Our Athlete of the Month for December is Lauren King! Lauren has recently made our coveted 1,500 workout club which is a very exclusive group of very committed athletes! It’s hard to imagine our mornings without Lauren’s shining smile. She’s always early to class, making sure to leave room for much-needed stretching and prep pre-workout.
Lauren has not only been fit with us for a long time, but she’s been pretty fit before joining our gym and always thought she’d be more than fine just training herself. Even when she started, Lauren was not looking for a fitness community. Says Lauren, “When I first started, I had NO intention of a) talking to people b) making friends or c) drinking the Kool-aid. Well, 5 1/2 years later and I have miserably failed at all of those goals.”
Even though Lauren failed at those goals, she has hit her goal of being in the best shape of her life. Lauren says, “Even though I ‘knew’ what I was doing in the gym for my whole adult life, nothing got me in the shape that FitTown has. I was always ‘fit’, and I’ve always weighed roughly the same, but my body composition is so different – I feel so much more lean, yet strong in all the right ways. But aside from the aesthetic, what’s even more important is that while I struggled with bad knee injuries throughout high school and college, I have been so much healthier since then!”
Lauren has a fighting spirit in workouts that is hard to match. Outside the gym she has a giving spirit, always working with local charities in our town to help those in need. We are honored to have her in our FitTown family and it truly wouldn’t be the same without her. Thank you Lauren for being a member of our FitTown family!
Tell us a little about yourself. Give us a brief background on what has made you you? How’d you end up in Jupiter?
I’m originally from Naples (Florida native!). I grew up playing sports and played a year of college softball at Emory. I really wanted to get into sports medicine, so I transferred to UF and majored in Athletic Training. I did my masters in Exercise Science and then moved down to Palm Beach County to work with golfers – I’ve been here since 2009 and can’t imagine living anywhere else! After a career doing just about everything in sports medicine, I got my real estate license and now do that full-time. I love introducing new people to the #juplife (especially restaurants!) and helping friends and peers buy or sell their home.
What’s something about you that others may not know about you?
As part of my past career, I got to do some really cool things – I’ve worked with multiple college teams and been to several SEC/NCAA Championships, I went to the NFL Combine as part of the training staff, I have trained several PGA Tour players, and even took RGIII and his Redskins teammates fishing! Besides that, I love to play golf, fish, and watch historical documentaries – yes, I am a big nerd!
What were you doing for fitness before FitTown? What motivated you to get started at FitTown?
The cutest part of this answer is that my Grampy used to pick me up in the mornings before middle school and take me to Spinning class with him. It was pre-teen me, and three old men. That was my first taste of fitness and I am so thankful that my Grampy was so active – he lived a long, healthy life!
When I was in high school, I was a small kid, but I was a catcher in softball. I knew I wouldn’t get taller, so I figured I had to get stronger. I started lifting with the football team on weekends and throughout the summer, and got my first taste of Olympic lifting, power lifting, and just nasty, ass-kicking brute strength (ie dehydration, puke everywhere, sprint ‘til you can’t stand up, etc).
After college, and since I was working in the business, I always trained myself, and never had to pay for a gym membership – I always worked in one! I usually did multi-modality strength training, and of course, plenty of time on the cardio machines (I literally do not think I could even step foot on one now!). When I quit training and went into real estate, I no longer had a gym at my disposal and figured I’d make do at home on my own – I had never paid for it, why start now?! I vividly remember running on US1 one morning and seeing all these really fit people also running, and they appeared to be having a lot more fun than I was. I found out that all of these people were working out at FitTown (aka CFPB circa 2016) and decided that, after years of thinking Crossfit was BS, I’d give it a try. When I first started, I had NO intention of a) talking to people b) making friends or c) drinking the Kool-aid. Well, 5 1/2 years later and I have miserably failed at all of those goals. I started by bouncing around at either 7am or 4pm, then I was a die-hard 5am’er for about 3 years, and now I’ve settled in to 6am.
