Estela Llanos Personal Training

A client said this to me yesterday during their 3-month review.

They've now been training with me for 3 years, online with a few dumbbells and KB, and they're really happy with the progress they've made (and so am I!!!).

Over that time, they've:

💪🏻 Become fitter and more confident

🏋🏻‍♀️ Built the knowledge and confidence to know what they're doing if they walk into a gym

🦵🏻 Learned how to adapt their training when their knee has played up

📈 Continued making progress even when they've had a few weeks off

And perhaps most importantly, they said that training has removed some of the thinking, worry and fear around everyday things.

- Going for a long walk with their husband used to mean worrying about whether they could keep up.

- Doing the grocery shopping used to take longer because they found it harder to move around with ease.

- Going on holiday and sightseeing meant needing to stop and take regular breaks, sometimes long ones.

None of those things are an issue anymore.

It didn't happen overnight. Consistency has been the key element for this. And their enthusiasm to show up for themselves.

That's what I love about this kind of progress.

It's not just about getting fitter.

It's about making life easier and less restricted, so we can enjoy it more!

It's not about comparing yourself to someone else.

It's about looking back and realising:

“I can do things now that I couldn't do before, and for that, I'm the f*ing bomb!” 😁

40 years old and stronger than ever. Great work, R!

That's pretty awesome. 🥳

What if, instead of comparing yourself to other people, you got curious about what they do that helps them stay consistent?

You see that friend of yours who seems to have their fitness, food or routine all figured out and it's easy to think:

“They're so disciplined.”
“I wish I was that organised.”
“How do they manage to keep on top of everything?”

But rather than comparing yourself to them, get curious.

What little things do they do that make things easier for themselves?

For me, last night it was making my breakfast for the next three days. 😂🥣

Not because I have to meal prep absolutely everything or because I'm some kind of organisational queen…

I just know that “future me” will be very grateful to “last night's me” when I'm rushing around in the morning and breakfast is already sorted.

And I think that's a much more useful way to look at other people's journeys.

Instead of:

“Why can't I be more like them?”

Try:

“What do they do that I could borrow to make my own life a little easier?”

You don't need to copy someone else's fitness journey.

But you might find a few things along the way that work brilliantly for yours. 🙌

Being consistent means doing a favour for yourself in advance. 🤝🏻

Today is your last chance for a free PT session in Shirehampton. Already exercising but feel stuck? Like if interested.👇🏻

North Bristol: already exercising but not getting the return on your effort? I'm looking for 4 people. Apply by Sunday. INFO 👇🏻

And it's not because life suddenly got less busy.

When Nikki first started working with me, she wanted to:

✔ Build strength around her core and pelvic floor, and injured shoulder.
✔ Get fitter and stronger for life and rugby training.
✔ Create a routine she could actually stick to.
✔ Work towards her first pull-up.

The problem wasn't motivation.

It was life.

Nikki is a wildlife TV producer, which means regular travel. She's also a mum of two, a wife, a rugby player and was rebuilding her strength after a shoulder injury.

Like so many people, there were weeks where fitting in every planned workout just wasn't realistic.

So instead of giving up when life got busy, we changed the plan.

We found ways to make movement fit around her life instead of expecting life to fit around exercise.

That meant:

💪 Mini pull-up competitions with her son.
💪 Push-ups against the kitchen counter.
💪 Five-minute core sessions.
💪 A kettlebell in the office for quick presses between meetings.

Fast forward to today…

✔️ She's fitter and stronger and her injured shoulder feels more resilient.

✔️ She's back enjoying rugby.

✔️ She's keeping up with the teenagers at training.

✔️ And she's getting closer and closer to her first pull-up.

For me, that's what progress looks like.

Not waiting for the perfect week.

Not doing everything perfectly.

Just finding a way to add bits of exercise, even when life gets busy.

If you'd like to get more from the effort you're already putting into exercise, comment "INFO" below and let's have a chat.

North West Bristol people - if you're already exercising but not getting the return on the effort you're putting in, I'd love to help.

For those who don't know me, I'm Estela, a Personal Trainer based in Shirehampton, North West Bristol.

And I’m all about normalising:

💪 Building muscle and strength.

🍝 Eating carbs.

🍑 Having cellulite.

🏃‍♀️ Exercising to feel strong, capable and confident in what your body can do.

Because I know how frustrating it can be to put the effort into exercising and still feel unsure whether you're moving towards your goals.

I thought it would be a nice way to give something back to the local community this summer, so I'm offering 5 free one-to-one Personal Training sessions next week.

So, these sessions are perfect if you:

✔ Already exercise at home or go to the gym but aren't sure if you're doing the right exercises.

✔ Feel like you've hit a plateau and don't know how to progress.

✔ Want to get more from the time you're already spending exercising.

✔ Want to stop second-guessing your workouts and train with confidence.

During the session we'll chat about your goals, look at your current routine, identify what might be holding your progress back, and work through a workout together with practical advice you can start using straight away.

I only have 5 spaces available, and they'll close on Sunday 16th at 7pm.

If that sounds like you,

Comment INFO below and I'll send you all the details. 😊

...is accepting that not every day has to look the same.

I was actually going to film a Reel for this post today.

But I've had a headache all day, work's been busy, and I just didn't have the time or energy.

A few years ago, I'd probably have thought,

"I'll just do it next week when I can do it properly."

Instead, I asked myself the same question I ask my clients:

How can I best show up for myself and my fitness goals today?

So today, it's a photo of me eating one of my favourite meals (Lebanese food from .grillhouse_juicebar) 😆 cos I couldn't find a better one and a caption.

The same goes for my training.

Some days, I have time for a full workout.

Some days, it's 10-15 minutes with a kettlebell.

Some days, it's a few Turkish get-ups, a couple of songs of rope flow, or a walk.

I call them my movement snacks.

They're not there to replace my workouts.

They're there to stop a busy day, turning into another day of doing nothing.

That shift in my mindset has probably done more for my consistency than any training programme ever has.

Because every time I adapt instead of giving up, I’m continuing to invest in my fitness and my health, both physical and mental.

Maybe that's your reminder today too.

Choosing to “show you for yourself today" will always take you further than waiting for the perfect one.

...is because they try to do too much, too soon.

Have you ever started a new exercise routine thinking…

"Right... this time I'm going to do it properly."

Five workouts a week.

10,000 steps every day.

Meal prep.

Early mornings.

No takeaways.

Then life happens.

Work gets busy.

Someone gets ill.

You have a rubbish night's sleep.

And suddenly…

Today's workout doesn't happen.

Your watch says 248 steps.

Work finishes late, so you order pizza because you're too tired to cook.

You didn’t fail today

You were trying to stick to a plan that only worked when life went perfectly.

I see this all the time.

People don't usually struggle because they aren't doing enough.

They struggle because they're asking themselves to do too much, too soon.

What if, instead of asking:

"Right... this week I'm going to do it properly. "

What if you asked yourself…

“Is this plan realistic enough that I can see myself still doing it in a month's time?”

That might mean;

Two or three workouts instead of five.
A 20-minute workout instead of a full hour.
Meal planning at the weekend instead of deciding what to cook every evening.

Consistency isn't built by squeezing everything you can out of one good week.

It's built by choosing habits you can repeat, then building on them over time.

💬 Have you ever caught yourself trying to do too much, too soon?