Category: Happiness

I’ve found a way of life that I can love again

Having been in the Military since the age of 19, training has been always been a part of my everyday life. But when I left 6 years ago I joined a civvy gym and really struggled to stay motivated…..no one talked to one another and I felt like I was just going through the motions.

We all went in, did our class, then walked back out without saying a word: there was no camaraderie, and very little support. I tried various classes at different gyms but I sort of lost my way after that. I then fell pregnant with our second baby so I found that an excuse to stop training.

Struggling to find motivation

After the birth of our daughter in 2014, I struggled with my weight and really struggled to find my love for training again. My weight slowly crept up while my body confidence and self-esteem went down. I found it easier to stay away from the gym and as a result harder to do something about it. My husband had started at Southern Legion the year before and he kept saying to me that I would love it and I should give it a go. He would tell me what WODs they’d done that day and I could see the positive effect it had on his fitness, but I thought it sounded too difficult for me to even try it and I was too shy to take that first step.

Something inside me was awoken – I loved training again!

Eventually, 8 weeks after our daughter was born, I gave in and went down for my first session. I felt so nervous and thought that I would never fit in with this group of such fit and strong individuals…….but I couldn’t have been more wrong! As soon as I walked in there the coaches introduced themselves and made me feel at ease. That first session was so hard and I thought so many times about stopping, but the cheering and encouragement from the others there made it so much easier. There and then it woke something inside me, I actually wanted to do this again!

The fittest and Strongest I’ve ever been

I started off a complete novice, not having a clue how to do the movements and very unfit but with the help of the coaches, the camaraderie and the support network at Southern Legion I was able to re-discover my love for training. Not only has my self-esteem grown, but I am the fittest and strongest I have ever been as I have now found a way of life that I can love again……and that’s what it is for me, a way of life, not just a gym. I’ve been going to Southern Legion for 3 years now and I can honestly say I love it just as much then as I do now, if not more!

Finally Finding My ‘Why’

For a long time people have asked me “What’s the point in keeping so fit?” and “What exactly are you training for?” I’ve always struggled to answer this, and most of the time I would just shrug my shoulders and smile, until now…

Being unhappy wasn’t good enough

I haven’t always trained hard. In fact, as a teenager I became very lazy, moved very little, ate too much bad stuff and gained a lot of weight. My self-esteem hit an all time low and my motivation sunk even deeper. It took a while for me to dig out some self-awareness but I finally realised I was unhappy and that really wasn’t good enough. So I began a patient process of finding fitness. My weapon of choice was my legs and I started to run. I trained for years, mostly on my own, fanatically running three or four 10km a week. I got fitter, faster and slimmer. I even rehabilitated myself back into running after an accident promised I could never do it again, but what for?

discovering southern legion

Running served its purpose but it was missing something. This is when I discovered Southern Legion in 2015. Most of my own training was programmed and completed by myself. All of a sudden I had found the most unlikely mix of people training at the same place and at the same time. Every one of them wanting to be there, train together and get sweaty. I remember being in a ball on the floor on my first session; desperately trying to catch my breath while the rest of the class cheered me on to finish the workout. I had a beaming smile on my face. I was having fun. I’ve come a long way since then: entered strong man events, completed advanced competitions, run muddy obstacle races, taken part in endurance running and even attaining my own PT qualifications. Despite all of this, the best part of my day is waking up every morning and going to class. And I know exactly why that is, training is fun and training makes me happy.

The happiness habit

It doesn’t matter who you are, what your motivation might be or what goal you might want to achieve, being active in a supportive environment like Southern Legion will make you feel good. Working in psychological therapy I am continually advocating to others the benefits of getting sweaty. I am human just like the rest of us, but I can honestly say that training these days rarely feels like a chore. Training is now a habit to me, a happy habit. Today, when people ask me “What’s the point in keeping so fit?” I say because it feels good, and “What exactly are you training for?” I say to be happy.