Health: Anisa Essop- fitness and wellness expert- Cape Town, South Africa

Health: Anisa Essop- fitness and wellness expert- Cape Town, South Africa – motivating others in health and fitness– #AnisaFitness

Join me warriors Rise above your circumstances!!! Get back into the grind!! #anisafitness. In year two of the pandemic and lockdown, we need to keep up fitness and/or get into shape – physically and emotionally. Cape Town based Anisa Essop is a fitness and wellness innovator who has been motivating clients for almost two decades to put in place healthy lifestyle choices – with a balance between exercise and nutrition. Anisa is a powerhouse and has devised her programmes from years of experience – honed from her own journey. After an abusive marriage and gaining weight, she reclaimed her life – spectacularly. Her battle with body image goes back to when was overweight at school and was teased and bullied because of what was perceived as poor performance in sports. An abusive marriage did not help her poor self-image. Many would not have been able to end the cycle. Remarkably Essop, not only shed the kilos but embraced fitness and nutrition to achieve her excellent results. AnisaFitness followers love her energy, positivity and drive. Anisa tags her clients as “warriors”. In addition to her holistic approach and skill as fitness coach, she encourages her “warriors” to take care of their financial health and save money. It is all part of the AnisaFitness package. During hard lockdown, when gyms were closed, Anisa ran FREE fitness classes on her social media platforms – Facebook and Instagram. Cognisant of the cost of gyms, beyond the reach of many, AnisaFitness seeks out opportunities to host fitness interventions in communities- in-need. Her love of group exercise goes back to when she was an overweight teenager. She led classes with seniors in her community- with her trusty cassette player – belting out music and that spurred her on when she went professional as a fitness expert and motivator – the power and joy of working as part of a group. July 2021 and gyms are closed again, under lockdown regulations and #anisafitness is there to keep her fitness “warriors” moving and happy.

TheCapeRobyn: What would you say has been the most important aspect of your online group exercise during lockdown – with people working out online?

Anisa Essop: In the pandemic, many people have found themselves working from home. They are sitting behind the desk ending up with stiffness, back and neck pain. They have no blood circulation in legs and hands and no chance to even stretch. I have created many stretch videos to assist. I have always been driven to encourage people to care of themselves – by loving themselves. My videos have been made with this in mind- to encourage – but without judgement and pressure. My core focus on my platform – AnisaFitness- has always been about seeking ‘truth’, about guiding people and making them never to disconnect their mental, emotional, physical and spiritual positioning. So, yes, I have taken this further in the pandemic, by working with the realities that we all find ourselves in; mostly in isolation. Corporates realise that their staff need motivation. I have been involved with team building with companies, facilitating group training via Zoom etc. This means that employees can work safe from home but benefit as part of a group, online. That has been very exciting. Some companies have also marketed brands to get exposure and this has enabled me to offer classes free so it is a win-win situation and I hope to grow this side of AnisaFitness.

TheCapeRobyn: A lot of people are suffering from lingering Covid side effects – lung issues etc Do you have any programmes for people who are scared to get back into shape?

Anisa Essop: Yes, I have created very easy and basic workouts for this area. All my videos are titled to make access easier for your specific needs.

TheCapeRobyn: How did you manage financially in hard lockdown, when you were unable to lead group classes and do personal training and you were presenting classes, at no charge on your social media channels?

Anisa Essop: My abusive ex marriage has taught me something that will never leave me and that is:  Put money put aside for tough times. Since I started my AnisaFitness I always encouraged my warriors to put aside money from their salaries a month because you never know when life can just change. And it did. Corona hit us! I have been scared terribly in the past and I promised myself that as long as I earn money it is compulsory to have back up money set aside. Over the past years I was committed to paying up all my accounts and I focused on savings.

TheCapeRobyn: AnisaFitness works with groups – not attached gyms – with low fees. Can you tell us about that?

Anisa Essop: Throughout lockdown I have been hosting once a week outdoor training with a group of people at a very small fee where we train, bond and celebrate fitness. The reason for this “Power Training” class is to motivate broken people, coming from abusive homes, have no income, lost loved ones, gaining weight etc. I have various small businesses sponsoring my classes for the ladies that are not financially able to attend my events, paid private group classes etc. But due to it getting dark early we have postponed it until further notice. But we will be up and running again once we are out of winter and when the coast is clear with the third wave. But until then, we have our AnisaFitness family page.

