Emma’s fight for fitness after cervical cancer

Three years ago Emma Robinson was overweight, unhappy and living back home with her parents after her family’s dream move abroad turned sour.

Today she’s the co-owner of a popular and profitable fitness brand and is full of determination to help others reach their health and fitness goals.

“A few years ago I was in a negative place and felt depressed after piling on weight, but I’ve turned my life round and am living it to the full,” says mum-of-three Emma. “What began as a way for me to get fit has become a passion that’s redirected my life. I want to show people that if I did it, anyone can.”

Yorkshire-born Emma’s journey began after a difficult 2010, which ended with her family leaving behind their life in New Zealand.

“In 2006, we moved to New Zealand with our two boys after my husband Ben was offered a fitness-related job working in a prison,” Emma says. “While we were there, we set up a health and fitness centre and things were going really well. I found out I was pregnant with our third child and we were over the moon.”

However, during routine early pregnancy checks it was discovered that Emma had cervical cancer.

“I was informed it was so far advanced that I couldn’t keep the baby and I needed treatment straight away,” recalls Emma.

“They even told me that in six to nine months without treatment I wouldn’t have been here today.”

After undergoing treatment, Emma was warned that it would be very difficult for her to have any more children without suffering major complications. But nine months later, she became pregnant again.

“It was a very rough pregnancy and I nearly lost our baby at birth. But our little girl survived and we named her Angel because it felt like I had angels looking down on me during a tough labour.”

But although Angel brought happiness to the family, Emma was struggling living in New Zealand and desperately missed her life back in Yorkshire.

“After recovering from cervical cancer I became really homesick living in New Zealand, missing my parents and family,” says Emma.

“The global recession hit us hard and our business struggled. Our rent was increased and the stress of working long hours with no family time pushed us to our limits.

“We couldn’t take anymore and we were at breaking point. So one day, we left the keys to our home under the door mat and the business to the landlord. We returned to the UK with five suitcases and three young children – we had no money and no home.”

Back in England, Emma and her family moved into her parents’ house and it was looking through new and old photos with her mother that proved to be a pivotal moment.

“My mum had taken a photograph of me with Angel and I was so shocked when I looked at it, especially when I compared it to photos of how I used to look,” recalls Emma.

“I was always into aerobics and sport when I was younger but I had put extra weight on – over three and half stones – without realising it. Looking back, I realise those testing times had left me feeling very low, I was questioning what life was about and I found comfort in naughty food, like my mum’s carrot cake.”

It was Emma’s husband Ben who set her a challenge to get fit and lose weight. As a fitness instructor and a second degree black belt in karate, he had spotted a gap in the market for martial-art type workouts to music that could be run from less intense environments than gyms or health clubs.

“We recognised that people don’t like going to the gym but they do want to get in shape,” says Emma. “We decided we wanted to offer an exercise class that would suit both men and women of all ages, shapes, sizes and levels of fitness, and we wanted to make the workouts available in easy-to-access community venues.”

The Yorkshire couple developed their Fight Fit Combat Fitness workout, a one-hour fitness class that incorporates techniques from different forms of martial arts including karate, kick boxing, Muay Thai and boxing into exhilarating choreographed routines to music.

At the start of 2011, Emma and Ben took a second-hand iPod to the Village Hall in Wheldrake, near York, and launched their first class to just seven people.

But as with Zumba, the idea of combining fitness, fun and music together proved to be an astute one. Their eight weekly classes are consistently full to capacity and now more than 400 enthusiasts are working out every week at community venues around York including Stamford Bridge, Pocklington, Elvington, Wheldrake and New Earswick.

Emma, 33, who has become known as ‘Fight Fit Em’ to class members, has herself lost more than three and half stones and happily shares her before and after photos as a source of inspiration. She also offers diet and fitness advice to people who want to lose weight or get fit.

“We wanted to make our workouts and our fitness tips motivating and inspirational,” said Emma. “So it makes me so proud that every day we receive emails from members telling us their blood pressure has dropped or they’ve hit their target weight, or they feel better about themselves.”

“It’s also rewarding for me, that through our classes, we’ve been able to raise money for cervical cancer charities. My experience has shown me that life is for the living and you have to grab your dream with both hands and keep on fighting.”