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The best thing that can happen is feeling comfortable of where you are. Sometimes, just sometimes, that comfort comes from seeing a familiar face, or the community you are in, where the idea of feeling “home” is more about the people you’re with than the building that you’re in. Most of our members (and future members) understand this when they walk in and there she is, Donna Bray – ready to greet you with a smile. It is Women Wednesday, everyone, and this week we are introducing our final female staff member – Donna. Donna is that comfort you feel when you walk in through these doors here at TEST Sports Clubs. She greets you, helps you, talks with you, laughs with you, among many other things. And this week, that is exactly what we are promoting – how putting yourself in the TEST environment can guarantee you some really meaningful relationships in addition to a great workout. Are you someone that hates feeling out of place? Do you feel like a stranger when walking into a gym? Intimidated by the idea of not knowing someone? This type of anxiety can be paralyzing and can hold you back from being your best self. However, do you want a community you can feel a part of? Do you want to come in and see your friends? Do you want to be in an environment where strangers turn to friends and friends turn to family? You can get all of that, and more as soon as you walk into the doors at 1931 Washington Valley Road. And best of all, Donna will be there to say “Hello!”. Donna came here looking to train, but she remains here with some people that she would consider family. Backyard BBQ’s, holidays, babysitting – it all stems from her journey of just coming in to get stronger. She loves her work and loves the people and there is no doubt in anyone’s mind that they do not feel the same way about Ms. Donna Bray. Donna explains how she feels being surrounded by the staff here at TEST. If you need any more reason to come here – take a listen to Donna’s interview and understand that coming to TEST is more than just lifting some weights. Don’t be “gym-timidated”, come be a part of our family. Schedule your free assessment, today.

Everyone has their own reason for being an avid gym goer – physique, fitness goals in mind, community aspect, whatever it may be and that reason is individualistic to each person. However, no matter what the direct reason may be – there is always a long term benefit from going to the gym. The best of all, the golden ticket, the greatest gift there could be – the ability to live better than the day before. And, as an avid gym goer – TEST staff member, Ilze Seidel understands this concept more than ever as she lives day to day understanding the benefit her lifestyle has given her. Happy Women Wednesday to all of the past, present and future #greaTESTwomen out there. This week, we are super excited to get Ilze Seidel introduced to the world (at least for anyone who might not know her – but most do). Ilze has spent more than 20 years being a part of TEST Nation. Beginning just like you and me as a member, turning into a certified trainer, and becoming a beloved member of the TEST family. This week, we discuss how Ilze used the last 20 years to take her love for the gym and apply it to live her best life. We want women to understand one thing – we work out for many reasons, but the beautiful benefit of coming to the gym is all of the things it does for us without us even knowing. Say we don’t see the scale fluctuate the way we want, or we don’t see the difference in the mirror but there are so many added life benefits. Gym goers build more confidence each session. Gym goers have more energy. Gym goers meet more people and have a community. Gym goers enjoy life more because they feel like they can. For example, Ilze tells us “Though I got started working out in the gym for fitness and physic. Being in the gym keeps me healthy to be able to achieve all my activity goals. I have been a runner, a marathoner, golfer, biker, mountain biker, swimmer, kayaker and more recently paddle boarding and surfing”. Imagine building the stamina and the confidence to enjoy such incredible and memorable activities that you can smile on for years to come. It takes one step. One step to walk in the door at TEST Sports Clubs. One step to try a Pratt Performance session. One step to get your body moving at a BURN class. One step to try something new. All of these “steps” will turn into a leap of loving life. Loving the energy you develop, loving the people you surround yourself with here, loving the things you can do now that you couldn’t do before. Loving life. That’s it. Come in to TEST Sports Clubs so you can meet the incredible Ilze, understand why she has been here for more than 20 years, and to schedule your free assessment and 2 week free trial so you can do all of the things you’ve always wanted to do. Let us help you live your best life, and maybe you’ll reach some fitness goals along the way!

