Looking for a female community to get you through January and beyond? Maybe it’s time to join the Sol Sisterhood, says Fiona Adams...
The last year has presented a number of challenges, from baking the perfect sourdough to finding the energy to drag ourselves off the sofa, away from the crisps and the wine (only me?).
But 2021 is a whole new year and with the Covid vaccine cavalry on the horizon, there is no excuse to take our foot off the health and fitness pedal.
However, that doesn’t have to mean going it alone or even running the gauntlet of the gym, for help is at hand in the form of Sol Movement, an online fitness community set up by American-born, Sara Kavanagh, Richmond resident and qualified triathlon coach.
Originally from the Midwest, Sara moved to New York after college and soon found herself working flat-out in financial services where vacations could be cancelled at a moment’s notice and booking spinning classes at all hours of the day and night were the norm.
Despite her busy lifestyle and exercise regime, Sara’s weight was something that she always struggled with until one Saturday morning a health epiphany changed everything.
“I weighed myself after doing a double-spin class and I was four pounds heavier than the previous week,” Sara explains.
“My instructor told me she was starting an all-female triathlon team and asked me if I would join. My reaction was ‘you know what, screw this! I’m not getting on the scales ever again. I’m going to train for a completely different goal.’
It was completely transformative and yes, I lost weight, but it was a side effect and it wasn’t the goal anymore.”
There were 30 women in the triathlon team and they all trained together.
It taught Sara that feeling good was not about being thin but about feeling strong, physically and mentally.
“We all did our first triathlon together and it was just the coolest thing. Our name was Team Lipstick and to this day I wear bright red lipstick when I work out. I’m not a vain person but it became part of my transformation, from being so concerned about my body and how I looked to understand the amazing work my body can do.”
Sara, now 40, moved to the UK in 2014 and married husband James and had two sons, Hardy aged three and a half and Kit, 16 months.
After Hardy was born and wanting to feel fit and strong again, Sara decided to put everything she had learned about fitness and herself into a new digital training business – Sol Movement – to help women reach their exercise goals through a supportive network.
“I really missed the women that I had been triathlon training with every day. They were my sisterhood! Of course, training every day in Central Park is different from doing it virtually but at Sol, we’re all in the same community. And over this year I’ve really seen how important this is. People who have never met but are doing the same programme give each other support. It’s rewarding and empowering to have that kind of encouragement.
“No one is nailing every workout every day of the week, but if you’re part of a group, it’s easier to lace your shoes back on.”
Aside from run coaching for everyone from 5km novices to marathon runners, Sol offers Fit in Five, a daily schedule of simple workouts that can be done in as little as five minutes and Find Your Fit, a 28-day programme of in-depth coaching and nutrition support and one-to-one personal training.
And after a year like 2020, Sara firmly believes that women need this kind of support more than ever.
“We’ve taken on so many more jobs than a year ago. We have been homeschooling our kids, trying to do our jobs, do the laundry, cook double the amount of meals and keeping on top of everything else. So this is something for yourself, it’s nothing to do with partners, work or family, it’s your own thing and designed to make you feel good.”
To contact Sara and get involved, visit: sol-movement.com
