HI, I'M JAMES WALKER
Unlike most personal trainers, health and fitness haven't always been a part of my life. I wasn’t a sporty child and I avoided physical activity. This trait teamed with the fact I had (and still have) an insatiable sweet tooth. Meant I struggled with my weight for the entirety of my time at school. I suffered awful anxiety. I was on the receiving end of some nasty bullying in the playground, especially when I hit 16 stone-aged 16!
As I started to socialise more I was conscious people at gatherings would know me as the big guy. It consumed me every time I went out, and one day I had a sudden realisation. I decided right then and there I didn’t want to keep living my life like that, and it was down to me to change it.
From there I gravitated towards my journey into fitness. I started to lose weight and build muscle, and got absolutely addicted to the progress I was making, developing a fascination with how nutrition, training and mindset can dramatically change a person's body composition. Everyone was noticing the change, and for the first time in my life I was starting to like what I saw in the mirror (not to mention I was actually walking up the stairs without getting out of breath)!
I still look back at that time with genuine pride. It was then that I realised I wanted to share my experience with others. I knew I could help other people feel what I had felt too, and reach their goals in the same way I had. I began studying for my personal training qualifications and building up experience working in gyms and with clients at my local studio. I realised very early on how passionate I was about weight training and how it’s incredible benefits could be useful for every single person. I also wanted to delve deeper into the non-training side of a healthy lifestyle and gained my qualification from Precision Nutrition to be able to deliver useful and scientifically proven advice to my clients for outside of the gym.
In my time as a PT I have worked in some of the most respected fitness establishments in and out of London, and in 2017 I decided to leave the gym circuit and work freelance. I felt like I was going to reach the clientele I knew I could help by stepping away from the mainstream and focusing on the individual needs of each person that comes to me.
Even now I am still fascinated by the process. I pride myself on keeping up to date with fitness based research and literature as it is published, and constantly evolving my training style to get my clients to their goals with efficiency. My philosophy is to train smarter, making sure every single session is built around a purpose.
These days I can be found training clients all over London, with my main private studio being a rented space in Kensington (South West). I have made it my mission to support others in their pursuit of health, fitness and a focused mentality by creating Walkerfit.