What are your favorite physical activities or exercises?
It was the year of 2021 when I was deployed that I found my passion for strength training. Much of my down time was spent in the gym focusing on keeping myself occupied and bettering myself physically but also mentally. T
throughout my time overseas in the gym I was seeing crazy results by progressive overloading with the weights and making sure I was getting in enough food to fuel my body.
During this time I also began watching the CrossFit games and fell in love with watching the females compete and how strong they were. This was also a time where I had a mind shift of strong over skinny. But keep in mind everyone has their own goals. For me my goal was to become strong. I did dabble in CrossFit for a short period of time but I always went back to strength training!
When I returned home from serving my time I continued to strength train at a gym and about a year later I found a coach and began training for my first body building competition.
From August 2022 to May 2023 I continued to build muscle and track macros to make sure I was building enough muscle to begin my prep (cut) beginning of June 2023.
Don’t get me wrong there were times where the last thing I wanted to do was go to the gym. There were times where I fell out of love with the process but there was a goal I was trying to reach and the only way to get where I wanted to be was to keep pushing myself.
In October of 2023 I stepped on stage for the first time at an NPC Bodybuilding competition in Orlando, FL. I fell in love with doing the show that I decided to do another show in November in Des Moines, IA.
Throughout my journey I learned a lot. Not just about body building but also about myself. The crazy discipline, the power to push even when you’re tired, low energy, no motivation. I continued to show up for myself and it paid off in the end.
Fast forward to now I still strength train. I have more goals for my next body building competition!!
Other physical activities I enjoy is running on occasion, line dancing, and winter skiing. Moving your body is so important. Find what you love whether it be yoga, dancing, CrossFit, strength training, or simply just going for a walk getting the fresh air and being surrounded by nature. It doesn’t just do yourself good physically but you’ll notice it helps with yourself mentally as well. They say exercise is the best medicine. There’s no quick fix pill that will make you lose weight for the rest of your life, there’s no 6 week training program that will transform your body completely. It’s a lifestyle. Which is why it’s important to find what makes you happy and continue doing it for the rest of your life!
Comment down below what your favorite physical activity is or exercise!
Alexis Delaney 
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