Siobhan Byrne – Owner and personal trainer at BodyByrne Fitness, Puma Brand Ambassador
and Fitness Writer Health and Living Magazine Irish Independent
Siobhan is director/co owner of Bodybyrne Fitness and full-time trainer. She is a brand ambassador for Puma (www.puma.com/fitness/athletes/siobhan-byrne). She has been involved in the fitness industry for over 10 years. Her background is in Kickboxing and she has competed in tournaments around Ireland.
Siobhan is an experienced certified trainer and has recently made the transition to tri-athlete then to the challenge of Iron Man 2011 and then winning the female relay in Iron Man 2012. She is a regular panelist on TV3 discussing diet and training. Siobhan is also a weekly columnist with The Irish Independent’s Fit Mag every Thursday featuring articles on how to get in shape and articles about how to keep fit through pregnancy. Siobhan is also blogger for Eurocycles Eurobaby and is currenty in the development stages of her new pregnancy fitness app.
How did you first get involved in health & fitness?
Ive always been involved in fitness to some degree from Judo as a child to kickboxing and Jiu jitsu I realised the importance of strength training when I was kickboxing as I was getting injuries that could have been prevented with strength training.
When and how did you decide to make health & fitness your career?
I have always had a love for fitness and then I met my husband Paul and it was a natural progression from there. We grew the business together. Each year brings new opportunites and ideas. When I was pregnant I decided to do a strength training pregnancy app which is set for release early this year. I wanted a really easy way of showing women how you can continue to train while pregnant.
How do you balance managing your career, your personal life and your own fitness goals?
Paul and myself are very organised and focused people. To be honest when you have your own business you have to be. We have a rule at 7pm the laptops go off. We have a 19month old, Regan and as most moms know you have to be organised. I work well under pressure. Sometimes it can be hard to get my own workouts in but I do it, you can either make excuses or just do it so many people make excuses not to exercise. I try to train 4-5 times a week for about 40-50 mins each session, its my time that love and as I always say the only training session you ever regret is the one you dont do.
What advice would you give to women who want to start getting fit & healthy but aren’t sure where to begin?
Start reading and educate yourself firstly and plan out what you want from training, whether its weightloss, fitness, toning. Follow a professional with exercises you can do at home or see a personal trainer if you are going it alone even a session every now and then will teach you correct form and keep you focused. For me Strength training is the holy grail my body looks the best when I strength train. Ive never been stick thin and I dont want to be. I love shape and balance in the body. Im a realist I like my food and I like my training and only when I started strength training did I become happy with my shape. I strongly recommend it to every woman.
With the start of 2015 alot of us will be setting New Year’s health & fitness resolutions, how can we ensure that we dont give up by February, what advice would you give to stay motivated?
Dont start with unrealistic resolutions that you wont keep. Take it one step at a time, start by cutting a vice like drink or sugar and get some exercises in. Then develop it slowly from there. Give yourself weight or training goals each month realistic ones that you can achieve. Slow and steady does finish the race.