Annie combines a traditional office job with her solopreneur career in colourfully designed microfiber gym towels. She draws her energy from regular exercise, which also has the added bonus of giving her mind something non-work related to think about! Annie has lived in Sydney for the last three years with her equally active husband, and spends her downtime on flat whites and almond croissants.
Take us through your week in exercise:
I work a 9-5er on the other side of Sydney to my home with a 2.5 hour total commute every day. My stop offs at the gym on the way home have to be a routine otherwise I find myself on the couch at 7pm with no chance of getting up again!
To coincide with an empty gym, my exercise week begins on Fridays. I can take my time with a lower body strength workout and hog a squat rack without guilt! On Saturday I like to get up early for a walk along the coast with a friend (to make up for being MIA on Friday nights), or hill runs and circuits at the local park with my husband. I spend most of the weekend working on my business, Sogz Gym Towels, so the sweat puts me back in the zone of my product! Sunday afternoons I’m back at the gym for an upper body workout, again taking advantage of the emptiness to not rush through it.
By Monday by body and mind need a rest, so I go to a vinyasa yoga class to readjust and stretch out from the weekend. I go to an RPM class on Tuesday nights, leaving Wednesday and Thursday free for having a social life!
What’s your favourite place to work out?
The Coogee to Bondi coastal walk is spectacular for a run – sometimes I like to stop off at one of the park gyms along the way.
What’s your favourite music to work out to?
I’m all about Taylor Swift and Beyonce, squatting to girl power is a whole new level of satisfying!
Describe your workout fashion style:
I’m a sweaty red-faced mess after every workout, so I try to wear nice gear to offset it! My favourites at the moment are a very light and loose lime green tank from Lululemon and multicolour booty shorts from Dollboxx. Of course, I always bring one of my brightly coloured Sogz towels with me and purposely clash them against what I’m wearing!
Your favourite post-workout meal?
As I generally workout after work, my post-workout meal is usually dinner. Chicken stir fries with a ton of veggies is a quick dinner, super tasty, and means by 8.30pm I can be on the couch, guilt-free!
Favourite exercise?
Squats have been my favourite for a long time, but I’ve recently been working on my shoulders after a long period of neglect, and I think I’ve found a new love for dumbbell overhead presses!
Least favourite exercise?
Planks! My brain gets bored after about ten seconds!
What positive impact has being fit and healthy had on your life?
While I joke about a minimal social life because of exercise, it’s actually opened up a whole new level of relationships for me. Going for runs with friends, workouts with my husband, or even Zumba with my mum sends all sorts of lovely smiley feelings around which wouldn’t have been there without the shared sweaty experience.
What are your top three tips for staying healthy?
1. Plan ahead. I have minimal free time between work, commute, and Sogz, but I still have a solid exercise routine and time for friends and family. I couldn’t do it without detailed organisation and planning!
2. Set small goals. I started exercising with the C25K plan, and running a little further each week gave me a huge boost. In strength training, my goals started as just adding a couple of kilos each week and these were achievable as long as I kept showing up and working hard.
3. Surround yourself with healthy people. They’re the ones who’ll be happy to catch up for a new class with dinner after, or an early morning run followed by coffee. It makes it easier to see how a healthy life can work with a social one, not against it.
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