Tag Archives: personal trainer

Carry Me Over The Finish Line

It is very rare that I cry, but I did this morning. It was as I watched a news article that set me off blubbing.

Yesterday there was a charity run held in Leeds which would aim to raise money for lots of great charities. One of those being charities associated with Motor Neuron Disease (MND).

Of course, running for these charities were Kevin Sinfield and his ex Leeds Rhinos team mate Rob Burrow.

For those of you who don’t know these guys, Rob Burrow was one of the best ever rugby league players I’d ever seen and it was the likes of him and Sinfield that would have me and thousands of Rhinos fans going back to Headingley stadium every week to watch them play. As a football fan who didn’t entirely understand the rules of rugby this was quite a thing. But I just needed to go and appreciate just how good this team was.

Just a few years after his retirement in 2019, Rob Burrow was diagnosed with MND. Him having children of a similar age to mine has made me extra sensitive to this news. He had had a stellar playing career, a beautiful family and he was an extremely young and fit man with a well deserved career in coaching or whatever he chose to do in retirement. MND had other ideas.

Kevin Sinfield, his best friend, has been an absolute rock to Rob, his family and the whole of the MND community.

Yesterday, as Kevin helped push Rob to the finish line, he picked him up and they crossed the line together. I saw it for the first time this morning and I was in bits.

What went through my mind? How strong Rob was. As a rugby player he was a Gladiator but he has been even stronger since his horrible diagnosis, speaking out on behalf of the MND community whilst dealing with his own emotions. I thought about what a fantastic friend Kevin Sinfield is. You’d expect support from your pal, of course, but he has been an absolute inspiration to us all. That moment when he picked Rob from out of his chair and crossed the finishing line together symbolises friendship, strength and togetherness, a reminder that we don’t have to struggle alone if we have the right people around us. Whatever the finish line we have to cross, we can do it with a friend like Kevin Sinfield.

But as wonderful a moment as it was, it was also very sad. It was sad to see what devastating effect MND can have on the body. Like Rob, we can train, eat a strict diet and do all the right things, but life can be cruel.

Every time I hear a story like this it fully confirms my beliefs that what I plan for me and my family’s future is the right thing to do. Moving to Portugal to pursue our dreams is happening now because I’m not hanging around any longer. For what? What do we hang around for? Why do we procrastinate on our dreams and goals and all the things that might bring us joy and happiness?

Whether it’s a course that you’ve fancied applying for, a career move, a gym goal or whatever, today is the day to start the process.

And when you surround yourself with the right people, you can achieve your dreams and they’ll also be there to pick you up when you’re down. During their playing days I can bet that there will have been dozens of times that Rob has given Kevin the good advice, the pep talk and the commitment to get over the line. kev is just repaying the favour.

Life can show us how cruel it can be but how wonderful and valuable it can be too. Live your life and cherish how wonderful it is.

Runaway Train

Perhaps when we find ourselves at a particularly low ebb in life, we turn to stuff that feeds off of that anxiety. It’s like a form of self harm. Scratching away at the scab that protects the wound.

Severe self harm such as cutting ones self, so it has been said by those who have done it, forms a release as they see a trickle of blood come from a cut.

This release, in more clinical terms, is known as the hormone dopamine. The body’s natural happy drug.

I never self harmed in this way. Instead, I found the gym and, albeit not exactly what we think of when we think of self harm, if you break down the muscle fibres which causes muscle hypertrophy during resistance training then you are ‘harming’ yourself. Certainly, that’s what the body identifies, and therefore triggers the  release of dopamine in the same way as the body of a  self harmed would.

I’ve written before about how the gym saved my life. And it isn’t PT spiel to get people to the gym. It’s just the fact that we need to release these hormones somehow and the gym ticks all of the positive boxes in doing that.

But what about before the gym? Back in the early 90’s there weren’t gyms that catered for 14 year olds in the UK. There seems to be a number of gyms that have certain set hours throughout the week which can be used for under 16’s, such as the gym I train at in Scarborough. But I’m not sure this was the case for me, so I turned to music.

As I mentioned in my first paragraph, we tend to find the stuff that feeds off of our anxieties at particular times in our life. So when I felt low I didn’t turn to the Greatest Hits of Black Lace. I wasn’t doing the agadoo when I felt worthless. Instead, I would listen to grunge and rock music. Bands like Marilyn Manson, Nirvana , Pearl Jam and Jeff Buckley would create more angst and yet in some way soothe me. Perhaps, in music such as this, if you feel that the lyrics speak directly to you, then you can be comforted in that somebody else is feeling your pain. They understand. It’s an arm around the shoulder.

