Clare Parsons

What was your relationship to exercise before you started strength training at Fitology Hub?

At school, I was the fat kid who had loads of operations on my legs. I couldn't run or play team sports because I was so uncoordinated. I had hip dysplasia, which meant they had to cut my thigh bones in half, before rotating my hips and pinning the tops. I was in a cast, with legs akimbo, for six weeks! I didn't even get offered physio or anything afterwards.

In my family, my dad wasn't keen on sports, so he would always say to me, "Don't worry, you don't have to do sports or be good at sports," so I just thought I was rubbish at sports and never connected it to my hip dysplasia.

Before Fitology Hub, I had tried doing lots of things as an adult, but nothing ever stuck. I found it hard to be consistent with exercise and never kept it up. I used to feel really dissociated from my body and I had a lot of fears.

How has strength training impacted your life?

One of the trigger points for me to make the decision to get stronger was when I reached over to pick up my bag and pulled something in my back. I thought, "Oh come on! I can't even pick up my handbag now?!" I'd got to the point of feeling weak, frail and fragile.

As a single mum to a very active and super strong young child, I needed to be able to pick her up and carry her around. I needed to be able to give her piggybacks and be out and about all day. I didn't have the stamina before I started training, but I've built it up gradually over time. Getting stronger has even unlocked running for me, which had always been something that felt completely out of reach.

Before I started strength training, my joints felt really unstable. I have a history of knee dislocations, so running made my knees feel like they might pop off! Because I have been consistently strengthening the muscles around my joints for the last few years, I can now run safely. I couldn't run for 30 seconds before and now I can run 5K! The idea that I would ever be able to do that used to feel as likely as going to the moon!

Strength training has given me trust in my body as well as a real sense of accomplishment. I remember bumping into Suzanne on the school run and she said to my daughter, "Your Mummy's really strong!" It was like she was telling little me that, and in front of my daughter too! It triggered a reframe in my self-perception, which was really powerful. I feel so much more capable now and I know I can do things.

How has being a member of Fitology Hub impacted your life?

Being a member of Fitology Hub has made me realise that I can do exercise consistently if I'm in the right environment. It's non-judgemental and I feel safe to try things here. I feel able to trust that I can take on new challenges and I feel less limited in my body.

I joined Fitology Hub at a time when my life felt like it was getting smaller. Being a member has helped to expand what is possible for me, not just in the gym, but also in my life. I can do things now I couldn't do even before I had a baby!

I have found friendship here too which has been wonderful. My Fitology Hub friends aren't mum-friends or work-friends; we're all there to look after ourselves and our bodies, so we connect as individuals with a shared goal. We all feel able to show up as ourselves and share what's going on for us and how we're feeling. We support and trust each other.

The ethos of Fitology Hub and its values of acceptance and showing up as ourselves feeds into the way we are with each other in sessions. The culture of kindness has also bled into the rest of my life too. What's really lovely about this place is that I often run into people I know from Fitology Hub in the local area and find we have friends outside of the Hub in common too. Being a member has made me feel more rooted in my community.