The importance of having a workout buddy

It’s only human nature that we all, at some point, need motivation to keep us on the health and fitness bandwagon.

Life takes over with work, family, friends and so on, that our health and fitness often take a back seat. This is why motivation is often required to get us up and moving again and following healthier diets.

That motivation can come in a variety of ways. From a new set of pots, or a new fridge, to motivating oneself to eat clean and healthy, or new gym gear and equipment.

For me, motivation comes in the form of people that I look up to.

Such people motivate others through what they do and in how they look after their health. More importantly, they can keep me accountable when I fall off the horse.

One such person is my co-founder of PopUpGym, Khethiwe Mlangeni. She is a wife and a mom raising three children, as well as a businessperson.

Despite juggling roles, she keeps her health and fitness in check and in doing so, motivates not just people like me, but our whole fitness circle.

Many of us watched her effortlessly keep up her fitness lifestyle throughout her pregnancy a year and six months ago, and saw how she worked hard post-pregnancy to get her pre-pregnancy body back.

Yes, I did a similar thing four years ago when I had my daughter, but this time round I just watched in awe. The focus, the determination, her commitment, it all kept me on my toes.

Fitness guru and businessperson Khethiwe Mlangeni. Picture: Supplied

Whenever I got lazy, Khethiwe would say: “Letshego, I’m going to look better than you when I turn 40 in 2020!” And that was enough to get me moving.

Now, I think we all need a friend like this in our back pockets. Nothing like someone to constantly keep you accountable, and constantly remind you of your goals.

Because Khethiwe is someone that motivates me, I thought it would be a great idea to rope her in every now and then, to allow her to share some of her health and fitness knowledge with our Fitness At Large community.

So, this is a formal introduction to this incredible woman who will every now and then motivate us in some way or other.

She runs, cycles, swims and absolutely loves functional training and weights in the gym, or outdoors.

Khethiwe Mlangeni. Picture: Supplied

She loves eating clean for the body she wants. She’s always researching the next best thing to help stall the effects of aging or searching for something that can help one’s skin glow.

She loves her sports gadgets and is a big advocate of knowing your health numbers, whether it’s centimetres around your body or your blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose numbers.

Welcome to the co-pilot of Fitness At Large, Khethiwe Mlangeni.

Zulu is a qualified biokineticist and cofounder of PopUpGym. Follow her on Instagram: @letshego.zulu; Twitter: @letshegom; Facebook: Letshego Zulu

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