Robert Henry

Occupation: Business

Goal: Reduce body fat % & weight to a healthy range, improve tone, energy levels and health.

Comments from Robert

Looking at the other testimonial’s on John’s website it made me wonder what he must have thought when he started to work with me. I must be the antithesis of his typical client. They all seem to have wonderful levels of personal motivation and have clear goals and ambitions. Their achievements speak volumes to me not only about their own drive and dedication but also about the excellent guidance, technical advice and empathetic emotional support that John and his team can offer through their work.

I’m pleased to report that you don’t have to be such a focused and keen client in order to be able to benefit from John’s assistance. If there was a button on the tv remote that you could press to have a workout whilst you lazed about then that would do for me. In the absence of such a technological advancement, finding myself with lots of spare time on my hands and weighing in at a few stone above my ideal fighting weight, I decided that I had no more excuses to keep myself out of the gym. After a spell of several months of unguided work running on things, pedalling things, pushing, pulling and lifting things, I was the same weight and could run a bit further without getting completely out of breath. A friend of mine took me to one side and recommended that I might want to meet John and see if he could help.

I’ve been working with him for close to a year now. In the initial meeting I informed him that I had a healthy diet and was exercising for an hour about three times a week but couldn’t seem to make any notable impact on how I looked or how much I weighed. I had no clear goals, no intentions to run marathons, climb mountains, compete at the 2012 Olympics or such like. I just wanted to feel better and look like what my natural shape should be. Within 10 minutes my ‘healthy’ diet was lying in pieces on the floor. It was a revelation to find out about the nutritional provision of what I had considered was a pretty good diet. A bowl of Alpen with a sliced banana, two slices of buttered toast and a mug of tea with milk and half a spoon of sugar was a typical breakfast for me. To discover the carbohydrate load that this was imposing on me, the lack of protein and what happens to all those carbs when they hit my bloodstream was invaluable.

To be honest it has been fairly easy to adjust the diet. It just took John’s solid advice, a bit of reading material and some modifications to the shopping trolley. I eat with awareness now, enjoy my food more and feel and look a lot healthier. I’m down to more or less my ideal weight and my shape has improved drastically (I looked like a pregnant corner flag before. My old PE teacher used to say to me “Son, do you want a medal or a chest to pin it on” – I’m pleased to say I could now fit a medal or two on there – just about !).

The hardest thing for me has (and continues) to be the gym work. The initial focus on core strength was tough but rewarding. I had to push myself to get in there and put in the work. It’s a constant battle for me. The angel on my shoulder mostly wins the internal arguments when I’m deciding if I’m going to go in and it’s still a great feeling when I come out of the gym knackered after a focused and rewarding session. I’m pretty pleased with what I’ve achieved. I still don’t have any real goals but I’ve realised how much it improves my life to feel and look fitter and healthier. That’s enough reward and motivation for me.

There is absolutely no way that I could have achieved anywhere near as much as I have without John. It’s not enough for me that he is extremely technically adept and has immense knowledge about physiological, training and nutritional matters. The space shuttle is a tremendously technologically advanced machine but I wouldn’t be able to get it off the ground and go anywhere in it. The essential element of John for me is his skill in coaching. He always seems to say and do the right things. He has a way of working with me that brings out the best in me and it makes me want to improve my performance. He always listens and responds appropriately with due consideration for my feelings. I find this invaluable. My wife and one of my daughters now also train with John. They too have achieved excellent results and would attribute their success primarily to John’s coaching.

If you’re reading this testimonial because you’re wondering whether to enlist HFPT to help you achieve your goals or to just help you feel fitter and healthier then I can say with absolute honesty that you should proceed. It will be one of the best decisions you have ever made.

Comments from Trainer

Robert is a real inspiration for me. I enjoy working with him immensely.  Why? Well Rob made a decision to improve his health and fitness, he kept an open mind on how to go about this and showed enormous levels of trust in letting me guide him on this journey (as anyone does when they invest in a personal trainer). His willingness to give everything a go from the adoption of a new set of nutrition principles to a new approach to exercising have been a key contributing factor to his success.  Overall Rob now lives with approximately 16% less body fat (dropping from 29% – 13%) and weighs 22lbs less. This puts him well within a ‘healthy range’. Since achieving these changes Rob has reported having more energy and improved overall fitness which allows him to live a ‘fuller’ life. The thing I love about this the most is that it is so well balanced. Whilst some of us have the desire to run marathons etc, it is not a necessary pre-requisite to achieving increased vitality and wellness! In fact those that do want to run marathons etc are often presenting themselves with additional/different challenges to achieving vitality and wellness!

Rob you have demonstrated that a BIG difference can be made with some SMALL methodical changes in how nutrition and exercise is weaved into life. It is very inspiring to see this well balanced approach in caring for your vitality and wellness, it is great to see how this has extended into your family too.