The diets, the fads, the tips and the tricks can all become too much, too fast, and too wrong. Food is a big battle for so many individuals and to learn the proper way to fuel your body takes more than just looking at the latest trend on social media. Trust us, the information out there is a lot with most of it being bad and some of it being harmful. However, there is a way to understand it and appreciate food – Lauren Dunn knows it best. This week we meet Lauren Dunn – owner of Lauren Dunn Nutrition and staff member at TEST Sports Clubs/Pratt Performance Systems. Lauren is a fierce gym goer, passionate nutritionist, incredible mother, and a genuinely great individual. Understanding food wasn’t always easy for her – as her journey is probably like many others (and maybe even yours). Lauren had always been an athlete (as many women have in their days), and when her athlete days were over and she transitioned into being an adult and a mother she found an interest in training for marathons with a friend. Running up to 40 miles per week, she started by losing weight from the abundance of burned calories which in turn, transitioned into carb loading to prepare for big runs. However, bodies are incredible and hers learned to become more efficient in burning calories during her fitness journey. Burning fewer calories + still carb loading the same = weight gain, gastrointestinal issues, and a bad relationship with food. Sound familiar? Me too… This classis restrict/binge cycle that led her to her path of nutrition. Transitioning into the nutrition side of training was exciting for Lauren because her love for obtaining knowledge now found a new challenge to tackle – and man, did she do more than succeed. Getting a proper education about nutrition and being certified to teach others her knowledge helps not only manage her own weight effortlessly – but all of her clients as well. Flexible dieting allowed her to build a healthy relationship with food and eliminating the good or bad labels that go on food. Lauren takes this concept and translates it to her ability to be an incredible mother to Jackson in his own food relationship. “It’s sad to listen to kids talk about food and how what their parents tell them trickles down at a young age and causes some serious ‘damage’ for kids”. Being a good role model includes taking the necessary steps to do the same for yourself. Lauren has worked tirelessly to provide to incredible knowledge she gained to others to allow them to improve their life. Anyone who gives her a call is taking one step towards making their lives better. She releases tips and tricks on her social media platform @laurendunn_nutrition on Instagram and www.laurendunnnutrition.com . And if you really want a look into Lauren’s life – check out @stantonvalleyfarm on Instagram ( www.stantonvalleyfarm.com ) to take a peak into her life with her family (Kevin and Jackson) as they take on a small family farm and over 100 animals! (They’re pretty cute too – you won’t regret it).

Everything that this blog has discussed so far – from gym intimidation to disordered eating, I am no stranger to (as many women also understand). However, I have a unique perspective on a topic that many women succumb to at one point or another – injuries. This includes big injuries to minor nagging ones. In reality, this post is for anyone who has ever let pain keep them from stepping foot into the gym and how pain can be such a debilitating and controlling factor in someone’s life, including mine… You’re not alone, but maybe I can help us push through together. If your pain has kept you from being the best version of yourself, this post is for you. My injury history is, well, extensive to say the least. Majority of it boiling down to 3 reconstructive knee surgeries before my 17th birthday. 3 ACL reconstructions paired with 1 meniscal repair that then turned into a double meniscectomy (which means that currently, I have no “cushion” between my leg bones). Could you imagine that? Being 19 and have just been diagnosed with arthritis in both knees. The swelling, the sharp pain, the nagging soreness, any slight change in the weather and I feel like my body is failing me. But at that point you have to ask, is your injury controlling you or are you able to choose to control your injury? I chose the latter… Now don’t get me wrong, sometimes pain is inescapable and knowing how to listen to what your body is telling you is a major lesson to be learned (which can be transferrable across all training and nutrition domains). However, at what point is your pain mental? At what point can you make the decision to do what you can? Where in time do you take your mental focus and turn it towards understanding your injury and knowing how to work with it? Being a psychology major, I learned that emotional and mental pain can be turned into physical pain and can accentuate any nagging injury. Imagine that! Your emotional stress (anxiety about the gym, anxiety about your health, anxiety about anything) can be transferred to physical pain? Man, the human body is incredible. The trainers here at TEST and PPS, however, are even more incredible because they know how to understand these setbacks and work around them to help create the best version of you. Listen to your body, understand your body, appreciate your body, and talk positively to your body. Ever hear how talking nicely to a plant can help it grow? Your body is the same way. When faced with anxiety about the gym or anything really – telling yourself that you can, you will, and you will love yourself for it will (get this) – actually work. There are two types of people in this world, those who say they can’t and those who say they can … and they are both right. Don’t let your pain or injury stop you from creating your favorite version of yourself, and let us help you work around that! Don’t let your injury beat your mind, but use your mind to beat your injury.

