Category Archives: Gym Life

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A Week in the Life of a Personal Trainer

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Caversham Health and Fitness instructor Ben gives us an insight into his weekly routine as a Personal Trainer.

Day 1

My week started on a Tuesday this week thanks to an old shoulder injury coming back to haunt me. All better now after a week off exercise and ready to be back in the game!

I started my day with porridge oats and a protein shake. Within two hours I had a protein bar as a mid-morning pre workout snack.

I trained chest and biceps today. My routine was as follows;

  1. Incline barbell bench press 2-3 sets light weight warm up increasing weight over sets at the rep range 20, 8, 4, as I reached my weight. 3x 6-10 reps
  2. Weighted dips; no need to warm up on this one 3x 6-10 reps
  3. Flat dumbbell bench press again 3x 6-10 reps
  4. Cable flies, 3x 10-12, this exercise takes glycogen out of the muscle to encourage growth and repair
  5. Barbell curls, 3x 8-10, just 1 warm up set
  6. Dumbbell hammer curls 3x 8-10
  7. Z bar matrix 21′s x 2. This finishes the last bit of energy in the muscle in order to stimulate growth.

At 7.30pm I ran a class called Spartan Training, making fitness a little bit morefun and challenging! The class is a variation of weights and cardio.

Day 2

On Wednesday morning I started my day as I always do with porridge oats and a protein shake.

I trained legs today, never a nice feeling but very important to include into routines.

  1.  Front squats 3x 6-10 reps 3 warm up sets.
  2. Reverse step barbell lunges 2 x 10-12
  3. Leg extensions 3 x 10-15, doing an isolation on quads will fatigue them so the next compound exercise is more effective
  4. Stiff leg deadlifts 3x 6-10, with the quads fatigued your hamstrings and glutes get worked harder due to the loss of stability from the opposing muscle
  5. Seated calf raises 3x 20
  6. Remember to stretch!

I had a protein shake post workout and soon after a chicken sandwich to replenish glycogen stores lost during my workout.

My legs are sore and uncomfortable but I know it will get better soon!

Wednesday evenings at 7.30 I run Advanced Lifting, a weights/ bodybuilding class. Today I took the class through a back session and showed the different areas of the back to work out and what exercises to do for them.

Day 3

Thursday morning- Not training today so I used my time just resting sore muscles, especially my legs! No classes today but a few clients to keep me busy!

Day 4

Friday I trained shoulders and triceps today with the following routine;

  1. Smith machine military press 3x 6-10 reps
  2. Side lateral raises 3 x 12
  3. Z bar front raises 3 x 12
  4. Machine shoulder press 3 x 10-12
  5. Barbell shrugs 3 x 12
  6. Narrow grip bench press 3 x 6-10
  7. Skull crusher’s 3 x 6-10
  8. Cable pushdowns 3 x 6 -10

Day 5

Quiet day in the gym today and it’s a rest day for training. I use quiet times in the gym to keep up to date with client records and plan future sessions. It’s a good way to get past the busier periods a bit more smoothly.

Day 6

Sunday is the end of my training week, I also have a day off work so am using it to rest after the gym!

Today’s routine was as follows;

  1. Deadlifts 2x 6-10
  2. Wide grip pull ups 3x body weight to failure
  3. Bent over barbell rows 3x 6 -10
  4. Bent over dumbbell rows with variation- in this case I go from a wide grip at the bottom to a twist at the top to hit the medial lats and get a better contraction
  5. Machine incline pull rows 3x 10-12 to finish

Day 7

It’s a rest day today so no training and more clients in the gym. I’m really sore from yesterday so I’m very grateful for a rest day!

If you need any advice on exercises that I include in my routines just give me a shout! Stick at it!

Ben Wilson, Personal Trainer, Caversham Health & Fitness

We have some fantastic offers on personal training at Club CHF with our in-house personal trainers. Try one of our new packages
PT Taster – 3 personal training sessions for £60
PT Multi 8 – 8 personal training sessions for £225
PT Multi 10 – 10 personal training sessions for £250

For more information call us on 0118 948 4849

5 Days in the Life of a Personal Trainer

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In-house Personal Trainer Andy Knight gives us an insight into his week…

Sunday Personal Trainer Andy Knight
Today I trained Speed Deadlifts to help reinforce my technique after a period of time out of doing them, Walking Lunges, Romanian Deadlifts to strengthen the hamstrings and glutes, followed by a core circuit based around dumbbell snatches, swings and hanging leg raises.

A typical day’s eating at the moment looks like:

  1. Large bowl of natural muesli with milk, 3 whole eggs.
  2.  Pre Training: 1 scoop of whey protein, 1 scoop of maltodextrin, a banana
  3. Post Training: 1 scoop of whey protein, 1 scoop of maltodextrin, banana
  4. 4 slices of wholemeal bread, mackerel or tuna, salad with olive oil
  5. 2 scoops of whey protein mixed with ground oat powder, fruit
  6. Large balanced meal based around chicken/beef, a wholegrain carb source and veg
  7. Cottage cheese and peanut butter before bed.

This is never rigid and the food choices change because I’m a huge fan of variety within my diet. I’m not really aware of the calories that I consume on a daily basis either because I’m a fan of eating food, not numbers! I’m currently trying to regain some lost muscle mass after a period of hit and miss training with nagging injuries over the past 6 months or so.

No gym shift today!

