FERNWOOD FITNESS - PULSE eMagazine - Issue#14 - Flipbook - Page 7
When Ellie walks into
Fernwood Ballarat, she
radiates con昀椀dence and is
completely in her element.
But the woman you see
today is the result of
years of grit, growth, and
unwavering commitment.
From her day job in a secondary
school’s sports department, to the
HYROX track, the bodybuilding
stage, and her ongoing studies in
the 昀椀tness and nutrition space, Ellie
is the true de昀椀nition of strength and
passion for health and 昀椀tness built
from the inside out.
Ellie’s 昀椀tness journey has been
shaped just as much by her health
challenges as by her ambition.
Living with endometriosis
means navigating days when
simply getting out of bed is a
victory, and the mental load
of a lifelong, unpredictable
condition weighs heavily.
“Endometriosis can be
incredibly debilitating,”
she says. “There
were days I physically couldn’t
get out of bed, and then there’s
the mental side, which is its own
kind of challenge. Living with a
disease that has no cure, that
is unpredictable, and carries so
many unknowns for my future is
mentally exhausting.”
Managing her condition has
taken years of trial and error surgery, medication, working
with specialists, lifestyle changes,
and deep self-education. Ellie
explains. High-intensity training
and cardio often triggered painful
昀氀are-ups, especially during her
HYROX training. “I was incredibly
committed to preparing for the
race and conditioning my body
as best as I could, so there were
days I pushed through the pain,
but there were also days where I
had to be honest with myself and
accept that rest was essential.”
Despite the challenges, Ellie
recognises how much her condition
has strengthened and shaped her.
“In a strange way, endometriosis
has been a gift. It’s taught me a lot
of resilience and it’s also shown me
