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ABOUT ME

MY REALISATION

I didn’t always want to be a personal trainer, in fact at school and growing up it didn’t even cross my mind. As far as I was concerned I was a footballer and nothing else; I managed to get pretty far, playing for Chelsea FC and Queen’s Park Rangers.

My last six months as a footballer were spent on the tranquil island country of Iceland, playing for ÍBV Vestmannaeyja. Iceland is one of the world’s most beautiful places and the Icelanders’ active lifestyles and love of fresh food really rubbed off on me. Now looking back, my time in Iceland marked a turning point in my career. It was also the first time I had lived away from home without a big group of friends and my huge family near by.

In my spare time, I explored the landscape and immersed myself in the culture of Iceland, which, incidentally, was recently voted the healthiest nation in the world. This didn’t surprise me; with lobster and fish being their equivalent to our steak and chicken, Icelandic people have an extremely lean diet full of essential fats and omega 3.

I’ve always loved to cook, but my passion for cooking healthy food with good-quality produce began in Iceland. I lived with David James, ex Liverpool and England goalkeeper. He was pretty strict when it came to his diet, refusing my butter and Marmite on toast on cheat days. However, when it came to my super-lean chilli con carne, he couldn’t refuse!

The healthy eating and active lifestyle got me my first ever six-pack. You may laugh, but this was a personal goal of mine! Now, with the knowledge I have, I’ve been able to maintain it. Don’t get me wrong; it’s definitely not easy, but when you want something enough, you find the motivation.

FOOTBALL 1 BRADLEY 0

My time as a footballer was amazing. From ages 7 to 19 I travelled across Italy, Spain, Portugal and Greece to France, Holland and Belgium and, naturally, I picked up the tactics of opposing teams – including how they fuelled themselves before a game! (My interest in health and fitness developed from there, but I’ll come back to that later.)

This chapter came to an abrupt end when I suffered a couple of serious injuries: first an ACL tear in my knee, followed by a fractured ankle. These were huge setbacks, at a vital time in my career. At 20 years old I should have been playing first-team football, but instead I was looking at the four walls of a physio room. I was angry and frustrated with myself and my body. I’d always been fearless on the pitch – that was my strength – but that strength had ultimately been my undoing. I knew it was only a matter of time before I was replaced.

On top of that, I was losing motivation and my passion for football, particularly because I’d gone from exercising every day, to not exercising at all and not changing my eating habits. And – you guessed it – my body fat percentage increased. Nothing major, but I noticed it and I felt uncomfortable and frustrated. But instead of feeling sorry for myself, I did something about it.

I began working out in the gym, mainly upper body due to my injuries, and realised I couldn’t eat what I wanted anymore. All the lessons on nutrition as a footballer really started to become useful, and I found myself educating my whole family – that’s my mum, dad, two brothers James and Elliott and my sister Connie – on the best foods to eat and encouraged them to get more active, even if it was just power walking.

‘THE BIGGEST DIFFERENCE FOR ME WAS MY WEIGHT. I LOST WEIGHT, ESPECIALLY AROUND MY MIDDLE AREA, AND HAVE BEEN ABLE TO KEEP IT OFF. I THINK THE HEALTHY SWAPS AND REDUCING THE AMOUNT OF SUGAR I ATE IS THE MAIN REASON.’

MY MUM

At that time, all six of us were living at home. Mum cooked dinner and it had to be quick, easy and not too expensive. So you can imagine it was a bit of a challenge to get us off our favourite white pasta, potatoes and white rice! My dad was the most resistant. He’s pretty stubborn (like father, like son…) and didn’t realise how bad his diet was until he wrote a food diary for me.

