-02-06, The Edmonton Journal
New Year, New You: Week 3
Chris Zdeb, journal staff writer, Edmonton
Bobbi has energy to spare
Week 3 and Bobbi Robbins is slowly turning into the Energizer Bunny.
Before getting back to regular exercise, a typical day after work would involve going home, making supper, then sitting on the couch watching TV, too tired to do anything else, she says.
Now, after supper, she’ll throw in a couple loads of laundry or tackle other jobs that need doing.
“It’s not like I have to drag myself to do it; the energy is there to do it.
“In fact, if I’m not doing something, I almost feel guilty,” she says, laughing.
Feeling energized by workouts is a common experience for people new to coming back to exercise, says Robbins’s trainer, Alexandra Senkow, fitness director at Defining Eve personal training studio.
“If you don’t want your everyday activities to fatigue you, you need to do something above and beyond your everyday activity.
“It’s that SAID principle – specific adaptations to imposed demands. If the demands you impose on your body every day are low, then doing something above and beyond will seem challenging. That raises your fitness level, which makes everyday challenges seem less fatiguing so you’re capable of doing more,” Senkow explains.
That’s why someone who has worked out consistently for 12 weeks usually takes up an activity they used to do, she says.
“Once they do, they think ‘Why did I ever stop? I really love this!’ But they stopped because they got out of the habit, and getting back into it seemed above their current level of capability.”
It’s been a tough three weeks for Robbins, who had to pack up and move to a new house, and juggle term-exam scheduled demands as part of her job as a teacher’s assistant at Ross Sheppard high school. On the plus side, the move has reduced her commute to work by 15 minutes, allowing her time to fit in a regular breakfast.
Senkow says it bodes well of Robbins’s fitness future that she has been able to maintain her three workouts a week during such a challenging time in her life.
“It’s realistic to expect her to be consistent (with her exercise) when it’s not that busy and not that stressful,” Senkow says.
Robbins is also down another pound but she says she doesn’t even care.
“It’s all about the inches now.”
Starting weight: 199 pounds. Week 3: 196 pounds
Bobbi Robbins won 12 weeks of personal training with Alexandra Senkow, fitness director at Defining Eve personal fitness studio, in The Journal’s New Year, New You contest.
