Team EmBurn: An Online Fitness Community
For many people, exercise and nutrition are topics that are usually fairly private. It’s hard to be vulnerable in a world where we easily feel as though we are being judged on our appearances and more so, in the vast world of social media. For many of us, myself included the idea of sharing a fitness journey, photos from a workout, or progress pictures with those online gives us an uneasy feeling. What if there was a safe space to do this though? With positivity and encouragement? That’s where Emily Nalbach’s Team EmBurn Facebook Group comes in.
Emily Nalbach is an NASM Certified Personal Trainer with a degree in Vocational Rehabilitation — Disability Sciences and an absolute boss woman. She runs her own business, EmBurn Fitness, LLC, where she offers several services but most notably, personal training. When working as a client of Emily’s, not only can you expect a coach who is always in your corner pushing you to be the absolute best version of yourself you can be, but you are also added to her Team EmBurn Facebook Group. As a client myself, I have been lucky enough to experience the benefits that come from being a member of this successful Facebook Group.
The overall goal of the Team EmBurn group is to be a safe space for Emily’s clients to communicate with each other, share their progress and struggles, motivate each other, and be a part of a community that shares the same goals and interests. The group itself is private meaning that only members of the group are able to see who the other members are and what is posted within the group. Emily says that “the unspoken rules of the group rely on respect. Talking about your health and body with strangers is intimidating and kind of scary.” Her expectation of all group members is that they are able to meet the goals of the group “in a safe place where people are cheering you on and can also relate.”
While it is clearly expected and outlined that the EmBurn Facebook Group is to be a safe place for Emily’s clients to network, it doesn’t come free of challenges. I asked Emily what Challenges she has experienced or still continues to experience and her answer seems pretty simple, feeling safe in the online community. “Getting people to participate in conversations and willingly share information was a struggle in the beginning. Everyone had similar fitness goals, and yet it was hard to get people to talk and discuss struggles and wins.” Again, as a client, I would certainly agree. It’s difficult and intimidating to want to share with the other clients who are crushing their workouts that I didn’t make it to the gym at all that week, the fear of judgment. As Emily explained though, “once the safe space was created though, people really made the group their own!”
The Team EmBurn group remains a unique group of individuals who are clients working with Emily to achieve their health and fitness goals. I can attest to the fact that the group is very welcoming when you first join and it is an excellent space to ask my “teammates” for different protein powder suggestions or a substitute for having eggs for every single breakfast. While Emily is the admin for the group, she is quick to jump into conversations and offer her ideas and suggestions as well which helps to give the group a strong sense of being in it together. Whether sharing recipe ideas or asking questions about correct form during a workout, the Team EmBurn group truly is a safe online community that continues working to help everyone meet their goals.