One of my first albums that I bought was the Soul Asylum LP Grave Dancers Union. The lead singer, Dave Pirner, often sang about his depression and it is probably best captured in the track ‘Runaway Train’.

He describes how his own depression felt like a runaway train. That was his metaphor for his anxieties that would spiral out of control.

And this isn’t unusual. One in six UK adults suffer from depression. Females are far more likely to seek help for their mental health than men. A charity organisation that I have had contact with through my work is Andy’s Man Club, which offers advice and meetings in their local areas. I would advise any man who feels that they need help to give them a call.

When I first became a PT I didn’t appreciate how much work goes into mental health rather than physical health. Sure, most people want to lose a few pounds or grow muscle but there is usually an underlying reason for why a gym member has approached me for PT.

By no means are all of my clients depressed! But there is a certain need for us all to be accepted. It is when we realise who we are looking for acceptance from that we can start moving forward. And that person is ourselves. Nobody else.

We drive the runaway train. It can derail sometimes and we can feel out of control. But fundamentally we can get it back on track and put on the brakes. And that’s why people come to me. Because no matter what gym goal they tell me, as long as I deliver in enabling them to accept themselves first and foremost then the rest is easy. A few pounds, no problem! Feeling pumped, easy! Because they start to do it on their terms. They gain control of their mind and their body.

And we can take this same principle outside of the gym with identifying any life goals. The very best Personal Trainers also make excellent life coaches because the needs of an individual inside the gym is simply just a reflection of their greater needs outside of it. It’s all relative to the bigger picture. And then, like a jigsaw, we can piece it all together. It starts making sense. We can take control.

We’ve all got a runaway train, but first you need to understand that you are the driver. Contact me if you need to talk.

shay.pt@hotmail.com

A Message To My 18 Year Old Self

Hey Shay. It’s you. Just a little bit older and wiser. Oh, and balder. Yeah dude, sorry. You’re going bald even now so the sooner you own that look the better. Luckily The Mitchell brothers from Eastenders are making baldness a bit cooler, so just get it shaved now and stop trying to perfect the comb over.

Let me just go through all the stuff that you’ve already experienced and then I can try to explain the sort of stuff that you will live through. I’m not here to change your past or your future. I’m just giving you a heads up.

By now you will have done pretty poorly at your GCSE’s, which was obvious seeing as you didn’t really put in the effort. But you know that you’re a bright lad, just not at Shakespeare or algebra. And right now you’re wondering what your future holds.

Let me reassure you that you’re about to meet your calling. You’re a kind and thoughtful person. No exams will determine your life or career. Instead, it is your character that will enable you to work with and support other people within the social care sector. You’ll learn a lot in your time doing this job. And the biggest education of all will be about how everyone you meet will be unique. Everyone is equal and has so much to offer and you can make a difference in enabling those who you work with to show it.

Technology will change. Wow! Have you got your Nokia brick yet?! Well, when you do and you’re amazed at how you can send instant texts to people then brace yourself for what’s about to happen. In the new millennium that brick will turn into a little computer with the whole world inside of it. And then you’ll have to deal with social media. Most people seem to like it but I just end up debating about politics with a stranger. A bit like you do now but not face to face. It’s all done on your phone.

I know that, by now, you’ve dabbled with a spliff and done silly stuff like what other teenagers do. Arguing with mum and dad is upsetting right? But they love you and when you become a parent you’ll see how tough being a parent is.

Oh! Yes you will become a parent! I know you’ve always said that you don’t want kids but when you find that person who you want to spend the rest of your life with and makes you very happy, then you’ll change your mind. And your kids are two healthy boys who love you more than anything in the entire world. And even as I write it, I beam with pride. So you have that to look forward to. But just remember, we gave our mum and dad grief sometimes so we’ll have to be prepared for our kids being terrors on occasions too.

Now at 18 some very difficult news is about to enter your life. I’m sorry, bud, but your dad will knock on your door and tell you that your mum has cancer. Hey, before you get too upset right now, let me tell you that this news shapes your character. You will deal with it personally and as a family. You will still create memories. But it will hit you hard. As a young man trying to make his mark in life, you will make mistakes and emotion will get in the way of good decision making. But you will also grow stronger from your challenges that are to come. And I won’t sugar coat it, as much as you will enjoy your life, there are some seriously tough times too.

