SA SRC Fitness for Free Campaign Stories: Elysia

Elysia, 16 yo, Whyalla SA

Living in a country town means I have been lucky enough to grow up doing sports my whole life. I have tried 10 different sports so far, and I’m currently doing Free G and basketball.

This year I started going to my local YMCA gym everyday to workout. This has improved my mental health so much, and I have become more confident in myself. Going to the gym has saved my life, as it gives me something to look forward to everyday. As soon as I step foot in the gym environment my brain switches off from my current situation I am going through and I am just able to focus on something I love doing, which is exercising. After each workout I do, I feel really good about myself. I have autism and suffer from depression and anxiety.

Whenever I am not having the best day mentally, I walk to my local gym and smash out a workout, helping me get all my anger out. I do a mix of YMCA gym classes, as well as my own workouts that I do on my rough days.

On top of going to the gym everyday outside of school, I go to my school fitness centre twice a week for personal training. These sessions help me focus at school and give me more motivation to complete my school work. I also notice benefits to my mental health, as it normally puts me into a positive mindset.

The gym is one of my happy places, and since going I have been a lot happier in myself and been doing a lot better mentally. This is all really good, however, there is a monthly membership at the gym I go to that gives me access to classes and equipment. The gym fee gets expensive, especially when the price goes up, and we have to pay monthly. If I didn’t start accessing the gym outside of school I would be still stuck in the low place I was in. That’s why it’s so important to make gyms more affordable for myself and other young people whose mental health counts on it.