\n
\nLearn more about the 2018 Gold\u2019s Gym Challenge<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n
![\"chelsea](\"https:\/\/res.cloudinary.com\/ggus-dev\/image\/private\/s--F0hBOcVf--\/c_auto,g_auto,w_1435,h_1435\/v1\/2405e908\/unknown-3-rt2.webp?_a=BAAAV6Bs\")
Seeing the difference <\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nShe worked out with Max twice a week. He provided routines for the days they didn\u2019t meet, and he checked in with her frequently. She also downloaded a calorie-counting app and started monitoring her diet. In December 2016, Chelsea lined up photos of herself that she\u2019d taken to track her body\u2019s progress. She couldn\u2019t believe how much her physique had changed since October. Max encouraged her to sign up for the Gold\u2019s Gym Challenge<\/strong><\/a>\u2014the 12-week body transformation contest exclusively available to Gold\u2019s Gym members\u2014and though she hesitated at first, she decided to go for it.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWith Max\u2019s help, Chelsea began to improve her diet by counting macros (the fat, protein and carbs that make up a calorie). She worked out six days a week, alternating lifting days for lats, back, shoulders<\/a> and arms, usually using free weights or the bar and rack. For legs, she\u2019d do squats, deadlifts, lunges and plyometrics. She experimented with tempo and weight\u2014sometimes performing more reps with less weight, sometimes fewer reps with more weight\u2014to keep things fresh. For cardio, she usually did high-intensity interval training<\/strong><\/a> or steady state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cMax pushed me farther than I thought I could go, and that\u2019s what made the difference,\u201d Chelsea says. \u201cHe laid out the map\u2014I just followed it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chelsea won 2nd<\/sup> place nationally in her age group for the 2017 Gold\u2019s Gym Challenge. During the 12 weeks of the Challenge, she went from 22.8 percent body fat to 13.6 percent, and she lost 7 pounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI felt healthier, I was eating better and sleeping better,\u201d Chelsea says. \u201cIt was a total lifestyle change, and I had new confidence in everything. I\u2019d never felt so comfortable in my own skin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Finding her second home<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\nThat self-assurance helped her build relationships with others at the gym. \u201cI now have my Colorado family out here\u201495 percent [of the people] are from the gym,\u201d she says. \u201cThe people I hang out with are from the gym, and the people I\u2019m texting are from the gym. I really do think that my gym is my second home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Chelsea\u2019s success inspired her to do more. Since high school, she had admired women who participated in bodybuilding competitions but never thought she\u2019d have what it takes to get there herself. But since the Gold\u2019s Gym Challenge, she has competed in two bodybuilding competitions\u2014the NPC Colorado State Championships and the Colorado Cup\u2014and took home prizes from both. By 2018, she plans to compete nationally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cWhen Chelsea first started, she didn\u2019t have a ton of confidence and talked about how she was picked on for being chubby,\u201d Max says. \u201cNow, she has so many people at the gym who look up to her. She is the<\/em> girl at the gym\u2014everyone knows Chelsea. She\u2019s really inspirational.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n\u201cI never could have done this if I hadn\u2019t walked into Gold\u2019s,\u201d Chelsea says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
\u201cGold\u2019s changed my life,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m happier and healthier, and I have a new love for a sport I never thought I could do in a million years. I\u2019ve fallen in love with who I am right now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
<p>In 2016 at the age of 23, Chelsea Martin left her life in Wisconsin and moved to Colorado to start her nursing career. She was in a new place for a new job, far away from her friends and family. Aside from her Welsh corgi, Tobi, Chelsea didn\u2019t know a soul. Deciding that her new […]<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":6622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[168],"tags":[204,120,103,146,231,88,119,155],"class_list":["post-3523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-success-stories","tag-12-weeks","tag-build-muscle","tag-community","tag-golds-gym-challenge","tag-gym-contest","tag-healthy-habits","tag-transformation","tag-weight-loss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3523"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10132,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3523\/revisions\/10132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
With Max\u2019s help, Chelsea began to improve her diet by counting macros (the fat, protein and carbs that make up a calorie). She worked out six days a week, alternating lifting days for lats, back, shoulders<\/a> and arms, usually using free weights or the bar and rack. For legs, she\u2019d do squats, deadlifts, lunges and plyometrics. She experimented with tempo and weight\u2014sometimes performing more reps with less weight, sometimes fewer reps with more weight\u2014to keep things fresh. For cardio, she usually did high-intensity interval training<\/strong><\/a> or steady state.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cMax pushed me farther than I thought I could go, and that\u2019s what made the difference,\u201d Chelsea says. \u201cHe laid out the map\u2014I just followed it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chelsea won 2nd<\/sup> place nationally in her age group for the 2017 Gold\u2019s Gym Challenge. During the 12 weeks of the Challenge, she went from 22.8 percent body fat to 13.6 percent, and she lost 7 pounds.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI felt healthier, I was eating better and sleeping better,\u201d Chelsea says. \u201cIt was a total lifestyle change, and I had new confidence in everything. I\u2019d never felt so comfortable in my own skin.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n That self-assurance helped her build relationships with others at the gym. \u201cI now have my Colorado family out here\u201495 percent [of the people] are from the gym,\u201d she says. \u201cThe people I hang out with are from the gym, and the people I\u2019m texting are from the gym. I really do think that my gym is my second home.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Chelsea\u2019s success inspired her to do more. Since high school, she had admired women who participated in bodybuilding competitions but never thought she\u2019d have what it takes to get there herself. But since the Gold\u2019s Gym Challenge, she has competed in two bodybuilding competitions\u2014the NPC Colorado State Championships and the Colorado Cup\u2014and took home prizes from both. By 2018, she plans to compete nationally.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cWhen Chelsea first started, she didn\u2019t have a ton of confidence and talked about how she was picked on for being chubby,\u201d Max says. \u201cNow, she has so many people at the gym who look up to her. She is the<\/em> girl at the gym\u2014everyone knows Chelsea. She\u2019s really inspirational.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cI never could have done this if I hadn\u2019t walked into Gold\u2019s,\u201d Chelsea says.<\/p>\n\n\n\n \u201cGold\u2019s changed my life,\u201d she says. \u201cI\u2019m happier and healthier, and I have a new love for a sport I never thought I could do in a million years. I\u2019ve fallen in love with who I am right now.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" <p>In 2016 at the age of 23, Chelsea Martin left her life in Wisconsin and moved to Colorado to start her nursing career. She was in a new place for a new job, far away from her friends and family. Aside from her Welsh corgi, Tobi, Chelsea didn\u2019t know a soul. Deciding that her new […]<\/p><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":47,"featured_media":6622,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_post_subtitle":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[168],"tags":[204,120,103,146,231,88,119,155],"class_list":["post-3523","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-success-stories","tag-12-weeks","tag-build-muscle","tag-community","tag-golds-gym-challenge","tag-gym-contest","tag-healthy-habits","tag-transformation","tag-weight-loss"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3523","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/47"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3523"}],"version-history":[{"count":13,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3523\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":10132,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3523\/revisions\/10132"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/6622"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3523"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3523"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.goldsgym.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3523"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}Finding her second home<\/strong><\/h2>\n\n\n\n