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Ten Reasons to Have a Personal Trainer On Demand

July 10, 2015July 22, 2017 Alex Coombes1 Comment

Exercising at home or in your local park is something we have all considered and even attempted, however it’s not as easy as it sounds. We believe that with a little bit of help you can achieve any fitness outside of the gym. There are many reasons why you may need someone to help you with your training outside of a gym; here are our top ten reasons.

You’re Time Poor
In London, long working hours are the norm and in a city where there is always something to do, usually involving drinking and eating, it is hard to squeeze in a workout. A mobile trainer will come to you, at your convenience.

You’re Expecting a Baby
Pregnancy is a tiring time and the last thing you want to do is leave your house and enter a busy gym. By ordering a trainer to come to your home you don’t need to worry about anything else except making the healthiest body for your baby.

You’re Injured
Being injured is a difficult time but it is still extremely important to keep exercising to maintain good circulation to deliver nutrients to the injured area. Some injuries will make it difficult to travel as you may have crutches, need a wheelchair or you’re just worried about being knocked over.

You’re A Work-At-Home Mum
Looking after children is a lot more than a full-time job and unless your gym has a creche it can be difficult to find the time to exercise. If your order a personal trainer to your home you can workout and keep an eye on the little ones at the same time.

Gyms Aren’t For You
The gym can be an intimidating place. An on-demand personal trainer can help you exercise just as well, if not better, from the privacy of your own home.

You Want to Make the Most of the Nice Weather
The sun can make rare appearances in London, but when it does London has some of the best parks to work out in. However, it is definitely easier to lie on the grass than to do push ups or sit ups, so a personal trainer that will meet you at the park will stop your workout turning into a picnic.

You’re an Exercise Newbie
If you are new to exercise the last place you want to go is somewhere full of judging eyes and so called “experts.” A personal trainer outside of the gym will help improve your fitness levels from the privacy of your own home.

You can Exercise with Friends
Healthy socialising is hard to come by in London. Ordering a personal trainer to meet you and your friends at a location convenient to all means that you focus on catching up and let the trainer worry about what set you’re going to do next.

You Get Distracted Easily
Home or park environments are littered with distractions that can prevent you from performing to your maximum. A good personal trainer will transform a dull, uninspired area into a focused, training arena.

You Need Fresh Inspiration
Training with your bodyweight requires a lot of creativity. Having an expert to train with can bring new ideas to your training to help you to push through plateaus and reach your goals.

TruBe trainers will travel anywhere in London bringing your workout to you. Its easy to book a session with our iPhone app. Download and book a session today.

Introducing Personal Trainer: Zycco W

July 6, 2015November 1, 2018 Alex Coombes1 Comment

Meet Zycco W, a TruBe trainer and bodyweight strength training expert.

What is your biggest client success story?
This would have to be Mark Fisher. Mark had a stroke over a year ago and the whole of the left side of his body stopped functioning for a year. When I first started training Mark, he ate quite badly and could not stand up or straighten out both arms. It took him 10-20 minutes to walk down a short road.

With my training, he has become a lot more confident, being able to stand up on his own and he can straighten both his arms. It now takes him 3-4 minutes to walk down the same road. His eating has drastically improved.

What do you enjoy about being a part of the TruBe Team?
TruBe is a lot like Uber for personal Trainers. I love the way TruBe has incorporated an on demand app into the fitness industry, making Personal training more flexible in London.

What was your biggest health and fitness obstacle and how did you overcome it?
I started my bodyweight training journey over a year ago. It’s been very challenging mentality, but I love pushing myself always trying to improve and get stronger. I am looking forward to being a well known bodyweight specialist.

What is your favourite piece of TruBe equipment?
The resistance bands. I use them on a regular basis and I’m always trying to think of new ways to incorporate them into my workouts.

How do you treat yourself?
I treat myself by doing other things I love such as photography, videography and graphic design. I also like a cheeky pizza.

What is your favourite instagram account you follow?
My favourite Instagram account would have to be gymrat.nuff_said & mr_barfreakz.

What is your favourite motivational quote?
“If not now, when.” “Love and Give, and it shall be returned.”

What is the best piece of advice you have received from a mentor?
The best advice from a mentor would have to be “You are your own brand, everything you do represents your brand, so be the best you and be proud of you.”

How do you find balance in your life?
I find balance by practicing being in the moment, enjoying being with whoever I am with and doing whatever I am doing.

To book a session with Zycco, download the app and find him as one of our featured trainers.

Why is Flexibility so Important?

June 30, 2015July 22, 2017 Alex CoombesLeave a comment

All dancers and gymnasts need to be flexible to achieve graceful movements. Having a flexible body also has a wide range of health benefits, and can help you reach your general fitness goals. Flexibility is usually associated with static stretching or being able to get into a position with a large range of motion. However it also encourages better mobility, which is the ability to use a large range of motion whilst moving.

Why you should spend time improving your flexibility and mobility

While you don’t need to spend masses of time working on your mobility, you can simply incorporate it into your warm up or morning wake-up routine to reap the benefits. Ideally, you should focus an hour a week on increasing your mobility. Here are four reasons why:

To Prevent Injuries

Static stretching was once used to prevent injuries. However increasing the static range of motion is like stretching an elastic band. If you don’t teach the body how to use a new range of motion properly, it will spring back to its original position, which can lead to injuries. Trying to move in a new and unknown way, particularly when muscles are not warmed up properly, can cause muscle tears, sprains and even dislocations. However If you gradually increase your range using dynamic stretching movements, you can teach your body how to cope in the new range, and over time explore more and more exercise options.