Our two boys will still be very young when our mum dies. But she got to see them and they still talk about her now. So she’ll never be forgotten. And our dad has had to create a new life. He became our hero when he looked after our mum. But he had to move forward, which he is doing.

I like how you put your mortality into perspective, even now as an 18 year old. We have always wanted to live for the moment and get out of life what we can. And you don’t change. At 44, you’ll be planning a new life in Portugal with your family. You don’t do ‘what if’ at 18 and you won’t at 44.

You will live through world events such as war, an actual pandemic, the UK leaving the EU and in a few years time what is known as 9/11. None of these will directly hurt us or our loved ones but it will have a profound effect on us. Lots of decisions you make will be because of these things. We said that we didn’t want kids because of stuff like these events, but we did have kids so you’ll get to my age forever wondering how to protect them.

I know that you are currently looking at ways in which you can change the world. But you will come to realise that as long as you can enrich the lives of others close to you then you are doing your best. Remember the moments where you support someone going to their new job or to the swimming baths. Treasure those moments where you help them cook a meal in their own home and realise how important you are to the elderly man who wants to tell you about his childhood every time he sees you. That’s making a real difference.

You will become (and still are) a personal trainer. This all came about because of the hours each day that you spend in the gym. You might as well become a PT! But you’ll be older and wiser when you do. Right now, a workout is pumping up those nightclub muscles so that you can look good in a T. But when you’re closing in on 40 you begin to understand that training is about being able to put your own socks on in the morning and having the energy to run in the park with your kids. This knowledge is useful to you in your career as a PT.

Depression never goes away. I am sorry that you experienced dark thoughts as a teenager. But you will deal with each day as it comes, trying to overcome it in your 20’s. Eventually you just live with it and keep it in its place. The gym will help you, but the big turning point for you will be when you meet your future wife. You’ve got 10 years to go yet. Together you begin to start seeing life differently. You start to live life rather than endure it.

However, you will meet some amazing and influential people along the way but it’s only on reflection will you be able to appreciate it. Everything you and those around you do shape you and your environment. It moulds you. So you’ll soon realise who the people are that you need to hang around with and who to stay clear of.

I need to go now. I need to allow you to continue your journey that leads you to writing this message.

But just one last thing! Don’t turn off the 2005 Champions League final! I won’t tell you what happens but just keep watching it until the match finishes.

Keep smiling Shay. It’ll all turn out ok in the end.

If Tomorrow, Women Woke Up…

It’s a strange relationship that I have with the fitness industry. I love it. I truly do. It has enabled me to follow my ambitions and dreams that I thought were beyond me or that had passed me by. I get to meet like-minded people which means I don’t need to bore my wife with news on my new bench press personal best. And the gym is my go to place for getting my head straight. Not many people get to say that about their workplace.

But it is also full of crap. For all the good it can do, there is an element of the industry that feeds off our insecurities.

Dr Gail Hines said,”If tomorrow, women woke up and decided that they really liked their bodies, just think of how many industries would go out of business.”

The fitness industry would be one of them. And in the past couple of decades I believe that the industry has begun to target the other half of the population too. Since the end of the degradation of women in magazines such as FHM and Zoo and newspapers putting a stop to page 3 in the UK, publishers had to target men in a different way. So now they put half naked pictures of male physique models in their magazines and tell them that is what they’re supposed to look like followed by an ad for creatine tablets.

But, despite it being important for the fitness industry to have men across the world feeling inadequate, it is far more lucrative for females to hate their bodies. Or to put it another way, it is more lucrative for the industry to tell women that they should hate their bodies.

For example, we join a weight loss group and go through the torturous weekly weigh ins whilst discussing our ‘syns’. Gym classes are attended mostly by women who are promised that they will burn fat, tone legs bum and tums and blast their abs. Personal Trainers are qualified in form and rep ranges but are way out of their depth when it comes to the emotional side of WHY a person has approached them for help in losing 2 stone in a month. (Some trainers are very good, by the way, but do your homework on them before you give them your money.)

The industry wouldn’t survive if we woke up tomorrow, looked in the mirror and said to ourselves “I am good enough. I am worthy.”

