Over the last three years, the most common question I get is:
“What was your fitness journey?”
You may be thinking- Wait, I’m here for your Physiotherapy page- “Why are you talking about your fitness journey?”
Just hang in there, please stay with me.
I grew up playing sports. When I reached my early twenties, it became more difficult to navigate organized sport. I wanted to challenge myself, so I trained and completed multiple half and full marathons. Around that time, I also dove wholeheartedly into yoga. I was practicing 7 days a week, and eventually pursued my Yoga Teacher Training. I was an endurance athlete and yogi for many years.
Now this may have come as a surprise, because if you scroll back through my social media the last 4 years, my pages are filled with sparkly bikinis and heavy barbells.
2016 was when this chapter started.
I stepped into the gym consistently 6-7 days a week in 2016. I became a trainer and I lived the "fitness lifestyle". The first 6 months, trainers, friends and even strangers would come up and ask me “Do you Compete?” “Are you a bodybuilder?" “Are you a powerlifter?” At that time I didn’t even know about the world of competing. I was just really good a maximizing my newbie gains, and I guess my power training from rugby in my teens transferred to barbell strength. Within the first 8 months I started hitting elite and almost record-breaking numbers in my lifts and my body changed.
This was the beginning of the identity I held for the next 2 to 3 years:
I was the bikini girl with the powerlifter strength.
In 2017, a year after I started training consistently at the gym that I decided to compete. I had a goal- to break three provincial records in powerlifting and place top 5 in my first Bodybuilding show…. and I DID IT, 4 weeks apart. It was the most unconventional prep, but I trusted the process and followed my program exactly.
I wish I could just end the fairytale here, but it was just the beginning. I was not ready for what happened next. I thought it was my body fighting back- lower back pain, hip impingement, elbow tendinopathy, plantar fasciitis. In reality, I just completely ignored my injuries and dysfunctions during prep, and my body finally shut down because I refused to listen when it was crying out for help.
Here is where you may question my competency: I was a physiotherapy student at the time, and I should have known better. My end goal was fogged by my ego, my “ant strength” identity and “no pain, no gain” mentality. Eventually I changed my programming, but I never stopped working, and the numbers I had to hit were non-negotiable. I got so stressed out about getting stronger that I would never rest, even though my body was crying out for a deload.
One day I woke up and said to myself I want to be doing this for a long time
I took my rehabilitation and recovery seriously. I stopped Ego lifting. I learned to Move Right, before I Moved Heavy and Moved Fast. I finally understood Vince Lombardi’s famous quote “Practice does not make perfect, only PERFECT PRACTICE makes perfect”. I fuelled my body properly. I focused on my physiotherapy craft, and studied harder than my entire graduate degree.
In turn, I was finally pain-free, I uncovered my value beyond the stage and platform, and I fell in love with my body and brain.
As I Physiotherapist I always say-
“ I get you because I’ve been there, and don’t worry I’m on your team now, and I got you”
I know how difficult it is to “stop exercising” especially when you have a goal in mind. My job is to educate you on the risks, minimize the repercussions with therapy, and set you up with a program that meets your needs. Sometimes that means I’m the “needle lady” and I use dry needling to improve your thoracic rotation and lat girth before your show, other times that means I give you a proper rehab program that bridges the gap between rehabilitation and training. My treatment philosophy is "to meet you where you are at”, but my end goal is to teach you and your body what you deserve. Together lets achieve your version of extraordinary.
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