acotter15-blog

[acotter15-blog]

Jen’s Interview:

1. How did you get into fitness?

“The summer before my senior year in high school I joined my home gym (Upper Valley Aquatic Center) because I was interested in their water fitness classes. I joined and went to their water classes on Tuesday and Thursday. One day I saw a personal trainer walking by the pool area and I asked her how much it was to personal train because I thought it was awesome to have a one on one session where they focus on just you. She told me the prices and at the time I had a full time job so I bought the biggest package and started training with her. I have been with Katherine ever since. She takes the time to write my workouts for the whole week and we have become best friends.”

2. What keeps you motivated to go to the gym as well as how do you motivate yourself?

“I want to better myself and it is hard to be overweight and be judged and called out on a daily basis. Society is cruel and people do not have a filter so in a sense haters motivate me. I want to prove them wrong and prove to myself I can do this. More importantly, I want to do this for me. I feel energized and pumped to go to the gym and once my workout is complete, it makes my whole day better. My trainer also motivates me. Katherine is so much fun and not only pushes me to my limits but encourages and challenges me. I look forward to working out with her because it makes me have someone to work out with and seeing her reminds me that I can do this and that she supports and believes in me. I also use the gym time to zone everything out and just jam to Pandora. Nothing gets me more pumped than music. When I feel tired in my workout I pump myself up by increasing the volume of my music or telling myself how great it will feel once I have completed my workout. Sometimes I even yell in my head to get pumped and to finish strong because the end is where you get stronger and push yourself. Pinterest has also kept me motivated. I have a motivation board and I love reading quotes. Once I find a quote I love I print it and hang it on my wall so I have a “wall of inspiration” that I wake up to and am surrounded by every day.” “The other piece of my motivation comes from working at the gym at school and the activities that are held. In the Alfond we have a wall that keeps track of everyone’s mileage and it’s cool because it’s kind of like you have a chance to show off your hard work.”

3. What struggles do you face on a daily basis because of regular exercise? “The biggest struggle is to get to the gym. There are a million excuses people make for why they cannot get to the gym, which is why I go in the morning, and once you get into a habit the gym becomes a part of your everyday routine and is no longer a struggle. Soreness is another struggle that comes with exercise. I know I had a great workout when I am sore and feel very fragile. But as they say “no pain no gain” so I just got used to it and found that I rather be moving because it loosens up my muscles more versus lying in bed.” 4. How has your self esteem been effected since introducing fitness into your life?

“My self esteem has increased since I have started making the gym a priority. I still struggle with my self esteem when people make rude comments but it is because they do not know what is going on in my life and they have no idea how hard I work at the gym. I go to planet fitness as well as the gym at school because sometimes I feel people give me odd looks at school and that makes me uncomfortable. I am starting to get over it because I feel better about my appearance and know that I work hard and deserve to be successful so that is where why self-esteem has increased, but I have a long way to go because I still have doubt and sometimes I am my worst enemy.” 5. What are the biggest benefits you’ve noticed since introducing working out?

“I have more energy during the day. I workout in the morning because I feel more awake in class and if I miss my workout in the morning I feel like crap all day, almost like something is dragging me down. I do not have as many back spasms as I once did because of my weight loss and my increase in muscle. Stress has also decreased since I have started working out. Working out to my music allows me to unwind and start my day off right.” 6. What’s the biggest struggle for you when it comes to fitness?

“My biggest struggle would have to be working away from my trainer. She pushes me and always tells me what I am doing correctly and incorrectly. I do not have a spotter and I get paranoid when I am lifting because I feel like I am doing something wrong. The other struggle comes outside the gym with eating. We live in a fast moving world where it is easy and cheap to eat unhealthy but I try to tell myself that portions are the key. My nutritionist once said that “all food is good food in moderation” so I try to focus more on portions than cutting food out completely."

[acotter15-blog]

I was confused by how Jen was able to get started on her own, versus Alexandra and Leo having the help from their coach. Jen had shown me that she was fortunate enough to be able to notice the directions on all of the machines in the Harold Alfond Center.

"At first I was scared I was going to be judged because everyone in the gym had seemed so much more advanced than me, but I was surprised when I saw how helpful everyone turned out to be. It also helped that on all of the machines there are labels showing the many different ways you can use them." - Jen

[acotter15-blog]

Leo's Interview

How did you get into fitness?

I always loved playing sports when I was younger so it just continued as I got older.

2. What keeps you motivated to go to the gym as well as how do you motivate yourself?

Being on the track team really keeps my head up and so does my coach and my workout partner.

