About me
As a child, I played a football, cricket, and did karate. At 9 years old, I became the youngest Black Belt in England, and a few years later, the youngest Second Dan (second level of Black Belt) in Europe. In my teenage years I became obsessed with cricket, playing for Hampstead Cricket Club, a County League team in London. In my 20s my focus shifted to football where I played for a couple of County League teams, most notably Hadley FC.
I never thought about the health benefits of exercising, I just loved playing with my friends, training to gain incremental improvement, and being part of a team. However, looking back, I can see how all of these sports gave me confidence, discipline, and a sense of accomplishment.
I didn’t step into a gym until my late 20s. I walked into my local sports centre and saw all these big guys lifting huge weights. I remember having no idea of what to do, and feeling very intimidated. I didn’t enjoy the experience and, needless to say, my gym membership didn’t last long.
It wasn’t until a while later, when I started training with a friend, that I began to learn about strength training as a route to a healthier body and mind rather than simply bench pressing as much as possible.
I loved the experience so much that I decided to make a career out of it. I explored qualification options and decided to train at Premier Global (one of the best UK courses available).
Goal setting
As I built my personal training business I used my experience of being coached in a wide range of sports to build my own approach to coaching and motivating clients to achieve their health goals.
I blend training techniques from semi-professional sports with conventional personal training to create holistic fitness programmes that are tailored to my clients’ health goals.
This means that my training sessions can include everything from push-ups to roundhouse kicks while benefiting from techniques to warm-up and stretch that you are unlikely to see at any gym.
Variation not repetition
I’ve continued to invest in my knowledge and skills as a trainer, in terms of exercise, movement and coaching techniques. I am always finding new approaches and equipment to incorporate into my training sessions. Most recently this has included the ‘Animal Flow’ techniques of movement for strength and flexibility, along with the introduction of Indian clubbells to mobility drills.
The right mindset
Central to my training technique is helping my clients to have the right mindset to achieve their goals. This is one that avoids self-criticism, unrealistic expectations and comparisons with others, in favour of an understanding that progress in fitness is never linear and has to be a process of incremental development.