Interview Summary
Austin Balon
Mat Wenzel
ENC 2135
16 July 2017
Interview Summary
For my research I am trying to determine what kind of content draws individuals into videos within the fitness community and also how they are used as motivational pieces. Picking to research fitness videos on YouTube I found that I may run into a problem while trying to interview someone in this community. However, during an event last year near my hometown I had the opportunity to meet my biggest inspiration in the YouTube fitness industry. I figured I would be able to use things he had told me because of the impact of what he said had on me. However, for this project I still believed it would be valuable to conduct an interview. So, in order to receive valuable information that would be useful for my writing there a few things that are essential. One being that the individual has remained individual has remained motivated for a long period of time. Also, that the individual has been able to balance a lot of aspects of life at one and still be able to remain motivated. When thinking of someone that I knew had these qualities I thought of my sister. She was able to graduate college, while coach a cheerleading squad, have another job and also remain motivated to train. I thought she would make a good representation of someone who has remained motivated through many factors that could turn someone away from fitness. Since she met both these qualities there were a couple question I thought that would apply to her and help me develop my writing. The first question that I asked was, “What was the biggest motivating factor in pushing you to get into better shape?”. She responded by saying, “Seeing other people workout and you (myself) working out and having positive changes. I knew I needed to get into better shape with coaching so I could do stuff with my cheerleaders and get into a healthier lifestyle. Then after a few weeks I noticed feeling better and losing weight and I couldn’t stop and continued trying to get into better shape and becoming healthier. ” The second question I asked was, “What was the hardest part of remaining motivated?”. She answered the question by saying, “When you have moments where you think nothing is working and fays where you are really tired and do not feel like working out or eating halfway decent.” The third question I presented was, “What was the most difficult part of balancing school, work, and fitness?”. She then stated, “Figuring out the timeline of how I needed to be able to do my stuff at work, keeping my grades up and completing all my homework. Also, finding time to workout and getting enough sleep to not be completely drained. Also finding healthier stuff I could eat on the go since I never had time to be home and cook.” I followed up with the question, “How valuable do you think it is to set goals within fitness, school, and other aspects of life?” She said that, “It is very valuable. It helps with keeping track of your progress, being able to keep track of how you are meeting your goals so you can see how your goals can affect your life as you meet each of them in the time you wish.” Since I believe that a lot of the YouTube channels are watched by individuals in the ages of their college years I asked her, “What advice would you give a college student that wants to get into fitness, but is worried if they can remain dedicated?”. She responded by saying, “Just go for it. You won’t know until you try and the longer you wait worrying about it the longer it will take you to be where you want to be once you know you like it. You also don’t have to workout hours a day everyday. You have to dedicate yourself to it and stay committed, but that could be starting out small, like doing a short workout that gets your heart rate up. Being fit doesn’t have to include hours in the gym and hours meal prepping, but it can. You can start small and increase your time if you feel it’s needed.”