- Leah Wei avoided the gym because he felt that exercise was about achieving a certain body type.
- She realized she missed out on health benefits, so she worked on her relationship with exercise.
- Wei now sees it as an opportunity to move every day and have fun meeting friends.
When Leah Wei, a 27-year-old New York-based YouTuber, learned that at age 30, her body would naturally start to lose muscle mass, she knew she had to overcome the horrors of her exercise.
She had a negative relationship with the movement, so she swears to gym a few years ago, she told Business Insider. These came from looking at images of Victoria’s Secret Model and magazine covers and adorning phrases such as “Get abs Quick.”
He felt that exercise was about pushing yourself to push in a certain way, Wei said. It made her feel sick about her body when she didn’t see the aesthetic result fitness influencer promised.
To maintain her self-esteem, Wei decides to abandon the movement and accept her body as it is. “I didn’t want to have a relationship with my body and movements,” she said.
But over time, she realized she was missing out on the health benefits of exercise. Her neck and shoulders felt like she was sitting on the screen all day long, feeling lethargic in the cold seasons, realising that maintaining muscles as she ages is important to staying strong and mobile.
In January 2023, Wei decided it was time to work on it again. But this time, she wanted it to be sustainable and prioritize how it felt, not how it made her feel.
Now she goes to class every day and bumps into the gym, so she exercises every day. She shared three ways she could do her job.
Leah Wei goes to the gym twice a week now.
Leah Way
1) Reconstruct “movement” as “movement.”
Wei likes to think of exercise as an opportunity to get physically active, get away from the laptop and have fun.
“This is the brand of the brand to this. It’s a really fun part of your day and something I want to do,” she said.
Rather than having a strict routine or schedule, she decides what movements she will do every day based on her mood. She is a member of a rock climbing gym and offers a wide range of classes, from classical to aerial yoga to circus skills, and often attempts new activities.
Wei likened her new attitude towards working on going to the playground as a child. “You say, ‘Oh, I have to go outside for a break because I improve my sleep and increase my metabolism.
Wei also has a gym in the building. There, I aim to train strength twice a week with free weights.
2) Mobility and social marriage
Exercising with friends makes it even more fun, Wei said, and it helps her balance the different parts of her life.
She persuaded three friends to join a rock climbing gym. They usually go together at least once a week or bump into it. “If all your friends go up, I think it’s motivated for you too,” she said.
And that means that she will exercise and see the people she loves at the same time.
“I’m gonna attack a friend and say, ‘Do you want to go on a Friday night, Sunday or Saturday morning’ and people are usually down,” she said.
Way likened her rock climbing gym to an adult playground.
Leah Way
3) Join the gym you want to spend every day
Wei’s Gym has large windows and beautiful views. She said it helped her to develop the habit of going almost every day because it is a space she loves to spend time.
“If you invest in a space that you really feel welcome and warm, you’ll want to go there every day,” she said.
Studios like this tend to be more expensive than basic gyms, but Wei is happy to spend money like this.
“I don’t really care about makeup, clothes, wallets, etc., but I do, this is really worth it to me,” she said.
