"My exercise regime started after university when I was looking for something to help me cope with the highs and lows of life in London. Having always been quite a “faddy” person, I took up running for a period or then went to classes and the gym sporadically, with no one activity fully capturing my attention or commitment.

However, it wasn’t until I joined thirtysevendegrees in January 2009 that I really enjoyed and embraced exercise in such a big way and found some balance. As a high school teacher, focussed on troubled teens and young offenders, the day to day stress of the job is emotionally and physically draining. Integrating visits to thirtysevendegrees into my life has enabled me to keep my mental and physical health in check. I began working out in the gym and have always found the staff super helpful and friendly. Chris, in particular, helped me by devising a couple of routines, which were quick and easy to follow and which changed my body more than anything else. Subsequently, I started taking yoga and pilates classes, which I loved for both the physical and mental relaxation.

Over the last few months, I have been seeing Jo once a week and we do a mixture of interval and core training. I have really improved my fitness with this as Jo is great fun, really motivational and open. With the summer months off, I also want to work with Beata to focus on my strength training and learn some new techniques.

The mixture of so many different complimentary activities under one roof has not only kept me interested and focussed on my fitness but has been immensely fun! Everyone I have had the opportunity to work with, has motivated me so much that I would like to do the same for others. In fact, I have been inspired to retrain later this year in Personal Training and Yoga myself!"