Alan Goodwin Personal Training

Thank you for all your messages regarding my available personal training slot in January. It was lovely to receive so much interest. The space was filled shortly after the post went live. I will notify you all when I next have an opening.

Seasons greetings
Alan 👌👍🎅

Hi folks

I don’t use my social media accounts as often these days, so I wanted to post an end of year update and let you know I’m still busy helping my clients achieve their health and fitness goals.

My Inverness based mobile PT service is as busy as ever, and I continue to work alongside Silverback Gym in Tain every Monday. As of January 2025, I am pleased to announce I will also be at Silverback every Friday.

My Friday has already filled up, but I do have an opening for 1-2-1 every Monday morning as of 6 January 2025. If this is of interest, please get in touch. I don’t have openings often, and when I do they tend to fill quickly.

For those of you who don’t know me personally, I have 10+ years industry experience. I have worked with people of all levels and ages, I have coached clients through pregnancy, and I have worked with people with a range of health issues such as soft tissue injuries, herniated discs, multiple sclerosis and osteoarthritis.

I can help if your goals include:

* Weight loss
* Strength building
* Muscle building
* Improved posture
* Increased range of movement
* Pain management
* Sports performance
* Gym confidence
* General health and well-being

Drop me a line for information and package options.

And have a great Christmas

AG🎄🎅❤️

Hi folks

I’m rarely on Facebook these days. But I am active on Instagram and I am running a series of tutorials on how to perform/progress a variety of strength training exercises.

Give me a follow

Happy Thursday
AG

I’ve been doing some deep healing work recently. Going into old wounds is not easy as repressed emotions inevitably come to the surface to be processed and healed.

I won’t lie, this has really stretched me. But, similar to my training, I’ve trusted the process and stuck to the plan. This has meant abstaining from distractions and ‘sitting with my pain’.

I took my skipping rope to the park this morning and had a workout, before walking through the Ness Islands. It was absolutely stunning. Just what my soul needed.

You are hard pushed to beat the autumn sun in the Highlands 🌞 ❤️

EVERY NOW & AGAIN…

I login to Facebook and an old post pops up as a memory on my home page.

I often read these posts and I think about how my content was representative of where I was in myself at that particular time.

3-4 years ago, I was far more present on social media than I am now.

I often posted client progress pictures, and I frequently shared half naked pictures of myself showing my post workout gains.

I justified this by saying ‘my business is built on results’ and ‘I’m the product so I must lead by example’.

There is truth in the above statements.

But the gift of hindsight has allowed me to see other factors were motivating my choice of content back then.

Many of these posts were written by a man who’s mental health had steadily been in decline for a long time.

Such was the fragility of my ego I believed I had to prove I was the best trainer around.

And I craved the dopamine hit from reading all the compliments telling me how great I looked.

Nowadays, I care less about gaining the approval of others, and more about loving myself.

I spend more time in meditation, walking in nature, and with those closest to me than I do taking topless selfies and counting likes.

As a result, I feel far more comfortable in my own skin.

Despite being less active on social media, I receive as many enquiries from prospective clients as I have ever done.

My gym based day at Silverback Gym Tain is full of appointments and my mobile personal training service is thriving.

And I am lucky enough to support people affected by mental illness a couple of days a week.

Seeing my clients progress, and striving to better myself is enough for me.

I no longer need the approval of others.

AG

I’ve been writing in my quote book again. I don’t just lift weights you know 🤔

7 THINGS I’D TELL MY YOUNGER SELF

1. If it’s in your power to change something that drains your energy or makes you miserable and you don’t, you forfeit the right to complain about it 😃

2. Be curious about your pain. I know it hurts, but its presence is a sign you are off course. Welcome it with all its wisdom and let it guide you to something better 💪🏼

3. Depression is not something we are born with, or something we catch, it is something we do (to de-press is to push down). Honour your emotions. You have to feel it to heal it ❤️‍🩹

4. Be yourself. I know it wasn’t always safe to express yourself. And I know your caregiver wanted you to be someone else. But in finding the courage to unapologetically be you, you invite magic into your life. You will become impervious to the opinions of others, and you will attract the ‘right’ people into your life 😍

5. You’re going to go through difficult times. You will feel alone. You will feel like you’re losing faith in humanity. And you will question whether you want to participate in life. But stick with it, because most of your growth will take place in times of adversity & hopelessness. When life throws s**t at you, smile and ask ‘is that all you’ve got?’ 💩

6. The wounds you were given are the wounds you are meant to teach others to heal. Leave this place in a better state than you found it 👍

7. Don’t take it all too seriously kid. You’ll be dead in 100 years anyway 🤪

Many of us feel lost or broken just now, or that the world has gone a little mad.

