Tayla Clement is making her move.
Billie and #ITSMYMOVE want to help encourage Kiwi teenage girls to explore more ways to move.
Whether you move for fun, friendship or the feels - we will help you discover how to be active – your way.
This month influencer, Tayla Clement, reflects on her relationship with sport during her teenage years, how it has now changed and why inclusivity in sport is so important.
My relationship with exercise when I was younger was maybe a little different compared to most teens. I was a Paralympic swimmer and from the age of about 13 I was training every morning and most afternoons.
Outside of my training environment my family was pretty active and we were always doing something in the weekends, so I think without knowing or acknowledging it at the time, I lived a pretty active lifestyle.
As I got older my relationship with exercise began to change. My number one focus was to try and look my best and look a certain way – it was always about the external pressures I faced. I’m not sure if anyone else felt (or still feels) this, but especially as a girl it was definitely seen as ‘uncool’ or ‘not on trend’ to be muscular or have an athletic build in high school.
There was also just a lack of representation of different body shapes in the health and fitness world. I’ve always had a broad build, especially in my upper body, to the point that in high school I had to get a blazer that was about 6 sizes too big for me just so I could fit my shoulders in it comfortably. I felt like an outsider because I wasn’t your generic ‘stick thin’ female. I felt uncomfortable in my own skin which in turn made me want to just do cardio to try and not have a muscular look. I took advice from places I shouldn’t have and developed a rather toxic relationship with my exercise and eating routines.
Hand in hand with that, it was overwhelming a lot of the time to know where to start because there was so much information, or perhaps misinformation out there (online trainers that weren’t qualified, YouTube workouts that said they would target one thing, but actually didn’t target that area or need at all etc.)
That made me not want to start a lot of the time, and pair that with the constant trends that were always swirling around and it made it nearly impossible to stick to one thing. I struggled with this and often found myself procrastinating.
However, with time I have learned how to work with my body. My number one piece of advice for this would be to just start with something small that you feel is achievable for you personally, whether it’s a 30 minute walk once a day, finding a fitness page online like YouTube that you can follow each day, it’s really about just starting, trying new things and seeing what you like and what works for you!
I would be pretty confident in saying that teenagers these days most likely experience the same sort of barriers that I, and others, faced when we were teenagers, but maybe on a more heightened scale due to more access to different social media platforms.
If I could go back in time I would tell my younger self to find a physical activity that is enjoyable, that even if you’re not feeling your best, if you go and do that activity it’s going to brighten your day and lift your spirits.
I’m now 25 and being active in my day-to-day life is so important to me, probably more so than when I was an athlete, but maybe not for the reasons you might think.
I now move my body so that it helps my mental health more so than my physical health. Obviously if you’re active it’s going to benefit your physical health, but for me, good mental health, mental clarity and happiness is my number one goal always and I know that physical activity helps me maintain that.
I’d like to see change in the fitness world – so more young women can do what they want, wear what they want, see all body types moving, and just have fun without worrying about any judgement. I’ve met a lot of cool people along the way and if there’s one thing I’ve learnt - it’s that if you’re scared, others probably are too – but we can help each other and have fun at the same time.
Sport NZ launched the #ITSMYMOVE campaign to help young women get active and stay active, their way, after research showed many young women stop participating in physical activity and sport in their teenage years.
Do you want to learn more about #ITSMYMOVE? Head to their website where you can find inspiration, free online workouts, podcasts and playlists.
If you haven’t already, check out last month’s story with Tegan Yorwarth and keep an eye out next month for another story from Billie x #ITSMYMOVE!
