“writing is an exploration, you start from nothing and learn as you go”

Let me start off by saying, I’ve never written a blog before. I have tried my hand at writing articles and papers in college but this is the first time I am really dedicating myself to writing (and maintaining) a blog. I think it’s only right that I begin by introducing myself to those who may not know who I am or where I work.

My name is Conor Lequerica and I am a 24 year old Personal Trainer at Fitter Faster Stronger (FFS) Gym in Dublin, Ireland, not to be confused with Dublin, Ohio. I have an Irish mother and a father from Cartagena in Colombia where I was born and raised for the first 8 years of my life. I currently live in Dublin (close enough to work) where I went to primary & secondary school locally. I have always been interested in how people think and what stimuli cause them to act in different ways based on the way their minds work which led me to studying and obtaining a degree in Applied Psychology in college. I was given the option to go down a “technology” path and learnt how to apply different psychological principles to everyday tech programs and online designing as well as marketing and user interface design. This landed me in my first job after college as an app designer.

My other passion has always been sport. While not always being the best at sports, I have always enjoyed playing them and have tried nearly ever sport you could probably think off. Personal injury led me to coaching in sports, where I found i could be a lot more useful as part of a sport team. This realization would unknowingly lead me to the career I am in today. After realizing that I didn't want to spend the rest of my life working a “normal” 9-5 job at a desk, I quit my job as an app designer and sought to pursue a career in sports and/or coaching.

Luckily, I then got the opportunity to shadow and intern in the gym and, eventually, after qualifying fully in Personal Training, began working at the gym and taking on clients….and that's where I am today at FFS. Here I’ve been able to combine (what some may call) my unique skill set and background of psychology, sport and technology as well as my previous personal experience with injury to help people lead better, healthier lives through training them in the gym.

So seeing as I’m doing well, or perceptibly well anyways, at Personal Training, it begs the question, why blogs?

Well, let me explain by first telling you about the gym I work at. FFS is far more than just a gym, its a community. And in a community everyone helps out, this includes the staff. Anyone who works at the gym, whether it be a founding member or an intern, works behind the scenes to keep the community of the gym alive. Some of us work on social media, others run initiatives like the FFS community or the annual golf trip but everyone contributes in one way or another. The staff also provide information on subjects like training and nutrition to those in the FFS community. The information is passed through many means of communication, emails, videos and blogs being examples.

As a newer member of the coaching staff, I jumped at the opportunity to be able to contribute in my own way. So from this month on, I will be writing one blog a month to provide members (and staff)information on subjects which they can suggest to me via social media (or in person at the gym). If you have a question you need answered or a subject that you would like me to write about in my blog, feel free to contact me either via email (conor@ffs.ie), instagram ( @conorleq) or in person and I will do my best to help provide accurate information which will mostly be backed up by scientific research and write it in a way that is easy to understand!

Looking forward to getting suggestions and having people join me on my blog writing journey,

Leq

Conor is a Personal Trainer and Coach at FFS Gym. Conor mostly works morning and afternoon classes and has been part of the gym since late 2017 when he arrived as an intern. Previously, he worked as an App Designer and attained a Bachelor of Science in Applied Psychology. Much of his training mentalities come from his interest in Psychology and how training the brain is just as important as training the body as both are symbiotic. Conor's mindset towards training is that you are a product of your decisions, not your consequences and that consistency is the key to progression. Outside of the gym, Conor's hobbies are sport and music.