I may no longer be the athlete of the past, but Shred415 gives me the personal satisfaction of achieving endurance goals and overcoming mental challenges.
My fitness journey isn’t typical. As a child, I was a National Champion Figure Roller Skater with 4 national titles by the age of 12. I gained more accolades as an athlete at this age than I ever would again for the rest of my life. You could even say I achieved my competitive peak at a very young age.
Fast-forward to my college years, where I was faced with an unfamiliar struggle of balancing the muscle mass I had developed from roller skating and my desire to eat junk food like every other undergad on the planet! I cursed my over-developed quads, completely unaware of how to manage my physique as a non-competitive athlete. Over the next 15 years, I experienced a yo-yo effect of fitness highs and lows, always feeling the pressure to maintain the athletic standard I set for myself at a very young age. Weight gains were followed by weight losses, and the pattern continued until I began having children.
When I became pregnant with my third baby at the age of 40, I swore to be fit, strong and resilient. Despite my resilience, I fell into the same patterns. After 3 more years of yo-yo dieting and various exercise programs, I joined Shred415. This is when my fitness journey transformed.
I’m 45 years old, and while endurance and core strength have always been my primary challenges, today I can complete an entire Shred415 class by jogging/running. I have never been an efficient runner, and I attribute this to poor running form and mistakenly focusing on strength over endurance, but with every Shred415 class that I take, I feel my efficiencies building. Maybe more importantly, I am so grateful for the confidence I have found in the quiet and personal achievements I have gained at Shred415. I may no longer be the athlete of the past, but Shred415 gives me the personal satisfaction of achieving endurance goals and overcoming mental challenges. I also realize that I am in the presence of other athletes all around me in each Shred415 session class. I leave the studio feeling proud, accomplished, confident and grateful that my body can achieve more than I thought it could that day.
I walked my entire first Shred415 class, which was tough to accept as a former athlete. I am glad I stuck with it because over time, and with tremendous encouragement from the Shred415 community, Shred415 has changed my life. Gone are the days of fad diets and weight gains/losses. Instead, they have been replaced with a quiet confidence that the work I do in the studio is making me stronger. It’s making me better. It’s making me a Shredder.
To become Shredder of the Month, submit your Shred415 success story to [email protected]. Whomever is chosen will receive an unlimited month of Shred415 classes. He or she will also be recognized on our blog and social media channels.
