38 - Sunday. February 18, 1990 - North Shore News Weight training strengthens, tones From page 36 Self-consciousness momentarily fuels my energy reserves, but 1 reach the exhaustion state shortly after finishing my first: ‘‘ser’* — the idea, appurently, is that 1 do three sets of E5 cach, It is during the peak of my agony, of course, that Terry starts clicking. As Debbie conducts me through a basic tour of the weight room apparatus, she cautions me as to safety measures and writes down my individualized program as we go. Soon, she says, | will love this room and will be miserable on the days I can't come in to train. 1 take her word for it. As we do the rounds, | recall my long-repressed high school P.E. class fear that 1 will put the key in wrong and somehow huge weights will come crashing down from their position and crush all my fingers and/or toes. This doesn't happen — I master the key tech- nique — but I am concerned for the safety of my skull when my trembling-triceped arm threatens to give way as I lift a five-lb. dumbbell over my head. Debbie allows me to abandon that after a few attempts and we move on to the next station. Amazingly, [ find that the mocking glances from the weight room veterans never materialize. Instead, some seem to take pity on my vulnerable state and offer en- couraging smiles. As 1 progress to the ‘abdominals,’’ one man assures me that I am not alone in my agony ~— sit-ups are indeed universally regarded as the worst things in the world. My confidence grows cven fur- ther when Debbie offers me the chance to indulge in some moral superiority by pointing out that an alarming number of the men who train utilize poor techniques that could result in injury. 1, on the other hand, have gone about things the proper way by investing a mere $22 to learn the technical ropes. My smugness gives way, howev- er, when To stand up and my beleaguered legs nearly collapse. Fortunately, among the handouts Debbie has ready for me is an in- formative sheet on dealing with muscle soreness, The pain provides me with an ir- refutable illustration of how out of shape my muscles are, but Debbie assures me that | will feel stronger after even a few weeks of training. Lest I get too enthusiastic, she cautions me to leave rest days in between my training periods to allow my muscles to heal. And above all, she says, don’) worry about getting bulky — that will only happen if | pump huge weights every day for hours on end. As I can't imagine quitting my job to take up as a professional weight lifter just vet, the possibilty of adding bulk does indeed seem remote. Waving my fatigued farewells and shuffling off to the car after making the difficult moral decision to return to the office instead of retiring to the hot tub for the rest of the afternoon, | reflect on the chances of me ever going back to the weight room for another kick at the can. A litte to my own) surprise, underneath the layers of screaming, pain I discover | have more than a tinge of excitement at the thought of coming back to conquer the program on my own. Never having dared to think of myself as the weight-room type, | credit Debbie with giving me the potential for a whole new alter-ego. Peggy the Lean. Peggy the Powerful. Peggy the Indomitable. Yes, | muse, wincing as my arm muscles flex to turn the key in the ignition, | could get used to that idea. Expert warns about weighing From page 37 some up to 20 or 25 Ibs. A final reminder from Chernov: “You don’t necessarily have to have the fat on your body to have an unhealthy relationship with food."* NOBODY COMPETES LIKE JUBILEE CHRYSLER SSAQAAQns