Out of her slump and performing her best in life and in the gym!
Shelby recently completed our 12 Week Transformation Challenge where she focused on her strength and building her cardiovascular endurance. She spent anywhere from 60-90 minutes in the gym Monday - Friday with a custom training program and it paid off!
Shelby before and after 12 weeks.
“I am the lightest I have been since college and the strongest I have ever been.”
Shelby has been a member of Studio ME for about three years, spending most of her time in bootcamp and about 1 year doing semi-private sessions. She came in guns a blazing in bootcamp and then has some injuries from running and playing soccer that took over a year to rehab.
“Don’t get me wrong - both of those structures are great, they helped me build routines, recover from injuries (herniated discs in my lower back and a torn ACL), and gave me accountability to show up to the gym. Despite all of that, I felt like I had found myself in a rut I had never been before – it wasn’t injury induced but a mental struggle” says Shelby.
When we opened the ME12 registration I was actually a little surprised when she approached me on the gym floor saying she wanted to do the program.
”The summer of 2021, I was the heaviest I had ever been, and my mental health was subpar at best. While a lot of factors contributed to that, my appearance and overall lack of motivation aided in the getting me to the valley I was in. I was intrigued by the attentive coaching, focus on nutrition, and increased accountability that the ME12 program would offer. I knew that if I set goals, the coaches would help me achieve them and celebrate when I did.”
Set goals this girl did!
After doing the max testing, set her sights on:
Get my squat max and deadlift to 200LBs
Row 5000 meters in under 20 min
Get a 16 second 100-meter sprint
Not drink any alcohol during the program
Then we began! She was so ready to go. Started strong with the workouts, meal prepping but it wasn’t all easy….
“The beginning of the program was great – I was good-sore almost every day, I was super motivated, and it was fun “competing” with David each morning. I thought the sky was the limit on what I could do with this program. As the weeks continued, I did see a little lull in my progress, and this is when I discovered the importance of balance – I wasn’t eating enough, and I certainly wasn’t resting enough. Needing 5-6 meals a day was very different from the 1-2 meals daily that I was used to. I was also running 3 days a week, training for a 10-mile race, on top of the program. I was only getting 5 hours of sleep on a good night. Billy had to emphasize with me the importance of eating, drinking water, and taking the time to rest and recover in order to actually see the progress I wanted.
By the last month of the program, I had improved on some of that, and had restructured the running program I was doing to maximize my rest during the week. It was then that I started to see some of the extra weight I was targeted come off, and my strength greatly improve. When David had to leave mid-program, it was hard. Working out alone was challenging at first, but it gave me the opportunity to focus more on my progress and not as much on competing to be stronger than the person next to me. Billy and Megan would graciously hop in and help me get through the Super Sweaties and the 100m sprints. I am sad that David wasn’t able to finish the program with us, but I am also very grateful that I was able to power through and learn more about myself and how to challenge myself without needing to compare myself to others. My mental strength is probably the thing I am most proud of.
While having more defined biceps, and improved cardiovascular endurance is nice – improving my confidence inside and outside the gym has meant more to me than I could have imagined. I am tearing up as I write this but being told by my fiancé that he is proud of my dedication and focus was one of the best accomplishments I could ask for. He also told me that one of his friends said that I have inspired him to take a break from drinking alcohol and work on his rowing endurance. My family has told me that I seem lighter – physically and mentally. I went into the program with my goals and not expecting to see huge changes, but coming out and getting the recognition I have, has proven that it was 1000% worth the work I put in.”
This program is not easy and we know that as coaches. We’ve all gone through it was well and know that it is not only physically but mentally challenging . What Shelby learned about herself is the biggest of all the wins and PRs she has set. She is capable of so much!
We asked, What did you learn from the program, Shelby responded with:
“The little things really matter - the program took a few weeks to ramp up and I didn’t pay a lot of attention to the little details at first. As it progresses, it became more important to focus on breath, form, and listening to your body as the weights get heavier. I learned that mental strength is just as if not more important than physical strength. I also learned that how I feel has nothing to do with the number on the scale. I tried to resist weighing myself during the program and just focus on the progress I saw and felt and that helped my mental health a lot too. I also learned that I need to eat and sleep more. We have this idea that you need to eat less and push harder/longer/faster in order to get to your goal weight and goal strength – that’s BS. Our bodies need fuel and time to recover and taking the time to learn that and practice it is challenging and something I am still working on.”
Least favorite part?
“Coach Billy could guess this from a mile away, but SUPER SWEATIES” – especially the death-metal-Cotton-Eyed-Joe version. Also, on a cornier note – my least favorite part is that it is over. I loved the routine I developed around it and spending 10+ hours a week at the gym helped me feel closer to our little gym community.”
Shelby’s massive accomplishments include:
Squat max – 185 lbs (did this the day after my 10-mile race so could be a little more) (starting was 165lb)
Deadlift – 227.5 lbs!! (max at the start was 170lb)
Hit 5K twice on the 20-minute row, and the second time my HR monitor only hit 90% of my max in the last minute. I also got over 4600 meters while staying completely in the green! (her 20 min row was 4589 meters while at 85%+ the entire time)
Hit 15 seconds in the 100m sprint multiple times
At the beginning of the program, my avgerage running pace was around 10 min miles. On April 3rd, I ran in a 10-mile race and had an average pace of 8:32/mile and I PR’d by over 8 minutes. I also ran a half-marathon while training at the end of March and ran it in 1:56:11 (8:52/mile pace) without stopping – a PR of over 21 minutes.
I signed up to run Grandma’s Marathon in June – something I never would have believed I would be doing before this program.
My body has totally changed and I am down three pant sizes! I am the lightest I have been since college and the strongest I have ever been.
I haven’t had any alcohol in 87 days and I feel AMAZING
These are no small feats! I can’t wait to see what Shelby does next!
When we asked her what she would say to someone considering this program…
“Do it. Using your resources (time, focus, money) and putting them towards yourself is worth it. Finally, get excited about your accomplishments. The weights you are lifting, and times you get on the rower might not be world-record breaking, but if it’s a PR, celebrate it. The coaches and other people in the gym love helping other people accomplish their goals. If I’m in the gym when you do, know that I will be hooting and hollering right along with you!”
You two can get results and turn your health and fitness around. It’s never too late and we are here to help you every step of the way. Learn more about our ME12 program here or Book a Call to see if its a good fit. We start out next session on April 11th. Dont another 3 months go by before you get started.