After years of playing Rugby, Basketball and Boxing while at school I was very, very active. I left and did no exercise for 2 years and in that time I went from a slim athletic 13 stone teenager to a 17 stone slob. Yes I had put on 4 stone by not being active and not eating correctly. I woke up one day looked at a photo of myself and thought no way I look 10 years older than I was, I was unfit, fat and de-motivated and had low self esteem.
I decided to go back down to my local boxing club and I trained for a year to get fit and then decided to fight for Tamworth. This is when I got back in to exercise. I started to lose weight and I was getting fitter each week. I was loving the training and the buzz you get after you had finished, this is when it became an obsession!!!
I ran 5 days a week and went boxing training the 2 other days. I was fighting and getting better with each fight. I was tired and lethargic in my fights. I increased my running from 2.5 miles per day to 5 miles per day. I thought the more I trained the fitter & more energy I would have -RIGHT? WRONG!!!!
I was over training and nobody told me – I was leaving the best part of me on the road and turning up at these fights still winning, but could not understand why I was finding it hard?? The weight was dropping off me – by now I weighed 12 stone 9 pounds – I had lost 4 stone 3 pounds.
I then had an injury which meant i could not box for a while!!! I left the boxing and went into various different types of training from weight training to several different martial arts.
I then started working in the corporate world of sales targets, budgets, staffing issues etc – so long hours and yet again not enough exercise. I used excuses not to train – I have not got time, too busy with work, got no energy – you know the reasons if you are reading this because we all use them from time to time. I was training 4 x week and eating what I wanted – healthy in the week and kicked back at the weekends with food and alcohol again.
I then went from that 12 stone 9 pounds at 21 years of age up 16 stone 10 pounds at 32 years of age. This time I still had been training, but thought I am tall I need to be big. I was lifting weights looking at my chest or my arms and forgetting about my waist!!!!! I left the corporate world and went out to Australia to change my life.
I went out there to get some more qualifications. I was qualified here in the UK as a fitness instructor, but I wanted to be a personal trainer. I enrolled on a 2 year course in North Sydney, Australia and the first thing they did was take my measurements, weight, body fat & photo.
THIS WAS ANOTHER WAKE UP CALL!!!!
Like most of you out there, I have been slim and I also have been overweight or fat. People used to say you look good with it on you, you are tall, but inside I felt fat. I even had to wear size 40inch trousers. Yes 40inch trousers, 30% body fat and a photo of somebody that I did not recognise, surely my body was in better shape than that??? No I had become complacent and thought that training 4 x week would keep me in shape!!!!
This is why I became a personal trainer
- to help you achieve your goals
- to stop you over training
- to guarantee results & get them fast
How can a young unexperienced personal trainer educate you on a heathy lifestyle, when they have not lived themselves.
How can you get somebody to lose weight, if you have not been fat or overweight yourself?
If you have never had low self esteem how can you help somebody who has?
I have been a Personal Trainer for over 10 years and in this time I have helped 1,000s and 1,000s of clients.
Fitness is my Passion, my Saviour and I want to pass that passion onto you.
You can get results and still have a good time its all about the 80-20 rule
80% of the time you eat really well and exercise.
20% of the time you kick back and enjoy.
Now what are you waiting for get on the phone to me today and make your life a success story.
Yours in Health & Wellness
Dave Hughes
Personal Trainer and Director of Activ8 Fitness
Updated 16/4/11 DH
Personal Training Tamworth / Solihull / Sutton Coldfield / Lichfield