Thread or Log: Email log Open or Closed: Closed Characters: Vince/Tahmoh Setting: Tahmoh's Office Content: Clean Status: Complete
Vince went off to find the trainer. He was delayed a few times since he first went out looking for the man. Quite a bit of time had passed and Vince was concerned the trainer would no longer be where he was told to look for him at. As he headed down the hall he looked around, trying to take in as much of the facilities as he could. Once he comes upon where the trainer should be he went inside the room. There he saw Tahmoh looking over some papers "Excuse me? Are you the trainer here?”
Tahmoh read over the memo that there was a new prospect coming their way. Wasn't there always? That's the one thing he missed about working with Canucks: the team was stable for the most part. But here? Kids coming and going and he was not going to let that small inconvenience be an excuse for slacking off on his job and having them in a subpar shape. He already rearranged the machines yet again to make more space for the ropes and the horizontal workout that he had planned for them. He was ready for the snickers, but once they were in a plank for 10 minutes or so, he was pretty sure they'd stop.
He was in his office, looking over the weight charts -- well, they seemed to be holding steady so far -- when he heard a new voice. "Yeah, hi." He stood up, dressed in his usual sweats and a muscle tee. "You must be Vince?" He extended his hand. "Tahmoh, nice to meet you. Come in."
He extended his hand for a firm handshake "Nice to meet you, Tahmoh. I am Vince." His hand moved to his hair, running through it. "I'm in shape and all but..." he paused, a little nervous "I haven't played in awhile. My workouts haven't been as intense as when I worked out for hockey. Can you help me out so I don't screw up my body when I get back out there?"
Tahmoh let go of his hand and nodded to the couch before coming from around the desk and sitting in a chair next to it. "What's a while? Because I've had complaints about not playing for 3 days, so fill me in. You haven't played, so what did you do to keep in shape. And ... we don't want you screwing your body up either." He was about to say "not screwing" period, but that was not the message he was going for.
Vince sat on the couch and made a face "Maybe seven months since I played. My workouts consist of jogging, lifting weights, ab crunches, ellipticals, mostly working the equipment you find at a basic gym. I have to keep my body looking good. I'm a tennis instructor and do some modeling, so I have to be in shape, just a different kind of shape." He watched Tahmoh for a reaction, hopeful he wouldn't be questioned too much about the long lapse in playing.
Seven months, and the kid was not in dire withdrawal? He wasn't going to judge, but seemed like the guy wasn't all that into hockey. The others seemed to live and breathe for the sport. But hey, it was not Tahmoh's decision to make. "Well, tennis would probably keep you in shape similar to hockey with all the side to side movements, so that's good. And it's just about how you work the muscles." He paused, trying to think for a second. The kid did seem in shape and it's not like Tahmoh would suggest "oh can you bench 200 pounds?" because that wasn't a measure. After a pause, he bit his lip. "You are expected to jump in immediately with the rest for hockey practice, right?"
With a heavy sigh Vince responded "I get the impression I will be required to jump in quickly. That's what worries me most. If I had time to work up to this I wouldn't be concerned. The equipment on top of the strenuous practice is more than my body's used to." He leaned toward Tahmoh "I don't need something this moment. If you can think of anything that could help me, you can let me know. I don't know what to expect here. Maybe I'll be fine. I don't want to screw this up because I got injured, you know?"
Tahmoh nodded and leaned back, adding all the variables up in his head. "Okay, well, if you are jumping into hockey, you are not jumping into the same level land workouts." He was thinking of impact, muscles not trained. The kid was in good enough shape that 6 months off ice would probably not have him injured -- just hurting. "Oh I know. I'm just processing in my head to see what other questions I need to ask before I figure what we can do in the gym to help you work up to where you need to be." He smiled, his smile soft and warm. "So I think what we are going to stick with will be this: You are in charge of figuring out your limits on the ice. Don't push yourself too much or you will end up injured. And I'll try to come up with a workout routine that will sway your shape a bit better for the ice, deal?"
He felt a sense of relief "It's a deal. That's simple and painless enough" He smiled then leaned back on the couch. Tahmoh made Vince feel calm, something he hasn't felt since his father suggested this. He felt he could relax and stop thinking about this situation and take on whatever this situation would throw at him. "Thank you for the help. I appreciate it" For some reason he felt totally at ease, which he rarely does with anybody, especially so quickly. "Uh, do you think you have time to show me what kind of equipment you have here? I'm a curious person. I like to check things out, if that's ok?"
