Training advice for the Fit Pros

Getting started can feel challenging. Once you get through the first few hurdles, you will find that you are capable of far more than you imagined, and having a guide can help you do this. 

I had my first training session with a client yesterday. She was intimidated by the prospect of her first training session. She was keen to make changes but was also concerned that the sessions would be really difficult and that completing the exercises would be hard for her. 

She might have been expecting a drill sergeant (and believe me, that would worry me, too). The first session was there to help us both get an idea of her starting point, and we could make it as hard or as easy as was right for her. 

It also means that we will both be able to see her progress as the program develops over time and she becomes capable of more.

After the session (which was online), my client told me that she felt relieved that all the exercises were challenging yet achievable.

She was so happy about how engaging the session was, and I am confident that she will continue to make progress with her performance. 

All of this was possible even on two sides of a computer screen! She was able to train in the comfort of her own home online. I sent her equipment that would help her, and she could complete all the exercises with the instructions I gave to guide her through the workouts. 

Thanks to my training with FASTER, I created a workout program that was fun for her and easy to communicate! Thanks to Amazon, we even had the same equipment on hand! I sent her two pieces of equipment that allowed her to do the various exercises. 

One of the added benefits that all clients get when they train with me.  

Faster and John have helped me create programs that are enjoyable, fun, and engaging so that any client can benefit from the exercise itself and also from the unique perspective that I offer as a result of my education with FASTER. 

If you are interested in starting your journey in exercise and, like my client here, would prefer to do so within your own home, then you can enquire about training with me, and we will set up a call to discuss your goals and aspirations. 

“Comparison is the thief of joy. It is the death of joy and contentment.”

(Unknown)

You may be familiar with the above quote and inclined to agree with it if you think of situations where you have felt as though others are doing better than you. You might scroll social media and wonder why you are ‘behind’ others you spent time with at school. Certainly, there is an argument for social comparison being something to hold you back. However, I want to consider that it is something you can use to your advantage! 

See social comparison (certainly something many people experience in the fitness industry): You see videos and images of six-packs and feats of incredible strength that seem impossible. You may be inclined to beat yourself up for not reaching these goals and, therefore, be ‘behind’ in life. 

I want to propose an alternative though- perhaps it may be utilised to your advantage, after all if you didn’t have anyone better than you then you wouldn’t have anywhere to grow towards, and life is meaningless without growth of some kind. When you see other people’s successes, you can be inspired rather than deflated by what is possible.

With this in mind, the ability to progress and grow means that you can move forward. As long as you filter what you see on social media as inspiration for what is possible rather than letting them hold you back, you can utilise social media to your advantage. In this sense, social comparison can propel you and move you forward towards your goals. You shouldn’t worry that others are ahead of you- consider that perhaps this is as far as they might go?

They may look at their lives and think they are already so far ahead of others that they don’t need to push themselves much more. As you view them now, you can see that you can do more. Eventually, through consistent effort, you will surpass where they are now and then push on further. It is never too late to develop yourself, and you can use this social comparison to propel you further. My final point is that you will compare yourself to others regardless of the willpower you might try to use. Some days, it just hits you. When it does, try to remember that you can use this to help you move forward rather than living with envy. Keep pushing on with your goals regardless of where you see your friends, and you never know who you might inspire by your own actions. 

One of my clients who recently started with me has set himself an impressive goal of competing in the Fan Dance race, an endurance event created to test the SAS! Talk about challenging!! He has set himself the goal of signing up for it next year, and we will need to work to improve his fitness levels so that he can do this. 

While the prospect of having a daunting challenge is intimidating, it can help give you more motivation and guide the sessions. It will require that my client is consistent in his training and improves his cardiovascular health and mental endurance. My goal will be to create training that challenges him each session and puts pressure on him gradually which he can overcome each session. We will take a progressive approach to the training so that the pressure builds up each time until, eventually, he is more confident that he can face the SAS event head-on. 

When a large goal is set, a trainer like me can assist by breaking it down into smaller “micro-goals”. These can be ticked off along the way, providing a sense of accomplishment and boosting confidence. At each point, the plan is that he feels confident and can start to envision the success of this formidable challenge. 

