Being a fitness professional - it's part of the job requirement to stay fit yourself. So I consider it a blessing that fitness is my passion and staying fit myself is something that is a labor of love. I also believe that variety is the spice of life and the motivation of keeping fit (i get bored doing the same thing and so do my muscles).
I started waaayyy back.... in the early eighties with thong leotards and leg warmers doing "aerobics" then eventually onto owning an aerobics studio for a few years. I segued into personal training and all the education and certification that goes along with that kept me busy in addition to my own resistance training workouts. I worked as a manager at a Gold's Gym for a while, then becoming fed up with the massive gym experience - it gave me the impetus to open my own private gym in the late 90's. Along the way I challenged myself as an endurance athlete by getting into racing (running, cycling & mountain biking) and all the joint stresses that it brings, which eventually led in me into (when i turned 40) a kinder gentler but (wicked hard) form of exercise called Pilates and the CORE emphasis it brought with it. I am around the corner from my fifties and feel the best I have ever felt physically (and mentally) my entire life. I have a balance of a variety of exercise modalities (Pilates, resistance training, some Yoga, still cycling - ditched running -love hiking & fast walking and stillness) and my body and I are so very happy - but this is of course my fitness story.....
I am also a mom of a seventeen year old daughter who runs but not for fitness. In fact, she "runs" in the opposite direction of fitness and has for most of her life. You would think the daughter of a Fitness/Pilates Trainer would follow in her footsteps....WRONG! This has been by far my biggest challenge, getting my daughter to LOVE to workout as much as I do.....it's the most frustrating challenge I have come up against in all the years I have been in the fitness industry. It's akin to trying to teach your kid how to drive.....as a parent you can't. She even had her own personal trainer (of course not me) but can you imagine? Talk about a tough pill to swallow - BUT it worked - for a short while. Unfortunately, it was just a band aid and she fell back to her old ways. This is a kid who thinks playing hours of guitar hero is a workout. So you get the idea. I keeping thinking she'll grow out of this, but she's seventeen, carrying an extra few pounds, and hates to move her body doing any sort of activity...it breaks my heart- but I love her to pieces- so I keeping hoping one day she will turn around.
It wasn't all doom - for a while she was running (well more like a jog) on the cross country team when she was a freshman in high school. Her best girlfriend was on the team and convinced her to join, and the coach happened to be one of those guys who believed in not excluding anyone so she joined (LOVE that!). She Hated every minute of it (the actually running part) BUT what kept her there was the camaraderie, encouragement and the sweat shirt that said HS cross country team with her name on it. All she wanted was not to come in dead last, which she didn't most of the time. I was so thrilled! I outfitted her head to toe with all the proper gear and tried my best (without being pushy) to get her to practice so she didn't feel like her lungs would always explode with every step. It seemed to work for a while and then she was toppled one day in the hallway at school by some boy who accidentally ran into her and she broke her foot. She was casted and out of commission and that was that - her running days were over and I could sense her inner delight. I silently cried. After her foot healed she would periodically use that as an excuse to not have to even have to walk to close destinations instead of driving.
I blame technology and it's magnet to keep my daughter from not playing like I did when I was a kid. Why move and be active when you can text message, instant message, play video games? I have to say though, my daughter is a reader (thank goodness) so mostly reads books before diving into the "techno crap" ..so if there is a silver lining in all of this- at least she's a reader, and maybe she'll just read about being fit and staying healthy and how important it is - maybe someday the dots will connect and she'll realize she'll have to actually move her body to get there.
On a last up note she did recently join the local gym and has been going on her own to workout. It started with five to six times a week and now has dropped to two-three. I don't know how much effort she puts into her workouts but at least she goes and that's a good thing. Her eating habits are a whole other set of issues to tackle and that too has been a struggle - but one thing at a time. I just keep doing what I am doing to staying fit for me and as a role model for her, along with training others to stay fit and healthy and hopefully one day she'll be willing to turn around and run (or walk or hike) along side me instead of the opposite direction.
That's all I can hope for.......Laura G.
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