Roses

For today’s blog I wanted to give a big, big shout out to all of my clients that I have been working with since I started up Endurance Fitness Performance back in June. COVID landed a major blow and caused a big shake up with everyone’s life and I went out on a limb to get this going and chose to bet on me at arguably the worse time. But I’m not one to wallow and sit in the misery. I can’t lie, the first month, I probably did just that. Actually I caught up on a lot of lost sleep. But with the help of some great mentors who believed in me (shout out to Grace!), I put my nose to the grindstone to figure out a game plan, worked out the logistics and voila! Here we are.

In reality, it’s working with all of my awesome, dope clients that make all of the efforts worth it! I was lucky to continue working with some great people before COVID where we already had a great relationship. I’m also super humbled that I’ve been able to work with newer clients that went out on a limb and decided to challenge themselves. Though the scenery may have changed from what a gym looks like and the workouts are a bit different, I feel like there’s even more dedication, commitment and hustle than before. The great slowdown that COVID caused has really allowed folks to re-prioritize their lives and see that a greater emphasis be placed on taking their health more seriously. It’s been hella cool to see folks place their self-care more at the forefront of their lives.

In wanting to keep the privacy of some of my clients and putting all their business out there, I won’t mention anyone by name. However, I do want to acknowledge some people. I have one client that probably out hustles everyone else that I’m blessed to work with. I love her efforts she puts in when we’re training together and she always puts in 100%! Even on the days where she says she feels blah, those end up being some of her best workouts. Think Jordan flu game! I love her consistency and love seeing her check-in with me on her workouts on my training app the days we don’t meet up! She’s doesn’t give up and knows the importance of keeping fit and healthy as a lifestyle. The commitment from her is real! My A student!

I have another guy that I work with that I admire for his mental fortitude and willing to push and challenge himself with various races. He’s been racing longer than I have, yet still has the passion to not just cruise through a race but rather wants to see what his body can do. A man of my own ilk! He’s a bull in a china shop and won’t give up. I also admire how despite having raced for a long time, he isn’t stuck in staid ways and is willing to try new things and training methods to eke out the best in him come race day. It’s easy to fall into thinking you know it all and what you know must be the best way. Those that keep an open mind and are willing to learn will truly master their craft every time.

I have a pair of sisters that I work with who weren’t big work out fanatics at all previous to working with me. Yet they went out on a limb and decided, “why not?” Previous experiences and thoughts about gyms and strength training just didn’t keep them wanting to stick with it. But turns out they love strength training!!! What’s been hella dope is hearing from them separately that their resting heart rate has dropped, they have more energy throughout the day, they’re off blood pressure meds and minor aches and pains have gone away!!! The loose fitting clothes are the cherry on top! All. Of. This!!! They’re also big proponents of using my training app and love the ease in using it, and find checking off their workouts rewarding.

My golf guy has been killing it with his workouts and it’s been translating to some good numbers out on the course. Similarly, he wasn’t big on getting to the gym, but was open minded to trying something different to up his game. Aside from shooting some killer numbers, he’s been finding joy in kicking his own ass week in and week out in the pain cave that is his gym inside the garage. I love seeing him post that he’s playing two full rounds of golf and could still probably play another nine. Endurance gains! Did I mention that he can reach and touch his toes now too? That makes me grin. You know how hard it is to get guys to implement a stretching routine? Seriously, when’s the last time you saw a dude stretch? F*ck yeah!

My young dad is busy juggling a super, super busy schedule with two young kids, yet is making the tweaks in his life to fit in his workouts every week. I appreciate his commitment in wanting to keep fitness a big part of his life despite the craziness of parenthood, not to mention parenthood during COVID! He’s a budding triathlete that will be tackling his first sprint tri soon and I truly see lots of promise from him in the future. Tri isn’t an easy sport to train for as a newbie – there a lot of information to take in and it doesn’t all make sense sometime when you’re green. But he’s “trusting the process” and is up for the challenge. Soon it’ll be time for him to put his hard hat on and go to work to cross his finish line! I can’t wait!

This is just a snapshot of some of the mad cool people that I’ve been able to work with. It’s stories like these that make me so glad that I switched careers years ago. I truly, truly love helping people find their inner athlete; having them believe in themselves in ways they didn’t before; getting them to set their own goals and knock them down one step at a time. Me being able to blaze a clear path to those goals is what it’s all about! The numbers on the scale, the clothing sizes – to be frank, that’s the bottom of my list of what gets me excited. If you put in the work, more than likely that’s going to be a byproduct of that. It’s great to see that, sure, but seeing all of these individuals with different lifestyles, different life challenges all being able to find their own health and fitness victories is what makes the day complete. Real talk.

At some point, COVID will pass – and I really hope it’s sooner than later. It goes without saying that too many lives have been taken, too many people have been shook up with who knows what sort of long term effects from this and our economy will be slow to fully recover. But once it all does and as society gets back to commutes to work, regular office hours and busy with life, I hope some of these tenets that we’ve learned continue to stay at the top of the list of things that are deemed important. This small sampling of great people I see, text and talk to week in and out are a testament to that. Your hard work and efforts do not go unnoticed. Thank you all whether you were mentioned or not, you are appreciated!