Fitness hurts.

I had my first session with a personal trainer yesterday. I'm in a significant amount of pain today.

Sure... it's the "good" kind of muscle pain. I'm just shocked at the amount of pain I'm feeling today.

I consider myself fairly active. I'm not cover model material, but I'm probably in better shape than 75% of the American public. I can run a mile. I can see my toes. I can kill a man with my bare hands (but that's a different column...). I usually get some type of physical activity in 5 - 7 times a week.

Unfortunately, being at the bottom of the 25th percentile doesn't mean you're actually IN shape, it just means you're less out-of-shape than most other people.

When I work out on my own, I tend to give myself 30 - 60 second breaks in between activities. When it's somebody else pushing you, you don't get those little breaks. It's amazing how much you miss those.

I also tend to work out one muscle group at a time. I had never done most of the exercises I was being asked to do yesterday. My entire body was challenged in ways it never had been. I had no idea there were that many different kinds of push-ups.

The best part of the ordeal was the stretching. We spent the last ten minutes with him pushing and pulling my body parts in different directions. It may sound a little gay, but it actually felt really good.

I'm maintaining a positive attitude about all this... It WILL get easier.

Wish me luck.