Just when we thought we had experienced one of the most grueling exercise classes yet, Ashleigh Iovino – founder and owner of FitMom came into the picture.
This gorgeous mother-of-two has always had a passion for health and fitness. After she fell pregnant, she began to ask herself important questions relating to fitness, nutrition and health and how they all played a part during and post-pregnancy. A large amount of research later, she found the results and information overwhelming and often contradictory, and so she took the opportunity to study personal training and specialize in both pre – and postnatal fitness.
Ash now runs her own mobile personal training business focusing on getting moms (and anyone else) back into shape, and is also involved with Movement X, Norwood as a group fitness instructor.
Ash actually went to the same university as both of us, and we have kept in contact via social media ever since. With the launch of her new business; and with our Spruce Sweats series on the go we thought it would be an ideal time to try out her sessions! She kindly agreed to give us an hour session this last Saturday – we survived (barely) to tell the tale! 🙂
FitMom being mobile in nature meant Ash came to us – our “gym” was the garden area in Ilaria’s complex; it was such a refreshing experience to train outside in the fresh air and light!
Ash started us off with a 1.5km warm up jog around the block, which was then followed by some burning ab exercises on the mat. We then moved onto a quick leg session which included squats, jump squats, mountain climbers – basically everything that made our legs feel like jelly! This was technically the ‘warm up’: the 10 station circuit that followed was the real killer; mixing it up with High Intensity Interval Training with a two minute time limit at each station.
Ilaria: “I absolutely loved how passionate and determined Ashleigh was – she went into strict teacher mode once we started, and that is exactly what I needed for a session this tough! She is completely in the zone with you, and it feels like she genuinely cares and has an interest in how you do the exercise. The exercises themselves are definitely not easy – I was drenched by the time we ended our session, but I am convinced that I could not have handled it without Ash being there to support and cheer us on. She is a complete inspiration!“
Sam: “This was pretty much the hardest – and BEST – gym session I have done all year. The pace and intensity of the session was incredible – not once did I feel “bored” (I often feel this way training on my own) and really felt like I needed to prove to Ash that I could do every exercise! The fact that we were switching between exercises every 30 seconds meant that I really started to feel the “burn” – which I loved. I echo Ilaria’s views: Ash is a complete inspiration to me! “If a Mom of two can look like this, then what’s your excuse?!”
We both agreed that we wish we had trained with Ash sooner – perhaps, we might have been more ready for the upcoming “beach season”! According to testimonials on her website, Ash’s training has managed to physically and mentally transform her clients in a few short months; and from what we witnessed in that short hour we really can believe it given her absolute dedication and passion towards her clients.
Unfortunately for us Jozi girls, Ashleigh will be moving to Cape Town in January and will be building up her business from there – Capetonians, do take note – this chick is AMAZING, and she will work your body like never before. She is also launching a new plan – Fit Bride – for all those wanting to get in shape for the big day!
Make sure to follow FitMom on Instagram and Facebook: you cannot help but be inspired. You can also visit her website for detailed information about FitMom and the relevant contact details.
Ash, even though we were shaking for about two hours after our session, it was such a great experience! Thank you for taking the time to show us what you do – it certainly has inspired us to push ourselves even harder.
Spruce wishes you all the best in your Cape Town adventure, we have no doubt that it will be a huge success!