Monica Esenwein Athlete & Coach

Monica is a personal trainer and a triathlete. She talks to Sundried about training and motivation. 

Please tell us about sporting events you have taken part in or have coming up. 

I have not been able to race yet due to injury. I've done lots of training inbetween injuring my shoulder and my knee, I am set to have surgery (finally!) on my knee July 2, 2020. Hopefully, I will be up and walking the next day since the surgery is not that invasive!

Tell us about your journey to fitness? Where did it all start?

I have been an athlete my entire life; I played softball, basketball, and soccer throughout high school and even played softball in college. I received my personal training certification in 2017 and my bachelor's in strength and conditioning in 2019.

What are your training goals now?

My goals are to compete in a race this year (I have looked into the virtual ones and may do that), and then to place in the Top 10.

Tell us one unusual fact we wouldn’t know about you:

I put ketchup on my boxed mac and cheese.

What advice do you wish you'd been given when you first started out?

Everything takes time; study, learn and take your time.

Do you follow a specific nutrition plan? If so, what/when do you eat?

I do not, I try to eat as healthily as possible. I eat a variety of foods and keep track of my macros and calories.

What do you do to keep your clients motivated? Do you have any top tips to keep motivated?

When it comes to my clients, I encourage them and show them that they are making progress with non-scale wins.

Non-scale wins would be my most important tip. The scale can move in both directions for a multitude of reasons so concentrating on progress pictures, measurements, and other non-scale wins helps keep people motivated because they can see progress.

Talk us through your training regime.

I set up depending upon which "season" I'm in and scale it accordingly. Most days I get my swim or bike in before the rest of my day in the morning. I tend to run at night, I prefer it. I weight train 2-3 times a week depending on which season I'm in. I do 1 brick a week, usually on a Saturday when I have the most time.

How do you keep your fitness knowledge up to date?

I read tons of books, talk with other trainers, and I am getting my masters degree in sports science and rehab.

What are your top 3 trainer tips?

1. Listen to your body
2. Eat according to a plan, you'll be more successful
3. Hire a trainer if you don't know what you're doing

If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?

Pizza, there are so many combinations and things you can do with pizza.

What do you like about Sundried and what's your favourite bit of our kit?

I love the way it fits and how even when wet, I don't feel like I'm chafing. The padding for riding is enough to feel comfortable while riding but not too bulky to inhibit swimming and running.

Favourite fitness quote:

Make your past failures your fuel.