Being a professional, in any field, doesn’t mean you don’t need professional help in your field from time to time. So, after a year of exceptional running and average cross-training, I decided to make the latter exceptional too. Well hold up, let me clarify average. Average in the sense that I wasn’t really pushing myself. Yes, I teach 10+ classes a week, 50% of them which I do majority of the class with them, and I run (hard, almost throw up tempo runs) 3-4x a week. But see, that’s my regimen. And has been for awhile. So since the body is funny acting and will plateau on you just when you think you’re great, you have to change things up.

Not always an easy decision to make, but I did.

I teamed up with my friend and fellow NYC fit pro Kevin Curtain, so here’s how I “shaped up” during this final quarter of 2016.

I Was Desperate To Be Lead

Teaching classes and training will always be a part of my life. I love that exchange of giving someone something in the form of sweat that has the power to RADically change their lives. But this year, I started experiencing a form of self-envy. Yes this is a thing. I basically left classes and sessions thinking, “I wish someone would make me do endless burpees to trap music sometimes.” Or, “I wish I could get free therapy, but call it personal training.”

In short, I was desperate to be lead. To not have to think about my workouts all the time. To not cheat myself by doing the things I love only (read: c-walk around the fitness studio and call it cardio). I wanted to learn more about my body. To see how much stronger I could be if I had the strength to ask for help.

That last one being the hardest and greatest decision any of us can make.

In fitness and in life…

Plus My Butt Was Getting Lazy

Like for real. All that “exceptional running” changed my murves (muscles and curves) down south in a way that I was not cool with, and I wanted all my junk back in my trunk. How does one put junk back in her trunk?  She starts lifting for real. The glutes are the biggest muscles in your body yall, and should be the strongest. So long story short, I had to get my butt in gear.

In fact, the first thing Kevin said when we started sweating together was, “you have to start deadlifting.” So I got dead serious and started playing with heavier weights. And I noticed a difference quick. Not just in my leggings, but in my weekly tempo runs. *Insert the loudest DUHHHHH ever*

I knew this! I make my clients deadlift. So why in the world I wasn’t loading my posterior chain (trainer nerdy talk) is in fact foolish. Welp, good thing I had enough sense to call on Kevin.

Who P.S., is super SMART!

This was a huge requirement when it came to who I wanted to train with RADicals. I mean, I wouldn’t consider myself a know-it-all (wink wink), but let me keep it real, I have been training for a very long time. And in that very long time the industry has changed a lot. Thus, sadly to say, finding qualified trainers (read: smart) is hard (more on what you should look for in a trainer coming in 2017, by the way). So yeah, I work with Kevin, cause that boy is SMART!

Then There’s 3 F’s – Friendship. Fun. Faith.

And he’s the homie. Another key element: Must. Like. Trainer. By my branding alone, you should know that if it’s not fun, I won’t be the one (in attendance). So the best part about sweating with my smart homie is that we be having fun. Giggling, deadlifting to the beat (because Kevin likes music as much as I do), and my favorite part – sharing our faith. Kevin and I go to the same church, so during our Monday sessions it is natural to mention the supernatural power of what Sunday means to us both. I cherish this, because like I said earlier, I also wanted a trainer that I can get in on that free therapy with! Joking, not joking. But for real, nothing beats having someone in your corner who know your dreams, has no problem sharing theirs, believes in you and makes you swing incredibly heavy kettlebells.

I love this “trainers having trainers” life. Life feels lighter, and my deadlifts are heavier. These are the things that make this fit life journey RAD.

*Fitness fashion and inspiration provided by Onzie in collaboration of the launch of Onzie Men’s. Thoughts are my own.

Photo cred: Kivvi Roberts

What kind of RAD content do you want to see in 2017? Let me know below.