About me
I would like to introduce myself and tell you a bit about my story and where fitness all started for me. Long before I started training, when I was younger, I really enjoyed sport and was a very active person. I used to compete in pair gymnastics, play netball and attend dance lessons on a weekly basis. However, when I hit secondary school, my love for sport got pushed into the distant background and as a result l became slightly overweight and unhappy.
Growing older, I started to become more self conscious about the way I looked. My confidence had plummeted to an all time low, I felt weak and trapped in my own body and I knew had to do something about it. Which is why I turned to fitness.
Before I initially gained the courage to sign up to a gym, I used to work out at home. I would mainly run outside and perform a few core exercises in my bedroom now and then. But I wasn't consistent, neither did I have a clue what I was doing.
Fast forward to about seven years ago, where I joined a gym with the usual goal: to lose fat and get abs. My fitness journey started because I wanted to change and take control of my body, both physically and mentally. I was weak in my own body, I didn’t want to just go through life existing, I wanted to start living. I had no real clue about resistance training or the different types of training techniques. I used to train about 2-3 times a week continuous cardio; mainly running on the treadmill and using the cross trainer, with a few abdominal and bodyweight exercises here and there. I mainly stuck to the cardiovascular equipment, as I was scared to try new things I wasn't sure about and neglected exercises that looked difficult to perform.
At first I thought that lifting weights would make me look bulky and manly. I remember looking at the weight training area and finding it quite daunting. In particular, I have a recollection of feeling scared and lost, thinking what are all those machines and how do you use them? I used to call the weight training area the “men’s section” and I found it intimidating, because it was predominantly full of men. I felt like guys would be watching me and it didn't help that I had no clue how to use the machines in that area either. Of course this wasn’t the case as most people are too busy focusing on completing their own workouts, but sometimes we let our assumptions get the best of us.
I spent the next two years sweating out on the cardiovascular machines, before I realised that, although Cardio helped me to initially lose weight, I still felt weak and I wanted to become stronger. Which is what prompted me to make a change and start lifting weights. With my new goal in mind, I knew I would have to get past the initial intimidation I felt towards the weight training area.
It was five years ago that I decided to take my fitness journey to the next level. My main goal was to gain strength, whilst sculpting my body and building muscle and although I thought lifting weights would make me stronger physically, little did I know, that it would have the biggest impact on my life mentally. Transitioning from cardio to lifting weights was a massive step for me. My gym got very busy during the evenings, so I tended to perform my workout sessions in the mornings. At first I stuck with the resistance machines such as the leg extension, seated hamstring curl, Smith machine, lat pull-down, chest press and practiced body weight exercises at home such as lunges, squats, curtsy’s and more. Because I had never performed these exercises before I started researching at home the correct form and made sure I read the individual demonstrations cards found on the machine, which explained how to use it. After my first few workouts, my delayed onset muscle soreness (DOMS) was real. Even though I was using light weights, my muscles would ache for days due to the fact that my muscle weren't used to the exercises, I wasn't following a workout program and I was probably over training my muscles
After a while, when my muscles started to adapt and the muscle soreness started to disappear, I began noticing a huge difference in my strength and I loved it. I started to see physical changes fairly quickly, which is one of the biggest advantages to being a beginner to weight training, as the majority of people will start to gain strength and size very quickly as long as they are training consistently. Mentally, I was more confident, focused and had buckets of more energy.
I became friends with a personal trainer who also used the same gym. We started to train together every so often, which exposed me to a variety of new exercises as well as good form, technique and skills. I started incorporating free weights into my training sessions which was daunting at first, but having someone there to guide me, helped me overcome that fear. The more I went to the gym, the stronger I got and the more weight I found I could pull. I also realised, since I had to engage my core during every weight training exercise, I was actually strengthening and sculpting my core like never before.
Fitness has become my safe and happy place, it enables me to better handle everything else I face in life, especially life struggles. Fitness started out as a way to lose weight, but its more than that now, it’s something I use to push myself out of my comfort zone to become stronger every day, mentally and physically. I am so glad that I built up the courage to join the gym, as I have never looked back.
Experiencing my own fitness journey has made me want to help and support others, in achieving their fitness potential and reaching their fitness goals. I hope to encourage and empower other women and men, not to be afraid to add resistance training into their workout sessions like I once was, as it has helped me shape and sculpt my body.
In early 2019, I completed a personal training course and now I am ready to share my passion and knowledge with all of you. I started an Instagram based on fitness, lifestyle and fashion to share exercises, tips, tricks and spread my passion for training. My workouts are suitable for people of all different fitness levels and are there to help you get the most out of training. The feedback I receive daily from my page has been amazing which in turn motivates me to want to continue. Remember that with hard work, dedication and consistency comes results, you have got this guys!!
With Love
Shante Franca Oudnie
xx