What if the biggest transformation from an eight week challenge wasn’t what happened to your body, but how you felt about exercise?
For Genesis, the biggest win wasn’t simply losing body fat or gaining almost a kilogram of muscle.
It was finally understanding why people say they actually love exercising.
After years of starting routines, sticking with them for a few months and eventually falling away, Genesis has found something very different at 23W.
Consistency. Community. And, perhaps most importantly, a genuine love of getting stronger.
Genesis joined 23W in February 2026 after looking for a smaller gym environment where she could feel comfortable, supported and challenged.
She already knew one thing about herself. Training alone wasn’t really her thing.
“I started this journey because I was looking for a small gym where I could feel comfortable and grow stronger. I noticed that I don’t really enjoy exercising on my own, so it was interesting that most offerings at 23W are small-group training sessions.”
Genesis had previously been a member of Sage Pilates and had valued the leadership Allie brought to the studio. When Sage transitioned to 23W Essendon, it gave her another reason to give strength training a go.
But there was one pattern she really wanted to break.
“My biggest challenge was consistency. Over the years, I had fallen into this cycle where I’d be consistent with my exercise routine for a few months and then fall off. Most of the time, a lack of variety or support made me lose interest and motivation.”
This time, she wanted to build something that lasted.
Genesis did have body composition goals going into the challenge, but they weren’t the only reason she was there.
She wanted strength. She wanted routine.
And she wanted to make looking after her mental and physical wellbeing a genuine priority.
“Aside from developing a consistent training routine, I wanted to feel stronger. I also have some body composition goals that I am working through, but more than that I wanted to feel stronger and build a routine that prioritises my mental and physical wellbeing.”
Over the eight weeks, something started to click.
Instead of having to convince herself to exercise, training gradually became something she looked forward to.
“Over the 8-week challenge, I fell into a rhythm where I love exercise and miss it when I can’t make it into the gym. Strength training has become one of my favourite activities to do.”
That is a pretty incredible shift for someone whose biggest challenge had always been maintaining consistency.
There were physical changes too.
Through a combination of consistent training and changes to her nutrition, Genesis lost body fat while gaining nearly one kilogram of muscle.
Her clothes started fitting differently and she noticed her confidence changing.
But we absolutely love how Genesis describes that confidence:
“I’m starting to feel more confident in my body, not because I’m smaller, but because my body is stronger.”
This is such an important part of the 23W philosophy.
Body composition goals are completely valid. Wanting to change how you look is valid.
But strength training gives us another metric to work with.
What can your body do now that it couldn’t do before?
Can you lift more? Move better? Recover faster? Feel more capable?
Sometimes those wins end up meaning far more than the number on the scales.
Genesis’s progress didn’t come from suddenly having unlimited time to train.
Life continued to be busy.
The difference was that she started treating her training as something worth making space for.
“I’ve gotten into the routine of slotting in my workouts for the week ahead every week, balancing rest and exercise relatively well. I look forward to strength training and seeing what my body is capable of doing each session.”
There were still weeks when work and life felt overwhelming.
But instead of the gym becoming another thing on the to do list, it started becoming somewhere she could step away from everything else.
“Prioritising coming into the gym when I was really busy or overwhelmed with life, the gym and the community at 23W became a safe space where I could be away from the stress in my day-to-day life.”
She also learnt that consistency doesn’t mean pushing at 100 per cent every time.
When DOMS hit hard, the answer wasn’t necessarily skipping training completely. Sometimes it simply meant adjusting the session and taking it easier on particularly sore muscle groups.
These are small lessons, but they’re often what turn exercise from something we do temporarily into something we can keep doing for years.
The changes weren’t limited to the gym floor.
Genesis also noticed her relationship with food shifting throughout the challenge.
“When it comes to nutrition, my relationship with food has improved, even when I am in a deficit. I have a much bigger appreciation for what my body is capable of doing and how it’s growing.”
Perhaps even more importantly, that mindset has started carrying over into how she responds to perceived failures and shortcomings.
Instead of expecting perfection, Genesis is learning to see the bigger picture.
A missed workout doesn’t mean you’ve failed.
A busy week doesn’t erase months of consistency.
Being sore doesn’t mean you have to stop completely.
And progress doesn’t need to be measured purely by becoming smaller.
Community has played a huge role in helping Genesis build that consistency.
“I’ve loved getting to know the team and other members. I appreciate that no matter how talkative or quiet I am when I walk into the studio, I am going to feel welcomed and celebrated.”
That feeling of being able to walk through the doors exactly as you are matters.
Some days you want to chat.
Some days you want to put your head down, train and head home.
Either way, you belong.
“I really value the care and attention everyone puts into the members and the guidance I’ve received with strength training in particular.”
And somewhere along the way, Genesis had a realisation that made us smile.
“Throughout the last few months, I kept thinking ‘ahhh, now I know why people love exercising so much and boast about how beneficial it is for their mental health!’”
There’s no dramatic finish line here. And that might be the best part of Genesis’s story. She’s continuing to work towards her body composition goals.
She’s continuing to build strength. She’s continuing to book her training into her week. And she’s continuing to show up.
Because exercise is no longer something she is trying to force herself to be consistent with.
It has become something she genuinely enjoys.
From struggling to maintain an exercise routine to gaining almost a kilogram of muscle and actually missing the gym when she can’t make it, Genesis’s eight weeks are a great reminder that sometimes the most valuable transformation isn’t simply changing your body.
It’s changing your relationship with it.
Ange Drake is a personal trainer, women’s empowerment coach and fitness blogger in the northern suburbs of Melbourne. She is the director of one of the few womens’ only strength training gyms in Melbourne, 23W. Ange helps women to learn how to use strength based training, nutritional strategies and a positive mindset to transform their bodies, relationship with food and mind.
