For a long time people have asked me “What’s the point in keeping so fit?” and “What exactly are you training for?” I’ve always struggled to answer this, and most of the time I would just shrug my shoulders and smile, until now…

Being unhappy wasn’t good enough

I haven’t always trained hard. In fact, as a teenager I became very lazy, moved very little, ate too much bad stuff and gained a lot of weight. My self-esteem hit an all time low and my motivation sunk even deeper. It took a while for me to dig out some self-awareness but I finally realised I was unhappy and that really wasn’t good enough. So I began a patient process of finding fitness. My weapon of choice was my legs and I started to run. I trained for years, mostly on my own, fanatically running three or four 10km a week. I got fitter, faster and slimmer. I even rehabilitated myself back into running after an accident promised I could never do it again, but what for?

discovering southern legion

Running served its purpose but it was missing something. This is when I discovered Southern Legion in 2015. Most of my own training was programmed and completed by myself. All of a sudden I had found the most unlikely mix of people training at the same place and at the same time. Every one of them wanting to be there, train together and get sweaty. I remember being in a ball on the floor on my first session; desperately trying to catch my breath while the rest of the class cheered me on to finish the workout. I had a beaming smile on my face. I was having fun. I’ve come a long way since then: entered strong man events, completed advanced competitions, run muddy obstacle races, taken part in endurance running and even attaining my own PT qualifications. Despite all of this, the best part of my day is waking up every morning and going to class. And I know exactly why that is, training is fun and training makes me happy.

The happiness habit

It doesn’t matter who you are, what your motivation might be or what goal you might want to achieve, being active in a supportive environment like Southern Legion will make you feel good. Working in psychological therapy I am continually advocating to others the benefits of getting sweaty. I am human just like the rest of us, but I can honestly say that training these days rarely feels like a chore. Training is now a habit to me, a happy habit. Today, when people ask me “What’s the point in keeping so fit?” I say because it feels good, and “What exactly are you training for?” I say to be happy.