But I managed to persuade the gang to put in place small changes – like swapping white rice for brown rice and reducing portion sizes – that made a big difference. We also stopped buying white bread and stuck to sourdough or rye bread. At first the change was difficult. They were used to everything being so sweet, so the food seemed bland in comparison, but gradually my mum and dad realised these darker breads had more flavour than our previous family favourite white loaf and that we were less bloated and had a lot more energy. Further down the line, we made the switch to better vegetable and nut oils and substituted white potatoes for sweet potatoes or root vegetables. More good fats and less starch in our diets made weight loss easier, and we began experimenting with herbs and spices. One of the factors that made the biggest obvious difference was reducing the amount of sugar in our diets. We cooked as much as we could from scratch to avoid added or hidden sugar. Sugar has more of an impact on your life than you realise, believe me.

‘I ACTUALLY FEEL QUITE BAD FOR HOW MOODY I WAS. THE AMOUNT OF HEADACHES I WOULD GET WAS UNREAL, PROBABLY EVERY DAY. REMOVING REFINED SUGAR FROM MY DIET AND AVOIDING WHITE PASTA AND BREAD HAS ACTUALLY BEEN ESSENTIAL FOR MY WELLBEING, WEIGHT AND PERSONALITY.’

CONNIE, MY SISTER

After a short while, I began to notice that my dad was in a much better mood and his skin had improved. My sister’s mood swings had disappeared and as a whole the family was losing weight. Seeing how much my entire family benefitted from improving their diet and changing their ingrained unhealthy habits, I found a new passion: helping people transform their lives into healthier ones, starting with my own. That’s when I googled ‘How to be the best personal trainer’.

BECOMING A PERSONAL TRAINER

After years of being an athlete, I began my journey as a personal trainer in 2015, aged 20. While still recovering from my injuries and without a salary, I put all my life savings into a personal training course. I’m a strong believer that everything happens for a reason, so despite the horrific injuries, I’m now thankful for them as they’ve taken me on a journey that I love.

For me the marker of a good personal trainer is their ability to motivate their client and make them feel better in themselves and about their body. In a session with a client I’m serious and focused because that’s what I expect my client to be. Nevertheless, my workouts are fun, varied and undoubtedly get results.

I really enjoy the social aspect of my job; nothing is instant and building relationships with my clients and the people I train with is a massive highlight of what I do. I’ve enjoyed many perks and have travelled to the most beautiful places, including Monaco, Dubai, Barbados and Arizona, training with interesting, inspiring people.

I WAS VERY RELUCTANT TO JOIN IN WITH THE SWAPS AND LIKED TO THINK I WASN’T ACTUALLY EATING THAT MUCH SUGAR. IT DEFINITELY IS AN ADDICTION. I STILL CRAVE SOMETHING SWEET AFTER DINNER BUT WE ALWAYS HAVE DARK CHOCOLATE IN THE FRIDGE FOR THAT.’

MY DAD

I love sharing my knowledge with clients and learning from others in the field. I’ve always believed that everyone you meet knows something you don’t. This philosophy is a great one for the stubborn people out there; don’t think you know best, we are always evolving.

It’s definitely a lot more admirable when someone admits they can be healthier or can work harder. For me there is nothing worse than someone who is ‘proud’ to be unhealthy.

SOCIAL MEDIA CHANGED EVERYTHING

My first job was at Virgin Active Gym, Chiswick. I’d ride my dad’s bike to and from work every day, then train clients all day. However, even though I was working as much as I possibly could, I knew I couldn’t help everyone in the gym. But honestly, I really wanted to.

By watching people in the gym struggle with technique, fear creativity and clearly lack confidence, it gave me the idea to post fitness videos on my Instagram. That way I could help a lot more people and showcase my style of training. Some people laughed as it was such a new concept; others found it extremely useful and motivating.

My followers began to grow and I plucked up the courage to approach some more high-profile clients to gain credibility, exposure and to build my brand.

TRAINING CELEBRITY CLIENTS AND ATHLETES...

Made in Chelsea was the hit show at the time, so I contacted the female cast members offering free personal training sessions in exchange for exposure. Luckily, Sophie Hermann and the Watson sisters took up the offer and became my new clients. As my profile grew, my videos became more and more popular and people who were inspired by me and my style would tag me in their videos.