I joined Life Time’s 60day to make a serious commitment to getting in better shape. When my father passed away in October at 94, I realized what a blessing it was to have him in my life for 52 years. As a father. I wanted to make a commitment to be healthier father and role model.  For these reasons, the 60day appealed me and I signed up.

Joining the 60day gave me a new sense of purpose to my workouts. My immediate goal was to lose some of the extra weight that I’ve put on over the years. I didn’t realize Life Time was going to help me in so many ways.  First, the quality of the gym and its staff made it a joy to come to the gym. Early on, I realized that Life Time offered so much knowledge and resources. Eager to learn about my body, I decided to do a metabolic assessment.  The process was so professional and data-driven that I was very impressed. I enjoyed learning how efficiently my body was using oxygen during exercise. More importantly, I learned which heart rate zones maximized my fat burning. Armed with this info, I started exploring how I could factor my new information into my work outs.

As an individual, I was fairly committed and came to Life Time regularly. But my real progress started when I joined a GTX class. Before joining, I used to observe the GTX Burn classes from a distance while I was on the treadmill. The group class seemed rather easy and laid-back. After a few weeks, I grew very curious and joined the GTX Burn class. I remember asking Mike Schneider about joining his GTX Burn group. Immediately, he was very encouraging and worked me into the group. As a new member of GTX Burn, I soon realized there is a big difference between observing a GTX Burn class and actually participating. Usually within the first 2 minutes of GTX Burn, I would become drenched in sweat and trying to keep up. In each class, I noticed how Mike Schneider would make the rounds to encourage and check-in with each one of us constantly.  Mike Schneider praised and encouraged us our on form and effort. From the start, Mike’s encouragement made us feel like one unified team. His friendliness was contagious and the group quickly became an incredibly close and supportive unit. Before I knew it, I was looking forward to each class and each new set of challenging workouts.

But the benefits of Mike Schneider’s GTX Burn class went beyond the calories we burned in class. Schneider encouraged us to share our food choices and diets. Mike advised us on which foods to substitute in for less healthy options. Then someone in the group organized a social media group message group so we could share our progress and healthy foods and recipes. In short time, our social media group became a friendly and daily reminder of our goals. When one of us reached a new milestone like a 1st chin up, they would post a video and we all would get more motivated as a collective.  The inclusiveness of the group became such an incredible support and added benefit to the entire Life Time experience.  Overall, I credit my trainer Mike Schneider for instilling that incredibly positive and selfless energy that encouraged us do our best as individuals and as members of a team.

Mike Schneider also helped me pay closer attention to my diet and sleep. Because of him, I chose to exercise more discipline and force myself to get 6-7 hours of sleep instead of the usual 4-5 hours. Gradually, I started to find I had more energy and strength in the gym.  When I asked Mike Schneider what percentage of time to dedicate to strength training versus cardio, Mike gave me a list of specific strength training machines and a general schedule to follow. In the end, our GTX Burn group became a tight circle of encouragement. Through the group, I have come to learn new eating, sleeping and exercise habits that are making me healthier. I am so grateful for the journey and the friendships that I have developed along the way.

Learning how to reduce my body fat has not only given me more energy, it has also improved my self-confidence and sense of self. For that reason, I plan to continue to build on what I have learned. Thanks to the 60day, I am proud to say that I have lost over 26 pounds and over 21% of my body fat.  Most importantly, I am feeling more energy and confidence. I am grateful to Life Time and my friends for providing me the knowledge, support, resources and friends to help me make the progress I have achieved so far. It has given me more courage to pursue my future goals.