To say my fitness journey was easy would be a lie...it was difficult. I started out at an all-women's gym; I had a very negative body image, and an extremely unhealthy relationship with food. At that time, “exercising” for me, was playing around on some machines, and then following it with a lot of running on the treadmill. There was no rhyme or reason to anything that I had been doing, because I myself had no idea what I needed. Unfortunately, that gym ended up closing, so I found myself working out at a commercial gym all by myself in one of those group-fitness classrooms, going back and forth between random dumbbell exercises and again, the treadmill. This went on for about 2 years...2 years of being intimidated and worried about what everyone else in the gym was doing, and what they might think about me. I can recall during my freshman year of college, thinking back to when I still belonged to the all-female gym, and how I participated in a “fitness competition,” shortly before they closed. I recalled how great I felt about what I had done- it was the first time I had ever used a barbell, and we had to perform the deadlift. In the midst of this recollection, my life had been pretty overwhelming. I had been dealing with some family issues, my grandfather had just recently passed away, and I was still struggling with body image issues on top of my unhealthy relationship with food. With all of this that had been going on, I was “working out,” running almost every day, and I still wasn’t seeing the results I wanted to. Ah-ha! I decided to push my fears out of the forefront of my mind, and forced myself to get out of that depressing group-exercise classroom, lay off the treadmill a little bit, and workout with the rest of the gym-goers. The fitness competition that I did made me feel good about myself; I felt empowered and accomplished, and I wanted those feelings to come back. So, I did my own “research,” began lifting weights with the rest of the crowd, and finally realized, “damn, I’m actually pretty strong.” I continued with this strength journey focusing on “The Big 3” (squat, bench, and deadlift) and actually started doing powerlifting competitions. The sense of empowerment, the stress relief, and the strength potential that I had been experiencing, motivated and challenged me to keep this journey going. Understanding how to change my relationship with food and appreciate its fuel was life-changing. I am a strong powerlifter, and a force to be reckoned with. I’m about 5 years into powerlifting, hitting numbers I would have never even believed I could handle back when I was still hiding in that group-exercise room. My body image has made a complete 180-degree turn, and my relationship with food has gotten better after I realized that if I wanted to do well with this new-found love of mine, I had to give my body the nourishment and the love it needed. Lifting became my happy-place, my outlet. When I'm feeling stressed/anxious, sad/angry, the iron solves it. 5 years later, and I'm now attaining the long-term goals I had originally set for myself when I first started. My journey hasn’t been easy, but it’s the best decision I could have ever made for myself. I wish someone could have seen me struggling and reached out, just to tell me that I CAN do this, and to not be so hard on myself, and to enjoy the process. I’ve been calling it my “fitness” or “strength” journey, but it’s really just a life journey. It’s gotten me the life I never necessarily knew I wanted, but also everything I needed to develop into the person I am today. Let’s get your journey started and make these gainz, together.

Instagram workout fads, cardio obsession, and being unsure of what to do when you look at a weight. Does this resonate with you? Well, it sounds like most women across the globe and as lonely as you might feel with these thoughts – the majority of women in the gym think this too. This includes Sidney Gabrich – our first introduction of the women of TEST. Sid is one of the #greaTESTwomen that you could have the pleasure of working with and she is no different from you (and me). Sid is kind, funny, motivating, fit, and all of the other great things you could think of when you think about a woman in the gym. She also gets it. She understands the anxiety of the gym and relying on social media and cardio. She understands it because she lived it. After her college soccer career, Sid explains “I went to the gym here and there and just fell into the trap of random Instagram/Pinterest workouts and at least 30 minutes of cardio was involved in every workout”. If you resonated with that statement, let’s get to know a little bit more about Sid and why she can help you become the best version of yourself the same way that she did. Sid has been a soccer player since she can remember. It was her sport, her thing, a personality trait of hers. As we all know, cardio is the emphasis of soccer and this concept stuck with her as she grew up and then as she took her career to the collegiate level. When her team did lifts for the first time (like, ever…) she fell in love with the concept but didn’t understand how to do it on her own. (Yes, like all of us – she got anxious of navigating the gym on her own). “I would just pick random exercises that I had seen other people do at the gym or on Instagram and it would destroy my body – I would be sore for days after”. Sound like you, too? Yup? Keep reading. Sid exercised and did cardio to “stay skinny” and even trained for a half marathon because running was all she knew. That was her only purpose – to stay skinny. Not to feel good, have energy, or appreciate her body and what it does for her. Looking back now, that seems like a crazy concept to her as she learns to love the gym and what it does for her both physically and mentally. “Once I interned at PPS I really began to understand the meaning behind resistance training and what it could actually do for me. I have never been more confident in the gym than I am now and while feeling good about myself”. To get to this point is a victory in itself – one that all women deserve to have. Women like Sid, women like me, and women just like you. And that is why the women of TEST are here. If this blog started a fire in your belly, if you were able to relate to it (like many others), if you were motivated by Sid’s journey – we can get you there too. Join our #greaTESTwomen, schedule your free assessment with one of the #greaTESTwomen and we can do this together.

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