It all started with my undying passion for sport. When I was younger I played several sports such as rugby, golf, tennis, football and cricket. However it was rugby which I excelled at where I had the honour of representing my city (Cardiff) throughout my junior years. When I turned 16 we were introduced to high profile strength and conditioning coaches who put us through ruthless gym sessions. Most of the team hated it, but I loved testing myself and pushing through the pain barrier as I knew it was going to improve my game. I started to see changes in the mirror and my performance on the pitch excelled. This is when I caught the fitness bug. That summer I purchased my first gym membership. I carried on training hard and playing rugby until I was 21. Soon after I unfortunately received bad news from the doctor where I had to stop playing due to a recurring shoulder injury. This had a drastic effect on my physique as my activity level dropped, training in the gym slacked, and my diet was dreadful as I was still at university. I did start back training afterwards, but the damage was done and I still had little knowledge of how to train effectively for my goals. I lifted heavy with poor form, had no structure to my workouts, drank alcohol 3 times a week, and ate very freely. I graduated university sitting at around 95kg (image above). At 5ft8 that isn't a healthy weight! It wasn't long after this photo that I became extremely unhappy with how I looked which made me very self-conscious. I started to feel embarrassed whenever my shirt was off in front of people which really dented my confidence. For months I put in the hours educating myself, only using proven evidence based nutrition and training sources. I wrote down a plan, gave myself some structure, and implemented it. I went from 95kg to 75kg in 12 months. This is where my life transformed. I started receiving dozens of messages asking how I transformed my physique. This led to people asking me for training advice and diet plans. I decided to get my personal trainer qualification so I was able to start physically helping them achieve their goals, be that for weight loss, muscle gain, or simply improving cardiovascular endurance to improve their day-to-day lives. Seeing how much of a positive effect fitness has had on mine, and now my clients lives brings me so much joy and satisfaction. I love my job and I hope to carry on helping others for many years to come.
