My entry into the world of fitness, weightlifting and gym life came at the suggestion of a good friend of mine back in 1991, aged 20....'Lets start training' he said.....'Lets lift weights and put on some muscles' he said! So of we went to find a good local gym to join. It didn't take long to find one, a nice small barbell club in Lingfield. So we joined.
The first week was a real wake up call, whilst also being awe inspiring and fun, being around these guys who, it seemed back then, had this power, these big arms and torso's, this God like strength? how can you lift that? let alone 10 times!!!! How can I aspire to such greatness? This level is years away, how are we going to stay motivated? Because we were under no illusions, this is going to be a slow process.
Then the second week. Monday night, only my fourth session, I found myself alone. No training partner. He didn't make it that day. Or any day thereafter! Back in 91, for my friend, raving trumped all other pastimes! He (Carl is his name!) never returned. Now this, was a daunting prospect at this time of my life, I was your typical gobby young man, but I wasn't very sociable or outgoing when it came to being shut in a sweaty basement gym, with a bunch of snarling bodybuilders. You have to behave. This was my coming of age. There is an etiquette, that you learn really fast through observing your environment and this, was one of my first life lessons. All of a sudden I had to communicate with these aliens! I had to ask questions, 'are you done with this bench?' 'Can you give me a spot?' Or often just a simple friendly hello and goodbye went a long way, And if one of these guys decides to strike up a conversation, or crack a joke (sometimes at your expense!), you had better be ready with some conversation back or witty rebuttal to the joke! The last thing you want is to be known as the headphone wearing mute, that cant/won't communicate with anyone (to be honest though, no-one wore headphones then). So i knuckled down, i trained 3 days a week, i read, i consumed all the information on strength training and bodybuilding i could get my hands on! I educated myself with books, muscle magazines, VHS training videos and live time learning, being a sponge, soaking up all the information, watching lifting techniques, earwigging conversations and yes! asking questions.
I told this story of my start in gym life, because everyone is different and everyone has different experiences. But. Most experience the same feelings of anxiety and nervousness when entering a gym for the first time and can hold you back from even entering the gym in the first place! Just like starting a new job or those first date nerves, you need to dig deep and you'll learn your communication/social skills you'll take into adult life. In my case... from the gym. Maybe the big corporate, hotel, leisure centre or even more hardcore backstreet gyms aren't the same as a barbell club of 30+ years ago, but the same rules should apply. Communicate with others and leave your phone in your bag/car.
My professional gym life began in 1993, when I got a job in the health club at the Felbridge hotel in East Grinstead, where I stayed for 2 years, performing a general customer service role for members and hotel guests alike, but also spending as much time on the gym floor as possible, helping, advising and, although i'd only been training myself for 2 years at this point, making it clear to those around me, but most importantly to myself, that i not only had considerable know how, but also great communication skills. Which to be honest i thought was going to be a struggle!
So after 2 years i decided to move on, there must be a way i can actually earn a living training people? So i went surfing to think about it. Myself and a couple of friends (Wayne and Tony, Wayne being the brother of Carl!), the previous year had taken up bodyboarding, so we planned a trip to Sri Lanka in 1994. Funny story that i wont get into here, but when you see a surf mag, with the picture of a beautiful palm fringed beach with a perfect wave and accompanying article entitled 'Surfing The War Zone!' and you were us? You go. For a month. But like i said, that's another story..... On our return i picked up where i left off and spent the next few years attempting to ply my trade in various hotel and larger chain gyms, but soon found that i could never align with or see eye to eye with the average gym manager! Sadly these folks are generally inexperienced gym instructors, who take up management positions and would rather see gym staff mopping floors rather than helping and actually making a difference on the gym floor. Plus never a chance of building a PT clientele.... But then came the chance. The chance to stand out from the average journeyman gym instructor.... The first of it's kind, Personal Trainer course appeared!!! So without hesitation, i went straight to the travel agent and booked a flight to Bali, Indonesia. I had pretty much decided i was going to do the course before i left.... but i had to think about it, for 6 weeks. Surfing (I had taken up surfing proper by this point!). A solo trip, which again is another fun story of adventure, surfing and misadventure, which again is another story. So head clear, motivation and enthusiasm red lining, i returned and did the personal trainer course.
After re-joining the gym industry, i quickly landed a great gym job at the East Grinstead Rugby Club. I liked my colleagues, the assistant manager was great too. But sadly the gym manager exceeded even my incredibly low expectation of what level of a dick a gym manager could aspire too!!! So in 2000 i officially left the industry, i had had enough. Luckily i had family and good friends i could work for, roofing and building for the next few years. But always training, always learning and researching. Never mentally losing my way, i just had enough of gyms and the crap that goes along with them. I trained alone in a fully kitted out shed, at my family's small holding in Forest Row. (Actually my old mate Pete has to get an honorary mention, as he was my training partner for a good couple of years! A record as i don't do training partners). A beautiful piece of land that my Father transformed from an agricultural small holding into a virtual garden of Eden. A great place to spend my leisure time.
