Taylah was kind enough to share with us her inspiration for being a Personal Trainer and what follows is an insight into Taylah’s motivation and journey!

What initially drew you to the fitness industry?

I started my journey into health and fitness over 3 years ago and since then have lost 30KG.

I was drawn to the fitness industry when I started prioritising movement for myself.

After 2 full term pregnancies and births, I was aware my strength and stability to do day to day tasks had declined.

Once I achieved my personal and physical development goals, I felt a burning desire to help others reach their goals.

Since starting my Cert 3 and 4, this desire has grown more and more each day.

I have realised this is only the start of my fitness journey and I am excited for the future!

What did you enjoy learning about the most?   

I enjoyed learning about the anatomy of the human body as this benefited my own training.

This then helped me better understand the human body on a deeper level and gave me the ability to pass on clearer information to others.

I believe there is a lot of insightful and beneficial information, links, videos and surveys throughout the Cert III and I really liked that we were able dive into subjects that interest us further.

What advice would you offer to students and what motivates you?

There’s always two ways to do things, realise this before you have to reflect on it. I believe we have two options in life – to learn or not to learn or to add to our current state or stay the same.

If we realise we are here to learn, we are able to achieve great things as we focus on expanding our knowledge. If we do not realise this, we will get to the end of our life and have to reflect on why things never changed.
I have a passion for physical movement of the human body, and a passion for progression. I also have a desire to help people understand the things they are capable of achieving.

I don’t know where my path is going right now, but I know it’s going to be somewhere great, and I know I will help a lot of people along the way.

I am also happy to be exactly where I am at because this stage of the journey is fun and exciting and I would suggest to anyone reading this, who has the same passions or desires, and for whom this resonates, to follow their dreams and dive into the career they really want to be in….

 Do you have any favourite inspirational quotes to share?

• “If your goals don’t scare you, they aren’t big enough.”
• “When looking for your purpose or unique genius in life, look around at what you do every day without fail. The thing that no one has to remind you to do, the thing you practice without being prompted – focus on that thing.”
• “Become the CEO of your own life and body.”
• “Be the main character of your life.”

Thanks so much for sharing your story Taylah, we wish you all the very best for your fitness journey!

These days, Michael’s goal is to stay fit and active in order to maintain good health.

Over the past six years, Michael has trained in 12-week fitness challenges with 5 Star Fitness – at a rate of three challenges per year!

Michael went on to competing in a winning sculpting challenges and bodybuilding comps in the over 50 class.

Michael’s philosophy of “no matter the situation if you put your mind to it, you can achieve anything” is evident in how he overcame the challenges he faced in 2009, after an accident that occurred when competing in a NZ speedway side car championship.

The accident resulted in Michael spending a week in intensive care.

After many X-rays, it was revealed Michael had an open book fracture of the pelvis which meant 10 fractures in the pelvis and multiple fractures of the hip joint and sockets, as well as a broken left wrist, broken collar bone and broken scapular.

After 2 major operations in a fortnight in New Zealand, Michael was transferred back to Brisbane hospital to undergo another major operation.

Four weeks later Michael was transferred to Townsville hospital, where he spent another week before being released.

Michael then spent seven months with physios learning to walk again.

In the following video, Michael has shared more about his life and journey, for which we are very thankful…

We look forward to seeing where your fitness journey takes you Michael!

Meet more motivated Fitness Institute Students HERE. 

Having recently completed the Certificate III in Fitness Hayley is now a fully qualified fitness instructor!

Hayley believes health is an investment not an expense and with the encouragement and support of qualified Personal Trainer and Mentor Tegan Wilson and Accredited Exercise Physiologist Megan Foster, Hayley has been able to turn her enjoyment of going to the gym and participating in group fitness into a qualification that provides the knowledge and skills to help others get fitter and change their lifestyle.     

Hayley now aspires to follow in her mentor’s footsteps and tells us the anatomy and physiology subjects were the most rewarding part of the course and where a lot of knowledge was gained.  