Believe me, I feel it too. I’ve struggled in many aspects of life recently.

I suffered a flare up of fibromyalgia symptoms at the weekend and have subsequently felt derailed mentally and emotionally.

I cancelled my sessions for a couple of days and spent some time doing what I could to ease my pain and calm my nervous system.

I sat in the park and did some meditation today (it was blissful). This came to me while I was soaking in some ☀️☀️☀️ through the solar panel that is my bald head…

The last couple of years have been tough. And we are suffering as a consequence.

Although it is not nice to see others in pain, especially those closest to us, there is comfort in knowing this is happening collectively, and that no one is alone in their plight.

Right now, we need each other more than ever. And we have to be open and honest about how we’re feeling to make it out the other side.

And I hope my honesty will encourage others to reach out to their support network. You don’t have to post your problems on social media, and you don’t have to stand on stage and tell an entire theatre your deepest darkest thoughts as I have done. Simply be honest with yourself and those you trust.

The world isn’t broken, neither are you. We have just lost our way a little, and we need each other to find our way back.

AG

EARLY IN 2019…

my unresolved trauma paid me a visit while I was at home.

All my anger, and all my wounds, came to the surface and I started to feel very alone in the world.

I had experienced tough times, and dark thoughts, before. But this was different, I was losing control.

Even in my state of denial I was forced to accept I was suffering from mental illness. I was in a permanent state of anxiety, and I could barely function. I was hyper vigilant and I constantly felt defensive around people…and I just couldn’t switch it off.

I took almost 3 months off work to recover. During that time I went to Peru to hike Machu Picchu.

I often get asked if I had any major revelations at the top of the mountain. But the truth is you don’t overcome your problems at the top of a mountain.

You overcome them by getting out into the big bad world, by getting your ass kicked, and by being around people, because people are excellent at triggering your wounds and forcing you to face yourself.

Climbing mountains and sitting on the meditation mat is so good for the soul, I don’t deny that.

But you learn where you are in life when you’re in the arena.

And if you mess up today, tomorrow offers another round of opportunities to grow and to be more the person you were before the wounds were created.

Healing starts with intention, and acceptance of where you are now.

AG ♥️

I am delighted to have been invited to appear on an episode of 'Speaking of Su***de'.

Speaking of Su***de is a series of tough thought provoking podcasts about male mental health in collaboration with Highland based charity Mikeysline.

I will direct you to the episode once it has been recorded in the coming weeks.

AG

How to Cut Fat

By far the most common reason clients reach out to me is because they want to lose weight in the form of body fat.

If this is your goal, here is a good way to map out your weight loss journey.

Follow these 4 steps…

1. Ask yourself how much you want to lose

Knowing this allows you to create a plan with monthly, 3 monthly and 6 monthly targets (see next step)

2. Ask how fast you want to lose fat (I recommend 1-2lbs per week for most people)

This is an important question because the answer directly influences the amount of energy you must eat, and how long it will take to achieve your goal. For example, let’s assume you maintain your current weight on 2000kcal per day, but your goal is to lose 1lb of body fat per week for 10 weeks. A deficit of 3500kcal is required to burn 1lb of body fat. Therefore your weekly deficit must be 3500kcal. Divide 3500kcal by 7, and aim for a daily deficit of 500kcal. This can be achieved either by adjusting the amount of calories you eat and/or through movement. Do this everyday for 10 weeks, and target will be achieved

3. Have fun!

Crikey, exercise is meant to be enjoyable, so is life by the way. Mix it up…skip, run, jump on a trampoline, have more s*x, it doesn’t matter how you burn the calories, your body doesn’t know the difference

4. Stay consistent!

Weight loss is very simple. The reason people fail is not because the process doesn’t work. It is because they doubt the process and give up before seeing any meaningful results.

I see so much conflicting information on this subject, a lot of which is pseudoscience lacking any substantial evidence. In sharing this, I hope to offer some weight loss tips that won’t be detrimental to your health.

AG