As a personal trainer, and during these increasingly difficult times, an online personal trainer, it is my mission to help evolve and strengthen my clients’ health. This could be physical health through exercise and training. This could be physical health through diet and nutrition – properly fuelling and repairing the body and muscles. There is a third important health aspect often overlooked, and it’s becoming increasingly amplified whilst we are all in isolation: Mental health.
How do you feel when you’re anxious or stressed? Your muscles probably feel tight, particularly in your shoulders or neck. You may get a headache. Maybe a tightness in your chest or increased pulse. Your whole body can cramp up. This can then avalanche longer term to insomnia, stomach aches and diarrhea. There is a huge impact between how you feel in your mind and how you feel physically and can be a vicious cycle. This works in reverse too however; when your body feels in positive physical condition, it can lift your mind and mood. Studies show physical exercise, even just a walk a day, can help manage anxiety and mild depression.
You’ve been out on a run and had that “runner’s high” or that feeling of invincibility after lifting weights. Mental health through physical activity is direct and indirect – what you feel and directly attribute and what you feel and don’t. For example, if you go out for a run, you feel positive and maybe a bit strained; direct impact. Then your body feels more tired helping you sleep; indirect.
Physical activity has a direct impact on mental health; that’s fact. Physical activity releases chemicals in the brain called endorphins. These endorphins engage with brain receptors reducing the perception of pain – almost like a natural drug. The feeling can be euphoric, and this is the “runner’s high” we’ve all experienced. We’ve all had stressful days and we want to release stress or tension in the gym – whether that’s a punch bag, a treadmill, or two bike pedals.
When you exercise and stress your body, endorphins help the body mitigate strain and develop your body’s holistic positive response to building on the stress. This helps relax muscles post initial strain. The release of endorphins provide energy and positivity helping lift your mood. You’ll feel more tired by the end of the day, helping you get a better sleep.
I know it’s difficult when your fitness suffers, and at a time when we are confined to households, our exercise routines feel unattainable. Without that support, it can be easy to slip into bad patterns or headspaces. It can affect diet and mood and we are back to the vicious cycle.
It’s important, and I can’t stress this enough, that if you feel this impact, you are never, ever too hard on yourself. This can kick in a destructive pattern; feeling guilty, beating yourself up and it can make you unwell. In these times more than ever, having a routine is crucial.
A lot about physical activity and this COVID-19 situation are alike – when faced with a challenge, we must adapt. If we sustain an injury, athletes will change routines to maintain fitness levels in other ways. Where we can’t go to the gym, we find new ways of keeping our physical and mental health levels at positive levels.
I’ve found the same, and that’s why I’ve worked my personal training plans into an online service. With a weekly consultation, ongoing 1-2-1 support, and a bespoke training and nutrition plan based on your exercise habits, your routine, your experience & fitness levels. We can work together to make sure that even from your own home, your fitness goals are achieved. Don’t have equipment at home? We can develop plans with you for nutrition plans and use everyday household objects to replicate equipment where possible. Using a state of the art app to track progress and set personalised custom exercise routines, together we can maintain and evolve your fitness goals and deliver winning results. Support and consultations are provided online.
Online personal training from your home is the best way to ensure a diet and fitness routine, maximise your exercise potential, and keep your mind & body focused and challenged during this difficult time. My job is to develop the course and plan, to support you throughout, and help you achieve new levels of fitness. I understand how an inability to exercise can be a slippery slope, and I care about making sure my clients, new and old, feel supported and challenged throughout. Whether it’s guidance on training, or checking in how people are coping, I believe in strong working relationships with my clients that go beyond just the physical. This is why my training plans are never one size fits all, they are bespoke to you.
Contact me today to book your fitness consultation. It might be through a camera and via messages, but you’ll quickly get to know me, my passion for physical and mental fitness, and the pleasure I get in seeing my clients grow in confidence and ability.
NHS Staff Discounts
Last week at 8pm on Thursday 26th March, we applauded our NHS staff who are working tirelessly to help patients in need and protect us all, working in chaotic conditions. They are superhuman. As a small token of appreciation, any NHS staff members who subscribe to my online personal training plans will receive a 15% discount on their monthly subscription. We thank you all for your selfless contribution to helping us fight this virus.
