08/06/2026
I felt so out of place at university
Studying for my degree in Strength & Conditioning
I somehow made it through a full coaching & gym based degree
Looking like I’d never set foot in a gym
At this point in my life I was what you’d call “skinny fat”
Basically a beer belly without any real muscle
Almost everyone else on the course you could tell trained
Some played sports, others were PTs & none of them felt out of place in a gym
Except for me
From the way I’m writing you’re probably thinking I was Billy No Mates on my course
You’d be wrong, lectures were always good crack & so was killing the time in-between them
No one was making me feel out of place except me
It took me so long to stop getting in my own head about going to the gym
It took me even longer to stop sabotaging myself at the weekends with takeaways & beers
It’s impossible to be consistent when you feel like an outsider
You always feel like you’re on borrowed land
Taking the first chance you can to retreat to what feels safe for you
Which is always the vices that got you were you are now & continue to make you feel worse
It took a lot to get out of this rut, to change this way of thinking
To eventually become so confident in the gym that I made it my career, my life & built Within Reach
The programme that helps women who felt all the same feelings as me
Finally feel like they have a group to belong to
Taking their goals from “impossible” to Within Reach
