Seeing the benefits of weight training, Laura-Faye Haworth decided that she would take her personal experience and transform the lives of others.

Laura joined the Royal Air Force in 2010, during a time when she didn’t feel her best physically. Knowing that she needed to maintain high fitness levels in the military, Laura began training and lost two stone.

She continued to enjoy weight training for another ten years. Upon leaving the Air Force last year, she knew it was time to pursue her dream and complete her personal training courses.

Now as a qualified personal trainer, Laura works to provide others with the satisfactory feeling that she felt when she began her fitness journey.

She runs her sessions at The Gym Box 61 in Denton, where she offers 1-1 coaching as well as online coaching to complete away from the gym.

As much as she loves a walk with her two dogs, Laura stresses the benefits of weight training and how impactful this can be for your fitness journey.

“People tend to focus so much on cardio, cardio definitely has its place and obviously it’s really good for your heart, but weight training is where it’s at and it’s enjoyable.

“Alongside that, I’d encourage everyone to hit 10,000 steps a day and keep active,” she says.

Teaching people both how to lift effectively and how to enjoy doing so is something that Laura loves.

“I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard people say they’re too scared to lift in the gym, I’ve had girls that tell me they think the weightlifting section is the ‘men’s bit’.

“So, I teach people how to lift weights safely and correctly so they can progress,” Laura says.

As someone who knows quite a lot around training, Laura says that even she loves having a coach to work with her personally on her goals.

“I’ve had a coach for over a year, and I could never do without him now, he holds me accountable and pushes me further.

“People always say that they know what they’re doing in the gym but it’s not just about that, it makes a huge difference having someone to push you,” she says.

After we start losing muscle as we age, Laura says it is important to ensure we have a programme in place to continue to build muscle before our mass declines.

“We start losing muscle from the age of 30 so it’s important to build prior to this so that we can keep building once past the 30 mark.

“That way, when we age, we will find it easier to carry out tasks, therefore making helping us all round.”

When asked on her tips to keeping fit, Laura says her biggest tip is to just get out and get active as well as making sure you are eating enough.

“You don’t have to be in a gym to keep fit, go for a walk, do some gardening or even housework, anything that will increase your energy expenditure.

“There’s also workouts online that you can follow and a great way to keep fit is to get yourself an online coach,” she says.

Laura continues to develop the lives of others through fitness and hopes that many more people can change their lives like she did.

Do you know an inspirational sporting woman in Tameside or Glossop?

Women in Sport is a weekly column which shares the incredible stories of ladies involved in sport across the area. We are always on the lookout for fresh stories to tell. To nominate someone for the column or get involved yourself, please email Katie on katie.catherall@questmedianetwork.co.uk 

You can read last week's column here.

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