End of An Era 3: Personal Trainer

He wasn’t my first Personal Trainer at FF. I joined FF ABS CBN in 2003 as a walk-in. It was conveniently near my office then.  And I’ve been hearing all the things that have been happening in the gym floor and other areas *wink*.



But I also wanted to be serious about working out. So I signed up for personal training sessions. My first PT was G, and he was the resident gorgeous charmer. He had dimples that dug deep into his cheeks. Yeah, he was hot and cute. And very serious about working out, too. He shared my goal (then) to really bulk up. So he even went out of his way to train me. We would train sometimes at the other gym (almost bakal) just so I’d be in peak condition.



He was also really nice to the other staff. He helped train even the locker attendants. And he encouraged them to aim to be trainers themselves. So when he was about to leave, he endorsed me to one of them. J was ‘promoted’ to being a trainer, and he trained under G. I knew I was going to be in good hands. (Though he wasn’t nearly as cute as G, J was equally serious about my training.)



That must have been 2004.  And he has been my trainer since... well until last Wednesday. Even when ABS CBNbranch closed down in 2013, I stuck it out with him when we all transferred to Trinoma.



He was never a cookie-cutter trainer. He would continually change our workouts. He would apply latest ‘learnings’, coming from the training he attended. He was 100% with me the entire time, unlike other PT’s who would either be chatting away with others, or on their mobiles. He would always challenge me to give more and exert more.



But sometimes it would also be too much. I’ve had some injuries from being pushed too far. And there would be times I would dread workouts with him because these were physically and emotionally draining. During those times, I wouldn’t even be nice to him.



It came to a point, sometime in early 2017, when I had to take a break from our workouts. I told him I was going to rest for an extended period of time. No renewal of our PT. And I signed up with another PT at Viridian. That PT was actually ok, too. But going to be Viridian in Greenhills, from QC was quite a commute. I went back to J in mid 2017. But I laid out some ground rules. And I insisted that my workouts be recorded every time. That was My “It Can Be Done” posts, when I made tremendous gains in achieving my workout goals.



In mid 2018, the company decided to change offices. We were transferring to Mandaluyong by 2019. In November, I told J that it would be my last 36 sessions with him. Our last session was Wednesday.



I sitll don’t have a new PT at Viridian. And I am not in a hurry. I have been using the Boost PT sessions to try out different trainers. I have narrowed my choices to three.



But I will always be grateful to J, my PT for about 15 years. He helped me achieve goals then. And he was always approachable and encouraging. Though he tried not to show it, I knew he was going to miss me as one of his enduring clients. He was always proud of the progress I had made. And he made sure he documented this through videos and photos.

Things will be different now with my workouts, specially when I get a new trainer. I am suddenly doubting whether I would still be as motivated. Or if it is still all worth it. Well, one day at a time.