"Well, I'm not sure how painless, but hopefully you'll be all right and able to walk at least to the doc's office." He smiled softly and shrugged. "I'm here to help, despite how some will complain about me being here only to hurt them." Tahmoh chuckled warmly, watching the new kid. He seemed oddly familiar but who knows? Maybe that's the deja vu and their spirits met in another life. "Oh maybe, but you'll have to promise me not to overdo it. I have a couple of guys here that I think I banned from the gym other than regular workouts. You won't be trouble now, would you?" It was mostly teasing. Mostly. But he knew that most boys would overdo it in a heartbeat and he wanted to get a read on this kid, see what he said and how he would react.
Vince looked down at how he was dressed, in jeans and a polo shirt. He than looked at Tahmoh again, a little smile on his face "I'm not working out now. I'm not dressed right. If I'm working out I need to be in loose clothing. I wanted to get a sneak peek at what's in store for me when I hit the gym" He laughed. Vince is most comfortable with a routine which includes the kind of clothes he wears for working out. Then he gave Tahmoh a questioning look "You had to ban guys from the gym? What kind of morons get themselves banned from a gym?" This made Vince wonder what some of the other players were like.
Tahmoh smiled and nodded. "Of course you aren't, come on." He smiled and nodded. "Well, they wanted to get better faster... So now, I basically don't most of them work out outside of the scheduled ones." That was true most of the time. Some were allowed extra workouts, because Tahmoh trusted them to keep it in control. He got up and nodded towards the door. "Come on." The gym was filled with machines, most of which Tahmoh found useless. He was big on free weights and ropes and body weight. The machines simplified and isolated one muscle at a time -- and did have a purpose -- but hockey was not a one muscle sport. No sport was. You had to teach muscles how to work in groups to succeed. And because of that, most of the machines were pushed back to the side, with a large area in the middle set up like a circuit. "So I do mostly circuit based workouts. Sometimes with that punching bag. Other times, just with weights and mats."
Vince's interest was peaked as his eyes scanned the area. It's nothing like he expected. "Wow, this is sweet" His voice was barely above a whisper. "A punching bag?" his mind thought of the anger he has inside towards his dad. That punching bag would help with that at times. He took a few more steps inside "Tahmoh. I like this! Not the same boring things. And ropes?" his eyes got wide then he turned to Tahmoh. "Do we get to climb up to the ceiling?" The excitement radiated from him. He loved rope climbing from his early high school days when they did it during workouts. "Or do you have some other torturous thing you make us do with the ropes?" he started to laugh
"Well, it's decent." He smiled and chuckled. "nothing but the best from Hockey Canada, right?" He nodded towards the bag. "Yeah, if you want lessons, feel free to ask. If not, the gloves are in the wall lockers there and there's tape for the knuckles. Please use it." He shook his head and pointed to two heavy ropes that were lying on the floor and anchored into the wall. "Not really ... you get to make the ropes dance like snakes though." Good cardio and good muscle building. Best of both worlds. They probably could get ropes to climb up to the ceiling, but that would probably spell trouble around here. "And really, not torture if it's good for you."
"I get it about not climbing to the ceiling. I hadn't noticed those were attached to the walls. I'm curious to see what you have us do with those" He turned to Tahmoh with a smile. "No pain no gain, they say. I expect a lot of pain, but the good kind, not an I'm injured kind." He turns his head toward the punching bag "I want to do that right.." his gaze turned back to Tahmoh ".. can you please give me lessons? Last thing I want is to hurt myself doing that wrong.
Tahmoh gave Vince a smile before grabbing the two ropes. He sank down to a squat. "So you can move side to side, you can send waves down them -- up and down, side to side. It builds muscle and gives you a cardio push. It's a nice balance." He let the ropes drop and shrugged. "You don't have to be in pain to get better. Most of the exercises won't hurt until after the muscle fatigue sets in. But definitely no joint pains. Besides, if you have muscle pain, you can say hello and schedule an appointment with Adeleine. I hear she's the miracle worker." He shook his head. "One thing at a time. First, get on the ice. We'll get you up to speed to land workouts. And then when you are there, sure, I can teach you how to fight. Never know when it will come in useful..."