Now excited to be finished the Certificate III in Fitness, Hayley is now able to start a career as a qualified fitness and group exercise instructor. 

Hayley advises other students to “Stay strong and keep going as it’s so amazing when you finish the course!”  

Thanks Hayley, we wish you all the best on your fitness journey!

Meet more motivated Fitness Institute Students HERE.

Recently, we had a chat with Katie Serone and listening to her amazing story of resilience and positive thinking, we thought to invite Katie to share her philosophy with others.

 It is such a pleasure to be able to share her answers to our questions here….

What initially drew you into the industry?

Wow, this was 28 years ago!

When I was 15 years of age, I had a real love and passion for fitness, especially group fitness.

It was very different back then, mainly consisting of freestyle classes. A lot of work went into choreographing your own sessions to the music.

Then came Les Mills classes and I never looked back.

I am trained in 8 Les Mills programs:

• BODYATTACK
• BODYCOMBAT
• BODYPUMP
• LES MILLS CORE
• LES MILLS GRIT SERIES
• RPM
• SPRINT
• BODYJAM

My initial qualifications 28 years ago consisted of my cert 3 in fitness.

I have spent the last 28 years instructing and coaching group fitness classes and connecting with 1000’s of people from all walks of life.

The only break in my fitness career was through each of my 4 pregnancies and only for a short time. I am a very proud single mum with 4 amazing children.

Do you have a fitness and life philosophy? 

Let go of the things you can’t control….

Your hardest times often lead to the greatest moments of your life, and I firmly believe that the GREATER the STORM, the BRIGHTER the RAINBOW…

Stay present in the moment as that is the only thing that is real.

Everybody has a story. The one, only and most important STORY you need to focus on and tell, is “YOURS”.

Life is 10% what happens to you and 90% how you react to it – you can turn your vulnerability into strength….

If there is anything I can offer by way of advice – it is this….

In sharing my vulnerability, my story and my experience I would say ..”NEVER GIVE UP – YOU GOT THIS”.

Life will continually throw curve balls and contrast. How you handle yourself through these times is a true testament to who you really are and what you are capable of.

Inner strength and motivation don’t come from what you can do, it comes from overcoming the things you didn’t think you could do… the challenges, hardships, and dark times.

So, have faith, stay present and take one day at a time.

What are you most enjoying about studying the course?

As hard as it has been for me, in my effort to complete this course, I still am enjoying broadening my understanding, knowledge and experience in the CERT 4 component.

This inevitably, opens new doors and opportunities and allows me to continue to inspire and share my love, passion, and experience in fitness to make a difference in people’s lives.

What advice would you offer to other students?

Failure is success – Failure is not a permanent experience – you must rise above it and choose to be better than you were a moment ago.

Changing and growing is what makes you win. I have spent the last 4 years trying to complete this course. I have endured and faced one hardship after another.

At the beginning of my course, I underwent 2 vocal fold operations (operations on the vocal cords) – which put me out for months and months with recovery, rehab, and speech therapy.

Then, came the crazy times of the pandemic – Covid closing gyms everywhere and continually facing lock downs and interruptions.

Following this, in 2021 my family and I had a big health scare with my father suffering a major stroke. He was hospitalised and in rehab for months to recover.

Through the year my dad’s health issues continued and he had to undergo open heart surgery.

As you can imagine, this was a very emotional and stressful time for my family and me.

In the same year as my father’s health issues and with things being so uncertain, I became a single mum of 4 children.

To add to all this, the family home we had been living in for 12 years was to be sold and we had to move out.

It took 8 months, and after enduring not 1 but 2 massive moves, trying to work, be a mum, run a functional home and help my children meet sports and school commitments, the kids and I all went down badly with COVID, I became so unwell and unfortunately ended up in hospital to recover.

So here I am, in MAY 2022, with only 2 units to complete in my Certificate IV in Fitness.

With all of my being, I am determined to complete it…..

Thanks for sharing your fitness journey with us Katie, we wish you all the very best for the future and look forward to issuing your Certificate IV in Fitness!   

Meet more motivated Fitness Institute Students HERE!