Claire Payne Fitness

Hello!!!

Who the hell am I?! 🙂
- I’m mum to 2 amazing girls (2 and 7).
- I’m someone who is extremely passionate about what they do
- I’m also a local PT working specifically with women

I thought I’d share 3 fun and random things about me…
- I really don't like to take myself too seriously
- I love wine
- I like to slalom waterski (even though I suck at it!)

I’m doing this because I often post about sessions or exercise, nutrition and lifestyle but without context on who I am, it’s not really going to mean much, so I thought you might like to understand a little more about the person behind them.

I hope you’re having a wonderful summer and that the juggle isn’t too stressful!

C xx

She would arrive at our sessions shaking. She was so scared to come and exercise because all of her past experience had been negative. She’d tried everything but nothing had felt right.

And yet, she kept trying. She experimented with a few different things - including different PT’s.

She had been doing a fair amount of running, which she didn’t enjoy but did because she felt she should. However weightlifting was where she belonged. She was naturally strong.

She discovered that she really enjoyed it. She found what was right for HER and her confidence went through the roof. I’m endlessly proud of her and although we’ve lost touch since we both moved away, I still think about her often. She was amazing for refusing to give up.

Does starting exercise scare you?

You know you’re not happy where you are now, you know you want to make changes but the thought of starting feels overwhelming. “What if you’re no good at it?”, “what if other people think you’re useless?”, “where do you actually start?”.

It honestly never ceases to amaze me just how many people join a gym purely because they want to ‘get fit’ and therefore they feel that that’s what they must do - despite them hating it!

However, what if you were to take a step back and reflect, has there ever been anything you’ve really enjoyed in the past? Is there something that you’ve always wanted to try?

If you feel intimidated going to the gym, you could try some home workouts. If you really want to give it a shot, I can assure you that most people are just there to get their workout in and carry on with their lives. If you’re not sure what to do, ask one of the coaches for advice. Or give a class a go and lurk at the back. I used to enjoy chatting to people and made quite a few friends.

Or do you still feel overwhelmed with where to start? This is ok. I TOTALLY get it! I used to be as well. It can feel really scary starting something new, especially when there’s so much conflicting information out there on what’s best to do. However, I want you to remember that the best exercise to do is what you ENJOY, you just need to discover what that is 💖.

C xx
P.S My sweaty face is post HIIT, which I LOVE

Ladies in Lee and nearby who want to feel like the REAL you again, I may have something for you…

My mission is to support women in feeling like themselves again by growing their self confidence, helping them to feel comfortable in their bodies and showing them just how strong they can be!

Due to demand, I wanted to repeat something that I’ve done a couple times before and offer out a free coaching session…

My goal is to:

Help 4 women to feel happier, more confident and stronger
I want to remove the overwhelm, teach you how to enjoy exercise and find some motivation
Show you how to exercise safely and effectively, so that you can get the most out of it and your precious time for yourself

It would be great to see you at my beautiful, private studio for a FREE 90 minute personal training session (don’t worry, we won’t be working out the whole time 😉).

No catch.

I’m simply trying to promote awareness of my business in the local area by doing something for free for the community and if it’s good, I hope you’ll offer a review and perhaps tell your friends and family about me.

Of course, if you’d like to hear more about my personal training service, all you have to do is ask 💖.

If this sounds good and you’d like the full details, comment ‘ME’ on this post and I’ll reach out to you.

**I only have space for 4 sessions and I will close the give away 23rd June**

Can’t wait to hear from you!

C xx

This is Donna.

As a nurse and mum with a busy work/life balance, her time is super limited.

Despite this, she’s gone from not knowing how to exercise with weights to confidently working out multiple times a week and making the most of sneaking extra movement in when she can.

When we met she was frustrated by the overwhelming, confusing and sometimes contradictory information available around exercise. She simply wanted to be stronger in order to keep up with her little boy.

