Issue link: http://www.wacmagazine.com/i/1439376
36 WAC Magazine | wac.net NATALIE HEARD MEMBER SINCE 2014 Prior to the pandemic, Natalie Heard's trips to the WAC primarily involved spending time in the sauna or steam room in Women's Fitness to decompress aer a hard day's work. Nowadays, you can find Natalie hard at work in Coed Fitness on the 4th Floor—doing Bosu ball workouts, liing free-weights, and running on the treadmill. Natalie was born and raised in Seattle and grew up visiting the WAC with her father, so she's no stranger to the Club. She spent many childhood days in the WAC Café doing homework aer school and shared many meals with her grandma in Torchy's. As soon she could no longer stay on her family's membership, she got her own. During the COVID-19 pandemic, Natalie realized she needed to shi her priorities aer her fast-paced job and on-the-go lifestyle caused the lines between work and home to blur. Natalie made it her mission to prioritize her health and get active. Starting twice-weekly Pilates helped her "double down" on that mission. "Pilates is the best gi I've ever given to myself," Natalie says. When her Pilates instructor went out of town, she began to work with WAC personal trainer Kodie Trinidad, as well. ree months later, Natalie says Kodie not only helped her with her goals of improving upper- body strength and posture, but she also gave her the tools to work out on her own. "I realized how important it was to not only have outlets to move your body, but to be fit to enjoy the life you want to live," Natalie says. "I just feel so much better." rough this self-discovery, Natalie found her fitness focus and something just as important—comfort with her own body. "Confidence is a ripple effect," Kodie says. "Once a client is feeling more confident in their physical abilities while training, they start to feel more confident not only in how they look, but what they can do during workouts." Since making fitness a priority, Natalie says she feels stronger and more enjoys the things she loves to do, including running with friends and hitting the ski slopes. Natalie plans to continue to train on her own, keep up with Pilates, and work with Kodie to keep the ball rolling in 2022 and beyond. "What's made a difference for me is the accountability a trainer brings," Natalie says. "It's easy to miss a workout on your own, but if I have classes with friends or a session with a trainer, it's so much easier to keep that commitment. e WAC has helped me honor those commitments." "I realized how important it was to not only have outlets to move your body, but to be fit to enjoy the life you want to live." —NATALIE HEARD