Today we’d like to introduce you to Zané Mende.
Hi Zané, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
as a child, I had really bad scoliosis with potential to be life-threatening due to the curvature of my spine, curving in a way that would puncture my lungs, which always gave me shortness of breath, so I was never active as a child on top of that I also had a genetic disorder of the bone in both of my legs ending up, needing surgery on both legs, putting me in a wheelchair for a couple of months and having to relearn how to walk, which happened just a few months after my spinal fusion surgery, which was really tough on me as a teen. Both of these genetic conditions combined I was never active and later on in life I started experiencing some slight back pain again due to an unforeseen event and going to doctors. I was told that of course you are expected to have pain you had such a major surgery and they were just ready to put me on pain medication. This made me search for alternate ways of healing my pain, which is when I turned to Fitness.. I started working out with pilates and some hit Training, which later turned into a love and passion. I have now built the physique of my dreams and feel so strong and so proud of myself. I’m able to do pretty much anything that any normal person could and I have been pain-free for years on top of that. I got
NASM certified as a personal trainer back in 2019, I’m currently going for my Pilates certification and have also started modeling. I’ve recently got into running, and I am on my way to starting my own road club. I want to be an inspiration for those that were not dealt the best cards in their physical health, but not let that stop them. I would truly proud of the discipline and strength that I have built and maintained, and I want to share that with others.
I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
it has not been a smooth road. I do have to do certain exercises differently or avoid them all together. I also have to do lighter weights and every now and then I do feel slight sensitivity or pain in certain areas of my body, and I still deal with constant swelling of my leg, but I never let it keep me . While these minor inconveniences are a bit of a trigger for me because I don’t like thinking that I cannot do something whether it’s due to pain or just my body needing rest. I am trying to learn how to have more balance in my life and allowing myself to take some rest days, even though I do not like rest days.
Thanks – so what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
model, personal trainer, fitness influencer.
my surgeries are definitely what sets me apart. I don’t know many people that have had their entire spine fused which limits my mobility. I’m unable to do much overhead or any twisting unilateral work is also difficult any kind of dead lift or bending over movement often gives me pain right away, but I manage and the fact that I was in a wheelchair and did have to relearn how to walk really put it into perspective for me how grateful I am to have an abled body right now. especially for running, which was something. I never thought I would be able to do because of my miss alignment. I always thought that the second that I start running I always injure myself so for years I never tried to even attempt to run until a few months ago I’m not sure I remember what sparked me wanting to try but now I have learned to run and I am able to do that pain-free and I’m still only getting better.
Risk taking is a topic that people have widely differing views on – we’d love to hear your thoughts.
I know that in life you have to take risks, but I’m not sure if it’s due to my childhood trauma, but I have for many years of my life been so scared of failure that I don’t try at all and this year especially I have forced myself out of that comfort zone because I’m not sure where I heard this, but there was a story of a man that every day his child would come home from school and he would ask them what did you fail at today and I thought that was such a beautiful way to teach your children that failure is OK and if you don’t fail, you’re doing something wrong. So now I’ve tried to rewire my brain into taking more risks and being OK with the failures and simply learning from them. Which is why I’ve put myself out there with modeling, which at first could’ve been scary, and I was delightfully surprised to find that when I was actually doing it and walking a runway it wasn’t as scary as I had anticipated and it felt so natural. So I encourage everyone to take a risk.
Contact Info:
- Instagram: @hiizane
- Other: https://www.tiktok.com/@hiizane
Image Credits
the in studio photo was by @remivision and second to last photo by the fence was by @angelobianchi
