Ola ON: body image, fitness goals, and how to pick a trainer

The PLTFRM team recently got to speak with Ola, aka @ola.tsev on Instagram. We had an indepth and inspirational conversation about fitness, body image, and on being a good personal Trainer.

Ola has a confident and powerful energy as a person and a trainer that makes you believe that she knows what she is doing and that you can trust her to give it to you straight.

We started by asking Ola about where her fitness journey started from and she shared how she spent her whole life playing some sport or the other. “ Gymnastics was probably my pain sport but if you can name a sport I’ve probably played it.”

“You can never 100% look like someone else. There are things like genetics that go into that. So it’s important to look at hiring a trainer holistically and make sure they are right fit for you and where you are in your journey.”

Ola went on to share that in her teen years, growing up in Eastern Europe, she felt a lot of pressure to look a certain way. She told us, “ I joined a gym and started fitness because I wanted to change my body. I wanted to reach my weight goals. I started with a very unhealthy situation and relationship with fitness and it’s changed over time.”

The PLTFRM team asked when the ‘change’ in her relationship with fitness happened and Olga shared that for her everything changed when she moved to Canada. “ When I came to Canada I joined a small boutique gym that was very focused on strength and on feeling good instead of solely focusing on the way you look and that community really started to change my mindset around fitness.”

We asked Ola about what her relationship with fitness was today, and she shared, “the ‘why’ behind my own training routine is to feel and be stronger, continue building muscle, support my mental health and love the way I look - jacked and strong haha.” Olga told us how in fitness she thinks it's normal okay for the goals to be based on the physical body - this is where most folks start.

That being said, she also believes how you perform will affect your every day life and your mind. “When you are at the gym you go through physical pain and your body learns to adapt. I believe going through that pain helps you deal with or even eases other life pains slightly. You are more ready and able to deal with other challenges in life.”

“It only becomes a problem when physical change is your sole goal and the means to achieve them entail hurting your mental and/or physical health”

Ola then expanded on her thoughts on people having physical body goals in relation to fitness. She is a big believer that you shouldn’t feel bad for wanting to change your body. “ I believe it only becomes a problem when physical change is your sole goal and the means to achieve them entail hurting your mental and/or physical health. You also need to have some other goals that will keep you going when you see or feel stagnation of the aesthetic related goals.”

We dove into a conversation about what it takes to be a good personal trainer. As someone with good insight on herself and her abilities, Ola was able to share with us a really valuable perspective on this topic. “In my opinion, as a personal trainer you have to be relatively healthy and fit. Healthy and fit can look and be different for everyone but you must strive for becoming a better version of yourself and practice what you preach to your clients.”

“People are often looking for someone they can see themselves in because that’s who they feel connected to.”

We then asked Ola for her definition of healthy and she shared,“ being holistically healthy includes good physical health. You need to also be in a good place mentally. You need to understand what you body needs and what being healthy looks like for you.” Ola shared how it’s important to be aware of yourself as a trainer because often the clients that come to you will relate to your story in some way. People are often looking for someone they can see themselves in because that’s who they feel connected to. “For example,I, myself, have quite a few clients who came to Canada from Eastern Europe as well. They come to me because I understand them better on a cultural level, and they may be able to better relate to me.”

We then asked Ola what clients should look for when hiring a trainer. She shared an important point, “ it’s important for people to realise that they shouldn’t solely be hiring trainers based on how they look. If you are hiring a trainer cause you want to look like them, you are setting yourself up for disappointment. You can never 100% look like someone else. There are things like genetics that go into that. So it’s important to look at hiring a trainer holistically and make sure they are the right fit for you and where you are on your journey.”

We thoroughly enjoyed our conversation with Ola and are grateful for her taking time to chat with us. We are excited to watch her grow and continue to soak up all the insight and tips she has to offer. If you would like to connect with Ola you can find her on IG @ola.tsev