MEMBER JOURNEYS
We have some incredible members in our community, with some pretty cool stories. Check out some of our current and previous members journeys below!
Sam Mercer
“My journey with the HIIT Studio date way back to the beginning, around November 2019. How it all began is a bit of a yarn, so get yourself a seat if you’re interested in listening.
In my early 20s, I reached a peak weight of 108kgs. This was largely due to a lack of knowledge of cooking and nutrition, and losing interest in sports. I hit a point where I was extremely unhappy with how I looked and felt, and I decided to do something about it. I tried a few things such as kickboxing and playing sports. I worked for a while getting myself down to 83kgs, but unfortunately, I fell off the wagon and nearly put all that weight back on.
Refusing to lose all the progress I had achieved, I decided to go down a new route. Which is when I started going to the gym. 9 months down the track still had absolutely no idea what I was doing. I decided to do 1-1 personal training with Kristie, her wide range of experience and knowledge taught me everything I needed to know, with the skills I needed to make this a lifestyle and not a phase.
This is where the HIIT Studio comes in…
If you’ve managed to read through this massive yarn that you never asked for, well done lol.
As a part of the 1-1 personal training package with Kristie, I was allowed to go to her 'Bootcamp’ sessions for free. I immediately thought “that sounds lame!!'“ I assumed It was a bunch of women getting together for a workout and decided it wasn’t for me, Yes, believe it or not, I wanted nothing to do with it at first.
After multiple PT sessions with Kris, getting my ear chewed off about what went on with the BootCamp sessions and reasons why I should come along, I caved and decided to go to shut her up. I can easily say that was the most beneficial choice I have made for my health and fitness! After one class I ate my words and have continued to train at the HIIT Studio 5-6 days a week nearly 2 years later, Turns out it wasn’t as lame as I originally thought.
The coaches are experienced, motivating, friendly and understanding and helpful. I’ve made some new lifelong friends and watched other friends make some extremely healthy changes. The HIIT Studio Gore has also pushed me to achieve a lot of other things outside of my comfort zone. I’ve always been one to neglect my cardio training. However, since joining The HIIT Studio I’ve made achievements like my first 15km run.
Personally, I love the social atmosphere that the studio has to offer. It’s a great way to catch up with friends, keep in shape and provides an enjoyable exercise environment that doesn’t feel like exercise. That gets a big tick from me! Weighting in at a comfortable 87kgs, and in the best shape of my life we have now caught up with my fitness journey. If you're reading this and finding yourself in the same situation I once was, then I highly recommend The HIIT Studio Gore. This is the best place to start your journey, a place with ZERO judgement and ZERO experience needed. All you need is the drive to better yourself.”
Alice Robertson
“I joined The HIIT Studio over a year ago for the 2020 winter challenge. After a stressful lockdown which saw my mental health and self esteem hit a real low, stumbling across the ad to join the challenge felt like the sign to finally get my sh*t together that I needed.
Before starting at The HIIT Studio, life felt exhausting- mentally and physically. I was one of those people who knew how to live a healthy lifestyle but just didn’t really care to do it anyway. The thought of group fitness made me absolutely terrified so as you can imagine, there were a few panic attacks in the car park before going in to my first few classes. However, the extremely supportive and patient coaches made the transition into fitness so much easier!
Throughout my time at The HIIT Studio, they never let me give up and werrn’t afraid to push me to my limited so I could see my true potential, which I am so grateful for.
As soon as my self confidence grew and I started smashing more fitness goals, coming into the studio and taking care of myself physically and mentally became my new normal. It became my new version of self care. If I had had a bad day, I wouldn’t want to be there, but taking that 50 minutes for myself always made me feel 100x better!
The positive environment in the studio is what i’m going to miss the most! We’re not only a team but a family. We celebrate each others successes and support each other through our journeys whatever ‘chapter’ we’re on which I believe is what makes the studio so special! I could give you the amount of kilos I lost, the percentage of body fat dropped or how many clothes sizes I went down in but at the end of the day its the confidence, knowledge and friendships gained along the way that I’m taking away with me as I embark on this new chapter of my life! Without it, I honestly wouldn’t have the confidence to.”
“Thank you again to everyone at the studio for your love and support over the last year! No gym in Auckland will ever compare to you awesome bunch of humans!!”
