Mind Gains | By Nina Surugue

Weightlifting helped me take control of my life, and reclaim who I want to be.

As a teenager, I was always very anxious,with very depressive tendencies, and unhealthy coping mechanisms. I would internalize a lot of my feelings, hide them from my family and friends. I had trouble with my identity and how people perceived me.The future seemed daunting, like nothing would never really truly make me happy.

When I was 17, I moved to Montreal, and discovered fitness and weightlifting. I also got out of a lot of my unhealthy coping mechanisms, including a toxic relationship I was in. Fitness helped me rebuild myself, when I felt, lost and alone. Today I want to share with you what fitness taught me, in the hope that it might do the same for you:

Fitness taught me it was okay to prioritize myself: I had always valued people’s opinion over my own. I had always been the friend which would be there to help, to listen, but never the one who would prioritize herself. Taking time each day to focus on how I felt, helped me grow as an individual.

Fitness taught me to be ambitious: When you start going to the gym, it is confusing, and hard. But slowly you see results. You realize results come from setting goals. You set more goals. You then start setting goals not only in the gym but in your everyday life. Fitness builds a mindset which you can use in and out of the gym. Getting stronger physically, goes hand in hand with getting stronger mentally.

Fitness taught me how to deal with my mental health: If you are a very passionate, sensitive individual, it is sometimes hard to cope with all the things life throws at you. I used to binge drink, get into unhealthy relationships, and not value myself because of it. Fitness gives you a coping mechanism, which when used reasonably, can help you get negative feelings like stress out, AND feel better about yourself.

Fitness taught me to be more organized: If you want to go to the gym multiple times a week, while having a social and work life, you learn to prioritize. You prep meals in advance, set times in the week to do what matters to you. This discipline translates to every area of your life.

Fitness teaches you the hard lessons of life: Fitness teaches you patience, it teaches you that hard work pays off, and it teaches you that in life things can go wrong. What changes everything is your mindset, and attitude towards events. I injured myself, failed reps in the gym, got upset and thought I’d give up. But I always get back up. In the gym. In life. You keep pushing, and striving to be the best version of yourself.

Yes, fitness helped me build a body I‘m proud of. But bodybuilding, and powerlifting is so much more to me. It made me realize how capable I am, by pushing me to set goals, get organized, and be a boss in all areas of my life. Through this discipline, I was able to pick myself up when I was down, and keep pushing. Weightlifting pushed me to believe in myself, and treat myself right like I deserved all along. Treat your body right and your mind will thank you for it. <3

Nina Surugue, Fitness Enthusiast. (@ninaslifts)

Any individuals in sports and fitness who would like to share their voice, please submit to hank@hankfittraining.com