What positive physical progress would you like to brag on about yourself?
What really gets me, is that even though I “knew” what I was doing in the gym for my whole adult life, nothing got me in the shape that FitTown has. I was always “fit”, and I’ve always weighed roughly the same, but my body composition is so different – I feel so much more lean, yet strong in all the right ways. But aside from the aesthetic, what’s even more important is that while I struggled with bad knee injuries throughout high school and college, I have been so much healthier since then! Every once in a while I’ll tweak something just from being active, but I haven’t had chronic pain in, I don’t know how long (knock on wood)! I really believe that the way our programming is designed is truly written to maintain orthopedic health while maximizing strength and endurance.
Also, any new beliefs/mottos, habits, behaviors that you formed since you started that have most positively impacted your life?
I’m much more cognizant of what I eat and drink, and how I sleep. I don’t follow any specific diet, but I am mindful of how I fuel my body after a workout and throughout the day and night before. I still enjoy foods and beverages that I love, but since I plan to work out in the morning, I am responsible about what I consume and make sure that I am always hydrated (if you ever hang out with me socially you’ll find out that I am the #hydrationstation). Sleep is also a top priority – knowing that I plan to get up early means I need to get to bed at a reasonable hour and have a bedtime routine that sets me up for success.
Do you have any memorable moments/workouts at FitTown that you’d like to share?
1) My first muscle up! I don’t think I’ve gotten any better since then, but I’m back to working on it After that, it’s handstand walks!
2) In 2016, Katie Noll came up to me in the 5am class (when I was still intent on #nonewfriends) and said, I know you through someone else, and we are going to be friends – and then I just couldn’t stop making gym friends
3) My first competition, with Haley Johnson – I felt like SUCH a fish out of water but it was so much fun! Now I rarely miss a gym competition and have done several outside the gym.
4) All of the other gym competitions/Opens – I am competitive, sure, but it is so much fun to cheer on my friends and see people accomplish something new for the first time, whether it’s a muscle up, box jump, clean, or even just finishing the competition!
5) Seeing how our gym community adapted and changed during Covid. From the remote workouts, to the “family reunion” when we all came back, and the new friends/experiences gained – the glass truly was half-full.
Over 1500 workouts is an incredible feat! What keeps you motivated? What do you remind yourself of on days when you don’t “feel” like going to the gym?
Well at this point, I feel entirely out of sorts if I don’t go in the morning. I rarely drink coffee, and I literally do not have a “morning routine” that doesn’t involve the gym, so my day simply does not go the right way if I don’t go to the gym in the morning. In the odd event that I don’t go, I will have 1-5 text messages, possibly a phone call or two, checking in on me. The accountability has certainly gotten me through many of those “rather sleep in mornings”.
What advice do you have for the person who’s hesitant about starting a fitness program like this?
For many years, I was skeptical of almost all “group fitness”. There are plenty of horror stories and negative assumptions out there, but FitTown and their staff will prove all of them wrong. Not only do they literally serve all ages, backgrounds, and fitness levels, but there is so much care taken to make sure that each member lands in the right place and progresses responsibly. Beyond that, once they learn your personality and your goals/strengths/limitations, they meet you where you are and push you within your own boundaries – and that’s where the magic happens.
What do you love most about FitTown Jupiter?
It’s 49% the workouts, and 51% the people. The results I’ve realized, and maintained over the years, are astonishing. But, I have met some of the most amazing people at FitTown and made many lifelong friends. We have such a pool of successful, kind, interesting, and hard-working members that are always fast to lend a hand or recommend a solution to a problem. In addition, I’ve faced challenges in the past few years that I literally am not sure how I’d have overcome without my FitTown family. They encourage me, make me laugh, and support me when I need it most. I am so glad I finally decided to pay for a gym membership!
Thank you for making me your AOM, I am truly honored and it is one of my greatest life achievements! 🙂
