Adam Fretwell Personal Trainer
Adam is a passionate PT who loves training himself as much as he loves motivating his clients. He talks to Sundried about life as a personal trainer.
Please tell us about sporting events you have taken part in or have coming up.
- Isle of Wight Challenge: running around half the Island in under 8 hours.
- London to Brighton bike ride.
- Nottingham and Ramathon Half Marathons.
- Colour Obstacle Rush – so much fun in the paint and inflatable obstacles with clients.
- OCR events – Airfield Anarchy Mud Fest 5k, 10k and 10 mile mud runs over a weekend. Mudnificcent7, X Runner (all of them, Men’s Health Nottingham. The list goes on……)
Tell us about your journey to fitness? Where did it all start?
I was always active as a child playing cricket, squash, badminton, and going on long walks with family. I loved PE at school, especially athletics, or if it rained so we could play cricket in the hall. I wasn’t 100% sure what path I wanted to follow after school and college but I ended up at Nottingham Trent University doing Sports Science and Management. It was the best of both worlds for me; I was still learning about sport and exercise while gaining what turned out to be vital management skills I’m now using every day as part of my business. I graduated in 2007 and took a management job in retail to gain confidence around the qualification I had gained. In 2010 I started training as a Personal Trainer with Premier Training and qualified in 2011. I’ve now been running my own Personal Training business for 6 years starting from my garage at home to now working from my own private Studio at AJKM Hockey Barn.
I was a finalist in 2015 at the Derby Telegraph Sports Awards and a winner at this year's Erewash Borough Council Sports Awards in the “Active for Life” category for getting my clients engaged in their sport and exercise.
What are your training goals now?
They are the same as they have been from day one really. Keep improving, pushing myself, and aiming for improvements. It’s nice to see my 10k times slowly come down while I’m lifting heavier weights with better technique than ever before. If each year I can have small all-round gains I’m happy.
Tell us one unusual fact we wouldn’t know about you:
I’ve got a massive DVD collection. For me, there's nothing better than chilling out with a film after a day full of training.
What advice do you wish you'd been given when you first started out?
Expect the unexpected! In the last six years I’ve been asked the most random questions by clients and it reminds me of something my business lecturer said: “There’s no such thing as a stupid question, just a stupid answer.” and it’s true. If a client asks a question no matter how ‘daft’ or ‘trivial’ it might sound to you as a trainer, they have asked it for a reason so give a respectful answer and you will build up a great rapport with your clients.
Do you follow a specific nutrition plan? If so, what/when do you eat?
Nope, I just have a healthy balanced diet with everything in moderation. I enjoy my food and love cooking so it’s great to try out different recipes and see how you can mix them around with different fruits and vegetables.
What do you do to keep your clients motivated? Do you have any top tips to keep motivated?
Make sure they’re enjoying their training. If they enjoy their exercise and activity they will stick with it and earn the benefits they set out to get. I also work with MyZone so clients can see their effort level live in front of them. This gets their competitive sides working in group sessions to help each other burn more calories or earn more MEPs.
Talk us through your training regime.
I join in all of my group exercises sessions; I can’t expect a client to do the exercise if they don’t see I do them myself. Then I aim for 2 to 3 weight sessions a week and 2 to 3 cardio sessions. Sometimes these are a quick blast on the assault bike in a gap between PT sessions, other times I can get out for a longer run.
How do you keep your fitness knowledge up to date?
I’m a geek so in 6 years I’ve done around 10 years’ worth of CPD courses to keep expanding my knowledge, plus reading online articles, blogs, and books.
What are your top 3 trainer tips?
- Enjoy your exercise, sport and activity.
- Work hard at the basics and the rewards will come.
- Find a fitness family you can be part of and the physical and emotional benefits are amazing.
If you could only eat one thing for the rest of your life, what would it be?
A difficult one and not the healthiest but probably homemade lasagne.
Why work with Sundried?
It’s a company built around exercise, sport, activity, healthier lifestyles all in an ethical way. We can train healthy while looking after the natural resources of the planet all at the same time.
Favourite fitness quote:
"Do not let what you cannot do interfere with what you can do." - John Wooden (University of California head Basket Ball Coach)
