Wellness & Fitness

How to look like your fitness coach

Alvin

Alvin Anyumba, a personal trainer exercises at Smart Gyms in the Junction Mall in Nairobi. Photo | Salaton Njau | NMG

At 24 years of age, Alvin Lee Anyumba, a personal trainer in Nairobi attracts many clients who want to keep fit from the comfort of their homes. But to train others, his fitness level has to be a notch higher.

“I wake up everyday at 4am and by 6am I am at the gym where I start off with warm-ups before visiting clients in their home gyms for coaching,” says Alvin who has ripped abs and bulging biceps.

When most people size up a good fitness trainer, they look to the arms or stomach for evidence. Some want to look like the trainer.

Alvin has an upper-body to die for and his workout regime mostly includes body-weight exercises such as pull ups where he grabs a bar with a grip slightly wider than shoulder width, with his hands facing away from him and pulling up and down.

He uses his weight to lift himself on the bar and can swing backwards with arms facing back and the front with the hands facing the same direction.

Veggies and legumes

For dips, he suspends himself over parallel bars and lowers his body until his upper arms are parallel with the floor.

He also does squats and push-ups and suspends his feet in the air.

Bodyweight exercises do not require machines. You exercise with your our own body and they help you gain core strength and flexibility faster.

“I have fallen in love with bodyweight exercises because they have built my upper body. Many people of my age don’t look like this and that makes me proud. I feel stronger and more confident,” he says.

He exercises from Monday to Saturday and rests on Sundays when he does yoga and meditation. He eats a balanced diet and mostly vegetables and legumes.

“Most times I eat black peas with rice, ugali and vegetables and fruits. This helps to replace the energy that is lost during workouts,” he says, adding that Fridays and Sundays are cheat days when he eats pizza or other junk foods.

Lift moods

The personal trainer has been working out for the last 10 years and started exercising at him home compound when he was 14.

He decided to venture into fitness coaching three years ago. Most of his clients are celebrities aged between 20 to 35 years old. In a day, he trains up to 10 people.

Home coaching can take about two hours or more. “For starters, keep it simple and have fun each day,” he says.

Exercising has several health benefits which includes enhancing cardiovascular health and improving total body strength.

Alvin2

Alvin Anyumba, a personal trainer exercises at Smart Gyms in the Junction Mall in Nairobi. Photo | Salaton Njau | NMG

Bodyweight exercises boost overall circulation, which moves waste out of the body through the capillaries and delivers oxygen and nutrients to body tissues.

They also helps to stimulate various brain chemicals leaving one feeling happier and more relaxed.

“For people suffering from fatigue and stress, exercising helps lift moods,” he says.

Exercising be it at home or at the gym also helps women add or reduce weight as it kick-starts the metabolism.

“When you engage in physical activity, you burn calories and the more intense the activity, the more calories you burn,” Alvin says, adding that he is planning to build his own gym in his house to attract clients who do not have the facility in their homes.

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