But then, just out of the blue, completely by chance, i saw it. WANTED: Gym instructor/Personal Trainer for local gym.
This was 2005, when I saw a little ad in the East Grinstead Observer. The gym was called Dunnings Squash Club. Dunnings was the hub of the Town for squash obviously, but was also the best gym in the area by far! So I applied. And got the job. This was perfect. I can work as a gym instructor, taking new members and showing them the ropes, whilst working as a personal trainer, on and off shift, so I could build a nice client base whilst receiving a wage too, which was a rare thing in this industry (and i even liked and got on well with Dunnings management and owner!!!!!). 3 years later, the club owner, in his wisdom, decided to sell the site to developers, so Dunnings was no more! We relocated the gym to the East Grinstead Sports Club, which didn't, at the time, have much of a gym. What could go wrong? Well within 18 months all the Dunnings management were gone ( The management of the sports club and Dunnings did not see eye to eye, to say the very least!) Now at this point in my PT career I was concerned. I had no gym in which to train my clients and I had lost the security of my full time monthly wage. Also which could of sent me into full on panic mode, my first born son, Conan, was only a few months old. BUT luckily for me, I had a much better relationship with the sports club management than my managers did! And it just so happened the chap put in charge of the gym management, had become a good friend during my time there and he told me to use the gym for as long as I needed it. Craig is a top man. He rescued me in my time of need, for which I will be eternally grateful.
Around this time, 2010, there was yet another twist of fate. By this point I had been practising martial arts for a few years, and my teacher and friend had recently opened a large new gym, right next door to his old little martial arts studio in Ashurst wood. So my next move was clear, I was to set up a nice free weights gym in the new Mixed Martial Arts club, Kinetics Fighting Academy. So now I had everything under one roof! All my clients came with me, my client base grew organically really fast, within a few months I wasn't missing my basic wage safety net, and I could train more than ever, in the weights gym and martial arts (primarily Wing Chun Kung Fu, boxing and mma) As well as my Personal Training I looked after the clubs members fitness, by running evening fitness classes, consisting of functional, relevant, power endurance circuits, specifically designed to increase performance for combat sports such as MMA, and all the styles involved within it. 2 years later KFA gym moved to East Grinstead. I didn't.
The next chapter in my fitness career began in 2012, which funnily enough coincided with the birth of my second son Tor, when I moved into my own gym. UPT Gym (Ultimate Personal Training) Which just so happened to be the old original Studio next door! And there i stayed, for 8 years, plying my trade, updating my equipment and continuing to build and maintain a solid client base, many of whom have been with me for many years. But enter 2020 and it was time for change....
March 2020 i opened my new gym in Forest Row. it was bigger, but i was confident it was a great location and it would work out great. Forever the optimist, i opened the first day of the covid lockdown! All my clients came with me and i trained most as usual, some stayed at home and trained remotely and some stopped and returned when restrictions were lifted. As time rolled on it became apparent i had a lot of wasted, unused space i didn't need. I was paying a lot of rent, a shocking amount really, so after 4 years i negotiated my way out a year early and laid the plans down for doing what i wanted to do before i moved to Forest Row. Build my own gym on my own land. Which is just what i did and 'The Ministry Of Muscle' is now open! I'll always be Ultimate Personal Training, but the gym name has changed from Station Gym, because the old gym was on Station Road and i wasn't going to keep the name. As i mentioned earlier it's a lovely piece of land, just outside the village of Forest Row, in a quiet rural setting, with parking.
Now, if you read all of that, you should have a good idea about me and you are definitely serious about your training!!!! I chose the name 'Ministry Of Muscle,' because everyone should worship their bodies and the muscle that shapes us and keeps us healthy and strong as we age. Many (male and female) think slowing down and cutting back on strenuous exercise as we get older is sensible, or normal. But life is a treadmill. As we age it takes more effort to maintain health and strength, so if you slow down? You'll start going backwards and your health will fail as your muscles grow weak and your strength declines. SO!!! That's where i enter the room! Most of my clients are over 45 and are reaping the rewards of strength training. My personal brand of strength training, designed to.... yes you guessed it! Make you strong, progressively and safely, using a mix of training philosophies that i have tried and tested over the years and have blended, using the best parts of different routines and strength training principles iv'e researched over the past 30 plus years and come up with Steak and Eggs Strength Training!
Now i'll end this little bio here... But, if i haven't bored you to death yet, please check out the Steak and Eggs Strength Training page, for the lowdown on what we do and why we do it!
Plus finally! My training principles and philosophies are based on actual trail and error. Actual, real life experience and research. I wont pretend to know when i don't! so if you are lining up a marathon, i'm not your man! Running is a complete waste of time for building cardiovascular health and you'll grow old and die with the injuries you sustain pursuing this activity! Which is where i begin with the real world cardiovascular benefits of yes you guessed it... lifting weights and strength training!!! I like nothing more than answering questions and discussing my training techniques and philosophies.......
...... So please fill out the enquiry form in the contact section, or give me a call.....Hope to see you soon!
