Beginning a fitness journey can be the start of a real-life change – in my case it most certainly was! The vast majority of people with whom I have had the pleasure of meeting and over the past 5 years working in the fitness industry would likely be very surprised to hear what I used to be like when it came to exercise and fitness.
Despite the fact I have always played sport in the form of golf, rugby and tennis, going to the gym was never on my agenda until my mid 20’s. In fact, I used to be the one within my group of friends who joked about it whenever any of them told me they were going to the gym (as I cracked open a can of lager in my sweatpants slowly putting on weight).
The parties kept going, the alcohol and takeaways kept going, my health was declining, my knees were increasingly sore and my golf game was taking a hit.
Then one day a housemate of mine many years ago told me hewas going to the gym and again asked me to go with him. I thought “why not, this will be a laugh”! Little did I know at that point that I was about to change the direction with which my life was going.
I’m not going to say I loved that first session, but it was certainly the start of something. I joined that friend at the gym more and moreover the coming weeks despite the fact I was still drinking too much and my overall nutritional intake was extremely poor. But the fact I was exercising again was a good start!
The first signs of getting slightly stronger started to occur and I was starting to feel a little better about myself. Things were starting to change, including my mindset.
The change was under way, so I started to chat to a personal trainer. I was getting more and more interested in the whole process daily and was keen to have some workout plans to follow. My training started to improve greatly. My nutrition wasn’t exactly perfect, but it was much improved, and itwas showing with my results.
I bet many of you reading this can relate to this beginning with fitness.
Training with my friend Andrew, we started going from strength to strength before I realised, I absolutely loved training, exercising and the whole atmosphere that came with it. I enjoyed learning new things, I enjoyed pushing myself to my limits and I loved seeing the self-improvements I was making.
Alongside this, I felt I had come to a time in my previous profession (Support Work) with which I needed a change of career. Perhaps it was my overriding love for fitness that brought these feelings forward but ultimately, the time had come for a change.
I pursued this career change by completing my Gym Instructor Level 2 and Personal Training Level 3 Certificates whilst still working fulltime in my other job role. The temporary extra workload and stress were definitely worth it!
I can honestly say that had someone told me 10 years ago that I would be the person I am today, its likely I would have laughed in their face. I can now say that I look forward to my day job, I look forward to training each and every one of my clients and I still love fitting my training and exercise in on a daily basis.
Training and exercising isn’t a chore anymore, it’s a privilege.
10 Reasons Fitness Has Changed My Life for The Better:
1. Fitness has taught me to respect myself – This is the key point of progression for me. I now take care of myself in the correct ways and no longer put myself down. In putting myself down, it gives people the opportunity to follow suit.
2. Fitness has taught me to live a healthy balanced lifestyle when it comes to nutrition – I eat nutrient dense foods 80% of the time and less nutrient dense foods 20% of the time so not to fully restrict myself.
3. I am consistently in decent physical shape – I train at 4-5 times per week but get some form of light exercise every day.
4. Fitness has mentally helped me become a happier person – Going to the gym is SO much more than simply making physical gains, mentally it helps me immensely. I have become a much more positive person. Positivity breeds positivity. In recent years I have learnt to see a positive in prettymuch every situation. I put this down to my improved mental attitude which stems from regular exercise.
5. It has helped my knee injuries beyond belief – with the correct training in place, my two knees are as strong as they’ve ever been.
6. I am fortunate to share other people’s successes – Its amazing to be a part of people achieving their goals and breaking personal barriers they never thought they could break.
7. Regular exercise has helped improve my skin – Those who knew me when I was in my teens and into my early 20’s will know my I suffered with bad skin. This carried on until I begin training and exercising regularly and it has since improved greatly. This has massively helped improved my confidence, which many of you might not believe I was once low in.
8. Health and fitness has taught me anything is possible – There are many things I never thought I would be able to do due to injury. I have proved to myself through dedication, consistency, hard work and persistence that your body, if managed correctly can do most things.
9. Fitness was once a hobby but is now my working life – I get to do a job that I thoroughly enjoy and have the privilege with a fantastic bunch of people. Many of which have become friends aswell as clients.
10. All the other 9 reasons above culminated in meeting my fantastic wife and having a beautiful daughter – enough said!
Conclusion
Many of you reading this may be able to relate to one of the above improvements I have recognised as a progression of mine through fitness and exercise. Don’t underestimate what adding a little more exercise to your weekly routine could do for you, its not all about having a wash board stomach and a great butt. There’s so much more to it.
