WE WERE ON A BREAK

Don’t worry I won’t ramble on for 18 pages.

Due to unforeseen circumstances at my end, I’m having to take a break from my wonderful personal trainer, Rachel. I am hoping that this break will be short lived as I will miss having training, and her, a lot. Until then I am going to have to learn to go it alone. So what is my plan?

Well I am going to look up the major muscles in the body using my anatomy colouring book. Yes I am a giant geek. Then I am going to make a list of all the exercises I know how to do and group them into which muscles they work and/or cardio stuff. I can then devise some training plans. Planning being super important. I will do different things on different days of the week and I’m hoping it will look something like this:

• MONDAY- Rest
• TUESDAY- Leg day
• WEDNESDAY- Intensity session
• THURSDAY- Arm day
• FRIDAY– Chest and back day (including lower back because it seems to be hurting a bit more than usual recently)
• SATURDAY- Run 5k
• SUNDAY- Rest

I know I have two rest days in a row but Monday is by far my busiest day and Sunday is naturally a day of rest. However, if possible I will swap a Saturday or a Wednesday for my Sunday.

As one of the main advantages of having a trainer is the motivation, I am going to use you guys as my motivation. So I will tell you all what I am doing and I will do weekly measurements, on a Friday, to ensure I am keeping on top of things.

In all honesty I am hoping that this will be very short lived and that I can be back training with Rachel in a couple of weeks, but I like to prepare for the worst/I’m an anxious mess.

It’s not that common, it doesn’t happen to every guy, and it is a big deal

🧳 UNPACKED

The Break-Up: This was The Gym Era when I had to take a break from my wonderful PT Rachel due to unforeseen circumstances. Hoping it would be short-lived – I’d miss training and her a lot. But until then, had to learn to go it alone.

The Plan: Look up major muscles using my anatomy colouring book (yes, giant geek), make a list of exercises I know how to do, group them by which muscles they work, devise training plans. Planning being super important.

The Accountability: Main advantage of a trainer? Motivation. So I’d use blog readers as motivation – tell everyone what I’m doing, do weekly measurements on Fridays to keep on top of things.

The Hope: Hoping this would be very short-lived, back with Rachel in a couple of weeks. But I like to prepare for the worst/I’m an anxious mess.

Training Solo Successfully:

• 📦 Pack here: Anatomy for fitness colouring book
• 📦 Pack here: Fitness workout planner journal

Worth Knowing: When you lose your trainer (temporarily or permanently), having a solid plan is crucial. Without external accountability, you need to create it yourself – whether that’s through public commitment (blog, social media), tracking measurements, or scheduled workouts. And anatomy knowledge helps you programme intelligently rather than just randomly picking exercises.

Also, spacing out similar muscle groups matters – arms then chest/back is tough because they’re supporting/stabilising muscles for each other. Thanks to the commenter who pointed that out!