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Monday
A rest day today, but I taught Strength and Tone in the morning after my first client of the day (one of my A* clients who’s making fantastic progress through his graft and hard work), which I use as a vigorous cardio workout for myself, using relatively light weights compared to what I normally would and reinforcing technique of movements such as Squats, Deadlifts and the Overhead Press with a light weight.

A busy shift in the gym from 2pm until closing saw me off nicely for the rest of the day. Phew!

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Tuesday
Training today was an upper body workout in the morning, doing Close Grip Bench Press, Overhand Pull Ups, Weighted Parallel Bar Dips, Machine Rows and face pulls.

My shift today was 2pm until close, in which time I had an induction to welcome a new member to the club, a personal training session and my regular Tuesday class, Spartan Training which is a vigorous cardio and conditioning workout for 45 minutes.

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WednesdayPersonal Trainer Andy Knight
A well earned rest day from training today! I’ve developed a bit of pain in my shoulder, so I’d be wise to not train through it. It’s more a case of listening to my body so no injuries creep up, especially as I’ve been on a 6am start where I taught Box Fit and had another hard working client afterwards.

At lunch time I put a few of our members through their paces in our Lunch Fit Core Cruncher!

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Thursday
My morning training consisted of Heavy Deadlifts, working up to a max number of reps with 85% of my 1RM, Deep Front Squats, Reverse Barbell Lunges using a Clean Grip and a little core circuit.

During my afternoon to evening gym shift I trained another one of my dedicated clients and put the killer into Killer Circuits!

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Andy Knight, Personal Trainer, Caversham Health & Fitness

Don’t forget to check out our fantastic offers on personal training with our in-house personal trainers. ‘Fast Track Your Fitness’  – 1 hour sessions from as little as £20!

Rome to Reading 2012

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Members at Caversham Health & Fitness constantly  inspire us with their success and achievements  whether it is weight loss, fitness or accomplishing a challenge which they have set themselves and trained hard for.

One such member is Barabara Frost, 61, who is planning a solo cycle ride from Rome to Reading next year to raise money for Buscot Babies, special care baby unit, at the Royal Berkshire Hospital. In 2010 Barbara cycled from Lands End to John O’Groats and raised £6772 for Homestart Reading but this time her target is £10,000.

Barbara works with personal trainer Steve Whiteside at Caversham Health & Fitness.  At the moment they are working on Barbara’s strength and endurance but after Christmas they’ll be gearing up to what Barbara describes as ‘boot camp’ to get her to peak fitness for the gruelling 1500 mile cycle.  For building core strength to help with all the hours leaning over the bike Barabara does a weekly ‘Pilates’ class and for flexibility ‘ Stretch and Tone’.

Barbara is holding a fundraising Quiz Night on Thursday 10th November 2011. The entry fee of £10 includes a Bar Copa curry.  All funds raised go to the Buscot babies (www.justgiving.com/barbara-frost).  Please do get a team together and support this event.

Rome to Reading 2012 Fundraising Quiz Night
Bar Copa, 76 Kings Road, Reading (next to Zizzi’s)
Tickets £10 including a curry
Food from 6.30pm, Quiz 8.00pm

Contact Antony Frost to reserve your tickets:  0118 926 2858 or 07977 415201 or email a_j_frost@yahoo.com.

To find out more about the Buscot Babies Fund please download Barbara’s fundraising leaflet Barbara Frost – Buscot Babies Fund

Have you set yourself a challenge or achieved a personal goal?  We would love to hear from you if you have.

Sally Albin, Marketing

September Gym Challenge

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Test of Strength and endurance for members and being timed by a member of staff to check form and to make sure their posture is perfect – any that are not do not count!!

Members can choose from either:

  • Bodyweight Squats
  • Press ups
  • Dips
  • Pull-ups

Members get 3 minutes to get as many reps as they can and rest where needed but the clock keeps running till the 3 minutes are up. We have had 20 or more members enter so far and it’s getting very competitive!

Next month is going to be on the Versa Climber (similar to climbing a ladder) but I need to work out the challenge distance. This is going to be a test of endurance on the cardiovascular side where as this month’s challenge is strength endurance based.

Diary of a Fitness Manager Getting Healthy – Entry 1

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I am about to embark on a voyage of nutrition and exercise! I have done this before but I have let my standards slip. About 5 years ago before I got into the health and fitness industry I was very over weight and extremely unfit: I weighed 17 stone and had a body fat of 40%. Over the course of a year I got my weight down to 10 ½ stone and body fat down to 12%. I was over the moon!

On the outside I may look healthy but my body fat levels have crept up and my exercise has crept down!  Currently 20% body fat and weigh 12St 4lbs.

So, I am looking to eat as naturally and as healthy as possible, which can be tough in our modern world with fast foods and processed everything!

I will be following a new exercise and eating plan based loosely around the Palaeolithic diet and the primal blueprint way of life:

  • Buy from companies that treat animals, workers and the environment with respect
  • When you go to the supermarket, choose foods that are in season
  • Buy food that is organic
  • Know what’s in your food
  • Read labels
  • Know what you buy
  • The average meal travels 1500 miles from the farm to the supermarket
  • Buy foods that are grown locally
  • Shop at farmers markets
  • Plant a garden (no matter how small)
  • Cook a meal with your family and eat together
  • Eat lean meats, vegetables, fruit and seeds
  • No proceed foods

So it begins, I am going to put in weekly diaries of how I am getting on good and bad! Put what foods I am eating, how I am feeling and what I am doing.

Wish me luck!

Jason Bushnell, Fitness Manager

Click here for Entry 2