Breakthrough Spotlight - Sharon
Our Breakthrough Spotlight Member this month is Sharon! She brings an attention to detail, positivity and focus to each training session, and is feeling stronger and more mobile after just a few months of training.
BREAKTHROUGH: Thank you, Sharon, for being our Spotlight member this month. I am excited to chat with you!
SHARON: It’s my pleasure! Thank you!
BREAKTHROUGH: You started training with us about 5 or 6 months ago…
SHARON: End of April.
BREAKTHROUGH: End of April, yes! So, let’s start with what brought you here in the first place. How were you feeling? What was going on?
SHARON: Well, I think the biggest motivation was to gain more strength and flexibility. I have always been a lifelong exerciser but mostly with aerobic exercises – hiking, doing things in a gym. I always belonged to a gym except for the past ten years, but really focusing on aerobics. As I got older, I started feeling some joint pain here and there, and some stiffness. I really want to be in it for the long haul. Be my very best self, in my very best shape. So, that is what got me to come in here. I have some good friends who told me about Breakthrough. And I came to meet you, Kati, and I think the first thing I said was, “I am not into joining gyms!” Ha, ha!
BREAKTHROUGH: Ha,ha! Oh yes, I remember that conversation!
SHARON: But it’s such a different format. I really like the program!
BREAKTHROUGH: Good!
SHARON: I have already experienced great successes for myself. I couldn’t even do a plank when I started and now, I am doing a plank for maybe 20-30 seconds.
BREAKTHROUGH: Yay!
SHARON: And just a lot of things that I have noticed already, which I think is pretty phenomenal for just a few months.
BREAKTHROUGH: Yes, tell me about some of things that you’ve noticed?
SHARON: Well, my joint pain is really pretty much gone. I don’t have it anymore.
BREAKTHROUGH: What!? Wow!
SHARON: Yeah, my right ankle used to hurt. I didn’t medicate for it but, you know, I have arthritis here and there. But I really have not felt any of that in these past few months that I have been training regularly, twice weekly.
BREAKTHROUGH: That is so good to know!
SHARON: It is really amazing. And, you know, the motivation of making an appointment and coming here - and the great people that I have met.
BREAKTHROUGH: Oh, yeah, everyone here is awesome.
SHARON: The coaches and everyone here! It’s just a nice environment.
BREAKTHROUGH: I am so glad! Honestly, that means the world to us because we want this to feel like a place where you are excited to go. Not a place where you say, oh gosh I HAVE to go to the gym today but…
SHARON: No, not at all!
BREAKTHROUGH: but instead I GET to go to the gym today!
SHARON: Yes!
BREAKTHROUGH: So, anything else that you have noticed besides your joint pain being gone?
SHARON: Well, I have more strength. I want to keep my strength because I have a three-story house, and I’m going up and down the stairs all the time. I have lived there for more than 30 years. Lifting things and carrying things, including my grandchildren - I want to be able to maintain that level of fitness, so I am not taken away from those activities, which are really important.
BREAKTHROUGH: Absolutely! I think a lot of our members are in that same boat. You start to look at all these things in your life that you can do, and you want to be able to keep doing them. And that is really important.
SHARON: Exactly, exactly! I really want to have optimal fitness for me, for my age. Not looking to be like anybody else. I just want my personal best to be there for me.
BREAKTHROUGH: Awesome! So then, one of the other things that we like to ask people to share is what is your why. You may have already touched on it by saying that you want to be in it for the long haul. But is there anything else that springs to mind as to your deeper motivation for why you are prioritizing your training?
SHARON: I really think it is health. It is not about being a certain size or certain weight at all. Which I think is certainly a goal that I can appreciate for others perhaps, but for me, it is really all about feeling my best all the time, you know. Waking up in the morning, being happy to be starting a new day. And feeling really great! As I mentioned, exercise really helps me mentally as well. I think It keeps me sharper; it keeps me in a better mood; and I just feel really great when I exercise regularly. I come twice a week to Breakthrough for strength training, and on the other days, I go hiking or fast walking with friends in the hills. I do like to mix it up with different activities because I think that is also keeping things fun and fresh.
BREAKTHROUGH: As you should! We prioritize strength training here, but that is not to say that is the only thing that you should do. In fact, most of our members come here because they do want to do things outside the gym. And that is really the type of gym that we are – we believe your training should support your life. Whether your activities are hiking and walking with friends…. We have people who play tennis, people who play hockey, people who enjoy doing lots of activities outside of the gym. If you have smart programming and coaching, you really don’t need to be in the gym 7 days a week to get results.
SHARON: And I so appreciate the coaching here because, as I have been a lifetime exerciser, I do know some things about making sure I have good form to prevent injury. So, at my age I was really, really concerned about doing something on my own, or with people who weren’t very well trained as coaches. I feel that I get that here at Breakthrough. You guys are all very, very knowledgeable, you are watching everyone, you pay attention. I love that! I pay attention to my form too, but I also think it is important to make sure you have coaches spotting you and that they are watching how you are doing something. When you are lifting weights, even if it is a small amount of weight, if you do it incorrectly, you could end up with an injury that you don’t need. Ha, ha!
BREAKTHROUGH: It's true. And we really love that you want to do things correctly. We want to work with people who care about how they are doing things, and who know that the way they move matters, because that is satisfying to us too. it’s a win-win, right? You want coaches who pay attention to what you do, and we love to train people who care about how they are moving.
SHARON: Yes!
BREAKTHROUGH: We love that!
SHARON: So, I suppose that is the bigger, longer answer to my why – why did I come here - Because I knew I wanted to improve my strength and mobility, but I knew I wanted to do it correctly.
BREAKTHROUGH: Well, I appreciate that because we want to help people on that level, too. You are very receptive to taking in information. You learn very fast. You ask really good questions….
SHARON: Thank you!
BREAKTHROUGH: … and it makes it really fun for us to train with you.
SHARON: Thank you! I am just looking forward to continuing my training here!
BREAKTHROUGH: Yay! Me, too! Thank you, Sharon!