And that doesn’t mean that if we did this we couldn’t still train and eat nutritious food. But we would have a completely different outlook on how we approach our goals. We can always want to achieve a fitness goal that entails lower body weight or bigger muscles, but we would start to do it on our own terms.

The industry wants to confuse us.

When I go to the telly shop for a new telly, I immediately regret the whole process. It’s not that I don’t want a new telly, it’s because I am confronted by a salesperson who begins to fill the air with jargon. Yet, even though this is off putting, I do get excited about stuff that a TV can do that I never thought would float my boat. It draws me in. All of a sudden, things like OLED, QLED, 4k UHD, refresh rates, bezels, quantum dots, low latency and resolutions are the most important things in my life.

Before I know it, I’m leaving the shop with a screen as big as the one at The Odeon and if I can figure out the settings I’m sure it can make me a cuppa tea and give me a foot rub.

Now, I’m not saying that these fancy things aren’t useful on a TV, but I would question if I really needed something so glitzy as the TV that I bought. They are buzzwords. They make us want and need something that we think we don’t already have. It makes us feel inadequate if we leave the shop without a TV to go home to our own TV. Our own TV that might have a wobbly button and it’s a few years old but it still works perfectly fine.

The fitness industry sells us our fitness like a TV shop sells us our TV. They make it sexy and an absolute necessity for our lives. Their jargon and their buzzwords, their special offers and their ‘must have’ product means that we fall for their pitch.

I’ll get a new telly that does what I want it to do in my own time and with the advice of those that I trust. And if we say the same thing about our fitness goals, then we could all sit back and watch the industry do a bit of sweating of its own.

Training Frequency And Doing It Correctly

A question I am often asked in the gym is how often do I train. I answered that I currently train 3 to 4 days a week and the lady was shocked that it wasn’t more.

My current lifestyle does not enable me to train myself in the gym as much as it used to. I have taken on a couple of different projects that have taken my time away from the gym, therefore when I do get the time it has to be time well spent.

Fortunately, even for busy lifestyles, training programmes can be created to fit into tight schedules. You just need to identify your goals and know what to do to achieve more ‘bang for your buck’. And unless it has been a seasoned athlete or bodybuilder in the gym I have never seen anybody execute this time management correctly without a good PT who will offer either 1-1 or programming.

It is often said that as long as you are moving in the gym you are doing something positive. Well, I have to disagree. I find it a cop out and a disservice to ourselves to have this attitude. Not only are we not going to achieve the best results in the best time, it can result in injury and a lack of motivation.

Moving is great. Going for walks and staying as active as possible doing sports you enjoy is very important. But once you are in the gym with a specific goal, it is a different game altogether.

In the last couple of years I’ve personally seen a big difference in the sort of person that now requires personal training. And this issue relates to a shift in lifestyle brought on by our time in lockdown. With gyms closing, we had to be inventive with how we exercised. During this time, many people felt that they either no longer needed a gym or that they didn’t need any help once they were in the gym. In fact, due to social distancing, the gym I train at cancelled inductions for new members and they aren’t mandatory anymore to this day.

During lockdown, we became self proclaimed professional bread makers, scientists, content creators, politicians and personal trainers.

I’m seeing the fall out of that in the gym now. Most people that approach me are asking how to fix injuries. Here are the most common examples…

Running became very popular over lockdown. But the correct footwear is vital if you are to run frequently. It can also create muscular imbalances and an overuse of certain muscle groups. Joints are also under pressure from the repetitive impact with the ground. Relying too heavily on running as your choice of exercise without the right precautions can also cause oxidative stress on the body, which will have a negative effect on your goals.

Home workouts became a staple for those wanting to continue their hypertrophy goals. Kettlebells and dumbbells are relatively cheap to buy at shops like Lidl and Aldi, who often stock them in their middle isles. But they don’t come with instructions. I have always been an advocate of the home workout, but it still has to be done correctly to get results and avoid injury. Lifting the wrong weights with the wrong equipment can easily do this. And a bench is useful. Sitting on the edge of your sofa to perform an overhead dumbbell press offers no protection to your spine. If repeated often enough, back pain will occur eventually. And deadlifts, bent over rows, kettlebell swing and squats are common exercises to get wrong and cause injury. Not a day goes by in the gym where I don’t wince at a deadlift technique. If this is gym technique, what are their home workouts looking like?