Having a big goal allows you to feel motivated and gives you a sense of purpose to your training. Very often people who give themselves these large goals are driven because they have a strong sense of direction within their training. I help my clients by reminding them of these larger goals and help to keep them on track, reminding them that each of the small targets will help them to obtain the larger outcome. 

Even if you don’t have a large goal in mind, we can examine your strengths and interests and find a challenge that is important to you. This will act as your North Star and help keep you going throughout the training. 

I would encourage you to think about what physical feats you would like to achieve. Even if you don’t have a large goal in mind, we can work together to find something which challenges you and helps you to grow. Once you have done this, I can design a program specific to your larger goal and help you work towards it! 

Whether you have a goal already in mind or not, get in touch with me, and we can discuss how you can get started with your training. I will then start working with you on making the process of achieving it easier. Over time, this large goal will cause you to grow, become stronger, more capable, and also happier as you are aiming towards something with a purpose behind you. 

Get in touch, and let’s get started today! 

Getting started can feel difficult. Once you get through the first few hurdles though, you will find that you are capable but having a guide can really help you do this. 

I had my first training session with a client yesterday who was intimidated by the prospect of her first session. She was keen to make changes but was concerned that the sessions would be really difficult and hard for her to complete.

I think she might have been expecting a drill sergeant (and believe me that would worry me too). The first session was there to help us both get an idea of where her starting point was and we could make it as hard or as easy as was right for her. 

It was structures so that we will both be able to see her progress as the program develops over time and she gets stronger.

After the session (which was online) my client told me that she felt relieved that all the exercises were challenging for her yet achievable.

She was so happy about how engaging the session was and I am confident that she will be making progress with her performance as I can tell that she was feeling motivated and encouraged by the session

All of this was possible even on two sides of a computer screen! She was able to train in the comfort of her own home online. I sent her equipment that would help her and with my instructions to guide her through the workout she was able to complete all the exercises. 

Thanks to my training with FASTER I was able to create a workout program that was fun for her and easy to communicate! We even had the same equipment on hand thanks to Amazon! I sent her two pieces of equipment that allowed her to do the various exercises. 

(Just one of the added benefits of choosing to train with me)

My training company FASTER have helped me create programs that are enjoyable, fun and engaging so that any client benefit from the exercise itself and also the unique perspective that I offer as a result of this education

If you are interested in starting your journey in exercise and like my client here would prefer to do so within your own home then you can enquire about training with me and we will set up a call to discuss your goals and aspirations. 

One of the challenges that I’ve seen clients have is called frozen shoulder which is where the shoulder becomes incredibly stiff and it becomes challenging to raise your arm in the air. A frozen shoulder will make doing everyday tasks difficult so I wanted to share my knowledge of exercise to help you to minimise the risk of developing it and also overcoming it if it occurs. 

First of all, what is it, and how does it develop? There are a variety of different causes such as an injury that you developed playing sports or through a prolonged period of immobilisation such as wearing a sling. There are also certain diseases and conditions that will make you more susceptible to getting a frozen shoulder. Periods of repetitive strain caused by movements that you do regularly in places such as work can also lead to frozen shoulder developing. Regardless of the causes you need to be able to have the tools to manage and overcome this mobility inhibitor! 

I have included in this post 3 exercises that you can use to help improve the mobility of your shoulder and start to recover.

You will need to stay consistent in doing the exercises to ensure that the progress keeps building and perform the exercises regularly. These three exercises that I have given you below can be grouped together and completed without any equipment so are easy to complete and overtime you will find your mobility increasing. 

1. Forward Circles

This exercise is where you have you arms raised out to the side of your body and you make circles with your arms rotating forward. Try this exercise for 20 seconds before switching to the next. Make the circles as big as you can with the restriction that your shoulders give you. As you progress you should start to find it easier to make bigger circles with your arms. 

2) Backward circles 

This exercise is exactly the same as the last, only this time you are moving in the opposite direction. 

3) Side raises 

Side raises involve having your arms by your side and raising your arms up either side of you to shoulder level and then bringing them back to your sides. 

For all 3 of these exercises I would recommend that you perform 20 seconds of each exercise and then move to the next. After completing all three, take a short break of 30-60 seconds and repeat for 3/5 times. If your shoulders are especially stiff try and implement this practice into your day twice (I would recommend first thing in the morning and again in the evening before bed as part of your routine) 

Check out the exercises on YouTube here via the link below & follow the account for more useful exercises in the future.

https://youtu.be/blIiLYIeibs

If you train with me online or in-person then I will be able to show you more exercises that can develop your shoulder mobility and increase your range of motion. We can also test this and measure your progress along the way which will help keep you motivated to make strengthening your shoulders a part of your routine. 

