Take care of your body. It’s the only place you have to live.
There’s a fantastic networking event called ‘Wetherby Hour’ which I attend and on my last meeting I met Graham form Graham Whitehead Health. We got chatting and he mentioned he was a personal trainer. Jokingly I said ‘well if you want a challenge’ little did I know, he did and within days I was meeting him for my first consultation at the Fitness Rooms in the White Hart Hotel.
A fitness coach
Graham has been in the fitness industry for over 4 years  and his aim is to coach people to live a more productive, healthy, and happy life. He offers a wide range of services from personal training, injury rehabilitation and  holistic lifestyle coaching. Now, I am the first to say I like my food and with all the restaurant reviews I’ve been doing recently it’s not great for my figure… in just a few short weeks I will be one very proud bridesmaid, walking down the aisle in support of my little cousin, Laura and long time school friend, Carl. There will be many photos and while my teeth are looking lovely my bingo wings are not.
A different approach
My view of personal trainers are of an ex-army muscle build man that would shout at me: “DROP AND GIVE ME 20”. This wouldn’t me my kind of fun and, luckily, Graham is different to other personal trainers. His holistic approach means he looks at your whole lifestyle. As part of the service you have your own online members profile. Here Graham can keep in touch, share advice and your forthcoming training log. In your profile there are four questionnaires to complete; Medical History and Present Medical Condition, Pain and Discomfort, Health and Fitness Goals, Nutrition And Lifestyle, and Primal Pattern Diet. Graham also completes a full assessment which takes into account flexibility, joint movement, pelvic tilt and spinal curvature. The assessment will show up areas of weakness and Graham will focus on these to make them stronger before any hard training is introduced, therefore minimising injury.
My assessment – I’m a cave woman!
The primal pattern assessment looks at how you squat, pull, push, twist, bend, lunge, and perform gait exercises. This builds a picture for Graham and helps him identify any further muscle imbalances. So from what I’ve told him and his assessment it’s no surprise that Graham thinks food is my biggest weight gain problem.To understand my body better he put me on a no gluten and no dairy diet for two weeks. During the two weeks I had to record everything I had to eat. My questionnaires also showed I was a polar type which meant I need protein in my diet so 65% of all meals need to be protein. As part of his assessment Graham assesses if you would survive during cave-man times. I love this idea and willed to be a cave-woman… and I was! not sure if I could out run a saber tooth tiger but apparently I’d survive. The only correction needed is my posture, which with “assesses” like mine I was expecting that.
My personal plan – run Forest , run!
On 20th June, along with no gluten and dairy for two weeks, Graham gave me a programme. I run twice a week, stretch twice a week and have a personal training session with Graham twice a week. I’m not a runner so I thought it would be really hard but I only needed to run for 15 minutes. Currently it’s a struggle but I hope in the next few week’s I’ll be off like a rocket… run Forest, run!
My first four weeks – hello waist!
It’s been four weeks and I’ve see Graham eight times. I can honestly say I feel great. This thing I’ve noticed the most is my clothes are looser and I have a waist! My energy is also up and I find waking up in the morning a lot easier. Graham is a great encourager, he’s personable and cares for your health. His style isn’t aggressive and he’ll push your body to it’s optimum, getting the best out of each workout. Running in the recent heat has been horrendous and I’m like a soggy tea bag but the end of it but the best result so far is I’ve lost six pounds… that’s three bags of sugar!
Finally I’m excited about diet and exercise! To see the results already just spurs me on to do more. I really enjoy working out with Graham, and he keeps me on track with everything. Having that someone to keep you focused is invaluable. Therefore I believe a personal Trainer is worth all it’s cracked up to be.
I have just four weeks left with Graham, I will report back after four weeks but if you are interested in contacting Graham he would love to hear from you and even offer you a free assessment, just quote ‘The Harrogate Girl’. Graham is available on 07595 978 335 or follow him on Facebook for his hints and tips videos.
If you’re taking on a challenge this year and need a little direction. Graham may be able to help. Read some top tips on preparing for a challenge here.
P.S. Thank you to Graham Whitehead Health for the personal training sessions… I feel healthier, happy and more productive already!
