Kris Hughes Personal Trainer

Kris is a keen sportsman who has rounded his skills in a number of sports. He tells Sundried how he applies this knowledge to being a personal trainer.

Tell us about your journey to fitness? Where did it all start?

I have always had a passion for fitness. Since I was a kid I would always spend my free time playing football and running around with friends, and even as the years went on and fewer people ran around or exercised in their free time, I was always finding more ways (basketball, rugby, golf, football, rowing.) With this passion, my education seemed focused around sports and exercise. From excelling in P.E to graduating university with honours in Sports Studies and Psychology, as well as becoming a personal trainer.
As well as my learning I was also a pro-youth football triallist, representing Glasgow IDC and being part of Scotland’s Player Pathway programme for Rugby as well as being selected and participating for a period in the GB START programme for Rowing.

What are your training goals now?

My goals vary. Right now I am just concentrating on my strength and fitness to keep in shape and perform well athletically. However, I do like to throw a challenge in every so often, like learning a new movement, entering a contest I’ve never tried or defeating a PB to keep things interesting.

Tell us one unusual fact we wouldn't know about you:

I once ran a half marathon in a sling because I injured my shoulder the day before in a rugby game.

What would future you, tell yourself when you were starting out?

Don’t get stressed out. Some skills you will pick up easy and others you won't, the same with body transformations. Just take your time, trust the process, stick at it and the results will follow.

Do you follow a specific nutrition plan? If so, what/when do you eat?

I wouldn’t say my nutrition plan is specific, but I do believe in eating healthy. I like to have a good balance or carbs, fats, and proteins, although I do eat a higher number of calories than most due to my fast burning metabolism and exercise regime. I like to vary my meals as I love to cook and experiment with recipes, but I also believe in indulging and treating myself every so often as long as I have earned it and it won't affect my goals drastically. It stops me going insane too as I believe people can only withhold so long before they may snap and over-indulge so the occasional treat keeps life in balance.

What do you do to keep your clients motivated? Do you have any top tips to keep motivated?

I think most of my clients are motivated because I help them enjoy the training process. We have fun, we play fitness games, and we like to joke around. Don’t get me wrong there are obviously clients who just want to knuckle down and go hard at it and I can help push people that way too but no matter who the client is and their persona I always like to leave them feeling satisfied, happy, and one step closer to their goals.

Talk us through your training regime.

Wow, this could take a while. Keeping it brief I like to perform various styles of training to keep my body ready for all circumstances (as well as the fact it's fun). So I tend to do 5-6 weight sessions a week, isolating body parts and focussing on compound lifts or hitting weaker muscle groups. I also add in 2-3 conditioning sessions with more functional exercises like prowler runs, med ball slams etc usually in a circuit format. Sometimes I also include 2 steadier cardio sessions (30 min run/cycle) and 1-2 HIIT interval sessions. Within these sessions, I include movement exercises and plenty of stretching/foam rolling/recovery work. On top of all this, I also do sports-specific sessions, attending rugby training (and playing matches at the weekend), playing some outdoor basketball at night, a spin session, attend a boxing class or on occasion some 7 a-side football. I probably do a little more than usual for now with it being the offseason, so I like to take advantage of the extra free time to play around with new training styles.

How do you keep your fitness knowledge up to date?

By constantly trying out new regimes and working with other trainers. We always bounce ideas and styles off one another to get a better understanding of how we can work with our clients. I also like to read online about different diets and training plans etc to learn more about what works and why. Sometimes I feel like I’m still at university with how much I read.

What are your top 3 trainer tips?

1. Never Give Up
2. Always Give 100%
3. Don’t Cancel Gym Plans…it forms the bad “do it later” habit

If you could only do one workout for the rest of your life, what would it be?

This is a very difficult question. I would probably say my conditioning sessions as there are so many different things I can include in them and it keeps me in top shape for sports.

What are your training goals?

It’s very simple. Be a healthier and better me.

Why work with Sundried?

I like their philosophy and ethical clothing ideology. To me it’s a positive step to take for the world and with fitness clothing being a more “in” fashion trend just now it can really make a big change. The clothing itself looks and performs great and it has coffee in it…and I LOVE coffee.

Favorite fitness quote:

“I hated every minute of training, but I told myself suffer now and live the rest of your life a champion” Muhammad Ali – The Champ