If you would like to work with me online or in person to improve your shoulder mobility or get ahead of any stiffness that you are starting to experience then get in touch via my email alex@aok-pt.co.uk or messaging me via WhatsApp on 07544 659526 and we can get a call booked in! 

Find effective fitness strategies that work

Are you falling for the fads? The basics do the real work- so lets avoid the fads and get the real results which you can be proud of. 

On socials there are plenty of adverts giving advice on achieving washboard abs, losing weight (this is actually quite simple to do) and looking like an athlete. The workouts are often unrealistic, require high intensity and can actually leave you burnt out and suffering. All in the name of looking good. Is it really worth the cost on your sanity?

Programs like these promise results often headlined by professional sportsmen or people who are serious exercisers! As you are not a professional athlete then these workouts are probably highly unsuited to you. They require large chunks of time takes away from the other time in your life that you want to make the most of and leave you exhausted. 

If you take the time to enquire about personal training with me, I will take my time to listen and match you with a program that enables you to have fun and enjoy the process. Having fun will mean that you stick at it and reap the benefits by being consistent in your training. You will also find yourself at lower risk of injury because the exercises are catered to the right level for you, not a default hardcore approach that is frequently marketed. 

If you want to make a start by yourself, you can get access to my free ebook, by messaging me directly You will be able to get started by trying some bodyweight exercises in the book all for yourself – no pressure from me. 

If you do find yourself wanting more then we can book in a zoom call to discuss training specific for your goals and avoid all the gimmicks in the process! 

Tom is a busy business manager looking after a team of people who look up to him for support and guidance each day. He has worked long and hard to achieve this position in the business and always strives to lead by example putting in extra hours and putting his hand in the ring anytime that one of the employees needs help with a task. He knows the business well and has an excellent reputation as a manager. 

The downside of his commitment to the team though is that he rarely has the chance to exercise and often leaves the office exhausted. He knows that he can’t continue to keep this level of output up without some change in his lifestyle. 

As he has worked his way up the ladder he has had less time he has had to look after his fitness own fitness and his main concern is how he appears to the other members of the team who look up to his as a senior member of the company. He worries that he is leaving a poor example to them and it will lead them to being uninspired and deflated by his presence. 

If he gets it wrong then he will end up losing the teams respect as well as working himself into the ground trying to manage the team. It would end up being a losing battle for him to 

If he starts working on his fitness a bit more and spending more time to work on himself would this lead him losing control of managing the team or is it possible to find a balance so that he can still give the team the support they need whilst working on himself?

If he worked on his health, he could end up being more productive and capable of communicating to the team better. This would make him and therefore be capable of leading with more confidence and in turn could create better results for both him and the team!

Failing to get the balance right though will mean that he miscommunicates with the team because they think he is too busy focusing only on himself that he loses sight of the work they are doing. It seems as though it is a fine line to tread, however, he knows that something must change before he reaches breaking point!

He has tried going to the gym previously and has even hired some personal trainers to help guide him on exercises that he can do and to keep him accountable. None of this has been effective though or inspired him to remain consistent. 

All the workouts that they have given him were long and required him to travel to the gym which he rarely has time for. 

When he discovers Alex he saw someone who provided exercises in a downloadable ebook. He realises that as these exercises are short and achievable for him because they are bodyweight and don’t require travelling to a gym to train! What a relief!

Hiring Alex could mean that he can access exercise suggestions that are specific to him. Alex offers to tailor the timings around when he is able to commit to. Also because he has such a packed day Alex has provides a package deal that offers shorter workouts to allow him to fit training into his busy day! 

As he gets started he is getting more energy and clarity through all the extra exercise he is able to do. He ends up organising his work day to accommodate more training. As the training is clearing his head it also means he functions better at work and manages the team well. He feels proud that he us able to promote a healthy example for the younger team members. 

He feels that he is now providing a much healthier positive example to the younger members of the team and believes this will inspire them in their work

He has been able to communicate with the team well and because of the growth in trust he has been comfortable to delegate more which has increased the motivation of the younger staff and therefore giving him more time to focus on his health! 

