-Struggle-

Hello Friend!

My name is Sarah Rippel and I am a fitness professional and founder of FIT 2 GO!, a personal training business that operates exclusively out of my clients’ homes. I have been in the fitness industry for almost 13 years, and have worked with people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities in various settings. At this point in my career, it is crystal-clear to me that I simply do not belong in a typical “big box” gym. I have found my niche, and have discovered that there is a great demand for a mobile personal training service!

In other words, I prefer to think “outside the box.”

There is a big problem within the fitness industry. As with any profession, if you want to make a name for yourself, you basically have two options:
Work your butt off
Sell out

From what I’ve observed over the years, the trend of “selling out” seems to be the norm, as most who get into the fitness industry with big dreams of getting rich soon realize that it’s not that easy. Most simply do not love what they do, and are in it for the wrong reasons. Let me be the first to tell you, if you want to get rich, this is NOT the profession in which to do it! Very few credible, hard-working individuals in this industry end up making tons of money doing what they love. They deserve it, though. If you spend some time on the internet, you will come across one “amazing” fat-loss/fitness/muscle-building system after another. All of a sudden there are “experts” cropping up right and left, producting their own fitness e-books, manuals, and dvds. Are they making money? I would venture to guess that some of them are doing quite well. Are they credible? I would venture to say that they are as credible as the average Joe trainer in any big box gym. My point here is that the majority of people who get certified (which is really easy to do nowadays) are simply LAZY and want to skip past the most important aspect of being a personal trainer – TRAINING CLIENTS. Sound crazy? It most definitely is! How is someone supposed to gain credibility as a fitness professional without countless hours of hands-on work with clients?

I simply do not get it.

But then again, I do…because I realize that most people do not have a work ethic.

Over the years, I’ve struggled within myself because I was born with a work ethic, and at times it seemed that it would forever bite me in the butt. How could all these people around me seem to be doing so well while I was barely scraping by, determined to follow my passion with the hope of it one day paying off? How could so many people be working in professions that were secure, making a good living, but be so miserable doing so? How could I be so happy doing what I was doing, yet barely being able to pay my bills? How was this fair? Was switching careers the solution? My dad seemed to think so. No matter what anyone said, or how hard things seemed, I simply could not walk away from the profession that meant so much to me.

I cannot imagine doing anything else with my life, for the simple fact that I would not be where I am today had it not been for discovering my inner strength (as well as my passion) through exercise. Long story short, I started exercising as a high school senior. I was anorexic, and exercise was yet another self-destructive “tool” in my toolbox, along with the obvious starvation. I convinced my mother to let me join a gym as a way of getting healthy. Little did she know that the opposite goal was what I sought, and I just wanted to lose more and more weight. I vividly remember my first visit with a personal trainer. She performed the standard assessments and took my measurements, and set me up on a basic strength-training program. I jumped into it obsessively, becoming more and more fixated on making it to the gym four days a week. I lost more weight and to this day remember the sick “high” I got from not eating. It was a power trip. At the end of my senior year, my friends and I went on a trip to Dallas. I remember eating nothing but an apple the entire trip, and feeling guilty about it. AN APPLE. How crazy is that?! I got home from that weekend and weighed myself. 89 pounds. In my mind, that was a mark of success because I had gone below 90 pounds. I was literally wasting away and no one really knew what to do about it because I was defensive and a very good actress. I tried to make people think everything was okay, when obviously my life was spinning out of control. I didn’t care about starting college. I didn’t care about anything other than exercising and food (or the lack thereof).

So, when did my “turning point” take place? When did I finally “see the light” and start taking steps towards turning my life around? It was that summer, before I started college. I remember talking with the gym owner and him telling me that as long as I lifted weights, any weight I gained would be muscle, not fat. It was as if a giant light bulb popped up over my head. It was clear as crystal. I could finally eat. I gave myself permission. That really does sound nuts, but that’s how my brain worked. As long as I exercised, I could eat with the goal of gaining muscle and making my body stronger and healthier.

No looking back.

From that point on, my obsession with food and exercise flourished, but under the veil of it being in a healthy manner. Yes, I was healthier, and yes, I was getting stronger, but inside I was controlled. I became defined by this small aspect of my life, and the more I put into it, the more that seemed to matter. Sarah didn’t matter. The way Sarah looked mattered. That was it. Looking back, I can see how significant the simplicity of it was. By focusing on this one aspect of my life, the one aspect I felt I was good at, my life had meaning. Obviously it was a very unhealthy way of coping with things, but for the time being it served its purpose. The insanity of it all worked to keep me sane amidst the craziness of my personal life.

Struggle.

If it weren’t for the ever-present theme of struggle in my life, I wouldn’t be the person I am today. I have gained so much through the obstacles life has put in my way. I have grown, learned, and continue to do so on a daily basis. I feel fortunate for this, as it seems not everyone is as aware of the life-changing, positive impact our mistakes can have on our lives! I consider myself to be an expert at making mistakes! I love making mistakes because I am forced to grow, plain and simple.

Now, I’ve come to appreciate struggle in my life, however I FINALLY came to the realization that I often times make things harder than they need to be. I know that if I keep things simple, I am more productive, less stressed, and am a more effective fitness professional.

My philosophy and approach to every client’s program is fairly simple:

NOTHING WORTH HAVING WAS ATTAINED WITHOUT HARD WORK AND A PLAN.

I expect all of my clients to work hard. If you work hard for me and keep the whining to a minimum, we will get along great, and you will see incredible results!