Tough trainer helps editor get past the pain
I have a new man in my life.
I meet him early in the morning while my husband's asleep. When we're together, we have a routine. I run, he watches. He tells me what to do, and I do it. I tell him I can't possibly do it again and he says, “yes you can.” And I do. When our time together is through, he smiles and says “good job.” I thank him, crawl to my car and drive home to my still-slumbering husband.
Meet my personal trainer, Tony Figueroa.
At 47 years old, Figueroa has more than 27 years experience in a variety of exercise techniques including weight training and boxing, not to mention martial arts and kickboxing. Of course he has the enviable physique of a trainer, and the patience of a saint. It takes a special gift to keep a straight face while repeating right elbow to left knee for every single crunch I attempt because I can't seem to remember or coordinate the two simultaneous moves. It takes a lot of courage to follow that routine with, “now switch, left elbow to right knee.” As if I'll get it this time.
Figueroa certainly didn't win the lottery when they matched him up with me. I know I'm the lucky one. OK, I can't say I feel lucky when my alarm goes off at 4:15 a.m. so I can get to Push before 5 a.m. and start warming up on the treadmill. In fact, lucky doesn't cross my mind even one time between 5 and 5:45 a.m. as Figueroa presents one tortuous “exercise” after another. But as I head toward home, sometime around 6 a.m., I have an overwhelming sense of pride. I did it! I survived. I didn't quit. And I feel pretty darn good!
As my fantasy of having a personal trainer becomes a reality, I'm facing some hard truths. I like the idea of accountability, but the reality of writing down every bite of food that crosses my lips and every minute of exercise so that Figueroa can critique my progress is daunting. I don't want to fail. But that means pushing past my self-imposed limits and listening to Figueroa tell me to “fight for it” when fighting for it hurts like crazy.
I'm learning to stop listening to the voice in my head that says, “you've done enough, it hurts, you better stop.” Instead I concentrate on Figueroa's voice and stop when he tells me to ... way beyond the point “the voice” says I'm capable of.
The Push Fitness staff puts a lot of thought into matching the Fittest Losers with well-suited trainers.
Choosing Figueroa for me, according to Push Fitness co-founder Mark Trapp, was about recognizing my need for a tough trainer but one with a quiet soul.
“Tony is someone who doesn't have to say a lot,” Trapp says. “He understands what needs to be done to get results and demands that his client does it, even if it kills them. But he does it in a subtle way.”
Amen to that!
Figueroa has great credentials. He studied kinesiology at the University of Illinois, has managed several gyms, trained staff, teaches classes and has an extensive background in personal training. Figueroa lives in Bartlett with his three kids and wife, Vanesa, who is expecting their fourth child.
Most importantly, Figueroa lives what he teaches. His greatest asset is a rock-solid belief in the rewards of fitness and a healthy diet for everyone. Even a massively uncoordinated 52-year-old woman who apparently hasn't quite mastered the concept of left and right.
Status report
Current weight: 178 pounds
Weight lost: 10 pounds, 5.3 percent
• Gerry Alger, editor of the Daily Herald's Niche Publications, has been sitting at a desk for 25 years.