Welcome to the Team BKB blog page. It’s been about time that I did this. Over the coming weeks I will be uploading tips and stories all related to health & fitness. Although we primarily train with kettlebells at Team BKB Online our fitness journey is more than just swinging kettlebells. Before I even workout what to post first, maybe it’s time to learn more about me.
My name is Jamie, I’m 44 and I have been the owner/head honcho at Team BKB for 11 years (seriously, where does the time go?). I live in Trowbridge with wife of 9 years Jen and our 5 year old lab retriever called Dutch (named after Arnold Schwarzenegger’s character in Predator).
For most of my late childhood, my teens and into my 20’s and 30’s I was clinically obese (according to NHS guidelines) and at times morbidly obese. I literally can and will write loads of blogs about how I felt back then, consciously and sub consciously. I used to love winter as it meant I could hide the tub with a baggy hoody. Bring it back in Hodge, you’re going off piste here! Ok, I was never sporty at school and never wanted to attend after school sports clubs or play weekend sports. It wasn’t me.
Moving on from school I spent the next 13 years working in the catering trade. Drinking, smoking and nonstop picking at chips on the hot plate in the kitchen. I slowly worked myself up to around 19 stone peak weight. I could go out until 2am drinking, be in bed for 3am and then be back into work for 7am with zero hangover!! Now you’ll be lucky to see me after 9:30pm but that is a different blog about how sleep is so important to us.
Now I know what you’re thinking. Where is he going with this! This sounds like self-counselling! If you have never visited a counsellor I would highly recommend going. Even if you think you’re ok, you might surprise yourself. Let’s get back to this blog! I apologise as I do go on different tangents as the writing juices to start to flow.
Throughout my 20’s & 30’s I would train at Fitness First gym, having previously tried a few sessions with my brother at Kickers gym but not really doing much in terms of workout plans, patterns or systems. It was a case lift a bit of that, lift a bit of this etc.
Down at FF it was all about the bench press. Who could press the most weight? It was all about ego! Seriously people, leave your ego at the door. Whatever you do, work on your form, control the movements and think about the mind to muscle connection. The problem with training at FF was that we chatted too much and didn’t really know what we were doing. I was still massively overweight and unhappy.
Introducing Chris Rogers and Bath Kettlebell Bootcamp…………Ta Da!!!!!
I had seen posters dotted around the walls of FF for this boot camp that claimed to help you lose 14lbs in 4 weeks. Could this be true??? For weeks on end I tried to convince my friends to sign up with me and I always had the same answer of “next month”. So finally I took the plunge and joined up alone.
Now I won’t go into detail about the nerves of joining something I knew nothing about. I will write a blog (perhaps the next blog) about that and how joining a new gym or workout class can leave us an emotional wreck from the nervousness. To my relief, Chris and his sister Clare were amazing with the newbies that had started and we soon made to feel at ease and welcome.
You’ve probably worked out now that I loved it! I lost just over 14lbs in 4 weeks by following Chris to the letter on the workouts and nutrition. I was laser focused. After a few more months I became good friends with Chris and loved how he got such a buzz from helping people achieve their weight loss and strength goals using kettlebells. So much so that I wanted to become a coach. It just so happened that Chris has set up his own company to train people to become fitness instructors/personal trainers. I was in.
I borrowed money from the bank of mother (again!). Took the course and passed. I was now qualified in:
Fitness Instructor Level 2 Personal Trainer Level 3
Kettlebell Instructor Indoor Cycling Instructor Circuits Instructor
And then later on Posture Analysis and Correction.
Everything snow balled from there. Chris was busy with his company and asked me to help cover some kettlebell sessions for him. There I was now instructing in very boot camp that started it all for me. A few sessions turned into a week of cover, then 2 weeks of cover until one day Chris ask to meet up for a coffee. It turns out that his business training future PT’s was thriving and he didn’t have the time for Bath Kettlebell Bootcamp anymore. He wondered if I would like to buy it from him. Is he serious? He sure was!
Within a few months I had gone from being an overweight nervous beginner to now owning the very boot camp that help me get into fitness!! I then went onto work in various gyms and personal training and the rest they say is history!
So I am sorry for what might seem a long blog, but I wanted to give you some idea of my background and that assure that I wasn’t always into health & fitness. It hasn’t come naturally to me. A big part of doing what I do is understanding each individual’s insecurities, journeys and struggles. I get it. I’ve been there. Countless times. I am going to use this blog to tell you all about my eating habits and how I quit smoking and drinking in the hope that it will help some of you who also struggle.
Heck! You might end up joining our online community of swingers. (kettlebell swingers)!
If anything I talk about on these blogs resonates with you then please reach out, maybe we can work together to get you to a place you want to be physically, emotionally and mentally. But most importantly of all happy and healthy.
Catch up in the next blog.
Coach