Planet Fitness Lambton

Are you fitter and healthier than ever before? or has your health and fitness gone completely sideways? If the latter applies to you and you’re looking for some inspiration then we’ve got two ladies that will make you want to jump out of your chair and get into the gym.

For Billie Hughes and Kylie Hulkkonen staying fit and healthy has become as much about the work out as it has a social release. Whilst the ladies take their Planet Fitness gym sessions seriously their practically daily workouts have become a way of life, helping them deal with their hectic personal, and at times stressful working lives.

Their commitment to training is impressive, even after a long 12 – 14 hour night shift, both Billie and Kylie are nurses, the ladies push on very rarely skipping a session.

So how do you remain motivated when you’re exhausted or completely mentally drained? We tagged along to one of their training sessions to find out a few of their secrets, and to get a little motivated ourselves.

Thanks for letting us drop in on your session today, how long have you both known one another for?

Kylie: We’ve known each other since uni, so about 3 ½ years now.

When did you decide you should start training together?

Kylie: I’m originally from Canberra and when I met Billie we got talking about going to the gym together. Billie was a member of Planet Fitness here at Broadmeadow and she encouraged me to start coming along.

Billie: I’d be training here for about 2 years prior to this, and when Kylie mentioned she wanted to get her fitness back after all the snacking we did at uni it didn't take much convincing. It's a great gym, it’s affordable, super friendly, and really motivating.

How many times a week do you now train together?

Billie: Being both nurses, we’ll be honest, we align our days and pick our shifts so we can train together (they both laugh a little sheepishly). We’ve got pretty good bosses so there haven't been too many times when our shifts haven’t lined up. I’ve occasionally come on my own but it’s not the same without Kylie.

Kylie: Ideally we love to train every morning to get it out of the way, then go home and do our thing before heading off to work. Sundays is usually our day off but lately we seem to have been doing 7 days a week.

What does a typical training session look like?

Kylie: We usually do a 2-hour session and we like to mix things up. There is always a class involved and we love our weights so that’s become a big part of our training sessions. I like that it makes you feel stronger and being able to increase the weights is an accomplishment. The trainers here really help as they get to know what you’re capable of and can push you to better yourself.

What do you enjoy most about training together?

Kylie: It’s about the motivation you get when training together and also being accountable to someone. There are days when we both don’t want to come but we push one another and make it happen.

The only times when we need to really push one another is when we’ve done a big overnight shift, and there have been a few times when it’s just been dangerous and we’ve needed to go home and have a good sleep.

Billie: Even so, most of the time we manage to come straight after a shift. When it’s been a really heavy or crappy shift and we’re just mentally drained we’ll catch up in the afternoon, but we really try to keep that morning routine as it sets you up for the day.

24/08Do you set yourself training goals?

Kylie - Billie has, she’s getting married so she’s shredding (laughs), but for both of us it’s mainly about losing weight.

Billie – Before Covid hit coming to the gym was just a way of life, so when we couldn’t come here and had to do our own thing we set some goals to keep ourselves motivated during that time and that was to lose 5 kilos each which we both managed to achieve.

Do you get competitive when you train?

Billie: We push and motivate each other but we’re not overly competitive, but when we train with other people that’s when we get really competitive (they both laugh).

Would you say the sessions are just as much about the fitness as they are a chance to catch up socially?

Yes definitely. We don’t have a lot of spare time outside of working and family life, so this is our social outing. After the classes we actually use that time to catch up on all the work goss from the night before, I don’t know how but we always have so much to talk about and before we know we’ve burnt 400 calories.

Planet Fitness is offering all HUNTERhunter readers a $0 Joining fee on their 12-month memberships until September 30. Simply mention that you read this article to reception and they'll slash the Joining Fee, so you can get started on your fitness journey like Billie and Kylie.

Planet Fitness have 3 locations: Lambton, Charlestown and Belmont.