 3. What struggles do you face on a daily basis because of regular exercise?

Sometimes it gets really hard to just stick to it since it takes up a lot of your time and exhausts you but I keep trying.

4. How has your self esteem been effected since introducing fitness into your life?

I believe in the saying "Look good feel good" I was shy in high school but when I started working out it helped a lot with me talking and feeling good about myself.

5. What are the biggest benefits you've noticed since introducing working out?

I met all my best friends in the gym which was awesome and looking strong in front of my grandparents is pretty cool too.

6. What's the biggest struggle for you when it comes to fitness?

 I always want to keep getting bigger and stronger and I understand how much work that is and it's extremely difficult to maintain a healthy diet on a college campus.

[acotter15-blog]

Keeping things balanced yet interesting...

 Many people call it quits when working out because of the common issue of reaching the point when it just becomes boring..

Lucky for us Leo was able to share one of his track workouts he enjoys the most.. and by "enjoy" he made sure to clarify that it is the workout that he feels the most accomplished with. Leo never repeats workouts unless they're targeting certain muscles in strength training, but he makes sure to always switch up his cardio!

Track Cardio Workout:

Another common problem people run into is the dreaded diet plan. Many people complain that healthy food is dull, and a lot of people look for the sweet side of things! Alexandra shared with me that when she is in the gym she is not worried too much about her diet because she knows that food is fuel and you need a healthy balance of all food groups in order to maintain healthy.

"You have to treat yourself every now and then for all the hard work and brutality you're putting your body through. If you don't treat yourself every now and then you're missing out on A LOT" - Alexandra

Alexandra's typical food haul from the grocery store:

Jen on the other hand shared that she does in fact eat healthy 90% of the time but once a week she has a cheat day where she allows herself to have either a sweet or salty treat from the dining center! Jen also mentioned how important it is for your plate to have a lot of color and reasonable portions.

Jen said the way she finds most beneficial when keeping portion control is by always having a "portion control" plate handy. I didn't know what a portion control plate was, however when I went out I was able to find one to document in this blog: 

[acotter15-blog]

Alexandra: Finding a Healthy Balance

One of the most used excuses when it comes to fitness and exercise is that people don't have enough time for it, with this being said I figured I would ask Alexandra her thoughts on this and how much of an issue it is for her:

Q When do you get your free time in? If you’re spending so much time in classes and work already why would you want to go and exhaust your mind and body more in a rigorous workout routine?

Alexandra says “I can definitely agree with you that by the end of my classes and my regular work schedule I am pooped, but the best thing about exercise is you can get it in a fun way. It doesn't always have to be through going to the gym and doing monotonous sprints and dead lifts. I like to get my workouts in through soccer as well as doing activities with the children I nanny daily. Go for a walk or attend one of the on campus fitness classes offered, make it fun, it doesn't have to be the cliche workout routine everyone dreads.”

“The biggest struggle I face is making time to spend with my friends, because I am a nanny and a full time student I really don't have much down time. I have made my ‘friend time’ possible by including my friends in my time for cardio- on days where I don't feel the need to go to the gym my friends and I will go for a hike while chit chatting. This way here I am burning those calories that I later consume while having fun and improving on my social life. The other struggle is as a nanny I am always on call, and if I am in the middle of practice or in class I need to think about my priorities. The way my priorities are ordered are school first, work second, and fitness as well as my social life come after those two things. Do I wish it was another way sometimes? Yes, but in order to pay for school I NEED to work.”

“The kids I watch are all very active which makes it easy for me to incorporate them in my workout routines: playing a quick game of soccer, tag, and etc.”

“In high school it was easier for me to get an hour workout in through soccer practice, here at school it still is easy to get those quick workouts in, it’s just that I lack in the time management aspect of it.”

[acotter15-blog]

The biggest struggle is time, but for me there is always time for what's important.

Alexandra 

[acotter15-blog]

With the fitness center being right at reach for all three students it makes it easy for them to fulfill there exercise requirements. Alexandra and Leo are both lucky enough to be able to meet with Mike, a personal trainer. They are able to do this because they are a part of the track team, with being part of the track team part of practice is strength training.. With this being said both individuals must follow the workout routine on the specific day of training.

When I asked Alexandra and Leo if this bothered them, they both disagreed! They talked about how much it benefits them because before the personal trainer came in to offer help they both had little to no idea the first thing about lifting or working out (correctly) in general.

