Recently, I got the chance to catch up with my friend, Macey Yates, a senior Bio Pre-Med Major at York College of Pennsylvania. To me, she represents the quintessential model of confidence, health and fitness.
While balancing classes, sports and internships, Macey also served as a lifeguard in Ocean City, MD this summer. As we caught up, she shared with me just how she’s transitioning her summer fitness routine into her fall semester.
If you’re like me and know nothing about becoming a lifeguard at the beach, you should know it’s nothing like Baywatch, it’s a lot of intense work. Other than attending the eight day Surf Rescue Academy bootcamp before the summer even starts, everyone is required keep up a fitness routine throughout the summer. Macey shows great discipline with her running and swimming workouts every single day.
For Macey, keeping in shape is not just about being seen in the gym, but it’s become her way of life. Both her father and brother guarded the Ocean City beaches before her. Growing up, Macey watched her brother on the stand every summer. It seemed almost impossible to envision that one day she too could become a Lifeguard.
After training hard and passing the try-outs, she gained confidence and discovered that she could do anything. “When you’re confident, there are no barriers to stop you from succeeding,” explained Macey.
It’s that same confidence that motivates her to carry on her rigid summer routine throughout the year. Staying in shape fuels her ultra competitive spirit.
A typical day this fall for her includes lifting in the morning and running in the afternoon. She stays even more motivated because she’s getting ready to compete in her first full marathon in October.
Macey is amazingly focused, but for those of us who are not marathon-running, pre-med, beach lifeguard rockstars, here are a few things we can learn from one.
I asked her how she would recommend just regular college student’s could keep up with all of this exercise business when we already have full schedules this semester. Macey explained, “Start slow, and go week by week to find out what works best for you. Go on a long walk; head to the gym and hit the elliptical. Working out doesn’t have to be ridiculously time consuming or even all that challenging to be productive.”
Eating healthy is also an important part of Macey’s routine. “I recommend avoiding fried foods, chips and candies. I usually stick to fruits, nuts and vegetables for meals, and always work in whey or meat after workouts. I try to eat clean, but if I’ve had a productive week, there’s no harm in eating a cheesesteak to ‘treat yo-self.’ It’s easier to cheat when you’ve already run everything off.”
If being healthy, strong and confident isn’t enough of a motivation to get you out of bed this semester, Macey laughed and told me, “You can always find cute guys at the gym.”
