INTRODUCTION
Having been a three times weekly regular at my local gym for over fourteen years, I was left with borderline anger management issues in early 2018 when my friend took a risque photo of me for my date and I realised the weight had started accumulating in all the wrong places, making my body look unsightly. In a state of panic I tried to identify where the issue was, having been working hard doing cardio for up to an hour on the cross-trainer machine or on the bicycle regularly. I wondered whether I have been slacking off during my regular gym sessions, whether it was my gym or my vegetarian and vegan diet or whether it was my age and being in my 40s. In a state of panic to quickly fix my body and my possible errors and manage my growing anger management issues towards my changing body and workout sessions that may have stopped working, I put in a google search personal training sessions in London.
A SUPPOSITION TO FORMER WORKOUT ERRORS
I came across Alex at Baraka Training and scheduled a session. In the assessment session, my body measurements were taken and my goals were set. I wanted to be challenged and come outside of my comfort zone. The sessions helped me to review my gym habits and I realised that I started neglecting certain areas of my body and focused only cardio because I was afraid to use free weights following my trauma of body pump classes that left me looking bulky and unable to fit into my summer jackets and consequently way beyond someone with anger management issues and needing to revamp my wardrobe which was costly. Alex therefore recommended we might try body strengthening and conditioning exercises and interval training as opposed to a steady-state cardiovascular training that I have been doing and that might have been sabotaging my goals.
NO PAIN, NO GAIN
anger management and PT sessions
Alex and I agreed in early March 2018 that we would meet for my personal training sessions in the Regents Park. I work as a psychologist specialising in anger management and because of the nature of my job, I tend to operate mainly from my private practice in Oxford Circus. I go to de-stress at my local gym and meet business contacts or friends in local bars/restaurants which all seems too claustrophobic and so I welcomed the idea of working in the Regents Park whether snow or rain pouring from March 2018. I arrived for my first session euphoric and assuming to be fit but I found the sessions to be challenging. It made me realise that my anger management feelings towards the unsightly areas of my body were justifiable. Despite being able to do steady-state cardiovascular cross-training for up to an hour before hiring Alex, my body turned out to be overall rusty struggling to do basic body strengthening and conditioning exercises. I realised there was an enormous work to be done to get me to be fit and I hoped that it would also help me start shredding some weight. It is also crucial that I mention that Alex integrated into some of my sessions boxing that he specialises in. This might be a good news for anyone needing anger management classes due to domestic violence issues as this is the perfect context to vent your anger and not at your significant other that could attract unwanted attention from police, social services and courts.
DIET AND LIFESTYLE RESTRUCTURING
anger management and lifestyle restructuring
Five months into my two to three weekly sessions with Alex, my body measurements were taken again. Yes, I was gradually getting fitter but the weight was not coming off at all and the measurements have not improved and that left me feeling frustrated with further tantrums and angry management issues. We reviewed my diet. Alex suggested, I was under-eating and asked me to add a slice of bread to my dinner to prevent biscuits nightly devouring and commented that my excessive almond intake could also be a problem. Being a stressed and busy vegetarian and vegan I had been using almonds as a quick fix to compensate for the missing home-made meals with vegetable protein. I realised that I cannot be hypocritical and that I must practice what I preach in my anger management sessions in which I say to my clients that stress management is the first step in the anger management. I decided to stress and time-manage my personal and professional life better to make myself more available for home-made cooked meals with vegetable protein instead of resorting to high intake of almonds as a quick fix to my busy lifestyle whilst neglecting the home-cooking.
SUCCESS IS NO ACCIDENT
My hard work had paid off when I met eight months into my PT sessions a good friend of mine, who needed advice on his anger management issues in relation to his girlfriend. He greeted me with saying that I looked good and that I had lost weight and that I looked much better than the last time he saw me. This compliment was coming from a man with ‘I am not good enough’ rigid beliefs accompanied with unrelenting standards of oneself and others that meant that he had no issues telling me when I was big or looked tired and so this compliment meant that my hard work had paid off. This effort had become even more noticeable when I took a fresh and risque photograph early 2019 for my date and a year into my PT sessions. I could not believe my eyes, skipping the regular cross-trainer workouts at my local gym in favour of the PT sessions, I could see my buttocks have gone noticeably smaller. On reflection, the question remains: ‘Am I Kate Moss or big buttocks Kardashians?’ and if therefore the solution to a better fortysomething buttocks could be combining the PT sessions with a gym cross-trainer sessions. So I am back at the gym and keep the sessions with Alex going.
CONCLUSION
angry outbursts management with PT sessions
A year into the regular PT sessions with Alex and here are my thoughts? I would definitely recommend Alex to my anger management clients. The reason is because it would help my clients not only with the overall body strengthening and conditioning that Alex specialises in but also it would help with production of the feel good hormones and stress management which is the first step in the anger management. Also the PT sessions process requires patience for it took many months of regular and hard work and patience to see the results, something that my anger management clients lack. This review should also give you a good idea when you should really start working on your 2019 bikini body! The PT sessions is a process of a long-term investment in focus and determination that would help many clients with anger management issues value the time it takes to develop a patience and discipline and so to cherish it and apply it to the angry flare ups. I would also recommend this to women who want to lose a bit of weight but remember, it won’t go off without a few tweaks to your diet. If you have been affected by this article and have anger management issues please contact Leona on 07 505 124 933 and you if you would like to supplement it with PT provided by Baraka Training, speak to Alex the director.