Burn More Fat
To burn fat you need to increase the amount of energy you expend. By increasing your mobility you will recruit more muscle fibres along the full length of the muscle which will then require more energy. If you aim to increase the mobility of all the muscles you use throughout the day then you will greatly increase the amount of energy you expend without doing any extra exercise.

Become Stronger

To become stronger a muscle needs to be fully activated. To activate a muscle you must lengthen it. The more a muscle is lengthened whilst moving, the more muscle fibres will be recruited resulting in larger muscles and increased strength. A good example of this is the crossover lunge. This exercise isolates the glute by lengthening it in all three planes of motion: rotating it, extending it forwards and sideways.

Be More Defined
Being more mobile will allow fibres to contract along the full length of the muscle. By utilizing more of the muscle in this way, you can build a better shape and become more defined and toned.

By simply adding an aspect of flexibility to your regular training sessions, such as yoga or dynamic stretching, you should notice a difference in your overall fitness levels. TruBe includes mobility exercises in every warm up and cool down.

How do you include flexibility exercises in your workout? We would love to hear below.

P.S. Subscribe to the blog below or follow us on Instagram and Twitter at @trubeapp for more inspirational ways to reach your health and wellness goals!

Introducing Alex L, Personal Trainer and World Champion Kickboxer

June 22, 2015November 1, 2018 Alex CoombesLeave a comment

Trainer Rating: 5 Stars

As one of our ambassador trainers, Alex has over 20 years of personal training experience as well as multiple world kickboxing championships. He has hundreds of success stories ranging from weight loss to helping young offenders.

What do you enjoy about being a part of the TruBe Team?

I love everybody’s energy and enthusiasm ,from the trainers to the tech team. We all want this app to succeed and are willing to go the extra mile.

Where is your favourite healthy date?
It has to be the organic Medjool variety from Egypt 😉 I think you mean where do I go for some healthy time out? My favourite would have to be tree-climbing in my local park.

What is your biggest client success story?

Firstly, I worked with a small group of young offenders. Four out of the six managed to train with me for two years. They developed a martial arts code of respect and found a new inspiration to keep them focused.

Secondly, I helped a bride-to-be prepare for her wedding day. She trained three times a week for three months with nutritional support. Not only did the training help her lose 6kg, but she toned up and felt amazing. She also benefited from regular stress relief by hitting pads when kickboxing. A must for every bride feeling the pressure! Now a mother of three, she still finds time to put the gloves on every week and train with me.

What do you add to your shake/smoothie for a boost?

I don’t drink smoothies! I prefer to take on my nutrients in their whole organic form. I enjoy eating my fruit and veg as Mother Nature intended!

What was your last health and fitness obstacle and how did you overcome it?

I decided to re-enter competitive kickboxing and in 2013 won the Unified World Championships welterweight kickboxing world title.

What is your favourite piece of TruBe equipment?

The GripR. It is an ideal training tool that allows clients to work on many planes of motion and is a really versatile piece of kit.

How do you treat yourself?
I enjoy playing with my children – it’s fun and they actually give me a workout!

What is your favourite instagram account you follow?
@twobadbodies

What is your favourite motivational quote?
“Though much is taken, much abides; and though
We are not now that strength which in old days
Moved earth and heaven, that which we are, we are;
One equal temper of heroic hearts,
Made weak by time and fate, but strong in will
To strive, to seek, to find, and not to yield.”
Ulysses 1833
Alfred Tennyson

What is the best piece of advice you have received from a mentor?
“One more round to go and you’ll be a World Champion.”

To book a session with Alex, download the app and find him as one of our featured trainers.

Part 2: How To Build Muscle Using Your Bodyweight: Lower Body-Workout

June 1, 2015November 1, 2018 Alex Coombes1 Comment

The next workout in our building muscle through bodyweight series is focused on the lower body. As we covered in part one, building muscle in the upper body places an emphasis on your chest, back, arms, shoulders and abdominal muscles. In this post, we’ll share techniques to build lower body muscle, which will help you to burn more fat whilst not exercising.

The most impactful way to build lower body muscle involves many variations of single leg exercises and powerful movements for a short period of time.

1. Pistol Squats: Three sets of six repetitions on each leg.

Simply put, the pistol squat is a one-legged squat. The aim is to get as close to the floor as you can (see picture above), holding the other leg out in front of the body.

If you are new to this exercise you may need to hold on to something, such as a suspension trainer or a wall, in order to maintain balance and alleviate body weight from the pushing leg. It is important to control the downward motion as much as possible to keep tension in all leg muscles for the whole movement.

2. One-Legged Suspension Trainer Lunges: Three sets of eight repetitions on each leg.

The goal of this exercise is to do a split squat with a suspension trainer. Add a partner to hold down your shoulders and make this exercise more challenging, or you can do a normal squat which will make it a bit easier.

3. 40-meter Sprints: Eight sets with 1 min. rest.

Sprinting with good form and powerful strides will build great quality, well-balanced muscle. When running, pull your knees to waist height to build valuable core muscle in lower abs and obliques. To ensure a powerful stride, push the floor behind you as hard as you can.

Now that you have two quick sessions to work both your upper and lower body, take advantage of the London summer weather and impress onlookers at your local park.

To build muscle, maximum effort is needed throughout the whole session, from every set to every single rep. If you struggle to do this on your own, download the TruBe app to book a personal trainer on demand in London.