Since then she’s learnt how to…
🌟 Lift weights and confidently do it on her own
🌟 Make time for herself - even if it’s just 10 mins here or there
🌟 Sneak movement in unexpected places, for example: conquering the stairs at work instead of taking the lift, or playing catch with her son 🙂

She’s getting stronger than ever by…
🌟 Training in person, giving her a space to learn the moves, remove the guesswork and build confidence
🌟 Having access to my fitness app where her personalised program and workouts are, so she can pick it up right where she left off
🌟 Having me on hand in our sessions and regular check in’s for support and accountability.

Donna has so much on her plate it’s crazy and yet, she continues to make amazing progress during training. You’ve no idea how proud I am of her!

There’s honestly so much more you can learn about health and fitness if you seek support from people who’ve been where you are now and can show you exactly how to do it 💖.

If you’d like to know a little more, drop me a comment or dm and I’ll be in touch.

C xx

Argh, these 2!!!! 💖💖💖🥰😍

So this morning my FitBit told me that my readiness was high and gave me a big target for activity levels - if you don't have it then it basically gives you a number to reach daily in order to reach whatever goal you've set.

However, before I started my workout I felt exhausted, there really didn't appear to be much in me, so I listened to my body and instead of doing my usual HIIT, I did something lighter and I was SO pleased that I did! Even that lighter workout was harder than usual.

This felt like a really good lesson: the fit tech is brilliant and can be really powerful but it can't tell you how you're feeling. If your body is saying that today is not the day to push it, then it probably isn't. Choose something less demanding and get right back to it when you're feeling more like your usual self 💖

Hey all, I want to share a little story with you…

When I became a mum of two, along with running and growing my own business, I struggled with finding time to fit exercise in.

I mean, after you’ve done All The Things for the kids: entertained them, fed them, cleared up, persuaded them to go to bed. THEN you also need to think about work, so that you’re not dropping plates there. Plus the husband requires listening to. When on earth am I supposed to find time to exercise?!

If you’re a fellow Millenial, do you remember the TV program Bernard's Watch? I think that would be very useful. If I could just pause time, workout, shower, unpause and crack on, that’d be great!

Anyway, I experimented and found a way that works for me but what I LEARNT is…

It doesn’t have to be an hour/ hour and a half in the gym to count. 10 mins a day matters. It all adds up.

How to sneak exercise in during the day: it’s not actually any quicker for us to drive to school, so we walk every day (unless it’s really raining). Or I’ll play chase with the girls - everyone wins!

Time is precious, don’t waste it doing exercise you hate. E.g. running is absolutely not for me, however I really enjoy HIIT, so I do that.

I reframed what I thought of as a workout, which made it SO much easier to sneak extra movement into my day. The pressure to Do All The Things, plus then workout was gone.

I stopped feeling guilty about taking time for myself and actually, if I can include the girls in my workouts - bonus!

This change has allowed me to get into the best shape so far, mentally and physically. I also LOVE the example I’m setting for my daughters. I’m future-proofing not just my body but theirs too.

This might feel like a random share but if you’re feeling anything like I was, I don’t want you to feel stuck any more.

I’m keen to help you get out of that place and start realising YOUR potential 💖and maybe this helps a little? Exercise doesn’t have to be overwhelming.

I’d love to know: how are you getting on with your health and fitness journey? It doesn’t matter if you’ve been plugging away at it for a while, or not even gotten started, I’d love to know.

C xx

Hey! I wanted to reintroduce myself: I’m Claire Payne, a PT based in SE12.

A quick bit of background: I retrained and launched my business in December 2020, after losing my corporate marketing job due to the pandemic.

I wanted to help mums build amazing strength and confidence, no matter how busy or experienced in exercise they were.

Here are 5 things I firmly believe and am very passionate about; if any resonate with you, I reckon we’d get on well…

🌟 EVERY woman deserves to feel happy and confident, whatever her shape
🌟 You can lose weight and gain strength WITHOUT cutting entire food groups
🌟 Fitness should be FUN, life is way too short to do stuff you hate!
🌟 Life’s definitely too short to drink bad wine
🌟 I don’t take myself too seriously

Do any of these sound like you at all?

