Hello Everyone, Today was my first session with Pepe as I prepare to join the cross fit class.  Over the next few months I will be writing about my experience with the trainers and classes at Precision Athletics as I try to get back in shape.  As this is my first post, I will take this opportunity to tell you a little bit about myself, my experience working out and my goals. My name is Raul, I’m 31 years old and currently tipping the scale at just about 2oo lbs.  If you asked me what kind of shape I am in, I would say I am right about in the middle, which is to say that I’m not greatly overweight but i’m also not skinny as a noodle.  During my student years I played football for the University of Calgary Dinos and had the good fortune of having some very good coaches including Les Gramantik of Canada’s Track and Field team and Stuart McMillan who coached both the American and Canadian Bobsleigh teams for the 2002 Olympics.  During those years I was under a very rigorous training program and had constant input from my coaches. A few springs have past since those days when I could see something that resembled a “pack” of anything on my abdomen and now it seems like all I eat goes straight to my gut.  On the knowledge side I would also say that I am right in the middle of the scale between not knowing how to do squat or squats and a total expert.  I have some intermediate knowledge of overall exercise technique and how to work out. On that note, the reason I approached the folks at Precision Athletics was to get some fresh new guidance in order to reach my fitness goals.  I am getting married this coming November in Mexico and my goal is to be able to lay on the beach without getting harpooned.  My exercise routine over the past couple of years has not been very good and I feel that I need the excitement and motivation of a new system to get back on track. I look forward to sharing my experience with you and hopefully we can create a space where we can all share a bit about how we are reaching our individual goals. Day 1. I had my first session with Pepe today.  I was told that we would be going over some of the exercises that one must perform during the Cross Fit class so I frankly didn’t know what to expect.  I went skiing over the weekend and my legs were a little wobbly so I was hoping he’d go easy on me.  The session focused on learning the proper form for some of the movements that are performed during the class as well as some tips on how to avoid injuries. On this first session we did Shoulder Press, Dead-lifts and Squats.  As I said before, I probably have a little more exposure to these exercises than the average person, but by no means am I an expert.  Right away I felt that Pepe knew what he was talking about as he had a good explanation for the mechanics of the movement.  I didn’t realize that the years of unsupervised training had made me develop some bad habits.  After a few reps and some good pointers I started to get the hang of the movements again.  My session happen to fall right before Pepe was to do his own workout, so he was nice enough to let me do the workout with him. I have trained with other personal trainers in the past and I must say that sometimes it felt like their enthusiasm was a little overboard and fake.  Kudos to Pepe for being encouraging without seeming fake. Next session this Wednesday. Talk to you soon.