03/11/2026
One of my favourite things a member has ever said to me was, “I find exercise boring. I don't run, so don't try and make me!”
Well, at least I knew where I stood. 😂
She'd already had a go at gyms, classes and diets, and none of it had really stuck. Her husband had completed one of our eight-week programmes and had been encouraging her to come along, but she wasn't exactly desperate to sign up.
Eventually, she decided to give it a try.
Now, if I'd told her on that first day what she'd go on to achieve, I reckon she'd have thought I'd lost the plot.
But here's what I find interesting about her story. During those first eight weeks, she didn't lose weight. And I know how disappointing that can feel when you've gone into something hoping the number on the scales will change.
It would have been very easy for her to look at that one result and decide it hadn't been worth it.
Except other things were changing.
She was getting fitter. She was enjoying the workouts more than she'd expected. She was meeting people and having a laugh. Exercise was starting to become something she could see herself carrying on with.
And then, some time later, the woman who'd been absolutely clear that she didn't run went on to complete a 25-mile event around the Cornish coast.
Yes, the same woman. Twenty-five miles. 😂
I was lucky enough to support her along the way, and I can't tell you how brilliant it was to see her achieve that.
What I love about her story isn't just the distance she covered. It's how differently things turned out from what she expected when she first walked in.
She didn't suddenly become somebody else. She was still herself, with her own sense of humour and her own opinions about exercise.
She just discovered that she enjoyed more than she'd thought possible, and that she could do more than she'd given herself credit for.
I think about that whenever somebody tells me they're not really a gym person.
You might be right. Or you might just not have found somewhere that works for you yet.
Neil 😊