Jen has similar help as well, as a staff at the Alfond, she is fortunate enough to get the ins and outs on fitness tips and secrets from the head manager of the gym, ironically named Jim. Jen claims he has been a big help in her motivation towards getting fit. My next steps to find out the benefits of exercise are to individually interview the three students on how fitness has furthermore enhanced their lifestyles and self-esteems altogether.

[acotter15-blog]

Meet Jennifer! Jen is one of the most inspiring people on campus when it comes to weight loss! Since last year she has lost over seventy pounds thanks to exercise and a well balanced diet. Jen works at the Alfond center on campus which makes the gym even more accessible for her because she says that right when her shift ends she makes sure to get a workout in. Jen claims she was always overweight and last year was when she decided she wanted to make some changes. She incorporates both cardio and strength training into her workout regime.

[acotter15-blog]

Leo AKA "the guy who picks things up and puts them down"

[acotter15-blog]

Meeting Leo...

Leo is a transfer student, as a first year student at Thomas, he thought what better way to get involved than join the track club!? With joining the track club Leo says that he commits AT LEAST two hours to the gym a day... Besides on Fridays. Leo claims that he has always been an active person, however, he was never instructed on how to properly lift heavily. He claims he used to just go into the gym with the mindset that if it hurt it was working, now that Leo is working with the personal trainer he states he has never felt better about where he is physically. Leo says that the quality of his life has improved since his results in the gym started improving. I wonder why this is? It is something that I am going to have to dig into more...

[acotter15-blog]

[acotter15-blog]

Initial Meeting...

Now that I’ve met with all three of the people and explained to them the process of what I will be doing I am confident that my inquiry will be a successful one. Alexandra, Leo, and Jenn all seem to be very willing with assisting me in reaching the findings of how fitness benefits a person as well as the struggles—with already addressing a brief background on Alexandra,  I look forward to digging deeper for the two other individuals. I have met with all the students in our College’s gym, the “Harold Alfond Athletic Center”, this facility is where I will be doing all the meetings and photography. The gym is very clean and welcoming, it is up to date with all new lifting equipment which is said to be extremely beneficial for said students.

Alexandra and Jenn talked about how the gym offers classes like boot camp, yoga, foam rolling, cross fit, and etc. They talked about how grateful they are for these options because sometimes their workout routines get repetitive and boring, with the classes being offered they’re more likely to get a quality workout in.

“Some days I have zero motivation, but then I see other people in the class putting in work and it motivates me to do the same.” - Alexandra

On the other hand there’s Leo, Leo meets in the gym everyday with the track coach and some of the team for strength training.

“When I’m not in the gym, I’m eating. When I’m not eating, I’m sleeping.” -Leo

Moving forward, I am motivated to introduce and get to know Leo and Jenn and how exercise plays a role in their everyday lives. I expect that Leo will face the most challenges and struggles with having a “fit” lifestyle because of all the time he spends in the gym.

[acotter15-blog]

My thoughts after my first meeting with Alexandra:

Even though it's just the beginning I can feel myself growing curious as to how her relationship with fitness will tie in with the other two individuals that will be introduced over time. The dreaded "freshman fifteen" is something that many incoming college students fear and I hope that by sharing Alexandra's story other bloggers/readers will be inspired to take the route Alexandra did as well in hopes of bettering themselves not only physically but mentally. I look forward to seeing as well as hearing where Alexandra's journey takes her.

[acotter15-blog]

Meet the first individual: as a freshman in college, Alexandra was worried about putting on the infamous “freshman fifteen” which is why she decided to hop on the bandwagon, adapting to the fit lifestyle so many people rave about in the tabloids.

Alexandra has always lived a semi active lifestyle; she danced and played soccer all throughout her middle and high school years, however, has always had a poor diet.

Once Alexandra started college she noticed her eating habits getting more and more out of hand, which is why she started to take up track as a way to stay in shape as well as make friends with other students. Happy with the decision, this was Alexandra’s first step in the direction of becoming what she calls a “happier and healthier version of herself”.

[acotter15-blog]

What's the purpose?!

Fitness is everywhere around us, but do we actually take the time to see how fitness and proper exercise effect our lifestyles? 

The purpose of this blog is to closely study the positives and negatives that exercise have had on three college students whom are all at different points on their fitness journeys. 

The three main factors to be studied include:

How each individual came to introduce exercise into their lives

The motivational aspect

The effects it has had on their lives as a whole

This inquiry will not only shine light on the benefits fitness has brought into their lives but the struggles they may undergo daily due to their commitment in the gym.

[acotter15-blog]

Exercise is a medicine for creating change in a person’s physical, emotional, and mental states.

Carol Welch