Step 1

In December 2015, Rebecca joined LA Fitness. Her only goal was to show up. She kept telling herself just to get there and she would figure out the rest later. What Rebecca didn’t know is that a complimentary fitness assessment is included with new member enrollment. When LA Fitness staff offered to schedule her assessment Rebecca shared with us, “Honestly, I had no interest in knowing how out of shape I was, but I stopped myself- if I’m going to do this I have to do this right, maybe this would encourage me to show up.” As Rebecca was given a tour of the club she was asked what she wished to accomplished. She just wanted to be happy, comfortable, and healthy. Those became her goals. And on December 26th, 2015 Rebecca had her first training session with Master Trainer, Sarah O.

Change Is Scary

For most people new to working out, gym equipment can be somewhat intimidating, and the free weight zone is oftentimes looked at as the no go zone. When Rebecca first began her membership, she only knew how to use the treadmill. She didn’t know what either a rep nor a set was. But, with the help of her personal trainer Sarah, she became knowledgeable of the gym and began to feel relaxed, rather than intimidated and stressed. Rebecca explained her goals to Sarah, and was told that her goals would be met if she kept showing up for training, working out, and made some healthy lifestyle changes. And that she did – but it didn’t come easy. Rebecca shared that, “at first this was really hard, I mean really hard- but [Sarah] was always there for me […] guiding, coaching and encouraging me to be a better me.”

Within just a few sessions Rebecca’s fear of the gym was reduced, she knew what reps and sets were, which muscle groups to train together, and was surprised to find that she was working out with free weights, just like Sarah had taught her, all on her own! Rebecca started finding herself looking forward to going to the gym. She knew if she worked hard, her goals would be met. She was beginning to feel happier and healthier, and knew that the feeling of being more comfortable in her own skin would come in due time, with the more weight she lost.

Hard Work Pays Off

While Rebecca’s initial goal was to simply become a version of herself, Sarah introduced her to the idea of fitness competitions. At first, Rebecca laughed off the idea, with the assumption that fitness competitions were simply about fit individuals showing off muscles on top of muscles; she soon came to know that there were a lot more to fitness shows. Rebecca had never competed in anything before – even as a child – and therefore, had never known the feeling of winning a trophy. Sarah began inspiring her daily, and training her to lose weight, gain muscle, and tone. There were times Rebecca questioned if all the “extra” work was really worth it… until the big Natural Muscle Association Can/Am Competition arrived (March 2017), and Rebecca placed in the top three!

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