If only it was..... 
If being healthy was easy, I wouldn’t be a Personal Trainer, nobody would, because there would be no need for this profession.  
 
Throughout the land people would gleefully push themselves through burpees, press ups, squats, lifts and get some milage in for cardio in their spare time. In my own city of Hull there would be a crowd of people on Hessle Foreshore every morning regardless of the weather sprinting up the steps and fighting for space for a kettlebell workout. 
 
Most fast-food chains would be closed, the healthy population might have the odd pizza now and then, but most of their diet would consist of broccoli and kale, farmers would be struggling to produce enough veg to sustain the population and this would be even more of a challenge as farmers try to find time to tend to the crops in-between the joy of press ups. 
The NHS would exist only to treat non-lifestyle related illness, mostly certain cancers, and accidents, which means far fewer nurses and far less doctors required. 
 
But of course, health isn’t easy, as much as certain supplement companies and certain diet gurus might have us beleive, because if it was, it would also be meaningless. Nothing of true value is ever gained without some kind of trial and tribulation, good results are a product of hard work and there are no short cuts, and the reason I have been able to pay the bills with my super PT skills for nearly two decades now is because people need to pay someone to make them exercise, and to hold them accountable and to pester and check on them often to ensure they’re eating well and living well. 
 
It’s a rare day when clients tell me how much they love an exercise, to which I’m thankful, because if they are enjoying it then it’s probably not doing them much good, either that or they are in need of urgent psychiatric support. 
 
Beneficial exercise is challenging, it hurts, the muscles fatigue and burn and the brain is screaming at you to stop. 
 
Diets make no sense at all to our brains, we have evolved to store calories whenever they are available, if we see food, we want it, marketing companies know this only too well. 
 
But just because health isn’t easy doesn’t mean it’s impossible or even that hard. 
 
The key is to find your tolerance, the level of discomfort you can take, the right exercise for you based on your ability, fitness, and physical wellness. 
 
Squatting twice your bodyweight is probably too much for most people, squatting deep as comfortably possible without pain with just bodyweight for about ten reps is enough for most of the general population to feel a little sore for a day afterwards. Making gains and getting fitter is just a matter of upping the ante, so maybe two sets of bodyweight squats two days later, three sets two days after that, maybe more reps then? Or add some weight? 
 
A 600-calorie diet is a great way to lose a lot of weight, but for most people it sucks more than a “experience day” on the front line of Ukraine. 1500 calories might mean losing weight more slowly, but if it means you can stick to it then it’ll be more successful than a lower calorie diet. 
 
The trick is always to find your tolerance, and then push it a little, build confidence in your own ability, prove what you can do. This is how I help people get in great shape, one step at time, without being a shouty bully type Personal Trainer, but helping clients feel empowered and in control as they take things at their own pace and with my guidance. 
 
Because whilst being healthy isn’t easy, its absolutely worth it. Whilst I’m charging by the hour, the benefits of what I do with clients go way beyond the time I spend with them each week. 
 
What they are really paying me for is to feel much more energetic, pain free, to feel more confident in better fitting smaller clothes. Healthier people perform better at work, as parents, as partners, and they can keep on performing better for longer. 
 
Whilst exercise might suck, the thing that sucks more is not being able to do it. 
 
Attaining good health isn’t easy, keeping it might even be even more challenging, but it’s well worth the investment. 
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