About TGF Tuff Girl philosophy Tuff Girl Fitness is dedicated to helping women and girls achieve optimal fitness and health through individually tailored work-outs that are fun and stimulating. My aim is to help you achieve a level of fitness that will improve your strength, stamina and self-confidence. Total fitness and health is essential for living a full, well-balanced life. As females, we endure and juggle a lot and have needs specific to our physical and mental makeup different from males. The benefit of training with Tuff Girl Fitness is that you are being guided by someone keenly in tune with the female body and mindset. I encourage a variety of approaches and techniques that lead to overall health and fitness for women. With Tuff Girl Fitness, you are getting the value of being trained by a professional who knows the female body and how to shape it. Physically and mentally, I am continually transforming and growing and I am always happy to share the knowledge I gain with my clients. My philosophy for fitness stems from life experiences, training with the best in the field, a passion for total health and fitness and my own curiosity of the human body. The key is to keep striving for a better you in a manner that works for you consistently. The Tuff Girl Fitness approach will offer you a personalized exercise program in which you will reap the most benefits. In my experience I have learned that the road to total fitness and health requires commitment, balance, continuity and determination. It is a lifestyle choice and on-going process. Integrating a fun, stimulating fitness regimen into your lifestyle will enable you to live your best life. Remember: Fitness is a lifestyle that fuels the heart, soul, and mind! Tuff Girl tips Change up your routine and challenge yourself with different forms of exercise! A preferred form of training -- cross training-- targets every muscle in your body that you would not normally hit doing the same routine day to day. If you have a favorite class, keep doing it but pick 2 days where you can experience other activities. Do cardio 3 to 5 times a week, lift weights for 2 days and always stretch! Take your endurance, stamina and strength to the next level. Participate in dance classes, kick box with a punching bag or try something physical you have never done before. Switching up routines and exercises will keep your mind and body stimulated! Along with a well-balanced, healthy diet, cross training builds up your metabolism and supports weight loss. It all works hand in hand. Exercise, a healthy diet and determination will always be a road map to overall fitness. You can do this because I learned how to do it myself and I will train you to do it. You can do it because you are a TUFFGIRL! How fitness became a lifestyle My Tuff Girl Fitness career started early in High School when a very good girlfriend of mine encouraged me to run and do aerobics with her. This girlfriend was very athletic and energetic. I was so out of shape and not into working out but I loved her energy! She would tell me that I needed to build up my self-esteem and release all that stored energy that I had. She then encouraged me to sign up for the track team. I had never participated in organized sports before and I was not in the greatest shape for track, but I signed up anyway! The girls on the team were very athletic and quick! The coach said that I would do best in distance running so I started off very slowly. The first 3 track meets I ran the mile in 20 minutes and then by the 5th or 6th meet, I ran the mile in 12 minutes! The other girls’ times were much faster than my time with the slowest at 9 minutes. By the end of the year, I improved dramatically and ran the mile in 6:44. At my High School awards ceremony I ended up with an award for “Most Improved Athlete of the Year." After High School I continued running and then started doing aerobics classes. I had a renewed passion for fitness and began to expand my horizons. I also started taking Jazzercise classes in which I became addicted, taking 7 classes per week. I was beginning to develop a fitness lifestyle. Without warning, I experienced a very difficult emotional time in my life and pulled back from exercising. I did not exercise for a long period of time and it took a toll on me mentally and physically. I felt completely unmotivated. Fortunately, it was my mother who literally pushed me out the door to start working out again. She said, "You are going for a run right now and you are not giving up!" This was the Tuff Girl push I really needed and ever since then, no matter what challenges I face in my life, I will always exercise! I realized that it is important most of all to maintain good fitness even through periods of crisis, setbacks or tragedy. I know how hard it is to work out when you’re not motivated. So I made it my mission to be the ultimate Tuff Girl for others and push them out of their ruts and into the best