blog
Welcome to my blog. Thanks for being here.
I like to write a lot. Mostly about powerlifting, strength training, body image + women in sport. They’re kinda my things.
If you ever have questions or want to learn more, please reach out. I would love to hear from you.
Billie x
Training & Long Term Travel
I received a message on Instagram the other day about navigating training and travel — specifically, navigating less predictable training set ups and the psychology around the fear of losing gains. Yes yes, hugely luxe problems. But certainly problems that can plague us when we have passions that are largely at odds.
I love training, I love routine, I love consistency, I love being in control. But I also like everything that opposes that — having no idea what I’m doing tomorrow, what hour I’ll get in tonight (tomorrow morning?), where I’ll sleep tonight. I’m willing to trade off on gains in order to enjoy this side of my personality, but certainly I am constantly engaged with ongoing problem solving to give me the best possible enjoyment of both of my loves.
In this article I talk about both the practical and the emotional aspects of training and long-term travel. I’ll offer personal experience and practical advice on how to best manage training while also letting your hair down af.
Life Trade Offs
Trade offs need to be discussed more, particularly so at this time of year when we’re evaluating our lives, setting goals, making changes for the year ahead. Your time and energy is finite. In order to do more of something, you have to do less of something else.
When I’ve spoken about trade offs previously, and realistically when anyone in health and fitness talks about trade offs, they do so through the lens of achieving some sort of health/fitness goal. If you want to lose weight, you need to trade off some take out meals. If you want to get stronger, you need to pass on some time with friends to spend more time in the gym, etc etc.
I want to talk about trade offs through an alternate lens. This is where I’m at in my life right now.
What I’ve Learned and How I’ve Grown in 10 Years in the Fitness Industry
I completed my fitness certs in 2012. That’s 10 years ago. I remember back then reading the Fitness First personal trainer bios: “10 years industry experience” and thinking “man this guy is a veteran”. lol.
My career has evolved a lot in that time. As I’ve chased curiosities and interests; my work has reflected that. I’ve learned a lot in my time in fitness and I feel my biggest challenges and lessons are only coming now.
10 years in, I still have a very fulfilling career in a pretty brutal industry, I am still learning and I am still having fun. I think there’s something in that worth sharing. So here goes — lessons I’ve learned and lessons I’m still learning in my 10 years in the fitness industry.
What it’s taken to spend a year abroad.
We started assembling the pieces of the “year in Spain” puzzle in January of this year. Setting our lives up to permit us to step away for a year has been so hard.
I wanted to write this primarily for my own reflections. I’ve stared down unreasonably long to-do lists every day for the last eleven months. It’s easy to never look back and see that you’ve actually completed each item on them, so I did want to do that for myself. Secondly though, I love hearing insights from other business owners, the behind the scenes stuff that is rarely shared. I suspect that someone will enjoy or get something out of this, so why not make it public.
So here goes, what we’ve done in 2022 to permit us to spend 2023 in España.