Page 4 of Sweet on You
I totally understood where he was coming from. But, to me, breaking through those emotional boundaries was a huge part of the fitness experience—feeling no embarrassment or shame for where you are in your health journey. “If you want to go inside, we can. You mentioned you like being outdoors, which was why I chose this. And it’s such a beautiful day.”
“It is gorgeous out,” Lex agreed. It was a warm late-April day—high 60s, which was warmer than normal for New England at this time of year. But as anyone who grew up here knew, summer was fleeting and passed quickly. Too quickly, if you asked me. I was a beach girl through and through, much like Callie.
“So? Do you want to go back inside?” I asked.
Lex sighed. “I might embarrass myself, but let’s stick it out here. For now.”
“Good.” Though this might have begun as a way to push him to the limits and maybe make him find a new trainer, I was in my element. And the more time we spent together, the more I realized that we might be able to get back to being friends. “So, with high blood pressure, we want to strengthen your heart. A stronger heart can pump more blood with less effort. So basically, if your heart can work less to pump, the force on your arteries decreases, lowering your blood pressure.”
Lex’s brows jumped. “Sexy. It’s like you’re talking dirty to me.”
That. That right there was why I, and so many women in this town, assumed he was flirting. My face flushed red and I dropped my gaze to the kettle bell, lifting it and shifting it slightly out of the way. Why did he say things like that, especially when he made it clear that he wasn’t interested in me that way? It was misleading and, at this point, downright embarrassing. Anger crawled through my gut and I cleared my throat, trying to rid myself of the feeling. “Most people focus entirely on cardio for heart-related results. They run, swim, dance, bike, etc. And those are all great things to do, but we want to combine the interval cardio training with muscle building to speed up and maximize your results.”
“What about things like… I don’t know. Boxing? My doctor said stress relieving activity would be good for me, too. I mean, kneading dough is practically the same thing.”
I laughed. “Kneading dough is the same as boxing, huh? Maybe I should put a little baking room in my gym.”
“You’re mocking me, but I challenge you to try it sometime,” he said. “You’ll see.”
“Well, let’s have a boxing sparring match and a dough kneading match and see who wins.”
Lex cracked his knuckles. “You’re on, Tripp.”
A flutter began in my chest and swirled down to my belly as Lex’s turquoise eyes held mine. They seemed to get greener as they got closer to his pupil. I cleared my throat, breaking our gaze. My eyes traveled down his lean body. Strong, but not bulky muscles peeked out from beneath his t-shirt. He wasn’t a body builder—not by any means, but I found him sexier than any man I’d met in years. “So, um, as I was saying. For high blood pressure, we want to strengthen your heart. Here’s what I want you to do… you’re going to start with burpees. Then you’re going to flip this tire all the way down to your bakery. Sprint three laps back to the tire. Flip it back here and finish with kettle bell swings.”
Lex gulped, his wide eyes growing impossibly wider. “All that?”
I nodded. “Yep. Be careful—don’t hurt yourself or anything—but you want to push yourself to get your heart rate up. The number of reps you do for the burpees and kettle bell are listed here on my iPad cheat sheet if you need to reference it. The number of reps will change each round.”
“And… do this as fast as I can?”
“Without hurting yourself, yes. Keep your core tight, most of your strength will come from your core and quads. I’m going to be running by your side to watch your form and help you with a flat back—the hardest thing to maintain during these exercises. Any questions?”
“Burpees I’ve done before.” Lex pressed his lips together. “But I don’t really know what a kettlebell swing is.”
“Thank you for asking.” I grabbed the kettlebell and demonstrated how to do it, making sure to keep my knees softly bent. “You control the kettlebell with your arms, but the power actually comes from your hips. And it shouldn’t swing higher than your shoulders. To be safe, I would keep it at your pecs.”
Lex’s eyes flicked to my chest and almost immediately his cheeks flushed red and he dropped his eyes to his feet. He took the kettlebell from me—his fingers still had flour caked under his nails. As his skin brushed against mine, my spine straightened. My gut twisted. And my heart pounded in my chest.
“Like this?” he asked and swung the kettlebell through his legs, popping it up to chest level a few times.
“That’s great,” I said and placed my palm at the small of his back. “Make sure you don’t arch your back with it and it’s perfect.”
He beamed like I’d just handed him a gold medal at the finish line.
“You’ve got a long way to go, friend. Don’t get cocky, yet.”
He flashed a megawatt grin and winked quickly in my direction. “Not yet. But I will later. When I crush this WOT.”
I snorted, covering my mouth with my palm and tried to stifle my laugher. “It’sWOD, not WOT.”
“But…” a look of confusion crossed his face before his eyes fluttered closed. “Dammit, Steve. He told me I was saying it wrong. He said it was like a weird American colloquialism.” Lex shook his head. “I’m going to kill him.”
I snickered. That sure as hell sounded like something my brother would do. “Well, just you wait. A few weeks with me and he won’t be able to take you.” I pulled out my phone and set the timer. “Ready to start?”
Lex nodded. “If for no other reason than to be able to kick Steve’s ass later… yes.”
“That was my motivation, too, when I started. To kick Steve’s ass.” That wasn’t quite true. In actuality, my choice to start working out was solely my own—my way of reclaiming my life. My body. My confidence. I didn’t care what pant size I was, as long as I was healthy, happy with myself, and comfortable in my own skin. That was what truly mattered, and that was my objective for every client who came into my gym. Back when I was a size double zero? I was the most insecure I’d ever been. I was the most miserable I’d ever been. Now, as a muscular, curvy size 6, I felt more at home in my own skin than I ever had before.
