By Maysam Najjar
On a quiet street in Chester Hill, the ladies are busy smashing out yet another hard-hitting, high-intensity strength training session.
Coach Sarah has been working with Soul Performance for over three years now, and in that time she has worked with the business to cultivate a strong women’s community. The business has multiplied in size over time, and many women have found that Soul Performance not only offered them the opportunity to build their strength and achieve their fitness goals but also access to a supportive and like-minded community.
Today, there are almost 200 female members, but it wasn’t always like this.
“I actually stumbled upon Soul Performance through the owner Bassam’s page. I was watching his videos and kind of getting a grip of how in-depth his knowledge was,” said Coach Sarah. “And I knew this was just something I absolutely had to be a part of. So we came in and we had a meeting, and very soon I started shadowing a lot of his classes.”
Sarah worked to accrue practical experience in gyms and a working knowledge of the field during this time, as she began her journey in the fitness industry.
“Pretty soon, I was confident in my ability to be able to run classes. I ran my first ever bootcamp, where I took care of a group of my own clients. And that is where I started with my ladies’ community.”
Sarah said that at the beginning there were about three to six women who were consistently coming in. Those numbers skyrocketed over time.
“A lot of our growth has been based off of word of mouth,” she said. “The trust is kind of already laid out because they’ve had such an incredible experience, and they’ve had so much progression.
“And when they relay that information to a family member or a friend, they’re coming in already with a bit of the groundwork kind of done for us. And then once they meet the coaches and they see the kind of environment that we have, the rest kind of speaks for itself.”
Those who frequent the gym or attend classes may be familiar with the ease through which workout communities can become toxic or hostile, as well as the anxiety of being around new people. Sarah works hard to ensure that every member feels safe and supported by the community, and that the ladies uplift and empower one another to achieve their fitness goals.
Women from all walks of life quickly become regular visitors at Soul Performance, and Sarah provides them with more than just personalised training sessions.
“The most important thing is a healthy, happy, safe human. It’s really important to be grounded within how you’re feeling.”
She finds that sitting with clients one-on-one, coming up with goals, and planning strategies to reach those goals is the key to success.
Sarah prioritises all aspects of health in her fitness ethos, looking at “physical fitness, mental health, emotional health, the relationships you have with the people around you, your spiritual health, and your specific career goals”.
She works alongside members who are seeking support around lifestyle choices, dietary needs, and personal struggles to make changes and work towards the best version of themselves.
Her all-round approach is what drew many of her clientele to Soul Performance.
“Women who come in, stressed out, with kids, with career obligations, family obligations and lots of responsibilities who come in every day and are working on becoming the best versions of themselves.” Sarah said.
“They’re dealing with injuries, dealing with personal situations and coming in with a load on their shoulders and you have to kind of help them use that as fire rather than having them feel weighed down by it.”
Sarah caters to diverse physical needs and fitness levels in her classes and works to ensure that the classes and movements target member’s specific goals. She offers guidance around suitable intensity levels and provides mobility and rehabilitation for those with injuries.
Some of her classes can be pretty intense for a beginner or first-timer, but with regular visits, members can build their strength, endurance and move closer towards their fitness goals.
“A successful session is seeing my girls hammered at the end of the day, at the end of the one-hour class, or the session, knowing that they’ve had a solid workout, we’ve addressed the needs of each individual joint, and we’ve worked the muscle groups efficiently and efficiently.
“And mostly, that I’ve pushed them to a new limit that they didn’t know existed before. That’s the magic of a lot of the classes that we run here. Sometimes you think you’re training at 100 per cent. You come in for a session and you realise you’ve been sitting at 10 or 20 per cent for years of your life.”
Featured image: The main gym area at Soul Performance in Chester Hill. Photo: Maysam Najjar
