4 years of training

The 20th of March needs no introduction, it was the day that we shut our gym and Boris Johnson announced the first full lockdown.

Now, I'll save the nuts and bolts of lockdown for another day, but for me and my business, stopping was exactly what I needed. I would have otherwise run myself into the ground, probably in a matter of weeks.

I had been so hell bent on opening my gym and with no staff I did it all myself. 6am starts, 9:30pm finishes, unable to leave the gym as I needed to make sure someone was there at all times.

Fortunately, this only lasted 48 days as we opened on February 1st and closed March 20th!

But, what lockdown did give me was my training back. I simply had to pivot my business and start running live Zooms. I always say that in times of crisis that leaders step up, and if you are a leader in your own life you’ll recognise times that you have done so.

For my clients health and fitness, I was the guy. They were focused on things like working from home, homeschooling and furlough. My job was to look after their exercise regimes and fitness.

I remember the first live show like it was yesterday. I wasn’t exactly a whizz on a computer, and I had never heard of Zoom before, but, I gave it a go. Realising that there were some people with certain kit and others with more advanced kit, I did try my absolute best to accommodate as many people as possible.

Obviously, participating in the Zooms, it was difficult to see what clients were doing, and I had to try and exercise, coach and breathe at the same time! It was extremely difficult and based on the fact that I hadn’t been doing much training the previous 48 days and beyond, safe to say I was fucked.

But as the lockdown Zooms conditioned I started to feel better, fitter and stronger. This then allowed me to be able to enter my daily work (I worked every day of both lockdowns) with more energy.

I was able to serve others and feel that if I could do it, then they could do it too.

Fast forward 4 years and I reckon that there hasn't been a week since I haven't trained 2-3x minimum. 

From the first lockdown live to now, the difference in my health, my mind and body has been incredible. When we reopened after lockdown my absolute priority was to keep training. I knew I couldn't go back to the old ways.

I couldn't go back to feeling worn out and tired. I didn't want to. Why would I? If I recognised that making changes to my life (enabled by lockdown) and seeing the difference that that made, would I go back to old ways? It would be absolute stupidity, and it would be counterproductive to what I wanted to achieve.

If I want to serve my community, I need to prioritise my own training, I can't, and I won't, go back.

For anyone reading this you may associate yourself in some way with the above. You may have been worn out and run down from work, you may have tried to serve others and been unable to serve yourself. 

And my suggestion for you would be to assess how you are right now. If nothing changes then where do you see yourself in 3-6 months? Chances are in a worse place. My business and my body was on a one way trip to breaking point if lockdown hadn't stopped me.

Break the cycle of looking after everyone else, stop trying to build a business or a brand that won't serve you until you focus on yourself first

Prioritise your own health and wellbeing, prioritise time to pursuing change.

But, if you need help with it, then reach out to someone that can help you. Someone with a proven track record, that's walked the course and distance themselves, that can talk from a position of authenticity and enjoyment.

But you also may be training right now regularly, feeling the benefits and noticing the difference in both your physical and mental health. If so, welcome to the club!

Welcome to the club of training and feeling energised, feeling great and actually forgeting what it feels like to feel shit. That's how I feel.

Lockdown for many was an absolute horrible time, and it definitely changed us all. For me, I can only try to take the positive that it allows me to be thankful for my health and do all I can every single day to preserve it.