shape they can be. How fitness became a career My life lesson taught me that no matter how badly I feel or lack motivation, I must always be prepared to get up and go! Tuff Girl Fitness was beginning to morph through a combination of physical and mental strength training. I joined a gym and started doing aerobics classes religiously and experimenting with nautilus machines. I decided that fitness was more than a lifestyle to me and I wanted to pursue this as a career. As a result, I began teaching my first aerobics class! I trained students with my philosophy of using fitness as a release and a character-building tool. I expanded my reach by getting certified in Jazzercise and teaching classes. My Jazzercise instructor, a very important Tuff Girl who I still think about today, was very inspirational, enlightening and a highly motivated person. I learned a lot from her and found her qualities energizing and inspirational. Soon, I started discovering other Tuff Girl training interests like: hiking, running, rollerblading and martial arts. I began challenging and educating myself with a variety of physically demanding activities. Accordingly, I reinforced my training by obtaining certification from an accredited fitness association called NDEITA. Tuff Girl took another turn as I explored other forms of fitness training methods and signed up at the American Karate Academy in Antioch. I took the cardio Karate class (martial Arts with aerobics) and then trained in the actual ART of Isshinru Karate as a white belt. Since then I have advanced to a brown belt and won a trophy in a regional Karate tournament for my Kata routine. Consequently, I found a new physical love in the art and began to teach Cardio Kickboxing. Karate helped me with stress, balance, focus and discipline. It is now one of my strongest training arts and Tuff Girl Cardio Kick Training is a favorite of many of the Tuff Girls I train. Before long, I found the beautiful town and fitness lifestyle of Discovery Bay, California. I obtained an advance certification in Fitness training from the ISSA. I was instructed by some of the top names in the Fitness Industry. Consequently, I found a great opportunity locally at the Discovery Bay Athletic Club where I was given the opportunity to teach a variety of classes. There, I was able to customize classes to express my Tuff Girl style and use all my creativity! It is a passion and privilege of mine to share my life's exercise lessons and current fitness knowledge with all my dedicated, die-hard Tuff Girl students. Further Tuff Girl moments In September 2000, I took on a huge Tuff Girl challenge and decided to compete in fitness competitions with the encouragement of John, the one true love in my life. Competitions became the biggest physical endeavor of my Tuff Girl life but I felt I was mentally and physically prepared to take on the challenge! I inquired about the top competitions and began watching them closely. Eventually, I entered as a contestant in the ESPN Fitness America Regional in Venice Beach, CA. My first show was an unbelievable experience -- a complete challenge that required training, dieting and choreographing a routine. I networked and found incredible Tuff Girls to train with for the competition, Tanya Merryman and Deborah Yates, both National champions and very Tuff Girls. I trained very hard, shaped my body to new levels and learned many new Tuff Girl training techniques and fitness values. In doing so, I exceeded my own expectations and qualified for the Nationals in my first competition. In August 2001, I was a contestant for a figure competition in San Jose and placed 5th in figure for the NPC. In September 2001, in San Francisco, I placed 2nd in fitness and 5th in figure, again for the NPC. In that same month I competed again in Venice beach for the Fitness America Regional and qualified for the Nationals! In November, I competed in the Nationals and qualified for the Universe competition. This was another big success for me! When I started competing I trained with weights (getting strong enough to do a one arm push up) and also did gymnastic training. I also researched high level competition diets to build muscle mass and shred the fat. Training with Tanya Merryman (Fitness America Champion) took my strength, endurance, stamina and fitness awareness to a higher level! I feel privileged to have had the opportunity to compete with the most extraordinary, beautiful, strong and talented females I have ever met in my life! Being around these Tuff Girls has kept me striving to improve and be the best that I can be! It has been a wonderful Tuff Girl experience and one that I am able to share with all my Tuff Girl clients. Special Thanks... I want to take this special moment to thank all the Tuff Girl's I have had the privilege of knowing and who have touched my world. Without you I would have been missing something special! Michelle Connors © Tuffgirlfitness All rights reserved.