Behind the Gains (with Ola and Abby)
Hey guys, welcome back to the blog! Our second (and third) guest will be Ola and Abby! These sisters definitely know what it takes to push themselves to the limit but they also make fitness feel fun which you can sense on their IG page @olaandabby. They also have a really cool YouTube channel as well, Ola & Abby. Be sure to check them out with links available below! Enjoy the interview!
So let’s start at the beginning, how did both of you first start getting into fitness? Did you start together?
For me (Ola) I’ve always been into sports and athletics and played basketball all my life. Around 16 that slowed down so I got my first gym membership. Started working out and immediately fell in love with the lifestyle. I’d say at 18 I started taking it more seriously, and the rest is history haha.
For me (Abby), I played sports all my life, from competitive basketball to many other school teams. Naturally, I loved anything to do with fitness. During Christmas break when I was 16, I joined the gym. Ola was already a member for a couple years so I was just waiting to join. Ever since then, it’s been an infinite love affair.
And then of course, we took our fitness journey to another level about 7 years ago. This is when we prepped and competed for our first fitness show.
Do you find that working out and meal prepping together makes it easier for both of you to stay motivated and consistent with your routines?
Definitely!! We’re each other’s support system and hype girls. We both have our strengths and weakness and it’s nice to have each other be there to push us passed our respective comfort zones. Like anyone else, we also have our days when we’re demotivated or tired. It helps when you have a partner to spark the energy you’re lacking on that day or in that moment.
There’s been times when one of us isn’t feeling well, or not home or just simply drained, and the other would actually do the entire meal prep for us. We have a good thing going!
What are some of your favourite foods that you like to eat as a part of your diet?
We love our entire meal prep! Some of the foods that stand out are salmon and lean ground turkey for proteins. We also make this veggie combination of zucchini, peppers and mushrooms. We call it the “concoction”. We absolutely love it. We eat this every week!
When we’re craving and we don’t want to fall off our diets, we have a piece of sugar free chocolate that’s sweetened with stevia. We swear by it!
What kind of training split are you two following? Has a certain way of training worked better for one of you as opposed to both?
Normally (pre lockdown) we workout 5-6 days a week and get cardio in at least 3-4 of those days. We ensure we hit legs twice a week and full body once a week. The other days we focus on upper body variations.
During the lockdown, we’ve had to make due with working out in our basement. So now we’ve been targeting full body more often and combining different muscle groups. We’ve also been doing 20-30 min of cardio 4-5 times a week. We’ll make adjustments based on our progress and goals.
I know both of you have competed in the past. How was that experience for you two and do you see yourself doing it again in the future?
It was honestly the best thing we’ve ever done! There was a sense of fulfillment we got that is unmatched. Don’t get us wrong, it was one of the most challenging things we’ve ever done in our lives but it was worth every bit of everything we put into it. Would we do it again?.... the bug is always there, and it’ll probably never go away... so we’ll see.
I gotta say I love the content you guys put out on your Instagram and YouTube videos. Do you have any tips for the readers on how to stay consistent when putting up new content?
Thanks Nash! We would say some important things that have helped us are
1)Staying true to ourselves
2)Not worrying what others think
3)Having a goal/target for the content you put out. Lastly, and most importantly,
4)Having fun with it!
Thanks again to Ola and Abby for taking the time for the awesome interview! If you want to learn more about both of them and follow their fitness journey you can check them out with their plethora of content on Instagram and YouTube!
You can also check out their latest video as well below!
See you guys in the next one!