Keri McKibbin Personal Training

There has never been a more important time for us to shine lights on people who are struggling with their health, struggling with their motivation, struggling with the pain in their bodies, and struggling with all kinds of tests and challenges in their mental health.

I have seen many people who have achieved high levels of fitness ‘’settle” for less overall fitness, in terms of less appearances, which means more pain when you do our sessions because you never get in a groove. This is where it starts.

It’s easy then to rationalise its “fine” to miss sessions, fine to drop your standards after all you’re getting “older” and thats what “older people do”, but all depends WHO you are comparing yourself to?

When I assess someone new who has great pain I their hips, I know exactly what to do, and the relief that comes from people having pain leave their body is incredible. Most people do not want that new elevated feeling of wellbeing to leave them. Many of you remember that feeling.

As human we are far from perfect, and any piece of news can throw us sideways at any time. How we react though is crucial, do we hit the bottle? Do we take some kind of drug to “forget” about our problems?

Or do we rely on hitting the gym?

It’s easy to forget how the gym helps us stay strong, not only in body terms but in getting our minds right too-so vital and many of you message me on it all the time.

This is why we as a gym should always shine a light to whoever needs it, because at this time in history, the world seems to be struggling far more than it ever has, with the way we treat each other in general, to our general physical and mental health, to the way we undervalue ourselves, our self belief may be at an all time low, so we need to act, we need to keep showing up more, and we need to remind ourselves that we can do great things and all it takes is all of us putting the work in, and not kid ourselves anymore that sporadic sessions are enough.

Keep your standards HIGH!!!

Pain, adversity, loss, the feeling of being let down by others, can all make you quit the positive things in your life which as it happens are the exact things that will help you get through such times.

Never let a “what’s the point” attitude enter your mind, because if that takes over, the next time adversity hits, you will collapse like a pack of cards next week without any resistance.

We live in a society where burying yourself away is accepted and sometimes celebrated, we also celebrate those who did resist, fight and recover from adversity every time-you will have supporters of both camps, but the hiding away ultimately doesn’t solve anything, and often makes the issues become only much bigger.

Accept people will always leave you down and betray you, but also accept there’s a lot of incredible people you will deal with daily, leave the negative ones behind and once you do that, the pain gets left there too as well as the negativity.

As a gym, we deal with all sorts of personalities on their own journey in life. We will actively support and love the company of people who want to enhance their life by being physically and mentally fit, we also realise that people need to go on their own journey and do whatever they want and think is best for them-it’s no business of ours as you can’t often change an adult’s mind, all we do is wish them all the best.

Trusting the process though is something we believe in and practice daily because we know it works time after time. We know that taking action works daily, we know that battling through adversity works every time, we know that encouragement of others works and we strongly encourage you to do the same in all areas of your life.

An the negativity? Leave it behind, you are better than that.

All of us act if we will live forever, but we secretly know we won’t.You do have to make the most of each day, but you don’t need to invite your life to be much shorter either.I’ve trained many people who thought they could live long lives eating what they wanted, drunk what they wanted and they were one of the special ones.

The odds are heavily against this strategy working, and living with the health implications of this lifestyle can be extremely upsetting for everyone involved,I’ve seen some people only change their ways when they are in the hospital bed and the doctor is giving them their final warning they need to change or they may not survive the next one.

Surviving ill health traditionally is done through being on a ton of tablets and countless hospital visits.Ive also seen people fight it, never putting off their workouts anymore, starting slow, getting on their feet again and moving every day and getting vital fresh air.I’ve seen them swap their endless sugar rush of junk food to fresh food, and the results literally can transform human beings, physically and mentally.

Never take life for granted, but remember you always have opportunities to do great things, to be your best self, to have a greater sense of wellbeing and put off the ravages of ill health until the very end, which is hopefully a very long way from where you are now if you are looking after yourself.