Here’s a really quick bit about me, to help you understand why this matters to me…

I’m a working mum of 2 amazing girls. I want to show them that women are strong, that body shape and size doesn’t reflect what they bring to this world and that exercise and food are there to be enjoyed and nourish us.

For most of my adult life, I battled low self-esteem, overtraining and disordered eating, which I’ve worked hard to overcome. When I lost my job during covid, it felt like I’d been handed the perfect opportunity to retrain and do something I was passionate about: help other women to feel their very best.

Since starting my business I’ve been extremely proud to help so many women like…

Amelie, who rebuilt her core after having her son, easing her back pain and enabling her to finally do full press ups.

Frauke who found a new level of strength and confidence she never imagined she had.

Kate who finally walks into the gym with confidence, free from anxiety and knowing exactly how to train effectively.

Hopefully that helps you understand why I do what I do a little better and if you’ve made it all the way down here, I think I owe you a drink!! Thank you very, very much for your time.

C xx

P.S. before you go: I’m keen to be as useful as possible, it’d be amazing if you could let me know how your health and fitness journey is going; what are your biggest challenges?

Since when did “being healthy” start to feel like a constant comparison, measuring ourselves against strangers on the internet and still coming up short?

The truth is that being ‘healthy’ isn’t just about being fit, active and what we eat. It’s so much more complicated, especially when you’re juggling work, family, and trying to carve out even five minutes for yourself.

It’s about our relationship with exercise, with food, with ourselves and our bodies and how all of that fits into a life that already feels full to the brim.

It is SO individual and nuanced.

What works for one person isn’t necessarily right for someone else. Which is why so much of what we see online in the name of wellness can feel overwhelming rather than helpful.

Take the popular “what I eat in a day” reels. They’re only relevant to the person sharing them; their goals, their lifestyle, their genetics.

But it’s so easy to fall into the trap of thinking that if you’re doing something different, you’re somehow getting it wrong.

The same goes for exercise. One person is doing CrossFit, another is running, someone else is lifting weights every day… but you don’t see the full picture.

And when you’re already short on time, it can leave you wondering what you should be doing with the little time you have.

You might hate running (I know I do), so why would you do it?!

Instead of forcing yourself into something you think you should do, what if you gave yourself permission to find something that actually works for you, even if that looks different to everyone else?

When your time is limited, it matters even more to spend it doing something you don’t dread.

For me, that looks like shorter HIIT sessions and some weight training but I’ll often have a TV programme on in the background because otherwise I lose interest. It fits into my life, my energy, and my schedule.

It might sound like your worst nightmare though and that’s exactly the point.

What actually works for YOU and your life as it is right now?

Need some help? Drop me a DM
C xx

Hey lovely women of Lee and nearby!

You have probably seen my posts on here where I REALLY hope I’m able to offer support and useful advice to you but this time I’m here with something a little different…

Ever since qualifying as a personal trainer, I’ve been completely committed to helping women with their self confidence so they can feel happy and comfortable in their bodies and showing them just how strong they can be!

This time around I wanted to do something meaningful and do a giveaway for you.

My aim is:

🌟 To help 6 women to feel happier, more confident and stronger than ever
🌟 I want to remove the overwhelm, teach you how to enjoy exercise and find some motivation
🌟 Show you how to exercise safely and effectively, so that you can get the most out of it and your precious time for yourself

It would be great to see you at my beautiful, private studio for a FREE 90 minute personal training session (don’t worry, we won’t be working out the whole time 😉).

No catch.

I’m simply trying to promote awareness of my business in the local area by doing something for free for the community and if it’s good, I hope you’ll offer a review and perhaps tell your friends and family about me.

Of course, if you’d like to hear more about my personal training service, all you have to do is ask 💖.

If this sounds good and you’d like the full details, comment ‘ME’ on this post and I’ll reach out to you.

**I only have space for 6 sessions and I will close the give away 19th April!**

Can’t wait to hear from you!

C xx