About Jack – Biography and Qualifications

I’m a fitness professional based in London with nearly a decade of experience as both a trainer and soft tissue therapist.

I started training seriously when I was 14 years old. My school PE teacher (Julia Bennett) was a Commonwealth Games level athlete and saw potential in me. My dream was to make the Olympics. We would train after school every day with a mixture of track work and weights. I was a good all-rounder, so we trained for the pentathlon (5 events) which is the junior version of the Decathlon (10 events). At the same time, I was playing football competitively and was trialing for Brighton Boys football team.

By 16, I had problems with my left knee and severe shin splints. This sparked a 3 year period of on-off training and utter depression as I went through 3 unsuccessful knee operations (by 3 different consultants) and endless physiotherapy. I will never forget the words of the final consultant:

“You will just have to stop playing sport, there’s nothing more we can do”.

At age 18, I went to Brunel University to do my Degree in Physical Education. I was so inspired by my PE teachers influence on my life and love of fitness (despite the injuries), I wanted to be like her.

I eventually came to terms with the fact that I would no longer compete and my Olympic dreams were over. However, I could weight train without pain. I loved weight training as much as competing, so this realisation gave me a new spark of motivation.

I started to train more for ‘vanity’ than performance, which meant a shift away from athletic training and more toward a bodybuilding style of training.

I remember reading hundreds of articles from different trainers and strength coaches that I admired. Sometimes I would spend 3-5 hours a day, glued to my laptop. I would learn and apply different techniques in the gym and observe how it changed my body and my strength. I was ALWAYS seeking a better way to get bigger and stronger.

After university, I decided that I wanted to be a personal trainer, rather than a PE teacher. I would watch the strength & conditioning coaches at Brunel work with athletes like Linford Christie and Usain Bolt and I thought, THAT’S what I want to do.

I studied personal training and separately did a 1 year diploma in sport & remedial massage therapy. This decision to be a ‘dual practitioner’ was the best decision I ever made. I understood the human body on a much higher level due to all the detailed anatomy and hands on work. Both skills combined made me excel at my job.

For a time, I decided to go ‘all in’ on the bodybuilding thing. I trained under world renowned coach ‘John Meadows’. The training was very hardcore. I gained over 10kg in a year and learned so much about effective muscle building methods. However, I decided bodybuilding to this extreme was not for me. I was constantly fatigued, I felt incredibly unfit, I was always sore and took a very long time to warm up each day due to muscle tightness. This was also the period of time I felt extremely body conscious because all I cared about was the way I looked.

Seeking a better way as I always did, I learned more form the ‘functional’ side of fitness. I then started to tweak the weight training to be more functional – less machines, more free weights and athletic movements.

Then I attended a real game changer of a course – Functional Range Conditioning. This is the first time someone (Dr Andreo Spina) made sense of ‘Mobility’ training. I always struggled with muscle tightness and stiff joints and this explained the science of ‘Why’ and how to apply proper mobility training principles.

Within months of incorporating this ‘mobility’ work, all muscle tightness was gone. My movements felt incredibly smooth and I had no limited ranges of motion which I struggled with before.

In my quest to find out how to optimize my body, I have invested over £100,000 on continued learning. That’s on top of getting my Bsc in physical education and sports science, and diplomas in strength & conditioning, sports massage and advanced neuromuscular therapy. I’ve interned with a renowned physiotherapist in Los Angeles and I’ve taken countless seminars with industry-leading trainers, strength coaches and soft tissue therapists.

My unique skill set has given me opportunities all over the world. I’ve worked with A-list Directors and movie stars for X-Men Apocalypse and Bohemian Rhapsody. I’ve travelled the globe with hedge fund CEOs and successful entrepreneurs. I’ve trained a number of high level athletes too. But most of all, I work with “regular” people like you and me.

I don’t say any of this to impress you or fan my own ego.

I just want to prove how committed I am to furthering my knowledge to help people like YOU. I’ve put the work in to get the right knowledge, and I’ve experienced the trials and tribulations, so you don’t have to.

Fitness culture right now is still very much focused on ‘vanity’. Aggressive, unsustainable methods are still being promoted. People are getting burned out and injured at every turn and always looking for the latest trend or fad.

I want to show the world a SMARTER way and encourage people to see the bigger picture of fitness.