Featured in Yorkshire Life: Early Mornings as a Personal Trainer in York

It isn’t every day that you open a magazine and find your own face staring back at you.

I was recently featured in Yorkshire Life as part of its “Up with the Larks” feature, looking at people across Yorkshire whose working days begin while most sensible people are still asleep.

As a personal trainer, early mornings are a fairly unavoidable part of the job.

Three or four mornings each week, my first client is at the gym for 6.30am. That means getting up at around 5.30am, having some caffeine and attempting to resemble a functioning human being before driving into York.

I’d love to claim that I leap out of bed full of energy, but that would be a lie. I normally require at least ten minutes for the sleep inertia to wear off before I’m ready to communicate with anybody.

Quiet mornings in Buttercrambe

One of the questions Yorkshire Life asked was what my morning commute was like.

I live in Buttercrambe, a small village near Stamford Bridge, and the drive into York is one of the parts of the job I’ve grown to appreciate.

While the cafetière brews, I’ll often stand outside with the dog and enjoy the quiet before the day begins. Depending on the season, the drive might involve frosty roads, autumn leaves or a summer sunrise.

There have also been a few near misses with deer, which wakes you up considerably faster than coffee.

The roads are normally quiet at that time, so the journey gives me a chance to think about the clients I’m seeing and what each person needs from their session.

What happens before a personal-training session?

A lot of people understandably assume a personal trainer turns up, chooses a few exercises and starts counting repetitions.

There is -or at least should be -a bit more to it than that.

I create an individual programme for every personal-training client. Before they arrive, I’ll look at where they are in their current training block, what we did during their previous session and what we’re trying to achieve next.

The planned session is only the starting point.

If somebody arrives exhausted, stressed or dealing with a new ache, the programme might need adjusting. Equally, if they are moving well and feeling strong, we may be able to progress something more quickly than expected.

Good coaching means having a plan without being completely wedded to it.

More than working inside a gym

The feature also gave me an opportunity to talk about some of my favourite parts of being a personal trainer in York.

Although much of my one-to-one coaching takes place in the gym, fitness doesn’t have to remain within four walls.

During the warmer months, I’ll sometimes go running, hiking or cycling with clients. One morning that particularly stands out was a slow run through Hagg Wood, near Dunnington.

The sun was coming up, deer were standing in the fields and hares were crossing the paths. It was quite a nice realisation that although work and scheduling and being self-employed can be up and down, I just felt incredibly lucky that this was part of my job.

It wasn’t an extraordinary event or a dramatic physical achievement. It was simply a really good morning and a reminder that training can add something to your life rather than feeling like another chore that needs completing.

That same idea is behind the small-group fitness classes I now run in Buttercrambe. People can train properly, spend time outdoors and get to know others from the surrounding area at the same time.

Building Jack Bradley Fitness

Seeing Jack Bradley Fitness in Yorkshire Life felt like a cool little milestone.

When I started as a personal trainer, I didn’t inherit a large client base or have thousands of social-media followers waiting to book sessions. I spent long days on the gym floor, spoke to people, built relationships and gradually developed a reputation.

There have been plenty of 6.30am starts and some days where I’ve been working for 12 to 14 hours.

The hours can be unsociable and the job is physically tiring, but it gives me a genuine sense of purpose. I get to watch people become stronger, fitter and more confident in what their bodies can do and lots more.

That might mean completing a first pull-up, returning to exercise after surgery, preparing for a competition or simply feeling more capable in everyday life.

Those individual moments are what have allowed the business to grow.

Finding some balance

Personal training doesn’t fit neatly into a conventional working day.

Some days begin before sunrise and finish late in the evening. Other days, I can be home by lunchtime and spend more time with my family.

I’m not going to pretend that I’ve perfected the balance. Like most self-employed people, I probably think about work more often than I should.

But an ideal evening is normally very simple: dinner with my wife, watching something on television and having a laugh before doing it all again the following morning.

A proud moment

Being featured in Yorkshire Life was a proud moment, particularly because it highlighted the ordinary parts of the job that people don’t always see.

The early alarms, quiet drives, programme preparation and long days aren’t particularly glamorous. They are, however, a large part of how Jack Bradley Fitness has grown.

So, thank you to Yorkshire Life for including me and for making the 5.30am alarm sound slightly more impressive than it normally feels.

If you’re looking for one-to-one personal training in York, in-home or outdoor coaching, or small-group fitness classes in Buttercrambe near Stamford Bridge, you can find more information through my website or get in touch directly.