Congratulations to our Client of the Month in Somerville: Sarah Hamblin!
-
What is your hometown? I was born in Birmingham in the UK, but I’ve lived in lots of different places in the US and overseas.
-
What brought you to DPT? I was living a pretty sedentary lifestyle, and my job made it hard for me to carve out the time for exercise. With turning 40 on the horizon, I felt that it was really my last chance to get in shape. The structure and accountability of DPT was really appealing given how hard I’d found it to motivate myself on my own.
-
How long have you been training with us? Around seven months, I think, but it’s become such a normal part of my routine that I feel like I’ve been here much longer.
-
What do you do in the “real world?” (job, family, pets, etc) I’m a Professor of Cinema Studies at UMass Boston. I’m also mother to two ridiculously cute cats. I love animals, and I volunteer at a local cat rescue too. I don’t have a lot of free time, as my job means I’m always working on various research projects, but I really enjoy cooking, and I like experimenting with the vegetarian traditions of various different cuisines.
-
What is one fun fact that most people don’t know about you? When I lived in Japan I got to go back stage at a Rolling Stones concert. One of my friends worked on the tour and he let us climb all over the stage, and then Ronnie Wood said we could drink beers from his cooler. It’s about as close as I’ll ever come to fame and fortune.
-
What is your favorite exercise and why? I really like any exercise with the blue bands, especially the glute bridge challenges! Also, and I can’t quite believe I’m saying this, I’ve come to embrace the burpee! When I first started, I could barely do four before I was exhausted. I wouldn’t say that I enjoy them now, but I have come to appreciate the physical challenge.
-
What is your biggest gym achievement so far? Being able to do real push ups with depth. It was the push up challenge during my first week, and I was amazed at how many people could do. I remember being really impressed but a little deflated as I didn’t think I’d ever be able to do anything like that. I still can’t crack out twenty nose-to-the-floor push ups in 30 seconds, but I’m really proud of the progress I’ve made in a relatively short time.
-
What inspires and motivates you? This probably isn’t surprising, given what I do for a living, but I respond really well to structure, clear goals, and positive feedback. One of the best things about DPT is that everyone at the gym offers this. I really like how the trainers always take the time to explain every exercise and how much personal attention we get as clients. I feel really supported and encouraged when one of them remembers a weight I was using the last time we did an exercise and pushes me to try something harder. The other people working out are always so positive too – no one is hyper-competitive or makes you feel bad if you can’t do something. I know it’s a cliché, but it really feels like a community. I’ve never really felt comfortable in sports environments, so I find this really inspiring.
-
What would you say to someone who is thinking about joining or who has just joined DPT? To people who are thinking about joining, I’d tell them to believe what they’re reading – I was really skeptical about signing up for something that I’d seen on Facebook, but it was exactly what I was hoping it would be. Try the six week bootcamp challenge, and see if DPT is right for you. For people who have just signed up, I’d tell them to give it four months. It’s hard to start and it takes a little while to get confident with the exercises, but after about four months you’ll really begin to see a difference in your abilities and in your body. It was around this time that I started to see the beginnings of muscle definition in my arms, and that’s been the biggest motivator of all!