Tell us a bit about your new, exciting venture! What exactly is P4 Virtual Trainer™ and how can it help us achieve our goals?
P4 Virtual Trainer™ is basically personal training in your pocket! Unlike many other Apps and online systems, P4 is 100% bespoke and your trainer is a real person tracking and monitoring your progress as you go. You don’t need any equipment or previous experience and most of our clients do their sessions at home in their living room.
The simple reason people don’t achieve their goals is barriers. Whether it’s not having the confidence to walk into a gym, the knowledge of what to do or simply the finances to invest in a trainer, P4 has blown every barrier away making it possible for everyone to get the body of their dreams!
What inspired you to found P4?
My main inspiration was witnessing the positive changes you can make to someone’s life when you’re equipped with the right know-how. In the past I was limited to the amount of people I could work with due to geographical implications and time restraints and I wanted to reach out to more, in fact as many people as I could, so that’s when I decided that online was the way I could deliver our personalised system to the masses and P4 was born!
At P4 we believe that everyone has a right to the best possible health and should be happy and confident in the life they live. Why should training, free from the risk of injury, be reserved only for the minority? Being able to work out wherever you are in the world, at home or away has become a powerful tool for our clients’ results. We believe we have developed a system that gives everyone the ability to regain control of his or her own health and body!
How do the four Ps work together to create ultimate wellbeing?
One cannot work without the other. Posture, Performance, Programme and Physiology cover each aspect of our body, mind and soul, so in order for everything to work in synergy each area must be addressed to find the optimum balance in the body. The way we stand, move, eat, sleep and feel all play a vital part in our ultimate wellbeing, if one of the Ps has not been addressed then it is possible that the other Ps are affected which creates a weakness or imbalance that will produce sub-optimum results.
Whether it’s a blood sugar imbalance from your diet, leading to poor sleep and therefore stubborn weight gain or a new mum pushing it too hard in the gym while still breastfeeding, everything we do has a knock on effect. Look at the bigger picture and you have nailed it!
You do a lot of work with rehabilitation, correctional exercise and hormone balancing – where do these aspects of wellness fit in with exercise and training?
These areas commonly get overlooked by a lot of people and are vital during the initial phases to prepare the body for more intensive exercise. Training with hidden issues such as underlying injuries and muscle imbalances will significantly slow your progress down and cause unwanted stress on the body and raises cortisol levels. The same goes for anyone with hormone issues generally caused by bad choices and lifestyle habits, add a gruelling workout to this and you’ll be literally piling on the pounds with each session not losing them.
P4 looks at your lifestyle, stress levels, physical condition, fitness ability and of course what you want to achieve before we design your programme and include any corrective exercises and lifestyle recommendations at the same time so you are constantly making positive changes as soon as you start, we have found that this speeds up the process and guarantees results that are more sustainable.
What do you consider to be the perfect breakfast to fuel for a busy day?
I’m big on breakfast, I love it! I often go to bed looking forward to what I’ll eat first thing. It’s got to be quick and easy due to the incredibly early start so soft boiled egg (cooking while I shower) with a slice of seed health bread and avocado is a favourite then off I go.
The best exercise for perfect posture?
This is a tough one to generalise because it depends on the posture. It is most common for people to be more Kyphotic (rounded shoulders) due to the way we have evolved in our everyday lives, using computers, texting on our phones and sitting at a desk all day has caused us to lock up and loose mobility in our upper back and also tighten in areas of the neck, chest and hips which can become quite painful and greatly effects posture. So in that instance a mix of thoracic towel mobilisation, upper back pull, hip flexor stretches and lower abdominal activation is a winning combo for us.
Where do you find your motivation to keep inspiring others on their fitness journeys?
From our incredible clients! It’s infectious; honestly it’s awe inspiring, each and every day we see clients achieve things they never thought they could. Your health and physical appearance is so connected to every other aspect of your life, once you feel happy on the inside some amazing things manifest on the outside.
Who do you consider to be your own personal fitspiration?
My wife Linda! Her strength, stamina and determination during some tough times while having and caring for our 20 and 5 month old girls inspires me each and every day. Whenever I feel tired or run down I think of her hard work she puts in for our family and I’m driven to be a better a stronger person.
What would be your one piece of advice to somebody wanting to achieve optimum health?
Stick with it. You can never do too little when it comes to improving your health. People often want quick fixes and to change everything in one go but that can lead to a feeling of being overwhelmed. If you make one tiny change each week soon enough you would have made a dramatic difference to your whole life.
What is your own favourite way to train?
I like to mix it up. I believe boredom kills motivation and drive so keeping things fresh is key to my consistency. I do 3 – 4 old school weight training sessions per week which is mainly lifting, run once or twice, do a Jiu-jitsu class and every Sunday I lead our P4 Dirt Dash which is basically a mud run using trees, logs, rocks, hills and anything else out in the open as an assault course.
How do you like to chill and unwind after a busy day?
Spending time with my two little girls! Days can be long but nothing makes it feel more worthwhile than seeing those little faces waiting for me to get home.
How important do you consider nutrition to be for performance?
It’s paramount; you wouldn’t buy a top of the range sports car and fill it with cheap fuel! Not only will eating the way nature intended help you get results sooner, but you will feel and look better along the way, win win.
They say abs are made in the kitchen – is food choice really that crucial for aesthetics?
Most definitely! It’s a cycle really, eat bad, feel bad, look bad. A healthy, nutritious diet will make you feel more energised, benefiting your training which, will then change the way you look aesthetically.
Give us your top 3 essential healthy foods.
Avocado, blueberries and fillet steak.
What does a typical working day look like for you?
I’m an early riser so 5am start, a good breakfast and organic coffee. Then I will start the working day with responding to client emails and making sure everyone has their online programme for the day. My one-to-one clients start at around 7am but I am constantly working on P4 programmes, content, answering questions, writing articles and generally trying to give our clients an awesome training experience. I try and allow 60 minutes a day for my own training and then a good lunch. I’m home by 8pm and hit the sack by about 10pm ready to fight another day!