1. Why did you become a PT?

I always loved fitness, even as a young teenager – it’s pretty normal to pretend to be older to sneak into the pub, but I used to pretend to be older to gain access to the gym. Becoming a PT happened by chance. My dad is a sports journalist, and not knowing what I wanted to study, I ended up doing journalism at University – I hated it, and dropped out in my second year.

I was broke, depressed and not sure what I was going to do with my life – I spent my last £60 on becoming a member at the local gym, and became such a familiar face there that I was offered a stopgap job working there. My love for exercise made becoming a PT the obvious next step – I started taking courses and studying like crazy, and many years of experience and courses later, I am where I am today.

2. What’s the most common mistake you see people make when they start training/ dieting; how could this be avoided?

People go too fast too soon. The desire to see instant results means people throw themselves into routines that are unsustainable and will never help them achieve long-term change. Small, lasting tweaks in your lifestyle are all you need to succeed over the long term. If you need a quick fix, by all means jump on a strict diet and workout regime – just be aware that it’s probably not going to do you much good in the long-term.

3. What’s the most common reason people fail to reach their goals? What could they do to ensure this doesn’t happen?

Consistency. Nobody needs to be working at 100% every minute of every workout in order to achieve their goals – but you do need to have consistency in your training. Always have your end goals in mind when you’re thinking ‘I might just skip that workout today…’ – it might feel like a treat today but it’ll make life harder tomorrow.

4. What matters more: diet or training? 

There are some big misconceptions with both, and to make it even more complicated, it changes from person to person. As we know, there are some lucky bastards in the world who seem able to eat absolutely anything and look even more ripped than ever, and others who just need to look at a carb and they’ve put on an extra 5kg. Not only that, but there are some people who put on muscle really easily, but also put on fat easily. And then some who are the complete opposite to that, losing fat super easily but struggling to increase muscle mass – or struggle to gain weight at all.

My point is everybody is different! Everyone needs to refuel their body and everyone needs to move their bodies. People will struggle to achieve their overall goals without one or the other depending on who they are and what their body likes. Diet definitely underpins exercise, whether you’re talking health or aesthetics.

5. What’s the most effective one single exercise people can do?

For me, my go-to exercise is a Kettlebell swing. It gets your whole body moving, and it’s cardio and strength-training in one. Targeting a ridiculous amount of muscle groups, this exercise works the whole of the posterior chain (rear of the body). Our modern lifestyle simultaneously neglects and puts strain on this area of the body (so many of us spend all day sitting down), so it’s even more important to target this region to use your body more effectively.