For the last two months, Nike Air Max has been a fitness inspiration for me. As the iconic shoe celebrates its 30th anniversary, discover how I wear it to the gym!

Hey everyone! In the several hundred articles I’ve written till now on this blog, I’ve talked more about clothes and about hair and makeup and shoes, and less about fitness. But my friend once looked at my pic and mentioned that one needs to be fit to pull of a stylish outfit.

If style is all about personal expression and confidence, fitness and style really aren’t that different.

A fit body speaks so much, just like a person’s style does, about their lifestyle and personality. A fit body tells the story of one’s hard work and discipline. That’s why, to do this photo-shoot with Nike Air Max, I made this legendary shoe herself my inspiration for being fit.

Air Max’s history spans decades. First introduced in 1987, the shoe put the innovative cushioning technology on display, designed by Tinker Hatfield, who like me, is a trained architect. “I specifically went to Paris to see the city, but also to visit the Pompidou Center. It was a building turned inside out, with a glass skin underneath” Hatfield said, talking about his first inspiration, which made him wonder, “Maybe we could also expose the Air-Sole technology and create a shoe that’s like no other…”

And so Nike Air Max became the first shoe to have visible Air, so the runners could be more aware of its cushioning benefits. In the coming years, after hundreds of makeovers and many inspirations, some evolving the Air-cushioning unit along the entire sole and others playing with extreme geometries, the shoe still focuses on light weight and flexibility. The idea is to put the wearer directly “on air”, and to make them see it.

If seeing is believing, I wanted to see myself look better and fitter for my date with Nike Air Max! But how would I become fit enough to look worthy of this iconic shoe? I couldn’t shame my shoe, could I? With my busy entrepreneurial lifestyle that gives me overstretched hours of sitting, barely any time to cook healthy and no holidays? Just do it, Nike said. And I did it, guys!

To make the green shoes pop in my gym look, I paired them with an all-black outfit. I matched a pair of black asymmetric leggings with the polka dot pattern and the Nike international logo on one leg with a black sports-bra. I matched the shoes with the piping on my fingerless gloves. Effortless and made for sweating it out.

Out of all the fashion shoots I’ve done, I’ve never worked as hard for any as I did for this. Because the quote from Nike’s Instagram goes, “Life isn’t about finding your limits, it’s about realizing you have none.”

And fitness really comes from the hard work you put up in your mind – to motivate yourself – rather than in your body.

So let Nike Air Max inspire you too. The next time, if it gets tempting to eat fries for dinner, or to skip that run, just pat your heart and wake your heartbeats. You’ll feel alive again!