Feeling like it’s too late to take care of your body? Andrew Blakey explains why it isn’t and what you can do about it. Visit his website.
Additional links:
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Personal Instagram – www.instagram.com/Iamandrewblakey
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Emmalou Penrod 0:00
I’m talking to Andrew Blakey today. He is the founder of Your Future Fitness. And he focuses on ways to include fitness into your everyday life. Andrew, welcome.
Andrew Blakey 0:15
Hey, it’s great to be here. I’m really excited to talk to you. And I’m really excited to talk to all of your great listeners today.
Emmalou Penrod 0:22
Well, I am excited to learn more about how I can incorporate fitness into everything else I’m trying to do. How did you get into this?
Andrew Blakey 0:33
It’s actually a little bit of a funny story. I never actually intended to get into fitness training. But way back when I was doing my degree in in Toronto, which is where I’m originally from, we actually had a class where we had to train a client for 15 weeks. So I was actually intending on using my degree kinesiology in order to go on to physio, or chiropractic or something in that kind of field. And then basically, what happened was during this 15 weeks where I started working with my client, who I actually still keep in touch with today, five, six years later, I just loved it so much. I just loved getting to know the client on a personal level, we became really good friends. And just seeing his progress and the way he progressed, seeing his confidence improve was just so rewarding for me. And I wanted to do that with other people. I think there’s a lot of information out there that can be confusing for a lot of people. And there’s just so much of it out there that, for a lot of people, it can seem intimidating, when, where to start. They want to include it in their life, but they don’t know how. And that’s kind of where my business came to fruition. I wanted to make fitness and the knowledge that they need to achieve their goals accessible for everyone. And that’s kind of how I actually got into it.
Emmalou Penrod 1:51
I think that’s huge. I know, I am baffled. You hear almost like conflicting information on nutrition and exercise. And then you hear well, each body is different and you don’t know what to do or what to eat. Who are you most interested in helping? It sounds like you want to work with the person who’s so busy, career family, everything.
Andrew Blakey 2:18
Yeah, so my interests and who I wanted to train has evolved a lot over the past couple years. And since when I started, and it’s evolved along with me as well. When I first started out, I wanted to train athletes. I’ve always had a strong background in sports, I grew up playing sports. And then again, once I started working with that client for my program, he was a middle-aged man. He was probably around 38-39 going on to 40. And it was kind of that moment where I was like, Okay, you know what, this is what I want to do, especially as you know, people age. There’s a couple different things that happen when people age. There’s something that’s called sarcopenia actually, and it sounds like a very scary word. It sounds like some kind of disease or something, but it’s not, it actually has to do with the muscle loss that occurs when we age. And it’s something that is a very, very big topic. And a lot of people from the general population don’t know about it. They just assume Okay, if I walk a couple times a week, I’ll be fine and that kind of thing. But walking doesn’t really help with this muscle loss. And I want to make sure that people are aware of how important exercise is in order to make sure that you live a long happy life. You keep your independence as you age. You’re doing all these things so that you’re able to actually live a full life rather than just kind of day to day having low back pain. I took a course in lower back pain, and kind of the different modalities and causes of it. And by incorporating exercise into your life, you’re less likely to have these pains. And that’s something that I think is very, very valuable. And something that everybody should be involved in exercise in some way or shape.
Emmalou Penrod 4:11
I’ve always felt that the human body has the capacity to heal itself. And we just need to learn how to take care of it. We need to have a an owner’s manual for our bodies.
Andrew Blakey 4:24
Absolutely. Wouldn’t that make it easy, right?
Emmalou Penrod 4:26
Oh, yes. I think that’s awesome. So how do you help them then?
