Hi, I am Alexa and this is my story of how I have gone from gym dodger to gym goer.

Many of you may know me as the bubbly shake maker and front of house who loves the gym, and sees it as a second home.

Believe it or not I didn’t always love fitness, I wasn’t always so “motivated” but I have always had a bubbly personality.

Taking it back to about 6 years ago, a 16 year old me wouldn’t go to the cinema, wouldn’t go into the shops alone, wouldn’t ask for more ketchup at a restaurant. But most importantly wouldn’t step into a gym .. not even the reception, without a friend being with me.

I suffer with IBS. Due to this, having a bad understanding of food, and to be honest also poor self image, would affect my IBS and anxiety. My thought at the time was that weight loss would help get rid of this feeling of anxiety.

Anxiety will have effects on all different people, of all shapes all sizes.

Everybody is in the gym for a reason. We all have our own goals to be the BEST US we can be, whether the goal is weight loss, weight gain, relationships with food or being more fit to play with the grandchildren. We are all there because we all have that one thing in common.

I haven’t spoken to anyone about my journey or why I have become a Gym Instructor and soon to be PT and nutritional coach, but fitness has honestly changed my life and I don’t just say this for the sake of saying it. I have had some amazing friends and coaches that have helped me when needed, and this inspired me to want to help people the same way and get them to their goals.

I decided one day that I needed to stop relying on other people to get me to the gym working around their schedule. My love for training took over and I didn’t want my anxiety to stop me from being me, the best version of me and the fittest healthiest me. I needed to do this for me – and I did!

My first gym visit was to Underground Gym Tunbridge Wells and I haven’t looked back .

Deciding a year prior to my first solo visit, I found my passion for fitness and the industry and thought it would be a great thing for me to do as a career, but never really knew the best way to do it .

Scrolling through the Gram one day as we all do, I saw a post that UG Tunbridge Wells was looking for a part time receptionist. At the time I was doing office admin and sales, but I had all the skills and qualities that they were looking for ..

So I sent my CV and I must add it was the BEST decision I had ever made.

My foot was in the door even though I was not yet a coach, nor instructor at the time. I was in the gym I was working in the industry I loved.

As much as I loved my reception job – even cleaning the toilets, lol, I knew I wanted to be out on the floor coaching people and helping people to reach their goals.

So, me being me, I went to my managers and directors and made a proposal, a video in fact, on why they should take a chance on me and how I want the opportunity to become a PT at Underground Gym.

They saw my video and loved it .. YAY!

Within the next week I was off to Brighton starting my course .. soon after we went into our first lockdown.

Becoming a gym instructor has enabled me to coach classes both in the gym and live zoom classes during lockdown.

All 3 of my courses have been done through lockdown. It has had its benefits, as I spend hours with my glasses on and coloured pens out, making notes on things I didn’t think I would ever need to know – but knowing there’s 206 bones in the body definitely helped me on lockdown quiz night. Also joining in the online classes with various coaches has given me experience I wouldn’t have otherwise had.

All jokes aside, I have loved doing my courses. The knowledge I now have is amazing and my dreams are coming true .. when people ask for your perfect job my answer is clear, it’s to help people.

So thank you Alan and Sol.

This is just the beginning of my journey.. and I want to help you on yours. If you see me at the gym most probably cleaning all the corona away, come and say hello, have a chat and if you have any questions don’t hesitate to ask, whether it be gym related, how to use a machine or what to have in your shake, even needing a little push through the door (like me 2 years ago) don’t be afraid to take that step. It will be worth it. Trust me!

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