Congratulations to Justin Parise of EFM Mawson Lakes for completing his 2500th EFM session on Friday, October 31st.

Justin started at EFM Mawson Lakes approximately 9 years ago as someone who had retired from competitive sport and was looking to replace both the physical and social void left from no longer playing soccer.

Here are some words from Justin himself:

“I needed to change my lifestyle as I had become 110 kilos of body fat with very little muscle tone, was a smoker and I had kidney problems which was exacerbated by my then high blood pressure of 160 over 100.

Add to that the fact that 4 siblings had previously had heart attacks and I had started to wonder whether I would be around to see my 4 year old son grow up. 2500 visits later and i have replaced (mostly) the body fat with muscle tone, I can’t stand even being around a smoker let alone do it myself, I haven’t needed kidney medication for 5 years and at my last doctors visit my blood pressure was 110 over 70. I think I might be around for my son for a while yet”.

Over the course of his 2500 visits at EFM Mawson Lakes Justin has become a cult figure in the club and is one of those members that inspires others around him to give their best effort each and every session.

Justin has completed many City to Bay’s and EFM Triathlons over the years and has also completed other events like the Yurrebilla trail run, various San Francisco ultra marathons, an Olympic distance triathlon and many tour down under rides to name just a few.

Looking back at all these achievements Justin says “It’s fair to say that if it were not for EFM Mawson Lakes I might well be in a very different place right now, and it wouldn’t be good. I have a lot to thank my first Fitness Coach Matt Rixon for from the early days along with all the people involved at EFM Mawson Lakes today for my current health and fitness that I now enjoy”.

Justin continues… “The help provided and the environment that the club creates every day enables me to continue to meet all my health and fitness goals and this is something I would never have envisaged being possible before joining EFM. The ethos of no mirrors and no egos but rather, a collective working towards a common fitness goal has always appealed to me. I work on my own all day so the group dynamic of the club and the social interaction it brings both in and out of the gym is very important to me, as are the many very good friendships I have made from it”.

Justin says he looks forward to being an EFMer at EFM Mawson Lakes for many, many more visits.

Well done Justin on all your health and fitness achievements to date and I look forward to helping you achieve many more in the future.

Steve Hughes – Fitness Coach, EFM Mawson Lakes