People who are in a similar situation to Tom and whom have a lot of responsibilities may also benefit from Alex’s advice and can try out some of the exercises in the ebook available on the website. 

A couple of Tom’s favourites are these two that are attached below. 

(1) Squat and reach wood chops.

Start by standing with your feet shoulder-width apart, toes slightly turned out, hands both up and by one shoulder. 

As you initiate the squat by bending your knees and pushing your hips back, simultaneously lower your hands towards the opposite side floor. Ensure your squat is deep enough so your thighs are parallel to the floor, but keep your chest lifted and back straight to avoid leaning forward. Your weight should remain in your heels. 

As you return to the starting position, push through your heels and bring your arms back to your shoulder. This upward movement should be powered through the legs. 

Perform a minimum of 12 reps (6 each shoulder) 

(2) Push up with one hand moving forward

Start in a standard push-up position with your hands placed slightly wider than shoulder-width apart and your body in a straight line from your head to your heels.

Take one hand forward, bend both arms and then lower the body in full.

Do these two exercises for 3 reps on each leg minimum, and then repeat it for three sets.

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Have a go at Toms favourite exercises above and if you download the free ebook on my website you can get the full selection of exercises I’ve put together entirely for free! 

If, like Tom, you have a high pressured job with lots of responsibilities and you are an acting role model for others, you can also benefit from finding time to exercise. The area that I would be looking to help you most with is ensuring that you find exercises that allow you to reach your goals whilst tailoring them around the time you have available.

Comment below and let me know which is your favourite exercise!

Darryl has a busy job working hard and getting the long list of tasks that his boss gives him done. It’s a complete change working in this corporate environment from when he was at University with time to spend playing lots of different sports that he loved. These days he misses the exercise and the feeling of being in shape. He also had an injury that he was able to work through when he was playing regularly at University, but since he’s been playing less sport it bothers him more now when he exercises. 

He signed up for a local football team when he left university and enjoyed playing several games with them until work started taking over and his injuries became more and more frustrating for him. He now plays much less regularly and even when he does he can feel the pain from his injury playing up causing him to sit on the sidelines more. 

He has tried making exercise more frequently, but he often fails because he has so much on at work and every time he tries to play football his knees bother him. He has looked for trainers who could help him to train around his injury and to make exercise a regular activity, but without any success and after many failed attempts at finding a trainer that can help him he is really frustrated and often tempted to give up completely. 

He also has a young family who he devotes his attention to when he comes home from work and after they have dinner together every evening. At the end of every day he feels low on energy and just wants to relax with his wife in front of the TV. This repeats every day and he can never seem to fit in session at the local gym with everything going on. The prospect of travelling to the gym late in the evening and leaving his wife alone to handle any upsets that his daughter might have isn’t fair on her so he always stays home after she’s in bed. It feels impossible to achieve any results with all his responsibilities so he is desperate to figure something out!

He has seen some posts on social media from Alex and reading some of the blog posts written by him he’s decided he would get in touch. One thing that stuck in his head when he was reading about Alex’s methods was something called “stop and carry on” which seemed like a great tool for avoiding possible injuries. After reading about this he was quick to get in touch with and a call was set up to see if this was the right person to help him. 

Alex will help Darryl by first understanding what type of injuries he has had in the past and his experience working with trainers before. He asks about why Darryl’s experience of what haven’t worked, but also taking into account what has worked. He is looking to create a program which overcomes the unique hurdles he faces such as limited time available and creates a workout using bodyweight exercises. 

During the call Alex relates with Darryl being in the corporate space a bit and they joked about some of the idiocracies of working in an office. Alex was keen to get an understanding of what challenges Darryl faced at work and also asked about what time Darryl had available. This would help Darryl to avoid the hurdle that he had ran into with his past trainers where they didn’t account for his busy schedule.  

After the call ended Alex was going to construct a training plan for Darryl and they would get together once a week to discuss the training and go through the different exercises. The way Alex had organised the training was all bodyweight and were short in duration so this made it easily accessible and straightforward for Darryl to fit into his busy corporate day. Over time Darryl will be able to learn different exercises that he can do to get himself feeling fitter. 