TheCapeRobyn: How can people get involved – to donate to assist you in AnisaFitness community work?

Anisa Essop: By God’s grace our AnisaFitness family is growing by the day! Some people are unemployed but make sure they have that little bit of money to have data to do my workouts and listen to my messages due to them wanting to commit suicide from so many issues. Even my team in the rural areas are growing on media platforms desperately needing videos to motivate them due to them not being able to have money to go to a gym. I am humbled and truly blessed to understand that so many people need me. AnisaFitness welcomes any sponsors willing to work together with me in building a better nation and changing as many lives as possible. They can e-mail me or send me a DM.

TheCapeRobyn: What is your message to people – about seeing the investment in their health?

Anisa Essop: Your health is your wealth: Love yourself enough to take this time to look after your mind, control your emotions. Look after your body and redirect your focus to God. If you can stay consistent to these things then each day you WILL pull through. Keep watching my motivation videos allocated to your situation and you will be clearer on what direction to take. You are not alone in this… I am here for YOU!

TheCapeRobyn: What laid the groundwork for your amazing transformation – which has led you to almost two decades of motivating and working with others?

Anisa Essop: My love for fitness started from being an overweight teenager. I was teased and bullied at school because of my performance in sports due to my weight. I grew up with my aunt and granny and they did not have an understanding of healthy foods. I always knew I was born to lead because after school I would teach kids from the street and teach them on my chalk board. I would gather older people on the soccer field and do aerobics with my cassette player.  I loved being in front of a crowd dancing, exercising. People did not judge me for what I looked like but allowed me to be me and share the joy and love I have for music and moving the body.
  

TheCapeRobyn: You put fitness first and the talk of weight and kilos is down on the list. How can people get their confidence going- in time of continued anxiety? Can people also book one on one personal training sessions with you?

Anisa Essop: Most of us get so fixed on wanting the weight off but do not want to put the time in the work either because it’s hard, it hurts, no motivation or no consistency. My passion is to teach you to love fitness and everything else falls into place. Yes I am a personal trainer and people can contact me to discuss their needs concerning their goals, booking sessions etc.

TheCapeRobyn: You teach body conditioning, step, dance, core, shape, box, aqua, step, boot camp. You are a personal trainer as well as a motivational speaker and self-defense instructor. Where do you get your energy for this amazing range of practices and approaches?

Anisa Essop: Two answers: God and my passion for people.

TheCapeRobyn: As we stand here, July 2021 and tightened lockdown, what is the update on Anisa Fitness?

Anisa Essop: In these recent past few months [2021], I have continued to post free motivation videos, work-outs; info about meals that I make to encourage healthy eating. I have collaborated with independent small businesses and put out what they are offering. We all need each other in this tough time. I also returned to home personal training with a handful of private clients. When lockdown eased, I was back teaching at various gyms – with strict protocols in place. Now, with the Delta variant and gyms closed, due to tightened lockdown regulations that has been put on pause but hopefully, Covid numbers will stabilize and gyms will re-open. Irrespective of the pandemic and lockdown, I have refrained from teaching all my classes in gyms. I have focused and continue to develop on helping people who cannot go to gym and with social media, I can reach people across the globe. I must mention that during lockdown, with gyms being closed, that does not mean eating clean and exercising should stop. Just as we need to eat every day, so does the body need to stay flexible, strong and healthy. With this new lockdown, we should take up the opportunity to re adjust our goals. We should take this time to prepare home cooked foods, with more earthly foods incorporated to our palates. We can be conscious of avoiding toxic foods and habits we indulged in and use this time to detox by cleaning. My AnisaFitness page is continually developing with options and workouts suitable for peoples’ needs and different fitness levels. Hopefully, life will gets easier. Stay blessed everyone- that is my message.

TheCapeRobyn: How can Anisa Fitness can assist- with online offerings and where we can find you or an Anisa accredited trainer?

Anisa Essop: AnisaFitness is learning about: ‘The New YOU!’ For events and group training classes I only send direct invites for safety reasons and to host accurate participation due to Corona. It is a personal and I connect directly with people. People should feel free to DM me and I will send information about my upcoming programs.

❇ Sponsored content. Images of Anisa Essop of #anisafitness– supplied.