Rio 2016: forget Team GB, have you seen Team TT?

We hope you are enjoying Rio 2016! Every 4 years, I find myself glued to the BBC news live updates, hotly awaiting races, long jumps and lengths to be completed and medal tables to be updated. For me, the Olympics is a time of admiration for those who dedicate so much of their time improving their form, strength and speed (albeit, a little guilty that I’m sat watching their achievements on the sofa with a bar of dairy milk lodged between me and the Doritos).

The arrival of Rio 2016 has made me consider those sporting heroes a little bit closer to home. Flicking through the many leader boards we have dotted around the gym, we are proud of our members and the achievements they have made – regardless of how big or small! Check out a few members of Team TT below, and scroll down to find out about our Rio 2016 Olympic Challenges starting Monday 15th August.
Jackie is our weekly kettlebell’er and WOW does she prove it! When she started with us she was quite happy with a 6kg kettlebell. She is now smashing swings, bent forward rows and squats with a 14kg!! Put simply, she has increased her strength by 133.33% – AMAZING.
Sarah is a huge inspiration. This year she won the UK Bodybuilding and Fitness Federation (UKBFF) National Championships 2016 Masters Ladies Body Fitness title (wow that’s a long name!) – aged 48 years! She is the most dedicated and driven fitness professional we have ever met. She is an encouragement to all of our members and we are super excited to see her compete again in October!
Patrick is regularly seeing some amazing improvements. In only the 3 months that he has been with us, he has gone from 20kg squats to an impressive 60kg! He is getting stronger, more defined and fitter all the time (he even comes in twice a day sometimes!). We are super proud of his commitment, dedication and down-right hard work. Here he is in action…

Martin’s been with us since November 2015 and gets better and better every week. Until recently, Neil topped our Ski-Erg leader board. But, Martin had yet to give it a go… Safe to say, Neil’s got his work cut out if he wants to beat Martin’s epic 722 watts! We are super proud of Martin’s transformations and look forward to seeing him give the Ski-Erg another go!

Carly’s story is a fab example of somebody who gave it a go and ended up changing her life. Train Together wouldn’t be the same without her!

When I started coming to Train Together I’d already managed to go from 10st 6 to 9st 11. In the year I’ve been at Train Together I’ve lost a further stone taking me to 8st 11. I feel fantastic, confident and more like me again and, not to mention, strong! I’ve made some fantastic friends along the way, as well as improving my mental health. With the fantastic support of Neil Caines and Sarah Grant I’ve also managed to gain my Level 2 Gym Instructor qualification! I can’t thank Train Together enough!”

Carly has seen many transformations since she started with us, but we are most impressed with her pull ups! She started off unable to do assisted pull ups. Now she can smash out 3 in a row (unassisted!). Here she is showing us what she’s made of. She’s strong, toned and reaping the rewards of a healthy, active lifestyle.

Chris is our TT Rowing Champion! He joined us back in 2014 with the aim of improving strength and overall fitness. Across the board, he has so far had some impressive Personal Bests:

• His Bench Press was 115Kg, it’s now 120Kg
• Deadlift was 120Kg, now 181Kg
• Squat was 90Kg, now 120Kg

Since starting at Train Together he has knocked 5 seconds off his 500 meter row, from 1.27.1 minutes to an impressive 1.22.1 minutes. This fantastic achievement won him second place in the English Indoor Rowing Championship (just 0.8 seconds behind 1st place – we think he must have sneezed…)! He also came 5th for the 2000m row – at the start achieving 7m20s and now rowing the full length in just 6m38.9s – we’re very proud!

Rio 2016 Olympic Challenges

This year we have decided to set some of our own Rio 2016 Olympic Challenges. Over the next two weeks, you will have the chance to compete against your fellow gym-goers for your very own Bronze, Silver or Gold award.

We have so far spent our summer raising money for the Royal Lancaster Infirmary Children’s Ward, so have decided to extend our efforts to our Rio 2016 Olympic Challenges. To partake, please donate £1 to our RLI fundraising pot and choose your exercise from the list below! All challenges will occur over two different days (please see dates below). You can take part at any point during the nominated day (but you will only get one shot at it!) and you need to ensure a member of staff is present to record your result. There will be a separate male and female leader board – so don’t worry men, you will still have a chance to grab a medal 😉

GOOD LUCK!