By JoJo
I’ve got a personal trainer at home, and she works with me for free!
I’m talking about Nike’s phone app Nike Training Club. I’m personally not too fond of the reputation Nike has made for itself concerning labor laws, and thus try to stay as far away as humanely possible from their products (except I’ve got one clothing item and a pair of irresistible Converse shoes, but who doesn’t?). However, I have to admit that they are undoubtedly an amazing sports brand, and if Nike decides to put a fitness app out there for free, I know it’s going to be good, so best believe that I’ll be reaping the benefits! And I have; downloading Nike Training Club was one of the biggest and best favors I’ve ever done for myself. My fitness journey started two years ago, in my first year of university. I started out doing Pilates, which really challenged me. I educated myself on fitness a bit, and eventually came to learn that I wasn’t going to achieve my goals if I didn’t make time for cardio to shed some fat. Cardio annoyed me, but I put in the work ( although I can’t quite remember if I put in enough work, but my guess is that I didn’t). I didn’t like it as much as Pilates, and sometimes just the thought of having to do it angered me. Eventually, I found a type of cardio that I loved: cardio dance workouts! There was nothing that could stop me from taking the time to workout--to better myself. Every day I’d eat granola cereal or oatmeal in the morning, and I even taught my childlike self to like spinach and kale. Post-workout meals were smoothies or fruit with Greek yogurt. It was a real Rocky Balboa story.
Then about three months went by, and I barely noticed any physical changes. I consulted my brother (who writes this lovely blog) and some online sources to see what the problem could be: I had hit a plateau. I was devastated; I felt all of my efforts were for nothing, and I didn’t know how to switch up my workouts or my eating habits because anything I was buying was all I could afford! I saw no point in continuing and fell into a period of deep sadness for a while, losing all my motivation, burning out my will. The next year was spent trying to regain my willingness to workout, but it was a tough inner battle with myself and my environment that made me just another one of those people that exercise on and off, and dream a lot about maybe getting into fitness one day but not today.
After another difficult year in university, another year of eating poorly, feeling crappy and gaining a considerable amount of weight, I missed fitness. I missed trying to take control of my health, and realized how easy it is just to let yourself go and not even think about it. My heart sort of felt like it was drowning in mud but trying desperately to swim in wet earth so thick and heavy. So, this summer, because I’m finally at a point where I am in control of my diet and because I had a lot more time, I decided to get back into working on my health and wellness. But I didn’t really know how, because although I loved my cardio dance workouts, I had done the ones I have plenty of times, and wasn’t too excited about revisiting them. That’s when I incidentally found out about Nike Training Club.
There are specifically curated workouts guided by a personal trainer, and a timer to keep track of how long you need to work. Exercises have tips and tricks on how to properly execute them, and sometimes the trainer likes to give a little cheer, and count down the last five grueling minutes, which always keeps me pushing through! I’ve been hooked since day one because I never knew my muscles could burn the way they do when I use this app. Never in my entire journey have I ever pushed myself to exercise so rigorously. But, in truth it really isn’t the app that’s making the workout so challenging, it’s me and the work I put into it.Like, the saturday morning bootcamps are pretty rigorous too, but what I learned through using this application is that your workout is as tough as you make it. I might not have pushed myself to the point of trembling fatigue every Saturday morning, because I was taking breaks as soon as I felt The Burn a lot of the time. The difference between how I workout now and how I did back then is that I actually push through The Burn, and strive to push some more until my muscles can barely do another complete pushup without taking a one second break to keep going. I’m sweating more than I used to.The salty tears come running into my eyes from my forehead and the sting only makes me happier! The accomplishment of every workout session is empowering and uplifting. So, I recommend Nike Training Club to everyone. It’s free, so why not?
JoJo is and avid writer, blogger, artist and fitness enthusiast who loves everything anime. You can follow her on twitter @JOWRITESART
