Lea came to Body + Soul Fitness looking for a hobby to help her cope with the cold. With Aran’s support, Lea recovered from persistent pain and gained strength, which made her career even more fulfilling. Now, she doesn’t need the help of her male coworkers for physical tasks, and she’s crushing bodyweight push-ups. Keep reading to see how she accomplished it all.
About Lea
As a veterinary surgeon, Lea works long hours, standing still. Her work demands a lot from her body, requiring strength to lift large animals, bend steel or cut through metal pins. Her chronic shoulder and back pain made it difficult to do on her own, and she often had to ask for help from male coworkers. With these everyday challenges from work, Lea was looking for something to make her life easier. That’s when she met Aran.
The Challenge
“My goals were vague at the start,” explained Lea. “Through the intake and assessment with Aran, I realized how much time I spent at work. Aran helped me set specific goals to help me take on the demands of my job.”
After completing the fitness and lifestyle assessment, Aran knew everything about Lea’s strength and pain. With this insight, Aran helped Lea set new, measurable goals to reduce her pain and increase her upper body strength.
The Program
To ensure Lea’s success, Aran designed a rehabilitation program. He taught her movement fundamentals and progressively advanced to heavier weights and more complex movements.
Rehabilitation and Strength Training
As a first step, Lea’s program needed to start with rehabilitation. Aran wanted to make sure that Lea could move without pain. Gradually, as Lea noticed improvements, the program shifted to strength training. Finally able to move without pain, she wanted to increase her strength and complete a bodyweight push-up.
Levelling Up
Throughout the rehabilitation phase, Lea trained with Aran once per week. As she recovered, she built a habit and was ready to level up. Aran increased the frequency of Lea’s sessions to twice weekly, and incredible progress followed. Without realizing it, Lea was achieving two other goals: becoming comfortable in the gym and finding community outside of work.
The Results
In just three months, Lea achieved her most significant accomplishment: she no longer needed the help of her male coworkers for strength-related tasks. She can now lift large, heavy dogs onto operating tables and cut through dense, strong metal.
"My job has become so much easier," Lea explained. "I no longer have shoulder pain. I can't remember the last time it hurt. Standing for extended periods and bending over no longer causes back pain."
She saw so many improvements in her work life that Lea wanted to share that new-found ease with others. She explained, “I had such a good experience that we organized a partnership with my clinic. Now, other animal health care workers train there as well.”
That’s not all. Lea also achieved her goal of completing a bodyweight push-up. She can now do three sets of 10! Along with her strength accomplishments, Lea now feels much more confident in the gym. She consistently exercises on her own, heading in for a third time each week.
Today, Lea feels happy and relieved. She no longer worries that she isn’t doing enough to be as healthy as possible. Instead, she can rest easily, knowing she always has that time set aside for herself. Lea explained, “It’s my sacred me-time.”
Start Your Own Story
Sometimes, the hardest step to take is the first one. If this story has made you feel hopeful for your future, we would love to meet you. Book a complimentary consultation with one of our passionate personal trainers to get started.