Member Spotlight: Marissa and Kyra

If you attend G&M Fitness you definitely know or have seen Marissa and Kyra around the gym. Their always positive attitudes and hard work ethics in the gym are hard to ignore.

Marissa and Kyra have known each other since kindergarten. They both started their fitness journeys with home workouts doing Chloe Ting workout videos on YouTube at 16 years old. After realizing they weren’t getting the results they wanted with those videos they started to do strength training.

“I was consistent with the video workouts for about a year and a half. I started out a bit overweight, lost weight from it but was then underweight and came to the gym to build muscle,” said Kyra.

They started weight training at school in high school which got them comfortable with the gym setting.

At first, they started at G&M separately but then shortly after started coming together.

“Kyra would make the workout plans and then we would do them together and we could push each other.”

Both Kyra and Marissa stated just how much strength training and going to the gym has helped with their overall confidence as young women, and with their mental health as well.

Early on they realized that they were comparing themselves to other young women on social media and that that had to stop and that it was unhealthy.

“Those photos we were comparing ourselves to are edited and are not realistic.”

“We both realized that we both have different body types and that we are happy with the bodies we have created.”

Again, this realization goes back to the confidence that came from strength training.

Kyra and Marissa like to workout 6 days a week with 1 day off completely each week.

“We just try to stay consistent. It’s hard to get back at it when you take too much time off.”

Going to the gym also translated into better eating for the 2 of them as well.

“I used to undereat and only eat 1 meal a day, but now I know that I need to eat more and better to fuel workouts, recover better and build muscle,” said Marissa.

Kyra added and said “Eating has been the hardest thing. Trying not to be restrictive and eat more protein and cut out bad sugars.”

When asked about what their proudest achievement has been so far on their fitness journeys, they both had the same answer, it’s the confidence they have gained.

“We like the feeling of being strong and it is a really good coping mechanism for mental health and stress. When we are at the gym, we don’t think of anything else but focus on the workout we are doing.”

Without the gym they feel like they would have low confidence, be more stressed and not be strong or in shape. They would like to see more young women their age working out and doing strength training.

Kyra says, “Get uncomfortable and just do it,” then Marissa added, “It’s going to be uncomfortable at first but you will find that the pros outweigh the cons. It’s cool to know what your body is capable of and that you are in control of that.”

Marissa and Kyra are excited to continue to see more progress as they go, then ended the interview saying, “Just put your headphones in and get to work!”

Thank you, Marissa and Kyra, for sharing your story! This will no doubt inspire other young women to start their fitness journeys as well! Keep up the good work!