Hey, I'm Howard, and this is New Day PT.

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Here is a little bit about me and my journey (I'll try not to bore you). 

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Like everyone else on planet earth, the last few years have been pretty challenging. My background is actually not in fitness. I have spent the the last decade of my life working in hospitality, marketing and music. 

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Like so many others, I have always struggled with depression, it's a chemical imbalance in my brain that over the years, like a school bully, has really pushed me around.

 

SOB STORY ALERT

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Around 5 years ago, I very suddenly, and unexpectedly lost my Dad and my mental health took a turn for the worse. I wasn't very kind to myself and I spent way too long treating my body with absolutely no respect. Living on junk food, drinking way too much alcohol, late nights, later mornings, no motivation, no drive and I very quickly started to pay the price of my poor decisions in every aspect of my life. 

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I had never really done a day of exercise in my life and the thought of living a 'healthy lifestyle' was as appealing to me as holding a tarantula, (I hate spiders). 

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THAT YEAR

 

​I'm not sure if you guys will remember, but a few years ago a virus decided to take over the entire planet, like we were living in a Zombie movie and the whole world shut down. Like many other fully grown men, mature adults, my days were filled by playing Playstation and eating frozen pizzas. (How is my wife still with me?)

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But everything changed when one of my best mates told me to go on a run. It didn't have to be a long run, just a few minutes up the road and back. And for some bizarre reason...I listened. That run turned into a routine. Three days a week, without fail, I left my Playstation and went out running. From a 5 minute run, to 5k, to 10k. I started to lose weight (I was a big boy), feel happier, feel more motivated, more positive and very quickly it felt like the big bully in my brain was in detention. 

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WE'RE FREE! 

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After what felt like an eternity, the world opened back up, and I felt like a completely different person. I had lost a lot weight and so I thought I would get my very own personal trainer. (Scary I know). I was terrified. The last thing I wanted was to go to a gym and get worked so hard that I wanted to vomit and cry at the same time. And I couldn't believe that actually, the opposite happened. We tried out a bunch of different exercises, some of which I loved, some I absolutely hated, and I had a programme built for me which revolved around exercises I generally enjoyed doing. However what I enjoyed even more, were the chats I ended up having with my trainer over the course of an hour. It was a double dose of goodness for my brain. I was getting all of those lovely endorphins from the workouts and at the same time I felt comfortable enough to open up to my trainer about how I was feeling. 

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IT'S A NEW DAY

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I was in love, not with my trainer, although he was great, but with how exercise made me feel. Yes I still struggle with depression, but because of this new lifestyle, I manage to keep that little bully locked away. This is when I decided I wanted to stop everything I was doing, take a huge risk, and follow a completely new path in life. It was a new day.

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I worked hard, studied harder and before I knew it, I was a fully qualified Personal Trainer. My main mission is to try and help others who may be struggling with their mental health, with the struggles life throws at you and use exercise in a fun and enjoyable way to help put a smile on your brains. The physical effects are an added bonus!