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Steff Someda is an indoor cycling instructor in Perigon. She started taking indoor cycling classes in 2018 and has been hooked ever since, to the point that she became an instructor herself.

Growing up as a dancer, she has always been drawn to fitness that involves music. She joined dance competitions back in college, as well as in medical school and residency, and developed a sense of discipline when it comes to training for dance routines. During medical school, she also got hooked with pole dance classes as her regular workout and “her time” to get away from all the studying.

When the pandemic started in 2020, her daily workout routine consisted of YouTube videos. The strict lockdown implemented in the Philippines prevented everyone from going to gyms and fitness studios, so home workouts became very popular. It was July of 2020 when she got her indoor cycling bike as a birthday gift from her fiancé and parents and her first Zoom class with Perigon was, of course, on her birthday. Since then, she has taken cycling classes online almost every day. In 2021, Perigon announced their audition for new instructors and she signed up. The rest is history.

 

Alyssa Lombardi is a Certified Running Coach, Certified Personal Trainer, and a Clinical Exercise Physiologist. She has been involved in sports all her life and has been at every level from beginner to college stand out and conference champion and this is how she did it. She started out playing soccer as a young child and loved it but found herself loving the running part of it the most. When she got to high school, she did both soccer and track but had a clear love for running. Even though she had a love for running, she wasn’t always the best. She started out running 2-3 miles at a time around 12 minutes per mile during practice, but she always raced pretty fast. She got down to running 5:15 for the mile and under 19 for a 5k.

She then decided to quit soccer and just focus on running so that is what she did. She got to college and she focused only on running. She started out her freshmen year one of the slowest ones on the team, barely being able to keep up with the team on practice runs.

Social media started as her own journal. For the first 2 years, she didn’t tell anyone she had a fitness profile. She felt a little embarrassed by it. But, as time went on, she saw she was connecting with more people so she thought of using her growing platform to help people just like she wanted to from the beginning.

From then, she started posting more educational posts. She has found that many people have learned a lot from her posts so her small social media page that she was keeping a secret has turned into a page where she helps runners succeed and hit goals they never thought they would.

You’ve just finished a cycling race. Now what?

You’re not alone. Many cyclists struggle with how to properly recover after a bike race, and they often make mistakes that can lead to injury or burnout. After an intense workout, your muscles are in need of repair and recovery. If you don’t give them the proper time to recover, you can be left with more than just aching legs — it could lead to injury or even chronic pain. In fact, proper recovery is an important component of any training plan for avid cyclists like yourself. If you don’t take the time to recover properly, you may increase your risk of injury and limit your participation in upcoming races. So what are some common mistakes athletes make when recovering from a road race? And how can you avoid them? Let us help!

 

Maddy Black is a personal trainer and a cyclist in Abu Dhabi. She played competitive sports her entire life, starting with 10 years of gymnastics. This set her up well for a wide range of sports, and led her into the world of CrossFit, where she then transitioned into Olympic Weightlifting. Through weightlifting, she reached her lifetime goal of representing her country, Australia. She then moved to the UAE 3 years ago for an opportunity to coach CrossFit, and like many people, Corona lockdowns forced her out of the gym and into the outdoors. This is where her cycling journey began. Now, she competes in professional races around the UAE and focuses all of her time and energy on the sport of cycling. 

She had a very exciting couple of months, launching her online business Sundaze Coffee. This is now her main focus alongside training herself and others. She wanted to create a brand that aligned her values of travel, and adventure with high-quality coffee, and she always had a dream of owning a business.

She's selling premium specialty coffee drip bags across the UAE and hoping soon to sell to the rest of the world! This keeps her mind busy and gives her something to work on outside of being in the gym or on the track all the time.