Andrew Blakey 4:33
So there’s a lot of different things that I actually kind of have on the go. One way that I really like to try and help people is through giving them the information that they need to make informed decisions on different types of workouts, different nutrition fads. You know, we’ve all seen, tried or heard of somebody who’s picked up some random diet because they heard from some guru on the internet, Hey, do this and you’re gonna lose all that weight. You’re going to be able to run, however many miles, and you can be able to move like never before, right? There’s all these different fads. And again, like we were kind of talking about, it’s tough to know what to follow and what to throw away. And in order to provide that information, actually on a blog as well. So it’s on my website, Your Future Fitness. And basically what I do is I bring on, I’ve actually started bringing on some other experts in different fields as well, whether it’s nutrition, bringing on people like dietitians, and nutritionists, and stuff like that to provide their insight on different topics that have to do with nutrition. Or if it’s something that is in my realm and my specialty, then I’ll focus on it. And I’ll take the time to make a blog post. Some blog posts you can do from home. And other blog posts are a little bit more in depth and a more focused on those different fads that seem to be coming out of nowhere, right?
Emmalou Penrod 5:50
Oh, yeah. I love information. I think that’s great. And something that is based on more experience, more science. That’s going to be powerful, but it also sounds like you are able to individualize.
Andrew Blakey 6:08
Yes, yes.
Emmalou Penrod 6:09
Because I do think each body is different.
Andrew Blakey 6:13
Yeah, absolutely. I think everybody, just from the way they either grew up or the things that they’ve done throughout their life, everybody’s going to be exposed to different stresses on the body, whether that’s something that’s physical or mental. Either way, both those are going to take a toll on our bodies. And what I do is provide in home, as well as online personal training. So everything I do is customized for whoever it is that I’m working with. Like you said, everybody’s body is different. Everybody’s body has been introduced to different stresses or injuries, or even different occupations, actually, because with different jobs, you’re going to be doing repetitive movements. It’s similar to how people talk about carpal tunnel syndrome, right? It’s that repetitive motion. And that doesn’t just have to do with our wrists as in the form of carpal tunnel syndrome, right. It’s stuff like people who are office workers sitting in the same chair, doing the same movements time and time again, every single day. And it’s these repetitive stresses to the body that actually caused a lot of damage as well. So that’s why it’s really important to know what my clients are dealing with day to day, so that I can implement different exercises, give them different information, just make sure that they know that by implementing exercise into their day, they’re kind of counteracting the negative effects of the daily stress that is placed upon them. And it’s really tough, because everybody’s got a different story. Everybody’s got a different way that they grew up. Everybody’s got a different way they’ve been moving. So when you look at somebody, even something as simple as a squat. One person might be able to perform that perfectly, no problem. And another person might take weeks or months in order to prepare their bodies to do that exercise. So it’s about finding where a client is, or an individual and make sure that you’re putting in place a proper plan, so that they’re able to reach their goal or move properly, or whatever it is they’re trying to do without injuring themselves or anything like that. So my big thing is making sure that workouts and different recommendations I might make for somebody are going to minimize the chance of having any sort of injury or anything like that. Because my number one priority with what I do is making sure that the people I’m working with are safe.
Emmalou Penrod 8:25
You know, you just said something very important there. How many people who have started an exercise program, trying to keep up with that instructor who’s been working out for 20 years, feeling wretched, because they can’t do the exercises exactly like them and then giving up or hurting themselves, or just becoming discouraged and giving giving up. I can see that individual instruction is critical. And you mentioned online, so you’re not limited to your locality.
Andrew Blakey 9:02
Yeah, it’s actually it’s really, really cool. Actually, it’s been a lot of fun, because it has to be a learning curve, with all this COVID stuff that’s going on. This is actually what inspired me to to bring our business online as well. Because people are staying at home, or some gyms are closed in certain places. But the important thing is that people don’t stop what they’re doing. So if you were working out two or three times a week, or maybe if you haven’t even worked out before at all, there are ways for you to incorporate fitness into your life. There are ways of doing it that are customized for you. Right? One plan doesn’t doesn’t work for everybody. And I think that kind of cookie cutter approach, what we call it in the fitness industry, that cookie cutter approach can often cause more damage than good if you’re not working with somebody who is properly qualified and has that knowledge behind them to ensure that you’re doing the things that you should be doing rather than just doing some random exercise for the sake of filling up a 30, 40, or hour long workout,
Emmalou Penrod 10:06
And it sounds like this is part of the helping them find a way to make it part of their daily routine, right? You know, it sounds like the people you’re describing have full careers. They probably have families. They’re probably active in their communities. So time is at a premium. So is that part of the individualized service you’re offering is helping them understand how they can make it all happen?
