Client Story: How Leigh lost 27kg and ran 5km

Leigh recently achieved something he never thought he’d do – he ran 5km without stopping.  After joining us for our Richmond boxing program in Winter 2011, Leigh took on a new challenge of running.  He chose our new Beginners Running Program to support his path towards his goal.  Here Leigh kindly shares his story.  I know he’ll inspire not only our new clients, but our long term regulars too…

What was your fitness/health like before you started boot camp/boxing with us?
I’m almost 31 and have never really had a good level of health and fitness. Weight has always been a big issue for me. I usually ate good food but too much of it and then junk food on top. When I first started Boxing Boot Camp I had been going to the gym on and off for about 2 years. I had lost quite a bit of weight (about 14kilos) but still had a significant amount to loose and my overall fitness wasn’t great. I found cardio type exercise really hard and was struggling to maintain losing weight with what i was currently doing. I had reached a stage where I was struggling to stay motivated.

Explain your previous experience with exercise and fitness programs
After 29years of being a professional couch potato I don’t have a lot of experience with heap of different programs. I have been a member of a few different gyms with varying amounts of success. I’ve tried some classes such as body pump at the gym but I wasn’t a huge fan of those.
I found they were too big and could be quite intimidating for someone who doesn’t know what they’re doing. They also seem to be geared to people who are already fit. Also i recently had a really negative experience with a PT who was only interested in selling more pt sessions by making her clients feel really bad about their current fitness.

Outline your experience of our classes in your first few weeks
The first class I went to I was really nervous about, my housemate and I had talked about going for a long time before we decided to go.
The classes were a lot of fun and really intense. We had no idea what we were doing but the instructors were fantastic. They were really supportive helping us to learn the basics and giving us really positive feedback. We went at our own pace and soon had it figured out. The work outs were more intense than I had done before and were at 6:15 am so I was really surprised that to find that I was loving them.

What were the biggest changes you’ve made to your lifestyle to achieve your fitness goals?
Seeking out help from good sources is probably the best change I’ve made, I see a naturopath who has been teaching me about healthy eating, as well as fitness programs such as HBF. Its hard work if you are on your own and don’t know what you’re doing but with the right help it’s not just easier, it’s a lot of fun.  The other big change is being committed to your goals and realising that

health and fitness isn’t something you can just do for a few weeks to get fit and then it’s done, you need to make permanent lifestyle changes 

What do you like about boxing classes?  Running classes?
The thing I really like about the classes is their size and the quality of the instructors. The fact that they aren’t massive and the instructors really know their stuff means that each class I can be really challenged so that I am making improvements but also that it is achievable and aimed at my fitness level.  I also love that the instructors have the time to give me feedback on what I’m doing and how to improve while I’m doing it.  I especially love with the running class that I can easily see the progress I’m making each week and that I have a goal (5kms) at the end.

What have you achieved and/or what changes have you noticed since you began your fitness program with us?
I have lost another 13 kilos since starting with HBF but also have noticed huge changes in my fitness levels. Instead of dreading cardio I am really enjoying it. I can now run for almost half an hour, before I would have struggled to run for 2 minutes.

What fitness/health goals would you like to achieve in the future?
I would like start doing timed runs and work on improving my running and eventually work up to 10kms.
I’d like to loose another 5kgs and do some work on toning up.

Any other comments or experiences you’d like to share
After being overweight and unfit for so long its really nice to walk away from classes feeling good about myself not just cos I am achieving goals also because I am enjoying doing it.

Huge congratulations to Leigh for working so hard on achieving his goals and for getting the ‘fitness bug’!  Leigh is joining us for the General Level Running Program starting Monday, so stay tuned for his next achievements!

 

Leave your questions or comments for Leigh below…

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Posted in: Fitness, Goal Setting, Real Stories by healthy on 20th January 2012

One Response

  • Jackie Arbuckle says:
    January 20, 2012 at 3:59 am

    Congratulations Leigh! What an achievment!
    I feel the same as you about HBF (I am with the Fitzroy group) and love the trainers as well as the training.
    I am so glad that you have made the connection with exercise and lifestyle. So many people exercise for an event and then stop. HUMANS ARE SUPPOSED TO MOVE!! I tell my patients this all the time (I am a naturopath too).
    Exercise is good for us, and it isnt exercise if it isnt hard. If it is too easy then we are not working hard enough.
    Well done :)

    Reply

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