By, Alan Jackson, Weight Management Practitioner and Director of Weight Management Centre and Discovery Learning

So here I am, with fifteen or so parents in this small room, all of their children are overweight or obese (mainly obese) and most, if not all, of the parents are likewise. I can tell by their belligerent stares and negative body language that they will be a tough crowd.  I’m there to put it to them that the reason that their children are overweight is due mainly to the job that they are doing as parents.  Their children’s weight won’t reduce just because the wind changes and, as the saying goes: ‘If you do what you’ve always done, you get what you’ve always got!’

I cast an eye around the room and pick out the ones that I know are spoiling for a fight. The mum with the unruly four year old that has not stopped whinging and carrying on since we arrived is a dead cert.  I can read their minds: “Look at old lanky, here no doubt to bring me another pious lecture about how to bring up my kids. Probably some health & fitness freak with a cabbage obsession, living in a mews house in Kensington.  Well I’ll let him know what being a single mum bringing up three kids on a council estate in Mitcham teaches you, and that is that you get your revenge in first!”

Feebly and with breathtaking insincerity I introduce myself; I know now for sure they can see straight through it.  These guys are street wise, they are first class honours graduates of the University of Hard Knocks; I don’t stand a chance!  The silence is deafening, it lasts forever; meanwhile, their stares turn to scowls.  Just as I contemplate feigning a seizure, the silence is shattered by the crashing of a flinging door.  In blusters the obligatory late comer, complete with flailing umbrella and soaking coat.  Cursing the traffic, and furious at the inconvenience of being dragged along to another pointless nanny state social project.  Her entrance further agitates the by now palpably hostile audience.

It’s a tough job, but somebody’s got to do it I tell myself!

As usual it’s all in my head, and of course they are a great bunch of people, mums and dads just like anyone else, trying to make headway against a strong opposing tide.  We have a laugh, get acquainted and each of them talks about their experiences and the challenges that they face. We share ideas and exchange snippets on how to outsmart the kids, how to draw upon our knowledge and resolve when the going gets tough, and hopefully how to make a few better choices for ourselves on route.

As always they come up with great solutions to the recurring themes, and realise that they are not alone in their struggle to rear healthy weight children in modern Britain.  I too as always learn a few more tips from them for the next programme.  Following a really productive 30 minutes, everyone is really motivated and I can feel their renewed enthusiasm for tackling the many challenges that they face.

We move next door to where the fitness team is working with the children.  As always I am genuinely moved to see these young children, who despite in some cases their severe obesity, exude the vitality and exuberance that is innate in every child.  The children and the staff inspire me; together they remind me why I love this job so much.

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By, Carolin Newton, Discovery Learning Operations Manager

It’s that time of year again…everyone is hitting the slopes for a bit of powder!  Most of my personal trainer clients are busy talking to me about wanting to improve their skiing skills and fitness to get ready for their trip. So I developed a “Snowboarding/Skiing Personal Trainer” package for people going on holiday. It was a great way to start off the New Year, and I saw a great increase in personal training sessions sold to new clients.

My “Personal Training for Snowboarding” package was designed over 8 Personal Trainer sessions, with a programme for the clients to follow when training on their own. The first couple of sessions focus on balance, flexibility and stability training. This was complemented by developing the anaerobic threshold with cardiovascular training. Exercises included a lot of bosu ball exercises, wobble boards and stability ball exercises all focusing on the lower body and core (especially the rotational exercises). I based most of my lower body exercises on compound movements such as squat and lunge patterns, with ever decreasing base of support. I also included a lot of upper body push exercises to ensure the client can push themselves up of the snow to stand up (I know from experience – that your triceps, chest and abs get very stiff and sore!!). All my exercises were within the Muscular Endurance variable ranges (i.e. high reps, moderate to light weight, and little rest).  For my cardiovascular work – I base it on hill runs, the rowing machine, step machine etc.  The aim is not fast, but more resistance – to increase the lactic acid tolerance.  In terms of flexibility, I focused on doing some self myofascial release techniques on their ITB, glutes, piriformis, quads and hamstrings. I then performed some PNF stretches on the same muscles. It is important that you focus on the flexibility so that they can twist, turn and perform tricks without injuring themselves.

From this point, I developed the programme to end off with power and isometric exercises. Here I did a lot of plyometric exercises focusing on squat jumps with power bags, squat rotational jumps, one legged squat jumps, etc. I also included lots of medicine ball upper body throwing and catching exercises that incorporated core rotations. Kettlebells also feature in the phase of training. I still maintained the flexibility and self myofascial release programmes to ensure optimum length of muscle was developed and maintained.

It is important to note—you must focus on developing the hip and knee stability before developing onto power and isometric exercises. The knee is one of the joints that is most at risk when snowboarding, so you must ensure your clients have developed the Vastus Medialis; Vastus Latralis; hamstrings muscles to support the joint.

Shoulder dislocation is also common – so strengthen the rotator cuff and the surrounding shoulder muscles by doing stability work on them.

So now that I have given a very brief overview of the snowboarding programme and the key aims—think about developing your own personal trainer programmes to maximise your personal trainer skills and ultimately pick up more clients!!!

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