Kickboxing her way to fitness

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 04/12/2023 (700 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Former Brandonite and accomplished Team Canada Kettlebell Games member Lynette Didur (class of 2006) has gained much success as a personal trainer and instructor in multiple sports such as kickboxing, belly dancing, and recently, kettlebell sport. She was interviewed by the Neelin Journalism Team to share her story of success in Rankin Inlet, Nunavut, and how fitness has changed her life.

Lynette did not just grow up in Brandon, “I lived between Swan River, Yorkton, Saskatchewan [and] Moose Jaw. I came to Brandon in Grade 9, and transferred to Neelin for my Grade 10 and 12.”

During her time at Neelin, she was a very art-orientated student: ‘I did painting [and] all the mixed media. I wasn’t into athleticism at all. I actually didn’t start being interested in it until high school where I had some good mentors — one was through dance, [an]other was through fitness at the gym through body building. I had mentorship between the both of them, and it kind of sparked interest from there. Having a good set of people who were encouraging, because at the time, I wasn’t interested in the gym at all. I just wanted to paint and draw. It was really interesting to take that interest and apply it to a physical creativity outlet.”

When she left Brandon for Nunavut in 2013, she brought her love for fitness with her. “I was in fitness when I went up there, but not as much as where I am now. When I was in high school in Brandon, I was with the belly dancing school. [I] learned a lot of ballroom dance, theatre, and Zumba, and all that stuff. That’s where [I] started as a fitness instructor. A little bit of personal training here and there, but I really focused on the performance, and the student-client led fitness. That was always my first or second job alongside my other jobs. Performer and instructor [were] the big ones after high school. Being a pharmaceutical tech was my main job when I moved to Nunavut, but I still taught classes. I had the belly dancing classes, the Zumba classes. It was a great community up there as a new person to jump into because you’re offering something that wasn’t there and got to meet a lot of new people.”

Lynette’s choice to stay in Nunavut past her contract was for a multitude of reasons, and her life has changed a lot since 2013. “As the years got on, I met my partner and we started a family. That’s really why I stayed up there. We had a great friend group and it was really great to meet people from all over Canada, and who were up there for the same reason — to work. We decided to start a family and we have a seven-year-old and a three-year-old now. Now, the fitness has taken over. As a stay-at-home caregiver, [I’m] working during the day watching them, and in the evenings and on the weekends I can go and teach classes. From the belly dance side and fitness instructing side has turned into personal training, kickboxing, and sport competition with kettlebell.”

Her transition from performing to kettlebell has been self-affirming. “I don’t perform anymore; I have semi-retired from the performance side. But competition kettlebell is like a performance. I do half marathons and marathons. It’s like doing a show. In some respects, it’s completely different because of the disciplines of it, but also in some respects, it’s the same type of creativity, just a little different outlet.” Her start in kettlebell sport occurred online. “I dove in. I am a part of kettlebell kickboxing group, so I was a level two trainer under that. The coach that does those things was offering an online kettlebell sport competition workshop, and I asked if she could do it over Zoom. She said yes, and I Zoomed in. The first time I did kettlebell competition was 2021. It was very similar to performing, similar to having to do a set thing for a number of times, [the] same repetitions, [in which] everything has to be precise. It just clicked. I did things with kettlebells during personal training. I did hardstyle — heavier weights, lower repetitions. Kettlebell competition is a lot of repetitions — you have to be able to do it for minutes or beyond. This summer I was able to compete and qualify to be on Team Canada.”

Lynette has been strongly embracing the changes joining Team Canada and kettlebell has given her. “Dance was very subjective. Eye of the beholder. With kettlebell sport, you have a set rubric. I’m competing with myself, and that’s good enough for me. [B]eing on Team Canada, I have to hit those reps. There are women I follow that are hitting Guiness world records, and that could be me in five years. I loved dance for being a creative outlet, but there’s never a way to guage how much you’ve improved without going down a rabbit hole. I love the structure kettlebell gives me. The team is amazing. They’re willing to cheer you on and we’re hopefully going to Denmark … Dance is always solo, and you won’t be able to see your audience. But for kettlebell, there are people around cheering you on, and you can keep smiling and keep going.”

Kickboxing, on the other hand, has opened a completely new world for Lynette. “It was getting harder and harder to get out to the gym. I started looking for things to do at home. I already had some kettlebells at home, but I don’t have any martial arts background. I thought, well, I have 50 per cent kettlebell, I’m just going to need to back up the martial art part … I started training online and did my own research on martial arts — Muay Thai, Jiu-jitsu, just kickboxing in general. I got my certification in 2019 … and started teaching because I loved it so much. Fast forward a few years, I started diving more into Muay Thai. I made a couple of phone calls and emails to Winnipeg coaches and found my Muay Thai coach. Fast forward, I have my fitness kickboxing Canada Level One and I’m teaching my ladies kicking and punching every week … The benefits of the mental side are huge, and seeing the confidence in my students is huge.”

Empowering women, for Lynette, while she instructs means “changing a lot of language and being aware of how you talk. Being a positive role model and showing people that you can do things that you put your mind to. Showing them everything you can do — you can lift weights. Your purse weighs as much as the weights! People may have never used kettlebells before but you can show them that they can do more than they think. Breaking things down, especially to women who may not know about fitness, and having a woman who has succeeded in fitness who lives the same way everyone else does can help too. People have to find their niche. Finding something that works for you in the gym and that you enjoy is good. Working with what we have, and building that strength and showing them the proper way to do that. Building confidence has been huge, and showing modifications to things they believe they can’t do. It’s about building up that confidence.”

Lynette has an exciting year ahead. “The International Kettlebell Federation is [meeting] in April 2024. Team Canada is aiming for that for Denmark. I’m not out there doing any big competitions until then. I need to up my reps. I did a competition this February as a ten-minute set, and that’s eight reps per minute. And now I’m up to 13! I got past my plateau of ten and taking that to the grand stage will be huge. We don’t have a date yet, but we have two main events: one in April for marathons and I’ll have to do 13 reps per minute, with 35 pounds for 30 minutes. Being mentally and physically strong is important. Sometimes your mind wanders, and it can be intense. That’s my specialty, I can use my dance and teaching for being on stage performing with the kettlebells. Learning discipline and calming my mind through martial arts has helped. I’ll post a lot about it on Instagram to get it out there. After that, I’ll be qualifying again in August 2024 and that’s the biggest event so far. Canadian Kettlebell Alliance 2024!”

» Shayla Ramsden is a grade twelve student at École secondaire Neelin High School.