CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. — With the New Year just kicking off, some people might have already started making their New Year’s Resolutions. The question of where to start and, more importantly, how to maintain them is top of mind.
We spoke with Jacob Smith, General Manager of Planet Fitness here in Chattanooga, who shares how he leverages his personal experience as a trainer to help residents take positive steps toward establishing a fitness routine and improving their health in the new year.
FHO Positive steps toward fitness resolution
“So in my experience, when I got into the exercise and industry, you know, I was a very scrawny kid. I couldn’t gain muscle. And so really, what motivates me is, you know, just a simple fact of getting up and being healthier, right? And another big thing is helping people. I’ve always been one of those people that wanted to help people. I didn’t want to do it in a hospital, so I wanted to do it more, you know, out there, right? And so the fitness industry was one of the biggest things that got me there, said Jacob Smith, General Manager of Planet Fitness Chattanooga.”“So one of the big things is that plant fitness, we strive, you know, to get people in and make sure that they feel welcome in a non intimidating environment. We call it, obviously, the judgment-free zone. And the biggest thing is, is just one, getting there. Two, you know, people don’t really it’s the confidence of getting to the gym and being in the gym. You know, some people feel vulnerable in the gym, and that’s why we try to make it kind of like a barbershop atmosphere where you know anybody and everybody talks, you know, you talk to everybody, just so you feel welcome whenever you ever come in, said Jacob Smith, General Manager of Planet Fitness Chattanooga.”
As a personal trainer himself, Jacob tells us he can see firsthand how some residents might be reluctant to go to the gym out of fear of other gym goers “watching them”. Here is what he had to say.
PHOTO CREDIT: PLANET FITNESS B-ROLL{ }
PHOTO CREDIT: PLANET FITNESS B-ROLL{ }“Another thing is, you know, people think that, Oh, you’re, you’re, people are watching me. Other people are watching the exercise. To be honest with you, nobody’s watching you. They’re all there to exercise as well. And so that’s one of the messages, even when I was when I was a personal trainer, that’s what I used to tell my you know, my people was, hey, they’re not watching you. They’re just working out just like you are. They’re here to get something done just like you are. And so that right there just kind of puts them in a different mental space to where they can actually start working out, said Jacob Smith, General Manager of Planet Fitness Chattanooga.”
The overall message that Jacob wants to reiterate is focusing on three simple steps to help carve out a plan for your New Year’s Goals.
First, just get started. Second, build small, but simple habits, and then just motivate yourself.
Try asking yourself, ‘Let me see where I can go with this,’ and just keep that mental motivation.
