Published on Monday, 31 July 2023 at 10:23:58 AM
We couldn't help but notice Heather and Joanne lifting and laughing in the gym for some time now, so thought we'd chat to them for our July Member(s) of the Month feature!
You generally visit the gym together. Why is that?
Heather: Cos she’s my inspiration, and she’s always so organised. We have a lot of fun together – we laugh a lot.
Joanne: I feel sad coming on my own – I don’t mind coming on my own, but it’s not as hilarious! The mere presence of her being here and the fact that I’m going to meet her here makes me feel really excited about it.
How did you starting working out together?
Heather: We met through our kids at school years ago and then we started doing a PT class with somebody at the school in the mornings. I think we’re both competitive so we just gelled over that – maybe it’s the energy more than the competition. We’re competing with ourselves to be better, and when someone else is like that I’m immediately drawn to that person.
Joanne: We were doing the PT thing and then we met another PT and told him we’d really like to lift heavy, so he said he’d train us. We ended up going to another gym learning how to lift, and that’s how we started training together. We were doing big lifts at a boxing gym. So that’s how we fell in love!
What’s so good about your gym buddy?
Joanne: She’s smart and funny and lovely!
Heather: Ditto!
Joanne: I know that if Heather’s there, if it’s at training or in a class, we’re going to push ourselves.
Heather: Sometimes we come in feeling a bit poo, but the other person seems to just have enough in them to keep us going.
What else motivates you to go the gym?
Joanne: We’ve got very active children. I think also it instils the habit in your children when they see they have two active parents.
What training routine do you follow?
Heather: Denise initially gave us a training session and now we try to take it up a notch.
Joanne: It depends on what we’re doing at the time. We’re both doing quite a bit of running, so we’re trying to do more single leg stuff. We varied our routine a bit but we have been a bit ad-hoc and want to get back to a heavy lifting routine. I think lifting weights has such an impact on everything – it realigns your body, you have to really think about how you hold your stance, how you dip down.
Why do you like Beatty Park?
Heather: You’ve got everything here and it’s friendly. The classes have a lot of good quality instructors. We swim here too!
Joanne: I use everything here, including the sauna. I love the Silent Sauna, except when someone is talking! It’s good to do a heavy lift, then the sauna, then a cold shower!
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