This article is written by a student writer from the Her Campus at Rider chapter.
Five questions for one of the editors of Her Campus Rider. Here, Danielle dishes all about her passion for fitness, how it all began, and more.
Q. We know you train people. What’s your approach when you begin to train someone, whether they want to lose a significant amount of weight or simply to tone up a few select areas?
A. My approach is the same: Honest, serious and tough. It doesn’t matter what the person’s goal is, big or small, working out and getting into shape is not easy and in order for me to make sure that they get the best results possible I have to be hard on them and push them so that they give me everything that they’ve got. I have to be honest and tell them when their not doing something right so that they can fix it. There’s no laughing until after the sweat dries.
Q. When did you realize that you were passionate about fitness?
A. I ran track in high school for three entire years and that was the first time I was introduced to the world of fitness. While most of my other team-mates complained about going to practice everyday after eight exhausting hours of classes I found that I actually looked forward to working out after school. Pretty soon, after my first year, I started to see the effects that track was having on my body and I liked it. To me, looking good and feeling good about my body was worth all the hours and hours of hard work. And since I had track practice nearly everyday (our one day off was Sunday) I had to get used to exercise and overtime I actually developed a love and passion for it.
Q. Why is it so important to you?
A. Many people dont know this but I hate going to the doctor (I can’t remember the last time I did). It’s just the way I am. So, in order to prevent any illnesses, short-term and long-term, I know that I have to stay healthy and fit. That’s why I exercise everyday and try to eat right. It’s my way of being proactive.
Q. What’s the best advice you’ve ever been given about fitness?
A. My coach has been my only official ‘trainer’ and the best advice that I’ve received from him was this: success breeds confidence and confidence breeds success. He used this to reinforce what many of us know, but sometimes forget to implement, that in order to succeed you must first believe in your own abilities and once you do your halfway there. It all start’s in the head.
Q. How important is it for people who want to get into shape to exercise and eat right?
A. Many people are under the impression that just because they eat a salad for dinner (along with pizza, a hamburger, and fries) that they’re ‘eating right’ so they don’t need to workout. They couldn’t be more mistaken. You must change your diet, not go on a diet, and workout if you really want to see results.
