Upper body strength

As soon as I started walking, I was playing a sport. I don’t remember there being a time where I wasn't on a sports team during my childhood. To me, exercise was practice after school and traveling for games on the weekend for whatever sport I was playing. As a teen, in my off-seasons, my mom would beg me to go to the gym with her for fun, but I didn't have much interest in it.

I liked running and endurance-based activities because I felt like they complimented sports pretty well, especially lacrosse, which eventually became my main activity. I ended up being able to play lacrosse in college, where I was first required to start strength training to prepare for the season. While I was in shape for my sport, I couldn’t even lift the bar in the gym, and I was mesmerized by all the different movements that I didn’t really understand.

In the middle of college, everyone was sent home because of the pandemic. I felt far away from my entire life and all my friends, and like there was nothing for me to be doing. There was so much time on my hands, and there was nowhere for me to be

While sitting at home alone, I had nothing to do besides work out. To pass the time and cope with what was happening, I wanted to exercise, but I felt stuck since gyms were closed Then my dad handed me this 25-pound bag of rice from Costco and said, “You can train with this. There’s actually a lot you can do with it.” So I stuffed that bag of rice in a backpack to make it heavy, and I’d use it as a weight. I would put the backpack at the front of my body and do squats. I would use it as a kettlebell for kettlebell swings. I would put it on my back and do walking lunges.

I realized there was a lot I could do at home, but I wanted to try to strength train at the actual gym. I decided that, when I was done playing college lacrosse, I would get serious about a gym routine. When I graduated from college, I was excited—but so confused—about where to begin. I followed fitness influencers on TikTok who gave workout tips and advice on which movements to try. But I also wanted to make sure all of my information was accurate and science-based, so I started researching online, watching the moves other people at the gym were doing, and reaching out to my old college coaches for tips

After a combination of trial and error, researching, and practicing at the gym, I finally found my strength training routine and stride. I started to finally perfect my strength exercises. My confidence was growing so much as a result, which only motivated me to continue. I developed so much discipline that translated into every other aspect of my life.