Vince watched how Tahmoh did the moves with the ropes. Those moves looked like they would help him a lot. "I'm going to like those. I wish I knew about this kind of thing before. I guess I relied on the basics but you being a trainer, you know all these extra special things to really build a person. Sweet" He was getting excited about the workouts. He might have to thank Dad for this, or not. He didn't want Dad to know he enjoyed any part of this. Vince has a new outlook on this experience just from talking to Tahmoh. He planned to take full advantage of the workouts and anything else here that might benefit him, such as the massage therapist. "Adeleine is the massage therapist, right? Uh, Tancred mentioned going to the therapist. I sometimes get muscle pains, cramping, tightness in a couple places. I can see the therapist for that?" He agreed with Tahmoh on the waiting to start the fighting lessons. He wasn't a fighter, unless he felt he had to, so there was no hurry on those lessons. He needed to get into the program here first then think about other things.
"oh no. You are going to be another one of the people who think workouts are fun and you want to do them again, right?" He heaved an exasperated sigh. "Everyone does. But if you want better results and better than you've already got, you have to change things up. Constantly. That keeps your body working. Otherwise, it figures out the lease energy way of doing the exercise and you get no results." He nodded to the later statement. "Yes she is. And I would not be the best person to ask. I can tell you the broad strokes, but I'm sure talking to Adeleine or Dr Walters will set you on the right track." Hey, at least the kid seemed to have his head on straight.
"I rarely changed things up when I worked out. I am learning so much from you" He smiled, grateful for the knowledge he's getting already. "Thank you. I like structure. As I pick up more from you I'll incorporate them into my schedule. So there's only certain times I can work out? I'm not rushing, I promise" He grinned thinking about what was said about getting on the ice and working up to things. "I just want to be clear on everything. I won't overdo anything. I'm not here to screw up my body. I promise I wont do anything more than you suggest and my body tells me I can do" At the mention of the doctor Vince cringed "Ah yes, the doctor. I expect I'll be called to see him soon. I'll mention the muscle issues and see what he says." Although not amused at seeing a doctor, Vince knows he has to. Maybe this doctor will be better than any others he's been forced to see. After all team Canada has to have the best, and if this guy irks Vince, as all the other doctors have, all he has to do is tell Daddy. Knowing he has some control makes it a little easier to stomach seeing a doctor.
"Most people don't. That's why there are still jobs for people like me." He sat down on the weight bench and shrugged. "Look, I'm fine with you working out extra if you so wish. I'd say though, let's stick to ice and some sessions here. And then once you are on your own two feet, and your weight is stable and there are no injuries, we can add on? I try to keep the gym open when I'm here... which is almost all the time. Except meals. And that's not so I spy on you, but just to make sure you don't overextend different muscles. That's all. Because we need all of you at 100%." Tahmoh paused and looked at Vince closely. "What muscle issues?" He actually did have to know that to design a program.
Vince nodded in agreement to what Tahmoh said. He understood about keeping an eye on people working out, it was logical. Vince felt better working out with at least somebody nearby and who better than the trainer? Next came the question about the muscles "Like I mentioned, I have a couple places that my muscles have pains, cramping, and tightness. Maybe issue isn't the right word. More like it happens sometimes but I don't always know when it will. Do you need to know where and how it feels?" He wouldn't allow himself to get concerned over this. With the staff here he knew he had the best, well hopefully best, people helping him out.
"Any one in particular? And if you are not comfortable telling me, Dr Walters will pass on the information that I need to know so I don't injure you, but that's it. So for example, if someone had knee surgery, I know about it. That's all i hear." He wanted to reassure Vince that doctor-patient confidentiality was still untouched. "But how it feels, what muscles so then I can try and avoid workouts for that particular group. Or start them off slow."
"I can talk to you. I feel very at ease with you" Vince spoke in a soft tone "Sometimes the shoulders get tight. It will feel like they are being pushed together, like there's pressure on them. Sometimes they just ache. That's all I can think of for that pain. The other issue is my right calf. It gets tight and painful at times. I always stretch before doing anything like jogging, tennis, or any activities. Of course if I do something and would get pain severe pain I stop. The pain in either place sometimes isn't severe but sometimes it can be, but not for a real long time. I don't know if this will help you or not" Vince doesn't let himself get concerned with these issues. He will do whatever the trainer, doctor or massage therapist tell him.
Tahmoh listened carefully, his eyes focusing on Vince. He knew enough physiology to haphazard a guess that it may be part muscle imbalance. So his mind was going overdrive on how they could fix this. But that was definitely not the full picture. "Well, I'm no doctor to put a diagnosis on this. But I think massage can't hurt it. And the Doc would have some more ideas, I'm sure. I can do what I can for it. If your shoulders are being pushed together, it may be because your chest and your back are not equally developed. So we'll see what we can do with that. And for the calf, I take it you are not very flexible, right?" Most athletes would forget flexibility training.
