Speaker: Brandie Blackburn
What was the problem you were experiencing when you came to us?
Brandie Blackburn: When I joined Breakthrough, I was really just looking to get back in shape. I wanted a program that was targeted for someone in my age group, something that I would feel comfortable with. Um, I was tired all the time. I couldn't do a lot of the things that I used to do. My knees hurt, my back hurt. Um, and I knew that getting engaged in the right type of fitness program would help to alleviate a lot of those things.
What have you tried in the past to solve it? Why didn’t that work?
Brandie Blackburn: I think I have used pretty much everything under the sun and then some to try to achieve some of my fitness goals, whether it's Tony Little's target training, Billy Blank's Taebo videos, the apple cider vinegar diet. Like literally everything under the sun. Um, I ran for a period of time and that was truly a fitness thing for me and I loved it. Uh, but as I got older, my knees didn't love me running so much. So when I say that I've tried everything from an individual fitness perspective. I have probably tried everything.
What results have you had working with us?
Brandie Blackburn: OK. The risk of being corny. Um, working with breakthrough for me has really been a breakthrough. Not only am I physically healthier and stronger than I think I've ever been before, but I'm more well rounded in my overall wellness. Right. There are pieces that I didn't even realize the importance of that are now a part of my everyday kind of fitness journey. Right? I know that, um, I can't outwork a bad diet today. Um I know that I only have to be 1% better tomorrow than I was today now. And all of those things are a result of, of me going through the breakthrough program and it's not just those pieces right. There are all of the little physical things that we work through. Like when I pick up groceries, I can carry more bags now. Um I noticed that my knees don't make that little crinkly sound when I go up and downstairs. So, on top of the amazing fitness community that I've been able to become a part of, um, the overall physical transformation, I feel so much healthier, I feel like I look so much healthier, right? And it's not, it's not a size or weight goal. It's a health goal and that's a totally new perspective for me. Um, but it's so healthy and I love it. I think I'm healthier now at 43.5 than I've ever been in my life.
What was your experience like?
Brandie Blackburn: Ok, for anyone who wants to hear the unabridged version of this, feel free to hit me on Facebook. But I really want to tell you my experience at Breakthrough has been truly life changing and it not just for me but really my entire family. Like when I walked through the doors at Breakthrough, I was looking to get healthier for me. Um What I got was this entire amazing holistic wellness community. We were all on the same journey. We're all working towards the same goals and the people make the transformation possible. We all are supporting each other. The coaches create this amazing culture of accountability and support where truly everyone's goal is to make everyone better. There's no competition outside of the friendly who's gonna win coach Della's Encouragement Award. Um I'm not worried about, you know, whether or not somebody is concerned that my leggings have dog hair on them because they usually do. It's really just this amazing community and I can't, I really can't do a good enough job of articulating what that experience has meant for me. My husband has since joined Breakthrough. We bring me my kids for bring a buddy Saturdays, like we attend the Warrior calls whenever we have the availability, like the amount of investment that the coaches and the owners at Breakthrough put into not just your physical fitness, but your overall wellness for me is a mind blowing experience and it's not just how does your knee feel today, it's how does your soul feel today? And that is so amazing. Right? Because it's all of these pieces that work together to make us healthy. If I only focus on one, then I'm missing all of these other pieces of the puzzle. And I never get the full picture. But when we put all of these pieces together and we have coaches that help us put all of those pieces together, then we actually get this beautiful landscape of what real wellness can look like.
What would you say to anyone that might be on the fence about working with us?
Brandie Blackburn: Here's what I would say to anyone who's on the fence about joining Breakthrough. We're not normal. So if, what you're looking for is a gym where you can go exercise by yourself for an hour a day, a couple of times a week, then breakthrough might not be the right choice for you. But if what you're looking for is a true community of people, coaches and peers that are gonna hold you accountable, build you up and guide you through a true wellness journey, then give it a shot, worst case scenario, you try it out and you hate it and you don't come back. I would be willing to bet good money that you spend more time scrolling through Facebook reels than you would going through a couple of breakthrough classes that you decided you hated at the end. But I would also be willing to bet good money that you won't hate it at the end.