Andrew Blakey 10:36
Yeah, absolutely. So like you mentioned, people are busy. Time is a premium. And we have a finite amount of time each day. So the things that you choose to spend that time on are things that become your priority. So whether you choose to spend that limited amount of time watching TV, movies and stuff like that, realistically, that’s not going to benefit you too much. Maybe if you’re watching a documentary, or something like that. And I’m not saying that there’s not time to do that, because there definitely is I enjoy watching movies. I like my movies. It’s a fun thing to do on a Friday night, hang out with your family, make a bowl of popcorn and watch a movie. It’s a great time of bonding, and getting closer to the different people in your lives, which is awesome. When it becomes a problem is when each and every day, you’re spending more and more time watching it. And this time isn’t being spent on other more productive things like spending your time on yourself in the form of working out. Exercising, and working out in the typical way isn’t for everybody. And maybe if you’re a little bit older, you want to be doing stuff that you enjoy. My big thing is that fitness should be fun. Fitness is a really, really rewarding thing that you can do to improve yourself.
Emmalou Penrod 12:04
It sounds like you’re helping them give it that priority. Yeah, yeah. You know, I mean, you could work hard and amass this great wealth. But if you are too sick to enjoy it,
Andrew Blakey 12:19
Yeah, yeah, exactly. Going back to how the things you do every day is basically going to kind of dictate how you feel as well, right? Yeah. So again, if you’re spending time watching movies all the time, typically, or you’re on a couch or not with the best posture, you’re slouching your shoulders, you’re typically not not in an optimal position for your body. So it’s these things where not only are you not doing something that’s productive, you’re also causing your body harm by being in these positions that start to cause you back pain and start to cause you daily pains. And now this back pain that you’re getting, when you’re sitting, who’s to say that you keep doing this, and now you have started having troubles going up the stairs. You start having troubles in other areas of your life. So that’s kind of why one of my philosophies is fitness should be fun. It should be something that you enjoy doing. And with my clients, the people that I work with, it’s typically one of the best parts of the week. They look forward to it. Because, yes, I make sure that the workouts are tough. They’re hard. But at the same time, they’re also very, very enjoyable, too. I’m not going to make somebody do 100 push ups or something like that, ever. Who would enjoy doing that? Nobody would like to, right? So it’s about doing things that you enjoy, but it can also increase your muscle strength, increase your basal metabolic rate. So basically, what that is, is how many calories you burn per day. So for a lot of people, they think, Oh, I need to eat less. I need to eat less calories, so that I can burn weight. But the other option is you can start putting on nice lean muscle like working out. It doesn’t mean you’re gonna be bulky. It doesn’t mean that you’re going to look around and start walking around and have all this huge muscle on you. Right? A lot of women, they don’t want to be super bulky or anything like that. But by working out, what you can do is you can put on some nice lean toned muscle, and basically, in your body, muscle burns more calories per day than fat would. So now you’re able to increase the amount of calories you’re burning per day, which is what’s going to help you lose the weight, if that’s what you’re trying to do. It’s going to help you do all these different things and all these different benefits to your body, rather than always kind of focusing on Oh, I need to eat less. I need to eat less, which over the long term isn’t very sustainable now.
Emmalou Penrod 14:46
No, but it sounds like you’re helping them make it a part of their lifestyle.
