Conant siblings start fitness account to stay active during the pandemic

When not in school, siblings Farah Cisse, ‘22, and Yusuf Cisse, ‘24, are at the gym, documenting their fitness journey through a fitness account on Instagram. They started their account on Sept 6, 2020 and have reached over 600 followers since then.

The COVID-19 pandemic has impacted all student athletes in one way or another, and Farah and Yusuf are no exception. Since they weren’t able to play their regularly scheduled sports, they turned to social media for motivation to continue their fitness journey.

“When we were in lockdown it was truly disappointing to not be able to go to the gym everyday,” Farah said. “But this motivated me to try new ways to stay active like running, yoga, at home workouts, etc. I even learned how to do some calisthenic type skills.”

Although the Cisse siblings were able to acquire new hobbies during quarantine, their athletic experience usually keeps them busy all the same. Farah plays volleyball for Conant and at Pipeline Volleyball Club. Yusuf plays basketball for Conant and Big 3 AAU. They both run track for school and train at TNT-Ignite, a track and field training academy. These seasons have been delayed or cancelled multiple times due to ever changing state regulations. However, with the recent shift back to Tier 1, their seasons have resumed.

They both explain having more time for exercise has been one positive that has come out of the pandemic, as well as starting their account. “With school being shortened and remote, I have more time to fit in exercise during the day, either before or after school.” said Yusuf.

They started their account to inspire others and share their fitness journey. While Farah mainly runs the account now, Yusuf takes the pictures and videos posted to the account. The siblings post content almost every day varying from photos, videos, or Instagram stories of their workouts, meals, and tips.

 
 
 
 
 
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A post shared by Farah Cisse || ??????? (@cisse_fitness)

Farah posts Instagram stories talking about how her workout went that day and throws in motivation for their followers along the way by sharing her struggles during that day and how she felt after pushing through.

Taking this journey together has been a bonding experience for both Farah and Yusuf. Yusuf said, “We’re able to share helpful content to people while also learning from ourselves.”

“My favorite part about having this fitness account together is that I can look back at our first posts and compare them to recent posts to really see how much we’ve improved,” Farah said. “Seeing that progress really motivates me to see how strong I can really get.”

Morgan James

Morgan is a writer and senior at Conant. This is her fourth year on the Crier. Outside of school she enjoys spending time with her friends and family, reading, and discovering new Netflix shows and podcasts.

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