Jo Jo… The Woman with the 8 Pack…
Jo is a 40 year old mother of 2 and has been with RT Fitness from the beginning and this is her story… We have been asking Jo to tell us in her own words but if we waited much longer you lot would never get to read about one of THE most inspirational women I have ever met.
Jo is not just a 40 year old mother of 2, but I started this by saying that because I know that many of you will read on because maybe you are the same, you identify… but maybe you let that label stop you from achieving your own goals and from setting out on a fitness journey.
Jo is also a wife who supports her husband in everything he does, triathlons, marathons, his own business… everything… She has a highly stressful and accountable position in marketing which sees her facing deadlines, trips down the country, not just the standard 9-5 that you switch off to when you close your computer down on an evening. She is a friend to many, a caring soul who lives for every day, not just the weekend.
Jo started with Ross when he held his bootcamps on a field back in the day, she was your average mother of 2, skinny fat, having not long since given birth to her youngest. Nutrition has never been a huge issue for Jo, 90% of the time she eats well, with quite the athletic and healthy family, a take-away on a daily basis was never going to be on the cards. She enjoys a pizza now and again, won’t say no to biscuits and I don’t know if she loves cheese or not but she knows plenty of cheese related jokes (you’ve been warned…)
Jo stuck to it, she made the commitment to those early dark and often piss wet mornings in the mud, to better herself, to get fit and to set the right example for her kids. Now Jo, more than most people I know, could easily use the excuse of… I don’t have time… With her working hours, 2 young kids and a hubby… It’d be an easy excuse for her to use… But she doesn’t ever use it. It helps that we have 6am sessions and guess what, this is when the hubby is home and the kids (if he’s lucky) are still in the land of nod… She gets up, gets in and gets it done… Always has… She’s sometimes tired having been working late the day before then having the housework and usual family routine to contend with, but does she lie in telling herself it’s just one session… No… She doesn’t… And that’s why at the age of 40 and a mother of 2 she has an absolutely rocking body and one which is better than most 20 somethings have.
Jo started when RT Fitness opened the Durham facility and followed a weights program that Ross wrote for her… Week in week out she would come in to the Carnage sessions and then hit some weights when she could. She was in pretty good nick but lacked the confidence in her own ability to go further… Jo would very very rarely increase her weights and she got to a sticking point with her goals so she started Warrior Women and has been on the program for almost a year now.
Warrior Women is 4 sessions a week and she makes almost every single one of them, the only time she misses is if one of the kids is poorly or she’s away down south for a business meeting… Where she can’t make a morning session she arranges a sitter to watch the kids for an hour and she comes in and catches up on what she’s missed… The only other times she’s missed was when she was training for the great north run, she was out doing several miles and training legs after that would not have been nice… Nor would doing it the other way round been much fun…
So where has she got to… Well for starters she is most definitely one of the RT Poster girls, we’ve a few of them but she is the one known as “the lady with the 10 pack”, she is down to around 14% body fat and this is pretty much what she maintains most of the time with only a slight 1/2% increase… Jo could easily go out and do a stage show without much if any effort and I’m positive she would smash the competition.
Jo is at the heart of Warrior Women and whilst she is often the class clown and most definitely the chatterbox who will distract you from timing rests to get a few extra seconds, she is a grafter… She lifts some seriously heavy weight and looks Shamazing!! (Referencing her favourite word)…
When you look at Jo you would think her family life, work life and social life had all suffered to look how she does physically… But it hasn’t, she is still Supermam, Superwife, Chief Marketeer and Social Animal… It just so happens she has been consistent and flexible with some good hard graft…
When training alone, Jo was deadlifting no more than 40kg and probably squatting around the same… On Christmas Eve she pulled a 130kg deadlift… I’m going to guess that that is double body weight… I’m going to have to guess this because in all honesty Jo very rarely gets measured in and that’s because it’s nigh on always the same, she doesn’t obsess over the weekend where she was out having food and a few drinks thinking she’s ruined her hard work… She doesn’t obsess over her weight or her body fat… She knows how she feels and when she needs a kick up the arse she asks for one… She doesn’t come in on a Monday after a weeks holiday and immediately ask for her measurements to be taken to assess the damage… She just not so quietly gets on with it…
I can only say that Jo, when I am 40, if I am anywhere near how awesome you look, I will be one extremely happy lady!! You are an inspiration to me and all of the Warriors!!
To all of you that have taken the time to read this… Whether you’re a mother of 2, or are aged 25 or 45… Jo will tell you all herself, if she can do it… You can too… You just have to start…
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