Andrew Blakey 14:52
Yeah. So there’s a couple different things that I recommend when people are starting to think about implementing fitness and implementing exercises into their life. I think there’s a couple different things that people can do in order to make sure that it’s sustainable, it fits their lifestyle, and it’s not going to change up their daily routine too much. Because, for me, I’m very, very big into routines. I’m a big believer in having different routines in order to enjoy your life more, or even just increase things like productivity or the way you feel in the afternoon. Maybe you’re not reaching for that third or fourth cup of coffee, because now you’ve got the energy, you need to make it through a full day. And these are different things that exercise can do in order to make that happen. So some of the things that I recommend when you’re starting to implement fitness into your life is just start slow. Implementing fitness in your life, it’s a marathon, it’s not a sprint, as cliche as that sounds. It’s about putting things in your life that you’re going to be able to keep up over the long term. And going in and deciding, hey, I want to make fitness a part of my life. And saying, I’m going to work out five days a week. It’s very, very tough to stick to something like that if you either don’t have a lot of experience in exercise and working out, or maybe you haven’t done it in a long time, which a lot of my clients before they’ve started working with me, they haven’t worked out in 10 years, that kind of thing. I’m not gonna throw them into a program that is five days a week. Now they can’t walk around because they’re too sore to walk around. Right. So that’s one of the things I recommend is to start slow. And that’s going to make something a lot more fun in the long term and a lot more sustainable. The second thing that I really enjoy recommending is to schedule your workouts or schedule your exercise. By scheduling it into your calendar or your day to day or however you organize your time, you’re more likely to do it. I like to say schedule it like you would a doctor’s appointment, right? Very rarely are you gonna cancel a doctor’s appointment. Well, maybe not a doctor, maybe not a doctor’s appointment, maybe like a chiropractic or physio appointment where you’re paying to be there. Yeah, so scheduling your time and making time for, for fitness, or exercise or whatever it is you’re doing. Because, again, implementing fitness as a part of your life doesn’t mean that you have to work out all the time or anything like that, you know, pick something that you enjoy, and then stick to it. Because when it comes to to health, it’s about what you’re consistent with, that is going to add up in order to make big, big progress and whatever it is you’re trying to achieve over time. So scheduling your workout, for example, somebody might have an hour lunch break. Well, you know, maybe they don’t want to spend their whole hour lunch break working out or something. So scheduling time to go for a walk, find a good coffee place you like and make it a part of your routine. Go grab a coffee and go for a short 20 or 30 minute walk. Not only is it going to increase the activity in your day, but it’s also going to wake you up as well. Because when you start doing different things, especially on lunch breaks, this is one of the things I really, really like to to recommend is that by making this a part of your lunch break, you’re releasing all these different chemicals in your brain, which are going to wake you up in the afternoon. So now, I know for a lot of people, after the lunch break, they come back and now the second half of their day, they’re just counting down the hours to go home. A lot of people report being a lot less productive as well. So by doing this, something like that you’re moving during your lunch break, you’re gonna have that energy and you’re gonna have these chemicals flooding your brain that increase your pleasure. That’s one of the things is different chemicals that make you feel better. And then there’s also other ones that are going to wake you up as well. Those are the two main things I like to recommend when you’re starting to make fitness a part of your life.
Emmalou Penrod 18:50
Sounds like good advice to me. very worthwhile. So how do people contact you?
Andrew Blakey 18:57
Alright, so there’s a couple of different ways of contacting me. Like I said, I really like to provide information that you can use so you can actually go on Instagram if you’re on there. So my personal one, which is going to be the one where I’m posting things like workouts and stuff like that nutrition. I do a lot of Instagram stories that people can follow along with. I did do a an Instagram story, I think last week on the routine and really making routine a part of your life. And that would be at, I am Andrew Blakey, my business one, which is Your Future Fitness, is at Your Future Fitness Training. There’ll be some blog links on there, that kind of thing. So yeah, follow me on both. You can contact us directly through my website, www.yourfuturefitness.com. And those are basically the two main ways. We also have a Facebook page as well, which is again, Your Future Fitness training. So a couple different ways you can contact me. I’m really looking forward to hearing from your listeners. Seeing if there’s any way that I can educate them on different topics that they might be confused about. I’m always very happy to let people pick my brain a little bit. I think being a continued learner throughout life is very, very valuable. And if I can be a resource for that, then that’ll make my day.
Emmalou Penrod 20:19
Awesome. Sounds like you provide a lot of free content.
Andrew Blakey 20:22
I try my best, I think that some of the most valuable content you don’t always have to pay for. So if somebody wants something a little bit more like a customized plan for work or regime or to work with me directly, I’m more than happy to figure out a way that meets their budget and something where they can again fit into their daily lives. And yeah, I’m looking forward to hearing from everybody.
Emmalou Penrod 20:43
Well, Andrew, thank you so much.
Andrew Blakey 20:46
Thank you. Thanks for having me. This was a blast.
Emmalou Penrod 20:49
Okay, you have a great day.
Andrew Blakey 20:51
You as well. Thanks.