Personally, even if I’d looked up how to fix my car on YouTube and I gave it a go, if I were knackering up my car I would see a good mechanic. I need to get to work and get to social events. I can’t afford to go too long with my car being out of action. I have to swallow my pride and see a professional.

Now change the above statement from car to body and replace mechanic with personal trainer. You get the idea.

Joining a gym or embarking on any fitness goal doesn’t have to be 7 days a week, intense, gruelling or time consuming. But you do need to know how to use the time that you do have productively and safely.

Nike was almost right with their ‘Just Do It’ tag line. Mine is ‘Just Do It, But Do It Correctly.’

The Bench Press Back Arch

Go into any gym or click onto any fitness/training page and there will be a debate that has been around since the first person laid on their back and pushed something heavy above their head.

I’m now picturing Fred Flintstone pressing a rock, but that’s silly.

The debate is whether or not we should arch the back during the bench press. And I mention this now because it has once again been brought up in conversation at my gym today. After somebody saw me arch my back during a bench press, they asked,”Are you supposed to arch your back?”

Knowing that the questioner was a football fan I came back with a football analogy. I replied,”If you are taking a corner kick should you knock it into the box or go short?”

The answer, of course, is that it depends on the circumstances. It depends on the stage of the game and the tactics that you or your coach wish to deploy. There’s no right or wrong, but the timing can be right or wrong. I’ll explain…

Arching the back is great for lifting heavier weights. It provides a more compound movement which recruits different muscle groups and helps create more power. And this is my reason for arching my back. In fact, I always bench press with my back arched because I don’t find it the best hypertrophy exercise, despite it’s many other qualities.

So, a chest press in order to promote pectoral hypertrophy would be to use a set of dumbbells at around 70% of your 1 rep max for 10-12 reps. Dumbbells allow a longer range of motion which can result in more muscle activation. The bar just can’t give you that sort of range, so a bench press with a bar without an arch, in my opinion, just gives you a ‘pump’. A few pics in the changing rooms for your Instagram look great but by tomorrow there will be nothing to show for it in real life.

I always use compound movements as my primary exercise and I often start with the bench press. Now in my 40’s, I have to look at ways of increasing my testosterone and compounds have the greatest success at doing this. I don’t bench press to ‘grow muscle’, just testosterone levels. However, once I pick up the dumbbells it’s all about weight management and hypertrophy.

Let the debate continue!

Winning?

“I like to think that money wouldn’t change me, but when I’m winning at Monopoly I’m a terrible person.” Anon.

So tonight I beat the family at Monopoly. It’s my second win in a row actually. Last week was the Scarborough edition and tonight was the Yorkshire edition. They stood no chance once I built my hotels around Castle Howard.

I find the game a good learning experience for the kids. They follow rules, take turns, count and subtract, have fun as a family without technology. Hmm. They won too. They just don’t know it yet.

Of course they want to be the one who is the richest by the end of the game. According to the rules that’s how you win, right? But they took part. Isn’t that what counts?

Ok. I’m not comfortable with the ‘It’s the taking part that counts’ angle in this article. You would call bullshit on it and rightly so. We all want to feel that winning feeling sometimes. So I won’t patronise anybody. But I do have another angle and it is from my experiences of coaching adults, and more recently children, in what is actually important when it comes to winning and losing.

Each day I work with children who have one hour in their school time to play in the playground. That is my hour to give them all an opportunity of winning. And I’m not just talking about the one kid who can bat the ball for home runs on each turn.

In a world where some voices are heard more than others, for some of us, just getting a turn is a small victory. It’s a sign that they’ve been heard and seen and where they’ll be given a chance just as much as the kid who stands in front of me, arm aloft, shouting for their turn.

The small wins make big prizes. Just making contact with the ball is a big achievement to some kids. It’s not just the home runs that should make them feel proud of themselves. And so reminding somebody that they have accomplished something that they didn’t manage to do yesterday is a win. Just like making contact with the ball.

And a coach’s attitude can be infectious. Over a period of time, I’ve noticed that the older children or the more gregarious of the group have started to bowl the ball at a slower pace for the batters who are less confident. Now, they are encouraging each other much more. Now, there is a feeling that we are ALL winning at something during the one hour sports session.

And it is no different for adults. We don’t walk into a gym for the first time and leave after an hour looking like Dwayne Johnson or Beth Mead. But with the right sort of encouragement from coaches and other gym members then we can all recognize the small victories. The win is about trying to achieve a little bit more each time you go.

