Back again with a new staff spotlight, we have James Pitt from ifeelgood 24/7 Oxley. James started working at Oxley in April 2015.
Why did you become a PT?
I became a PT to enable me to combine my passion for health & fitness with my love of helping others.
What do you enjoy most about being a PT?
The thing I enjoy most about my role as a PT is getting to know my clients on a personal level, learning what drives their desire and witnessing their growth as the hard work begins to pay off. Helping people become stronger, healthier, more confident people is the most rewarding feeling there is.
Tell us about a specific client: their fitness journey, how it changed their life for the better ad how you got involved with that.
Andy lost 110 pounds of body fat in the space of a year. He achieved this using a combination of healthy eating and exercise, including cardio and strength training. But the most critical factor was his sheer hard work and dedication to his goal.
Most importantly he lost the weight at a healthy rate of around 2 pounds per week, he didn’t rely on a ‘fad diet’ or expect an easy miracle fix, and he decided he wanted to be healthier, made it his priority, and took it one step at a time. There are no safe shortcuts to healthy and sustainable weight loss.
Andy is an inspiration to us all.
Your personal favourite workout routine
There are too many to mention, but every now and then, as a shocker, I love to destroy my legs with a brutal tabata front squat routine. 8 rounds of 20 seconds on, 10 seconds off. The goal is to not drop below 8 reps on any round. Use a box to gauge your depth so as not to cheat!
How do you keep healthy outside of work?
Outside of the gym most of my fitness comes from playing football (soccer!) for the ‘Latin Golden Boys’ every weekend, then surfing each weekend during the off season. In the gym throughout the week, I love to train with my fellow PT’s as there is always something that can be learnt and we push each other to try new challenging routines, before unleashing them on our clients!
Your top tip to stay motivated and fit
One great tip that used to help me a lot when I first started training was to have a monthly or weekly calendar on my wall, each time I trained I put a big cross on that day, if I was doing a 5 day split for example, I’d always aim for 5 crosses per week. This may seem like a small thing, but it really messed with me emotionally if I ever fell below 5 crosses!! It really did play a huge part in keeping myself accountable.
