When I first started working out with Laura I was at a low mental part in my life. I was not quite the heaviest I had been but newly overcoming a significant amount of weight loss due to medical issues and needing help and direction on how to overcome a plateau I had hit and really needed help focusing on building muscle back, also maintaining a healthy weight loss and wanted someone to really push me on maintaining and prolonging my qualify of life overall. Getting “strong” was my ultimate goal but I also wanted to lose body fat in a healthy way and get better eating habits too.
I started my partnership with Laura on April 3rd 2024. As of today August 14th 2024, and only 4 months in partnering with Laura, I am feeling the best I have since I was about 16-17 years old. My quality of life has improved both physically as well as mentally. I have progressed in all aspects of our workouts from lifting heavier to recovering faster. I started with 5-8lb weights at my house petrified to even enter a gym let alone hire a personal trainer with having absolutely no idea as to what I was doing. To working 1 on 1 with Laura now, chest pressing 20lb weights, doing goblet squats with a 35lb dumbbell, doing things I have only dreamt of doing within a gym like sled pushes-pushing 300lbs, barbell RDL’s, weighted back squats, rope pulls, ring rows and even pushups. These were things I watched all the “gym girls” do on TikTok thinking “that could not and will never be me”. But here I am again only 4 months into this and hitting personal records already, constantly upping the load on workouts and doing more than I ever imagined I’d be able to do. My medical issues have all improved significantly and I have found myself getting out of my comfort zone more than I have in my whole entire adult life in just these 4 short months too. The amount of physical and mental growth I have achieved in such a short time already is just truly astonishing. I not only feel stronger but look stronger and overall being strong was my #1 priority when choosing to hire Laura.
I am also extremely happy to say I am down 2 pant sizes since starting with Laura and have noticeable muscle growth and am seeing how much more toned I am now vs. before starting is so inspiring. I love taking progress pictures throughout my journey and quite honestly do not even recognize the woman I was before starting my sessions. If you are consistent with this as well as consistent in your eating habits and food choices and you choose to work with Laura you will absolutely get incredible results.
I think one of the best parts about working with Laura is her genuine care about teaching you the correct way to do something and the way she pushes you to be the best version of yourself both inside and outside of her gym. She is always pushing me to be the best version of myself when I am working with her. She encourages you and really is there to make sure you know that you’ve got someone in your corner. She wants you to exceed and that is just a quality in a person that isn’t taught, it’s just who she is. To Laura this is not a “quick fix” or just a way for her to make money off you. She genuinely shows that she wants the best for YOU and really focuses on what YOU want to take out of this, how YOU want to feel and teaches you the basics first and foremost followed up by things to do whilst not working with her directly. She cares about all aspects of your life, takes time to know you as a person and teaches so much more than just how to workout. She checks in with you and helps you understand food, calories, macros, consumption, proper techniques and recovery.
I think that the way I look at fitness now is it isn’t a daunting scary thing that doesn’t have to be fun or feel like a chore. My mindset has shifted from it’s something that I “have” to do to something that I “get” to do. How blessed are we to have bodies that we can move and why wouldn’t we want to if we can? Working out is improving our quality and length of our lives. Fitness is not just about how heavy you can lift something or how many times a week you workout or even what you look like from doing those things. Fitness is being overall “fit” and for me now seeing simple things coming from this like my resting heart rate is significantly down, my medical issues are seemingly going away, I can walk a brisk walk while also talking and can chase my 4 year old around without feeling winded. Fitness is not something that is going to be a quick way to lose weight, it is something that needs to be implemented daily into your life for forever and the way I look at it now is, I won’t ever NOT prioritize fitness in my life. I think when I first started I associated fitness with big bulky gym buffs or people who are in body building shows or people who are just obsessed with their bodies and looking good to now knowing that fitness is so so much more and the only way to ensure I am helping improve how long I get to be on this earth (and mind you want to be here with my family for as long as humanly possible) is to make sure fitness is a part of who I am and implemented into my daily life and routine.
I think one cool story and that really helped create a breakthrough for me and helped me overall was being my first time doing barbell RDL’s. I remember starting with the good mornings movement in April right off the bat and that taking some time for me as it was a newer movement to really properly do. I remember feeling frustrated with myself that it just would not click. This was with a PBC pipe just to understand the movement properly before we used weights so I wouldn’t get injured and really truly learn the movement. Laura was patient and never made me feel like I was not good enough to do the movement and always talked to me about the “when” when we add weight, when we do this etc. Eventually a lightbulb went off and the RDL movement clicked. She did not allow me to jump too soon into a weighted barbell RDL or dumbbell RDLs until I really knew the movement but we progressed our way there. We implemented dumbbell RDLs first and I remember my first 1 on 1 with her looking at the barbell and weights and thinking dang it will be forever and a day til I get to touch that. Low and behold 2 months into our 1 on 1 sessions early June I got to do weighted barbell RDls for the first time. Not only did I get to do them but after each set we increased the load. I remember feeling so empowered and dropping that bar after the final rep felt like I just won an Olympic race. That was a huge bucket list item of mine and getting to do it 2 months in felt amazing.
If you are sitting here seeing, hearing or reading my testimony thinking that you WISH you could do something like this, YOU can and you should reach out to Laura. She will first meet you for a consult to understand the why behind you wanting to start this journey which is the best first step in making sure she knows what to provide you but you also know how she can help you get there. Choosing to work with Laura has been the greatest blessing and best accomplishment and I cannot recommend her enough. She will provide you with everything you could possibly need to get started and I promise you that you will supersede any assumptions you had about yourself and overcome so much more than a physical battle with yourself. No matter where you are starting from Laura is the person to help get you where you want to be. I can’t believe I sat behind my phone for as long as I did watching everyone else go after what they want in life and their fitness goals and sit in a pity party with myself for as long as I did when I could have been working on bettering myself that whole time. I am very much a person with anxieties and someone who needs reassurance and I have openly talked to Laura about that and feel extremely comfortable to be able to 100% be myself and lose those worries when working with her. I hope that my story can help influence someone to take the first step in bettering themselves.