Vince listened to the things Tahmoh was telling him. His facial expression was of confusion. "My chest and back can be unequally developed? Should I be nervous about this?" He was a little concerned. Tahmoh said we'll see what we can do, does that mean maybe they can't do anything about it? He knew he had to stop over thinking this. There was too many other things to think about, including this flexibility thing "Flexibility training? I've never heard of such a thing. Can we add that to my workouts?"
"Your chest and back muscles -- pectoralis major and trapezius -- do exact opposite functions. Chest draws the shoulders in and that's what you use if you slouch. Trapezius pulls them back and makes you stand up straight. If one is stronger than the other, you get a muscle imbalance that pulls at the shoulders in one way more than the other. So we just have to work the other muscle a bit more to make it equally strong. It's totally fixable and no reason to worry." This part, they could do something about. anything else, he didn't know. "And yes, yoga particularly is good. It makes you more flexible and less stiff. I was thinking of doing that as one of the workouts. You guys are strong, but almost no one is flexible. And flexibility prevents injuries."
"That's good to know" we can work on making me more balanced, muscle wise" Vince smiled but when yoga was mentioned the smile disappeared. Yoga was becoming big in LA. His friend Sam convinced him to go to yoga with him. He was uncomfortable there, with him and Sam the only guys but what made it worse was when the wrong people found out he went. He was taunted, hit, harassed, etc. Yoga doesn't sit well with him after that even with this being all guys here he wanted no part of it. "Yoga? Seriously? Isn't there something else we can do?" The worded came out without much thought. He knows questioning the expert might not be a good idea but it's too late now.
Tahmoh nodded. "A lot of people forget about balancing muscles. They'll work the hell out of biceps and forget triceps, and quads but no hams. It's easy to do with the machines in the gym." Which is why he preferred free weights. More muscle groups engaged. "Yeah, it's a good flexibility exercise. Also g
Vince crossed his arms and sighed, his eyes looking to the ground "Yoga doesn't appeal to me. I guess something here was going to not appeal to me. Everybody will have to do yoga?"
Tahmoh shrugged. "I have to check what everyone is doing, but I was thinking that I don't want to tire out the muscles. And with the way the weights are looking, we may be hitting that wall. So I was going to sub a yoga class instead of a weight training class for one of the days. So yes, everybody."
"You're in charge and when you put it that way, I get why you're doing it. But I will tell you, if you make us do downward facing dog nobody better slap my ass" He started laughing. "No balancing moves, please. Those are unnatural"
"I do sometimes make sense." He smiled softly and arched an eyebrow. "Vince, it's yoga. There's no ass slapping there. The most you'd get is me coming over and correcting your posture, but believe me that I would not slap anyone's ass while doing that." He paused and chuckled. "Balancing moves are key. They strengthen joints and tendons. So as unnatural as they are, we'll do some basic ones. Tree is not bad; neither is warrior three. We'll start slow and go from there. How does that sound?"
Vince frowned slightly. "Warrior three? Aren't we supposed to do Warrior one first? Then work on two then three? "He looked into Tahmoh's eye and grinned "See, it's like this, I know the Warrior one pose. I don't want easy workouts but isn't warrior three too advanced?" He tried to make sad, pleading eyes at the other man. He has no idea what the warrior three pose is and how hard it is or isn't. He doesn't want to do yoga so this was the only thing he could protest as far as yoga goes.
"It's just a name. Each pose has adjustments to make it harder or easier. And yoga is not about showing off. It's about being in touch with your inner self." The sad eyes wouldn't be working. Not if the guy just told Tahmoh about muscle cramps. So not working. "Don't worry, you'll be fine. And I won't let anyone fall over themselves. Except for in laughter."
Vince started to laugh. "No changing your mind I see. I didn't think so but I'm always willing to try" Vince couldn't help but smile and chuckle. Something about Tajmoh made Vince respect the guy. He knew he was going to have no problems with Tahmoh. Now if everybody in authority would be this great. Vince knows that won't happen.
Tahmoh smiled and nodded. "I'm one stubborn man. And besides, if it's good for you, then I'm less likely to budge. And it will be good for you." He nodded at Vince and added. "you should go say hi to the doctor. So you are all cleared for workouts, okay? And we'll get you on track. Ice first... everything else will get sorted out."
"Thanks for everything. I appreciate your time. I'll see the doc and we'll go from there" Vince flashed a smile and gave a wave "Later Dude" Then Vince was gone off to his next stop.