I have always been athletic; I played sports in high school and I remained active throughout college. A few years after that, I started an office job in the DC area with a demanding schedule that didn’t allow much gym time. Over the next few years, I slowly converted from an occasional gym go-er to making monthly donations to Gold’s Gym. Unfortunately, I also always had a sweet tooth. This love of all things sugar eventually led to daily afternoon outings with my coworkers to get cupcakes, frozen yogurt, pastries, and any other delicious treat we could find.
Fast forward another couple of years (and thirty pounds!), and I got engaged. About six months before my wedding, I decided to take the first steps at getting back in shape. Until then, I really wasn’t aware of just how much weight I had put on or just how bad my habits had gotten. I didn’t have a goal in mind when I started, I just knew I wanted my arms to look toned in my wedding dress and I wanted to lose weight.
I made drastic changes to my diet—I cut out my beloved sweet treats, I started lifting weights again, and I rekindled my relationship with Gold’s Gym. That’s where I met Ishan. He was instructing a class called Sports and Conditioning. The first time I walked through the doors to participate in the class, I knew I was in over my head. Almost everyone was already very fit and as we started off with a two minute warm-up of laps and jumping jacks, I was already dying and short of breath. I was definitely not ready for the warm-up, let alone the rest of the class. I proceeded to suffer another 58 minutes of torture and embarrassment. You’re probably thinking that I never walked through those doors again after that, right? Wrong.
Despite being in the worst shape of all of the participants, I saw that as a challenge to overcome. Over the next few months I continued to attend Ishan’s class at least once a week and saw huge transformations in my weight, my fitness level, and my energy. I moved up from one of the slowest and most sluggish people in the class to one of the fastest and strongest.
Ishan’s approach to overall strength, agility, and endurance were harder and more challenging than any other class offered at the gym. He always mixed up the day’s workout to continually push us to new limits and ensure our bodies wouldn’t get adjusted to a routine. I knew that I would never push myself that hard working out alone, which is why I always appreciated Ishan’s class. Also, he understands the struggle from his own story, which helps him relate and motivate people. Ishan has a lot of energy and kept the class upbeat. I always “enjoyed” his class because it was tough, different, and got results.
I have since moved and no longer live close to Ishan, which is unfortunate. I miss the days of pain and gain. I wish I had someone to push me in ways I would never push myself. I would definitely train with Ishan again if I had the opportunity.
