Member Spotlight: Anna Hancock

We are very happy for you to learn more about Forward Fitness member Anna Hancock in this month’s Member Spotlight.  Anna has been a member of Forward Fitness for many years. She and her husband Michael have recently started joining our monthly hikes and one new thing that I have learned about her, is her ability to identify trees and mushrooms.  She has quickly become our unofficial naturalist and helps to make our hikes more interesting. 

We asked Anna to describe herself before joining Forward Fitness and here is what she shared, “I grew up in Webster Groves, MO, where my parents currently still live. As a kid, I loved to play basketball, go hiking, build forts in the garden, and ride my bike. I’d say I was a pretty active kid coming from a pretty active family. My dad was an amateur body builder who loved tennis, bowling, football, and baseball so we were always going to games or playing in them. As I got into high school, I played basketball and softball at first but moved into more arts orientated activities like music, photography, and traveling. Then in college, I lived in the Netherlands and rode a bike everywhere which then stuck with me for years after returning to the U.S. even into having our daughter Frances. Our small family of three, would ride bikes all over St. Louis. When she was a baby, my husband would strap her to him in carrier then as she got bigger and heavier, she upgraded to her royal bike drawn carriage (aka buggy). We would even seek out and travel to bike-friendly cities, with our bikes in tow, to explore. When Frances started getting too big to be in her buggy, she started riding her own bike but had an early accident that scared her and slowly we stopped riding bikes as much and I switched over to walking and taking Zumba and eventually joined Forward Fitness.”

Anna tells us how she came to be a member at Forward Fitness, “I’ve always had a problem with my weight and energy levels and wanted to get professional help and guidance on how to stay fit in balance with a healthy reasonable diet. Also, I love how I feel when I keep a good physical routine and saw Forward Fitness around the corner from our house and decided to take a chance and walked in the door one day. I told myself, “What’s the worst that could happen?”, haha.”

Anna shares some great reasons why health and fitness are important to her. “It’s important to me because I can see the difference in my mental and physical health when I engage in exercise compared to when I don’t. Plus, there are so many places and activities I want to do, so being in good physical health is essential to feeling good while I’m exploring our amazing planet.” 

She also shares how she has kept fitness a part of her life for so long, “Scheduling and a routine. I try to schedule my workouts when my energy level and the ability to leave the office are aligned therefore reducing my excuses to myself.”

When asked about challenges that she has faced, Anna told us, 

“It seems like I’m facing one challenge after another these last 5 years. I’ve learned I have a couple of medical disorders that mess up my hormones so figuring out how to treat them by trying different medications has been a struggle. Especially since the medications can make me very sick and deplete my body. I workout when I can and I try my darndest not to beat myself up about missing workouts when I feel unwell or going lower on kettlebell weight or needing a break to catch my breath. 

Another challenge is my job. I love my work and how important the organization I work for is for us and our planet but it’s taxing, not only mentally but physically. To do my job well and not feel wrecked after a weeklong trip out in the wilderness, I need to be in good physical health, so I do my best to get to the gym and keep getting in workouts. The team at Forward Fitness have always been so gracious and supportive of me and it truly means so much to be welcomed in the door and encouraged to keep moving and not give up.” 

She also shared things that she is proud of, “An accomplishment I’m most proud of is seeing how strong I can be. I didn’t really grow up thinking I could lift heavy weights. Working with kettlebells, dumbbells, and barbells and learning to do so safely sticks with me in all areas of my life. It’s a definite reminder that I can do hard things. Another accomplishment I get excited about is my balance. I used to have to lean on walls or a chair or even sit down to put on pants and socks. I remember the first time I noticed how well my balance had become, I was in a dressing room trying on pants and I realized I was lifting one leg then the other without any wobbling or leaning, I was very pleased with myself.”

Anna would give this advice to someone thinking about starting a workout routine, “Work with yourself and keep coming into the gym even if you’ve slagged off a bit. The key is not to give up and give yourself small goals to accomplish. You can do hard things too!”

We always ask our members to share some fun facts with us. These are Anna’s.

Fun facts:

• I’ve been married to my wonderful husband, Michael, for 23 yrs in November.
• I am a mother to a beautiful 19 yr old daughter, Frances, who attends Loyola University in Chicago.
• I have 3 dogs, 1 cat, and a chicken.
• I recently started teaching myself to paint.
• I’ve been learning the Italian language for over a year.
• I love to dance.
• I’m an open book, ask me anything.

Thank you Anna for sharing with us and for being a great part of our Fit Fam!