Never thought a personal trainer would be for me!
Those that know me would say I’m fairly knowledgable and passionate on all things health and fitness. I used to teach aerobics, gained fitness qualifications and have read copious amounts of health/fitness books and blogs over the years. I’ve maintained a solid health and fitness regime for most of my life. It has evolved from playing sport in my teens and early adult life to more gym and cardio after rupturing my ACL in 2000. The last five years has seen me focus more on nutrition – incorporating paleo and intermittent fasting along with dabbling here and there with keto.
At the end of 2019 I started to think where my body is at given I’m in my 40s. This decade of my life is where I would begin to see muscle slowly atrophy, experience drops in testosterone and other mid-life scenarios. I still feel good however realise the need to evolve my routine in order to adapt to the changes in my body. For example, the biggest shock was the results of my DEXA scan in December after hitting the weights a lot harder for the previous six months. My body fat had lowered slightly however my muscle tone hadn’t increased at all. In fact, I was lacking consistent muscle tone across the main muscle groups in my body.
Enter Chris Redig (Adventure Driven Fitness)
I’ve never really believed in needing a personal trainer. I’ve seen many at the gym attempting to motivate and push their clients. I’m self motivated and knowledgable therefore I didn’t think I ever needed one. After receiving my DEXA results I realised that perhaps I was a little arrogant of not engaging someone who is certified, experienced and fundamentally knows more than I do. What I really needed was a coach to understand the direction I want to go. Plus I wanted someone that knew how I could achieve my goals taking into consideration who I am, what I enjoy in terms of exercise, how I eat, when I eat and of course my rigorous travel schedule.
The search for the right person took a long time. However I found Chris Redig who runs his own business called Adventure Driven Fitness. He is certified in a number of the areas I was looking to focus on. Plus he has similar body goals as I do. Chris and I spoke initially for an hour and it was clear he was the person I needed to work with. He is from Portland in Oregon however lives just outside of Copenhagen, Denmark (more on Chris’ background here). This meant I had someone with an hour difference in time who could keep in touch with me when required. After the initial conversation I signed up with him for six months. The approach was to initially focus on body composition and slowly incorporate movement / flexibility into the routine.
Where am I now?
I’m in week seven of this journey and my body transformation has been incredible so far. Yet this post isn’t really about me, this is about Chris. I’ve read many books/blogs on coaching as I have with health and fitness. The best coaches are the ones that understand you, that dedicate to you, that challenge you (where to push versus where not to push) and know what questions to ask at the right time. Chris and I typically communicate via email. He responds quickly with answers, perspectives, the background theory and practical aspects each and every time. One recent and great example is my travel this week. I am in Poland Monday / Tuesday and then I fly to Saudi Arabia from Wednesday until Friday. The biggest challenge for me is staying consistent with eating and my gym routine. Whilst the food aspect is on me, Chris has been incredibly helpful with the adapting the gym routine. Hotel gyms aren’t necessarily the best of gyms on the planet therefore one needs to be creative at times. I located a picture of the gym on the hotel website and sent it to Chris. Within 24 hours Chris had updated my gym schedule with alternate exercises. He also included personal videos and explained specific exercises and technique I should take into consideration given my goals, workout regime and past injuries.
Why did I write this?
As said above, this isn’t about me, this is more a manifesto for Chris. If you’re looking for someone who can take you to the next level in terms of nutrition, health, fitness, look etc. then I would suggest you connect with Chris to have an initial conversation (which is free). In my working life, my team has the mantra of surprising and delighting our customers in every way we can. Chris has certainly done that for me in the world of health and wellness. Thanks Chris!
