Member spotlight: Melanie Tonkin Training for events & why she loves She Moves
Our members do incredible things and we want to share them with you! She Moves trainer Nic sat down with member Melanie Tonkin. Mel is 52 years young is running in events, doing our she explodes workouts and is up for the 6.10am classes each day. Mel lets us in on how she achieves it all and how age shouldn’t be a barrier when it comes to exercise.
Tell us all a little about who Mel is.
I am Mel, I am 52 years old and I live in Hamilton with my husband of 21 years, two teenagers, a cat, and a dog! I am at the other end of motherhood where I am trying to wake the teenagers up in the morning instead of them waking me!
How long have you been a She Moves Member? And what do you love most about She Moves?
I first meet Ren and Jen at a Novotel conference in 2018, I loved what they were offering so went home and signed up straight away and the rest is history. The thing I love most about She Moves is the flexibility, I can do the workouts from home, with little to no equipment. I even do my She Moves workouts when I go away for work, once I forgot my workout gear so ended up doing my workout in my pajamas in the hotel room, it was great and gives me no excuses to not exercise.
How do you stay so consistent with your workouts?
I know from experience that if I don’t work out in the mornings then I am not going to get it done, I come home from work tired in the afternoons and usually have to run around after the kids doing their sports and after school activities. To make it that little bit easier to get up and workout in the morning I make sure I put my exercise gear out the night before so it’s ready to go in the morning. I never press snooze on my alarm clock even when I am tempted to. There is such great variety in the She Moves timetable so I never get board! Currently loving She Explodes with our energiser bunny Emma!
Are you a team live or team replay girl? Which do you prefer and why
I am currently doing a mix of both live and replay. I love when I can join the trainer and the rest of the community live as it helps to keep me accountable, it’s also really nice when the trainer says good morning to you, it’s just that little bit more personal.
You entered into a number of events a year, do you have any coming up and how do the She Moves classes prepare you for these?
When I wanted to enter my first ever running event I purchased the She Moves 0- 5km beginner running program, it was great and helped me to achieve my first event. I like to do a combination of running and walking events and I feel like the She Moves workouts gives me a great baseline to work from. I also have arthritis in my right knee, have had two surgeries on my left knee and ankle reconstruction so keeping my body moving is super important, I love the She Moves provides me with all the modifications I need to manage these injuries and build strength.
Do you have any advice for anyone just starting out on their exercise journey?
Try not to overwhelm yourself at the beginning, a little bit of movement each day is better than nothing at all, listen to your body and enjoy the movement you are doing - there is so much to choose from!
I hope you all leave feeling inspired by this awesome lady, age, and injury isn’t a barrier when it comes to moving your body, consistency and small steps really are key. Thanks so much Mel we love having you in our She Moves community