Several of the exercises I have recommended to Darryl are available as a free ebook which can access on my website. You can use to get started in building a stronger, better you- just as Darryl did! If you want advice tailored to you then get in contact with me on the website and we can organise a call to discuss your exercise plans.

Here are a couple we used to get you inspired!

Push ups with one hand moving forward

A great upper body move!

Push ups with one hand moving wide

This is another great variation from the same position making these easy to execute together.

Push up with one hand backwards

The last exercise here is from the same position only this time you are moving one hand at a time backwards from the push up position which will challenge your body from another angle.

My last suggestion is that you combine these three exercises to make a program.

Perform each exercise one after the other, 10 repetitions (or as many as you can do) using rest periods that allow you to recover enough to repeat the exercises. Aim for 3 sets each, but this will depend on how long you have so do as much as you can manage in the time available.

Can you improve running in your own home?

My high achieving clients want to be the best at everything, even park runs. Sometimes they will have a few weeks where they need to train hard and end up sacrificing other things just to improve their times. If they don’t do this, then they could end up being beaten by someone like Dave who eats keabs, smokes, drinks and yet always has time to train for running. 

The main problem is to fit in the running, you are going to risk sacrificing home life, social life and work opportunities. Equally another problem to solve is that even though you might taste the sweet success of a park run victory, over Dave. He might not even know you are racing him! In this article I am going to show you three easy-to-do at home exercises, in a programme, that might solve all these issues so you can claim victory over Dave. 

How can you run better when you have not time to run more? 

At school you were probably one of the best at cross country, maybe you even represented the county, then slowly you took on more social activities, your job got more intense and you had a family.  All these responsibilities then eat into that running practice time, first you knock a couple of runs and the sprint session out, and now you rely on pure talent to just turn up and run one Sunday a month. 

On the other hand, Dave has no kids, does not volunteer for local committees (hockey club secretary, PTA accountant etc), he has no family, so he runs just to kill time and stop boredom.  He says it’ss so he can stand out in the pubs at the weekend, but I think his shirt choice does that on its own. Dave used to finish in the middle of the cross country runs, and he is older, with bad knees and a dodgy back (well that’s what he says, it might just so he gets the best chair in the office). 

It would be nice to be able to beat Dave at park run, and yet is it worth dropping some of your other jobs to do this? My client faced this dilemma, and luckily for him, we got chatting about it online. 

My clients problem is that park run training when performed optimally would be to practice running in the park.  On a technical note, that would help because one of the complexities of fatigue (avoiding that wall), can be overcome by getting experience of the event.  Also training has to have a carry over, and that requires the exercise to look like the movement, Doing training running in a gym at lunch is not as easy as sitting on machines and pushing a couple of weights. 

Running is hard to do when you have kids, wive’s (most people just one), and pets, “my dog won’t leave me alone`” (is what one of my clients said).  On top of that they often have to bring work home so they can get promoted and earn more to support their growing family, plus they love their work! it’s a passion as well as a job. Finally the cricket club needs their secretary to take notes, and he hates to miss out on his Friday evening in the pub, even though Dave often turns up lecturing on how to be a better running with a Kebab pre-meal smell lingering! 

Exercises

I have put together a progression of exercises that look like running, for my client.  Initially they had to learn the first one, then move to the second and third.  I needed them to perform the exercise well, so we added them in to my clients weekly Zoom workouts (45 minutes that they could squeeze in between a dog walk, and the cricket club meeting).  

Exercise 1 

Balance with reach, important to hold the core so that the leg movement can drive you, this is especially important towards the end of runs when you can find yourself slumping rather than running. 

Exercise 2

Jumps with high knees have good carryover to running, they can raise your heart rate, improve your hill runs and most importantly help you sprint through the winning line. 

Exercise 3

Hopping, like jumping but the next level because in reality, running is a lot of hopping on alternative legs! 

Make it a programme! 

When you have mastered these three techniques then I suggest doing them in this programme format, one after another, which will take about 18 minutes allowing you to sneak it into your morning routine, your lunch break or if you need a Dad poo!

What you could do next

This is as much as I can show you on a blog post, if you want to do more then you should sign up to a set of zoom calls by contacting me on the website! 

If that is too much for now (I know, kids, dog, Cricket and Dave showing off in the pub), then download my free ebook and get a load of exercises to help you, AND, some tips each month from my newsletter.