I'm stealing yo shit!

She is mad you stole her shit...

And CLEARLY...so is he.

I just get served…for real!

I just went and took a class at a competitor’s gym and got my ass handed to me by somebody for even being in the building. I was laying down stretching and when I sat up, she was hovering over me and said “Oh hey Nikki, are you here to steal secrets? I mean, is that what your gym does???” I responded with “Yes, yes I am.” Because I’m a smart ass and at the end of the day, that was PART of the reason was there. I should have said “Oh, is this girl the inventor of exercise??? I've been anxious to meet her!” NEWS FLASH! We all learned from somebody! Ain’t nobody reinventing the wheel. We are all taking basic movements and principles and tweeking them a little to make them our own…until somebody see’s what you are doing, and then they are gonna steal that shit fair and square!

I happen to know for a fact that this girl did NOT invent this method of exercise because I received my certification from the girl who did…and guess what??? It wasn't the girl teaching that class.

I’m known in my fitness bubble as being fairly innovative and mixing it up a lot with my clients and classes. Did I invent even one of those exercises??? Nope. I walked by some trainer in my gym and saw something I liked and I yelled “Hey! I love that, I’m totally stealing that shit!” Or maybe I went to a fitness convention, or a class or it showed up in my Facebook feed. I spend any time I have outside of the gym doing two things….eating and reading fitness and nutrition articles.

Generally, I’m taking the bits and pieces I like and throw the rest away. It’s all about programming…how you put the workout together, is what makes it your own. Anybody that knows me knows I’m horrible at 3 things…1. Talking to strangers. I’m really shy, not an asshole. (Well I can definitely be a big ‘ol asshole, but not until you give me a reason to J) 2. Navigation. If it weren't for my IPhone, I’d be lost right now. 3. Remembering anything that I didn't personally create. I can’t remember shit. All day my clients are telling me stuff and I’m like “ZIP IT!”…send it to me in a text if you want me to remember. It’s not that I am not interested, it’s just that I have a touch of ADD and my mind wanders uncontrollably. This is the reason I do everything in my power to stay away from any class that involves choreography. One minute I’m following the instructor and in a flash…BAM! I’m wondering if I took the laundry out of the dryer and running into the chick next to me. The moral of the story is this. I possibly retained one new movement in that class yesterday because I had done the rest of them at some point before and I didn't write anything down.

Daily somebody will walk past me at the gym and say, “They should give you a bed here…do you ever leave?” And for the most part, I don’t. I love me job and when I’m not working, I’m working out which guess what…happens where I work. So occasionally, I will go work out somewhere else because I don’t want to be at work every moment I’m not sleeping. I took Yoga at a studio in town and loved it. My gym offers yoga, but I wanted to go workout somewhere new…not to steal secrets, but to be somewhat anonymous….which when you are a tattooed freak, is very hard to do. I have a tendency to stand out a little. But every now and then I want to workout and not have someone roll up to me and start bitching that the gym is too hot, the gym is too cold, this towel is too scratchy, there is dust on the top of that mirror etc…

I can’t tell you how many people have taken my classes and stole my shit. I have even written it down for them. To me, it is the highest form of flattery. Come one, come all…My shit is your shit! I respect an instructor/trainer who doesn't claim to know it all. There is something to be said for being humble and open to new and different ideas. I have no interest in talking to anybody who thinks they have all the answers and have finished learning.

I am forever a student and you should be too. And I guarentdamnteeya…If I walk by and you are doing something I like…I’m stealing it! But, if I’m not actually writing it down at that moment, don’t worry, I won’t remember it.