A win can be passing Go or receiving a get out of jail free card. A win can be going without cheese for the day (my personal goal) or completing 50 squats while the kettle boils. A win can be contacting the PT and putting an exercise schedule in place or a win can just be managing to sit on the toilet for 10 minutes without your kids barging in complaining that their brother has kicked them (another goal of mine!)

Winning is easy. Recognizing when it happens can be a bit tougher. But reflecting on your day and looking at the small victories is a good way to start, even if you’ve had to pay out 200 monopoly notes on a stay in Headingley.

Yes, but…

I tend to leave our sitting room with the door wide open. My wife, who sits on the sofa as I dash past her for a loo trip, finds it most irritating.

My wife argues that, seeing as it is very cold and we’re trying to heat the room with expensive gas, we need to keep the doors shut to keep the heat in.

“Yes, but…” Is how I often start my comeback. “Yes, but I was in a rush.” I quickly unpause the  fourth episode of Wednesday and hope that she doesn’t reply to my feeble excuse. I had time to close the door. I just forgot or couldn’t be bothered.

My kids do the same. When I ask why they aren’t dressed for school even though I told them to do it half an hour ago they reply, “Yes, but…”

“Yes, but there’s only 5 minutes left of this program.” Or, “Yes, but I can’t find my tie.”

And I’m also in an industry that makes us all say the same with equally terrible excuses.

We use work, illness, the cold, the heat, the dog chewing up our trainers. Anything we can do to excuse ourselves from not getting the workout done. Or the walk. Or the run. Or eating the nutritious option.

We will even say “Yes, but,” to ourselves in an attempt to make ourselves believe it.

Yet 9 times out of 10 these occasions can be reasoned with a little bit of planning. You see, missing one session at the gym or not completing a home workout for the past two days or choosing the cheesy chips instead of a side salad aren’t the deal breakers here. Everybody needs a rest, a bit of down time and definitely a bowl of cheesy chips now and again!

The habits we allow ourselves to form almost always start with a “Yes, but.”

We begin to push the boundaries. My kids want to fit in one more YouTube clip before they start to get dressed. Yet Mr Mellor won’t wait for them at the school gates if their clip runs over and they don’t make it to the gates on time. They have to take responsibility now before the habit takes over and they become regularly late due to poor time keeping.

I need to start closing the doors in order to keep the rooms warm. My bad habit will cost me money and I will regret it when I receive my gas bill.

“Yes, but” simply isn’t good enough. If we take time to reflect on our habits then we can plan to fix them. We can begin to accept that, whilst missing a gym visit due to snow or an illness is totally fine, allowing ourselves to go into weeks of poor decision making and bad habits with a “Yes, but” is not fine.

So if you see a bad habit trying to get in, firmly put wood in ‘tole and slam the door in its face.

Bodyweight

Queuing for the equipment, sweaty people, pushy PT’s selling their programmes on the back of a beer mat. The gym might not be your cuppa tea.

Loud music or music too low, ogling men, Insta fitters, pricey membership, too far to travel or you just can’t be bothered with going today.

Let me present to you the home workout!

Ok, first of all, let me just say that not all gyms are like the above. Most gyms that I go to these days are friendly, clean and affordable. But still, it doesn’t matter how good the gym is, sometimes you just can’t make it in.

But it doesn’t mean that you can’t train. So I’d like to suggest to you a couple of the most valuable pieces of equipment that you will need in your home to be able to get a good workout in without being in a gym (and it doesn’t cost a lot or take up too much room).

1. A selection of dumbbells. If you find a weight range that covers light dumbbells that you can rep for 15 plus and heavier dumbbells that you can rep for 6 then you will have a whole range of exercises that you can do. But the best bit of kit…..?

2. You. Just you. And I don’t mean you have to ‘turn up to get results blah blah.’ Of course you need to get it done. But your bodyweight is by far the most underrated piece of equipment that is available to you. A good bodyweight workout programme would prove this.

If you weigh 70k then you carry this weight when you walk, squat, lunge, press, jump and run. It is why larger people either carrying excess fat or muscle are able to lose weight faster. The more you weigh, the more energy it takes for your body to move, function and exercise.

Sure, long distance trainers and strength competitors need a whole host of equipment and venues for what they need to achieve, but if you are looking to feel a bit fitter and start the new year with a healthy outlook, you already own your best piece of kit.