Boutique gym for bad asses

As if farming isn’t hard enough, I’ve taken up strength training. I know most don’t think of me as buff, but the journey is cooler than I ever imagined. Almost as cool as my new cooler, Johnny.

This time last year I was on a trajectory for reclaiming my health and fitness. I was recovering from a hysterectomy and knee replacement. I was physically weak and facing bone density loss. I had diligently done physical therapy, and I spent 2021 farming, riding a bike and lifting a few weights. But I actually had no idea what I was doing as it relates to strength training. 

Thankfully Strength Trainer Carey Kytle at Habit Reno knew how to dial in the perfect program for me. She teaches kinesiology at TMCC, so she clearly explains exercises, which helps rewire my brain for daily life improvement, especially as it relates to posture and harnessing target muscles to avoid injury while flower farming. 

I previously suspected people spent money on personal training because they lacked self discipline. It was an epiphany to experience the power of someone teaching me new physical strategies that work and someone who cheers me on to do more than I think possible. I forgot how much I value the energy between coaches and athletes. 

I am also inspired by the interior Carey designed at Habit Reno. Her boutique gym has a yin-yang flow with 7-foot-tall cameos of handsome people painted along the white sidewall while most of the equipment lines the black wall with lots of pops of color from strength training bands. Everything from the yellow ceiling to to the rap tunes makes the space feel powerful and inclusive. 

I have to confess that when I met Carey at a Wyld Women summit in March, I was intimidated by her. She is six feet of lean muscle. I thought at 61, I was too old to have a hot shot trainer like Carey. Then I checked out her @habitreno Instagram account and found an inspirational video of a middle-aged woman, pulling a heavy sled down the floor of Habit. “This is my mom, Deb. SHE IS A BADASS,” read the caption. That’s when I said, SIGN ME UP!