In the Media
2006-02-27, The Edmonton Journal
New Year, New You: Week 6
Chris Zdeb; journal staff writer, Edmonton
Concerned that there are too many days between her Thursday and Tuesday workouts, and that the walking she was doing on weekends wasn’t enough, Bobbi Robbins joined a Saturday morning spin class at Defining Eve personal fitness studio. She’s been building up her strength and stamina on a stationary bike for several weeks as part of her three-day-a-week workouts in preparation.
“I feel ready,” she said Thursday before her first spin class. “I’m confident going in there, although I might not be able to crank it as much at first.”
Her neck, which was paining her the week before from spending more time than usual hunched over a computer at work, feels a lot better, which allowed her to work out again at a higher intensity. Robbins had complained to her trainer Alexandra Senkow, fitness director at Defining Eve, that some of the exercises she was being asked to do when her neck was sore were irritating the problem and she wouldn’t do as many as required.
“I’m speaking up for myself because I don’t want to make the problem worse and have to take time off work,” Robbins had explained, adding, however, that her neck did feel better after working out.
Senkow says clients should always speak up if something they’re being asked to do is causing them any pain.
“Sharp shooting pain is bad, but muscle fatigue, which Bobbi was feeling from the overuse of her neck muscle, is not necessarily a bad thing,” Senkow says. “We’ve virtually removed every overhead lifting movement from her workouts so as not to aggravate her neck and we’ve tried correcting her posture, but the pain she feels has more to do with the fact that she’s exercising with us for three or four hours a week while doing her desk work and then possibly using the Internet at home, which aggravates the problem.
“What you do in the gym has an effect, but what you do outside of your workouts has more of an effect, obviously,” Senkow explains.
Time and persistence will retrain Robbins’s movement mechanics and help her redevelop other muscle groups so that they’ll become strong and dominant and be able to keep her body better aligned, Senkow says.
Starting weight: 199 pounds, Week 6: 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.
