Olitta O'Garro Personal Trainer
From dancing to personal training, Olitta loved the changes training made to her body and knew she had to become a fitness trainer, helping others to transform their bodies with exercise.
Tell us about your journey to fitness? Where did it all start?
My journey to fitness started in my last year of university when I was studying a degree in dance. As dance students, we were told that we should join the gym and strength train because it would make us stronger dancers. I didn't understand what that meant until I decided to join a gym and started training on my weaknesses. After a while, I started to fall in love with the gym life so I decided to train to be a personal trainer. Whilst training I learnt so much that I could use to compliment my dance training; I found what worked for me and what didn't. I then started to see my body transform which became a motivation for myself to continue training consistently. I then went on to train to be a reformer Pilates teacher which helps to address the issues I have with my body such as imbalances, whilst helping others too.
What are your training goals now?
My training goals now are to be as fit as my body allows me to be; strong, explosive and flexible whilst gaining lean muscle.
Tell us one unusual fact we wouldn’t know about you:
I love reading about different laws.
What would future you, tell yourself when you were starting out?
What the future me would say when I was starting out is to focus on yourself and what you want to achieve regardless of who is watching; be bold, not fearful.
Do you follow a specific nutrition plan? If so, what/when do you eat?
I don't have a strict nutrition plan but I do like to keep my diet balanced and healthy. As I wake up very early in the morning I normally have dried oats blended with a protein shake and mixed with water, this keeps me satisfied until my lunch. Every day I change what I eat for lunch, dinner and post workout. I have 6 egg whites almost every day as it's the most cost effective way to get adequate protein in my diet.
What do you do to keep your clients motivated? Do you have any top tips to keep motivated?
What I do to keep my clients motivated is finding out what their short, medium and long term goals are; whether it’s losing two dress sizes or building their glutes, I know that the goals they mention to me are very important for them to achieve. Taking pictures and videos of them consistently and doing a monthly review to show them how much they've progressed in that space of time. I'd also give them an incentive when they have worked so hard to achieve a specific goal.
Talk us through your training regime.
In the mornings I take a reformer Pilates class 2 to 3 times a week which helps with my strength training, flexibility and balance. With my gym training I have a split program, for example, one day I'll focus on a push move such as bench press, on a different day a pull move such as my back and biceps, I also have a split program for my legs, so I'd train my quads and glutes and two days later my hamstrings and glutes with HIIT or steady state cardio etc - I make sure I perform a lot of compound movement involving push & pull. On the weekends I take the time to do a lot more dynamic stretching and more foam rolling to help me recover a lot quicker.
How do you keep your fitness knowledge up to date?
How I keep my fitness knowledge up to date is by continuously researching to see what is the new thing going, there's always new fitness concepts coming up and it's always important to stay in the know. Another way I keep up to date is my reading & watching a lot of videos as I work with clients that sometimes have injuries or other needs that need attention, so I'm always researching to find the best way to help my client on the road to recovery.
What are your top 3 trainer tips?
- Stay consistent
- Listen to your body
- Work hard at what you want to achieve, even if you fail at it - try again!
If you could only do one workout for the rest of your life, what would it be?
Oh, this is a hard one! Erm..deadlifts is an exercise I'd choose because it tests your strength like no other exercise, it's either you lift the weight or not, there are no short cuts.
What are your training goals?
My training goals are to keep my body in balance, strong & healthy. Also to inspire, encourage & motivate those around me.
Why work with Sundried?
I’ve partnered with Sundried because the clothing is ethically made. The clothing is at a high quality whilst keeping the carbon footprint at a low, which I believe is important for the environment and the future of the earth, and I also love the fact that Sundried gives back to those that need it the most, whilst creating stylish clothing, Sundried is still sending out a positive message.
Favourite fitness quote:
"Physical fitness is the first requisite of happiness" - Joseph Pilates
