WHERE I BEGUN
Hello. My name is Martha. I am currently 20 years old. I have been an active member of a gym for 3 years. In 2016, I started training purely for aesthetic purposes only. Like a lot of people that join a gym, I wanted to look physically more toned, defined and overall raise self esteem through the way I looked and felt about my physical appearance.
Although I never felt I 'achieved' this goal, I did have a very drastic change in my appearance and not surprisingly didn't feel better or positive about myself. I have always liked being active - although I was disheartened with my results I didn't want to quit completely. Therefore I changed how I approached the gym. I partly thought that the end of this goal was close, therefore if I still wasn't happy with how I looked maybe it was time for a change. I then wanted to focus on strength and the amount I could lift and feel empowered through the actions of the exercises.
I will be completely honest.
Lifting heavy is not my strength - I really couldn't progress to my best or even enjoy my workouts much when tailored towards this style of training. Another factor was that I didn't know how to structure the sessions due to lack of knowledge or even lack of wanting to learn. It's perfectly fine not to succeed in every aspect of fitness. It made me fall back in love with the areas I perform well in and truly love that keeps me motivated. CARDIO!
When you look at my background in sports and exercises, it is not suprisiningly that I truly love this style - and it fits me best! This aspect of fitness is almost demonised in the community as weights have taken over and become a massive trend. I think the reason I chose to step aside from steady state cardio for a long time was because I felt it wasn't 'cool enough' or 'lame' compared to other training like bodybuilding or powerlifting. When really, my own community was sort of making me choose between both weights being 'cool' and cardio being 'boring'. At the end of the day, choose whatever style of training you enjoy!
My Fitness Goals for 2019
- Enjoying my workouts and leaving with a big smile on my face (this sounds like a novelty).
-My mindset for the gym is the perform at my best abilities; jump higher push harder, sprint quicker.
- Incorporate yoga/ flow into everyday. Starting or ending the day feeling fully stretched and rest my body.
- Learn a yoga stance - they just look really cool!
- Take part in a fitness challenge every other month (set by me or official).
My Life Goals for 2019
- Plan and travel Australia in summer
- Sign up to get my Yoga instructor qualification
- Aim to go to a social occasion once a month (sounds small for you - big for me!) - Every Sunday night, is officially a phone free evening (from hours of 5:30pm- next morning).
I hope your fitness journey is going smoothly, but if not, change your mindset, routine, style, music - anything! It can do the world of good. Fitness is not a fad, it's a lifestyle sustainable change to incorporate into your everyday the way YOU enjoy.
Laughter and smiles,
Simply Martha x
