"PureGym is a great place to get to know your body and what it needs" - Ana
Hi. I’m Ana and I am 21 years-old. Originally I am from Sevilla, Spain, but I now live in Leeds and regularly go to PureGym Leeds City Centre North. I have been a member for around a year and a half and attend the gym to support my professional dancing career.
Ana Fernández
I love that PureGym is 24/7, giving me the chance to train around my busy schedule, I usually go to switch off and wind-down after my dance training in the morning, or if I'm working, I'll pop down after my night shift ends to get in a quick session. Although I regularly attend the gym now, before joining PureGym I have to say I didn't enjoy working out at all. This was probably the biggest barrier for me in terms of getting started and one of the things I am most proud of. I pushed myself to go when I first joined and said to myself I need to try and enjoy the time I spend here. Now I attend the gym at least 4 if not 5 times a week! I find it's a great way to not only support my dance career, but to switch off and forget about my worries.
Do you set yourself targets to help you keep focused?
I like to set fitness goals, both short and long term. From just pushing myself to go the gym 5 times a week or to challenge myself in a specific exercise. I don't really count calories or gains, I like to focus on numeric based challenges, such as increasing repetitions or reducing rest time between sets.
My long term goal is as simple as being able to know what I am doing at the gym and what my body needs at any moment, but I also think it's important to set short term goals that help your reach your long term aspirations.
Since I joined PureGym I have created new habits, which was one of my original goals. Going to PureGym is part of my daily routine, focusing on myself and the environment to reach my goal. My body has changed a lot since starting at PureGym, I have become more agile and functional in my workouts. All of that has helped me to reach the perfect fitness point to be able to confront the physical demands of my dancing projects. I will also say that my mind has changed, I find that I am even more committed to pushing my boundaries so I can be the best I can be. My lifestyle is definitely healthier than its ever been before!
How do you plan your workouts and what would your advice be to someone new in the Gym?
With my workouts I usually go on the advise from my dance tutors. They often recommend specific exercises that are adjusted to my dance career and goals, but being a dancer means I know my body really well and understand the limits I can push it too. Apart from that I normally 'steal' exercises from classes, internet, people that I admire or even just observing at the gym and creating my own version of it to reach my personal goal.
Currently I am aiming to a more functional training, reaching muscle fatigue through repetitions and not through heavy weights. This way I can burn more fat, improve my mobility, and tone my muscles without putting on too much muscle mass.
My advice to anyone new to the gym would be to use weight of course, but only if you know what you are doing. Try to adjust the weight to your goal and not lifting crazy weights without any sense. Always doing what feels nice for your body to reach muscle fatigue without hurting yourself. I would recommend to talk with a PT to find out what is the best thing to do to reach your goal.
PureGym is a great place to start to get to know your body and what it needs. It is a place with a great social environment with no judgment and a great team always happy to help you.
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