“I had been lifting for ~4 years, trying to put on muscle mass (unsuccessfully). I was somewhat underweight and frail. Prior to that phase, I spent the majority of my life overweight. So in terms of my fitness journey, I had really been all over the spectrum!
My primary goal was to gain muscle mass. One obvious reasons was so I could look great. But, I also was driven by the sense of achievement one gets from tough goals. Thus far, I had only had such achievements academically, and never in an athletic sense.
Joint & muscle pain have been big impediments. Anytime I thought it had gotten better, the next workout would cause a flare-up. This is something we are actively addressing. Because of the physical issues, my motivation to work out had been dropping. I wasn’t seeing results at the rate which I wanted, and any results which i did have would revert after having to stopping my workouts due to pain.
What I needed was a strong motivator: to push me harder through workouts, give guidance on diet, and general fitness tips related to my unique issues regarding join pain, stretching etc. Walt was never condescending around these issues, and always gave constructive feedback on how to improve. He also helped correct misunderstandings, and wrong information I had picked up over the years from trying to self-research.
I put on decent mass (~15 pounds) in short time frame, and became much closer to my target fitness. Unfortunately joint pain is something which I continue to struggle with, and has undone some of those initial gains. I learn something new from Walt every session, on how to warm-up, which supplements to take, and generally how to have a pain-free workout. I learned a lot on the science of muscle building, how different muscle groups interact, and how to properly target them without always looking at diagrams on machines.
When first starting out - get a trainer. It is too easy to do the wrong things by simply researching off the internet. A trainer can help you get customized feedback regarding your diet, and workouts that consider unique problems with your body. Also, never forget to warm-up adequately, and have some electrolytes, prior to ANY workout.”
