My Turkish Fitness Adventure — From “Yes, You Can!” to “Hayde, Hayde!” 😂💪🏻✨
October 12, 2020
So… I found this fitness trainer here — Kemal — who leads a Sunday morning workout group on the boulevard.
I’m the only foreigner; everyone else is Turkish. The fun part? All the exercise instructions are in Turkish — a language I don’t understand at all! 🤣🤣 So, I’ve decided to exercise my adaptation skills! 🤣🤣
Anyway, during my very first session, Kemal suddenly appointed me as team captain! 🤣🤣
He threw me straight into the process — I had an 8-person team, and my task was to keep them motivated, make sure they didn’t slow down, and that everyone kept doing their push-ups, burpees, jumps, and all the other exercises — with full energy!
So I channeled everything I’d ever learned from Tony Robbins’ trainings and went full power with the motivation:
“YES, you can do it! Don’t stop! Say YES! Jump and scream! You’re freakin’ rock! Do you think you’re tired? Who would you be without that thought?” (yes, I even brought in Byron Katie there 😆😆) “Go, go, you’re unlimited!” 🤣🤣
Just picture this — we’re in the middle of an intense workout, everyone’s sweating, and I’m yelling this at full volume! 🤣🤣🤣
Everyone was in shock! I think they’d never had a team captain like this before.
Later, they translated to me that Kemal told the other group leaders:
“Motivate your teams like Tina does!” 😆😆😆
The next week, I was made captain again! Apparently, Kemal thought, “This girl has energy — she’s good at this!” 😅😅😅
This time, though, the “You can do it!” spirit didn’t quite hit the same, so I upgraded — and started using Turkish motivational shouts!
“Hayde, hayde!” (which means Come on, come on!)
and
“Durma!” (which means Don’t stop!)
So there I was — this Georgian girl, yelling with full passion:
“Hayde, hayde, hayde! Durma, durma, durma!” 🤣🤣🤣
Everyone around me was dying of laughter — including me! 😂😂😂
And the rhythm! I somehow picked up the same intonation they use in local markets here — when vendors shout “Balik, balik, balik!” (Fish, fish, fish!) — and I borrowed that exact rhythm and enthusiasm! 😅😅😅
So imagine me shouting, full energy:
“Hayde, hayde, hayde! Durma, durma, durma!”
— and then collapsing into laughter! 🤣🤣🤣🤣
In this photo, they put me in the middle of the circle — I had to perform different exercises while everyone else copied me. 😄😄😄
Let’s just say — I had a blast! 😂😂😂
