Testimonial For Chris Bowman Fitness

Around 6 years ago, I was hitting 18 stones in weight and I knew things had to change. Taking care of our autistic son was difficult enough without the added effort of trying to chase him while carrying so much extra weight.

I started hill walking and changed my diet. The weight started to drop off. I was doing “Hannah Waterman’s Body Blitz” DVD at home (don’t laugh!) and out hill walking most days bagging 2 or 3 Munro’s at a time but felt I needed something more and something different to keep me motivated. I was recommended to try Chris Bowman Fitness by a good friend Kevin who had lost a lot of weight and every time I saw him he was changing shape. He got me an induction and I started going along.

The gym was great for me. At that time, I was sweating out 1.5-2 hour sessions in the gym on the cross trainer then hitting the weights and equipment.  After a morning workout, I was out on the hills in the afternoon grabbing a speed hike up Ben Bouie.

I got down to around 12 stone and wanted to get another stone off. Chris developed a gym routine plan for me called a HIIT workout but still including some cardio time on the treadmill. I did a 10-minute warm up on the treadmill, bike or cross-trainer, then 3 sets of gym exercises with 5 minutes flat-out run on a treadmill. This nearly killed me but the weight fell off and I kept eating healthy options (well mostly!).

Classes are a great way to combine both aerobic exercise with toning. The classes are friendly and there’s not a feeling of intimidation. You work on your own goals and levels and you don’t get picked out and shouted at. Though Chris can see when I’m slacking off and he’ll quietly encourage me. The main classes I attend are Kettlercize, Spin and Circuits but there are a wide variety of options to suit all levels of fitness.

Both during classes or when doing my own thing there have been opportunities to chat with instructors and other members who pass on tips to keep you motivated, give you ideas for a healthy diet, offer advice on fixing injury’s and how to keep injury free.

The run group has been a great life changer. It started with Bill Cairns leading years ago, and then Carole Barrie.  Hearing Bill’s stories of racing got me starting doing 10km distances and then joining Glasgow Triathlon Club to get more speed training and quicker PB’s. I think through Bill, Carole and my brother I gained a lot of confidence and have now become more of an endurance athlete choosing to race ultra-marathons throughout the year.

Nowadays my classes are planned around my family, cycling/running and endurance adventures. The key thing with any exercise is having good healthy food. I am so blessed to have a wife that looks after me in this way. At times I will have blowouts and over indulge on pizza but that’s normal and one day doesn’t undo all the hard work as long as you get back on track swiftly.

I’d highly recommend CBF to anyone looking to improve their fitness level. Don’t be scared to take that first step because it really is open to all and any and every fitness level can be catered for. You’ll be given lots of advice and encouragement in a friendly and relaxed environment so sign up today ~ you won’t regret it!

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