Testimontials

Rebecca E.

• Age: 23
• Occupation: Full time graduate student
• When did you start training with LostBoys? Jan 2016
• Squat: 200
• Bench: 140
• Deadlift: 215

Before

Before Lost Boys I was constantly tired, never feeling like I had slept enough.

I was sluggish throughout the day and counting down the minutes until a nap or coffee. I struggled with a dislocated rib that had caused me chronic back pain with little relief and I was scared at the thought of lifting/working out again. Before LostBoys I was doing absolutely nothing.

I was eating horribly, and never making time for a decent workout.

What helped me make the decision to try LostBoys was I just said why the heck not. It was time for a change and I didn’t know what else to do. I figured that having a coach and mentor in the gym would be my best chance at getting healthy. I struggled catching on at first, but I was immediately comfortable.

Gabriel made the classes fit my current fitness level and really explained everything we were doing.

After:

I regained confidence in myself and pride in my body.

After going to college and stopping playing sports I lost all momentum to maintain a healthy lifestyle and then eventually got so off track that I did not know where to begin again, until LostBoys.

After joining LostBoys I gained the advice, encouragement and support to start taking care of myself again and began setting goals.

My chronic back pain of about 3 years has also almost vanished. I still struggle with my own confidence in lifting, but am no longer intimidated by the idea of lifting heavy. And have I gotten bulky since I started? Not at all. I have never been injured either.

Sarah H.

• Age: 33
• Occupation: Clinical Dietitian
• When did you start training with LostBoys? Nov. 2015
• Squat: 225
• Bench: 125
• Deadlift: 255

Before

Before LostBoys I always felt like I was in fairly good shape but I’ve never felt particularly strong.

I started distance running about 7 years ago mostly half marathons and 10 K’s, I would do some cross training in the gym like spin classes some body pump classes; I started rock climbing 2-3 days a week 3 years ago. I’ve also been doing yoga consistently once a week for about 10 years.

But, I wanted to advance my skills in climbing, running and yoga overall I needed strength to do it.

After:

Its surprising how confident you feel when you start to feel strong, its inspiring to follow female lifting athletes on Instagram.

It’s almost like a sisterhood of strong women building each other up, encouraging each other and inspiring each other.

Were you ever intimidated by this style of training? Of course, I believe most women are.

Have you gotten bulky since you started? Nope. How often were you injured by heavy lifting? Never.

Emily H.

• Age: 27
• Occupation: 
• Recreation Specialist, Rke. Co. Parks and Rec.
• When did you start training with LostBoys? March 2016

Before

I went through phases of seeing desired results and extended slogs of really wanting to see desired results.

Cardiovascular exercise sometimes exacerbates this experience rather than quelling it. I have always been active. I even took up running and completed a full marathon in 2011. Twice a week, I attended fitness classes that used high rep schemes and low weight volume.

Saturday classes with LostBoys are open to the general public. After attending two of these classes, I was invited to a two-week free trial.

I was not uncomfortable with any of the actual training or social engagement.

Questions about my state of well-being outside of classes, goals, and reflections on conditioning took close to three months to acclimate myself to and answer in a genuine, considerate manner.

After:

Lifting with a group that helped me to be accountable to myself for my achievement of goals or desired results.

A myriad of small achievements or changes in activity helped me build a reservoir of self-effacing thoughts.

I finally gathered enough courage and took the plunge in multiple facets of my personal life: pursuing more fulfilling relationships, applying to a graduate program, and taking greater creative risks at work.

Most importantly, heavy resistance and weight training has helped me to manage my propensity toward self-destructive anger during particularly stressful intervals. y and large guidance and incremental increases in weight and reps have enabled me to ignore my intimidation.

I haven’t gotten bulky so much as less flabby.

My actual giant of a father recently called me “scrappy” after I easily took a heavy box off of his hands.

Francine K.

• Age: 27
• Occupation: Air Traffic Controller
• When did you start training with LostBoys? April 2016

Before

Before I started lifting I was having a lot of lower back issues.

I sit a lot at my job and since I was not in great shape and I was really feeling it in my back. I had also started to gain some weight – yay aging and slowing metabolism – so my general confidence wasn’t great and my happiness with my body was very low.

I really didn’t even know where to begin.

I played a lot of sports in high school and college I never was someone who went to the gym to lift. I was rock climbing 2-3 times a week bit and trying to walk/run a few miles each week, but I was having a very hard time keeping a consistent schedule. And I noticed that I was gaining weight.

I thought to myself that “this is how people get fat”…

because it just snuck up on me over the course of a few months and I didn’t want to get to the point where I had to make a drastic life change to fix it.

I started in the Tuesday climber’s class and I would say after about a month I was comfortable!

After:

Lifting has made me much more confident in myself.

I feel like I have always had pretty good confidence in my social and cognitive abilities but have struggled with liking my body and feeling like I “looked good”. After lifting with LostBoys my confidence in my body has improved a lot! It’s a great feeling to be able to look back at my lift numbers and see them go up.

I didn’t realize how much my negative body image was affecting my mood on a day to day basis.

Now, I also focus less on “being skinny” and more on pushing myself and appreciating what my body can do. It’s not something that I was specifically trying to change, but it’s just happened over the course of training – and I like it!

Now I feel like I could work out on my own and make progress and not embarrass myself.

The only place that I notice has grown – in a good way! – is my butt. #shreddedcheddar!

And I haven’t gotten bulky! Yay! Just getting toned.

I haven’t had any serious injuries from working out, but rather (especially squatting), has helped loosen tight areas up.