Alannah Robinson
“Well, where do I begin!? I started with The HIIT Studio Gore last year and absolutely LOVE it! I have always had a passion for sports and fitness but getting a little compliant so needed to mix things up. The HIIT Studio was just what I needed. Kris brings new ideas to keep things interesting, introduces new exercise and comes up with some epic challenges to keep myself and others motivated. I entered my first 8 week spring challenge in September 2020 as I was needing to get in shape for my best friends wedding. I was maid of honour, so needed to be looking on point.
I was attending classes 4-6x a week and taking in all the info about nutrition. I achieved some surprisingly good results and decided then, that this was something I just wanted to test out. It was a lifestyle change and I’ve never looked back! Kris and her amazing coaches, Jharydn and Sarah are so flipping good at their job. They are experienced, fit as (walk the walk and talk the talk), they get involved during the classes, they’re supportive, motivate you and so much more.
Some days I turn up not really wanting to be there, sometimes after a nightshift and thinking I’m too tired, but the team don’t let me give up and they push me to my limits, but at the same time helping me see how far I can really go. The classes have such a great vibe with no judgement and people always having a laugh (when not dying, drenched in sweat… but like, that’s what we are there for right? haha).
I highly recommend this place! From the variety of classes for all levels of fitness to the time slots that meet everyone’s agenda. They even have a prize giving at the end of the challenges and this is just another cool way to celebrate everyone’s achievements. The only person holding you back is you. Start your HIIT Studio journey, I promise you will not regret it!!”
Emily Kubala
“As a mum of three I joined the HIIT Studio to lose some weight but I gained so much more within this awesome community. Working with Kris and her team has totally shifted my perspective on health. But that was not the case in the beginning.
For as long as I remember I have fluctuated in size. I would yo-yo monthly. I would jump on any weight loss trend there was! You name it, I’ve tried it. Sure they would work temporarily, then I would gain any weight I lost back and some. For 6 months in the studio my main goal was to lose weight, I signed up for 5-6 classes a week, I was using my trusty old friend calorie deficit, but I was using it to the extreme and was trying to sustain super low calories. I was starving myself and would workout as many times as I could. It got to a point where if I increased calories to a healthy range I would instantly start gaining weight, the total opposite of what I was trying to achieve. Suprise surprise it wasn’t working, the scales wouldn’t budge.
I had lowered my Base Metabolic Rate drastically and caused myself a lot of damage. My body scans showed I’d lost 4kgs of muscle mass from when I started. I was feeling burnt out and defeated. I was that I legit fell asleep during a HIIT Studio class once, I was that exhausted.
Kris would regularly check in with me to see if I was getting enough sleep and eating before a workout, as she could tell with my performance that I wasn’t.
I even reached out to medical professionals to see what was going on since I could no longer eat three meals a day without gaining weight. Turns out I had made myself anaemic and my hormone levels were off the charts, because of the stress I was putting my body into by not fuelling it correctly.
Enough was enough. I had a one on one with Kris and we created a plan to start getting me on a better path, shifting my focus from weight loss to gaining strength that’s when James and Kate at NTS Nutrition came in.
Working with NTS to slowly increase my calories and raise my BMR up has been instrumental ins shifting my mindset over the past 3 months from weight loss goals to sustainable health goals. NTS have provided the information and accountability I’ve needed to sustain healthy habits with food, while Kris, Jhardyn and Sarah have pushed me to improve my resistance training.
I’ve been attending classes at The HIIT Studio constantly for over a year now but it wasn’t until I began to eat more and move away from my weight loss mindset towards strength based goals that I seen the results I’d been wanting from the start. Over the last 3 months I’ve gained back the muscle I lost and dropped inches off my body. The HIIT Studio team and NTS Nutrition have helped me consistently maintain a healthy BMI without yo-yo-ing for the first time in years.
I’m feeling good, energised, strong, confident and happy. I cannot stress enough how important fueling your body correctly is and being consistent with your training can help your mood, everyday life and body composition. If you’re on your own health journey then I would highly recommend working with the winning combo of The HIIT Studio Gore and NTS Nutrition. They are an awesome group of inspirational people who really go out of their way to help you reach your goals.”
WANT TO SEE WHAT SOME OF OUR OTHER MEMBERS HAVE TO SAY?
Check out our testimonies!