Inspiring members from my gym #2

Following my story yesterday on Matthew, I wanted to share some "real life" stories of success and inspiration from actual members of the gym I manage.

Julie is overweight. She has been all her life. She came in on a fairly quiet Saturday morning with her husband and son to check out the gym. She was clearly very nervous and hadn't even contemplated a gym membership before.

We spent a lot of time with Julie, she warmed to all of us. We told her stories of where we had all personally come from, about the battles and demons we had faced and told her that we could give her all the support she needed. In tears, she joined with her husband for support. She was so upset as she had finally had the light bulb switch on and knew she needed to do something but had no idea where to start.

She told us that she doesn't set goals, every time she doesn't meet her goal she feels like a failure.

We set her up with a PT. Julie later told me that the first session she was so nervous and apprenhensive but our PT had completely put her at ease and she felt she could come back and work with him. Now she sees him once a week, works really hard each time and even jokes around with him - he has become her lifeline and will probably become a very close friend with a long relationship.

Julie told me once that the first time she came to the gym with her husband, on a non-intimidating Saturday morning (we have a VERY non-intimidating gym anyway) she made her husband wait around the corner in the car with her until she had the courage to come in. There were only 3 people, on cardio equipment, in the gym at the time and she was so intimidated she didnt feel she could step through the door. Her husband waited until she gathered her strength and they went in together.

Julie now comes with her husband about every second day at around 5-5.30 each morning. If she is training with her PT then her husband spends the time on the cross trainer waiting for her.

Julie has another personality like Matthew. When she loses some weight and gets some more confidence she will be a machine, unstoppable and inspirational to others. She just can't see it yet.

Oh, and she can now see results from what she is doing, from being able to be on the cross trainer for just 5 minutes at the start to 8 minutes, to 10 minutes, she is starting to set some small, achieveable goals, and getting them.