Meet The Member - Personal Trainer Kirsten Whitehouse
We had a lovely chat with Kirsten who runs Wolf Approach and Sparkle Inside & Out all about health and fitness, nutrition and her experience with long Covid.
Hello Kirsten! We would love to hear about your two wellbeing companies. What are they and When and why did you start them?
Hi guys, it's so lovely to talk to you again - you're doing such amazing things for the local community, thank you for bringing us all together!
I started the Wolf Approach as a little fitness boot camp back in early 2019. I had been through some difficult times in my personal life, and then got made redundant from my job after many years. Mentally, the combination of the 2 was a bit of a knock, and during this time, it was my love for exercise that kept me going. Friends had suggested I should retrain as a Life Coach because they liked chatting things through with me and it awoke an urge in me of wanting to help people.
I did end up doing a life coaching introductory course but because the industry is sadly fairly unregulated, I felt I wasn't learning anything useful, and certainly not in a way that I would ever want to charge money for. But I did realise that many people in a similar position as mine would benefit - physically AND mentally - from moving just a little bit more, and this is what I wanted to help them with. I spent months retraining as a Fitness Coach and Personal Trainer with the fabulous National Academy of Sports Medicine, and set up the Wolf Approach as a fun and friendly fitness environment that would work for every ability and help people gain more confidence in themselves.
This concept was reflected in the name - wolves are pack animals, and fiercely supportive of each other, but I want to give you the physical and mental empowerment to also feel strong as a lone wolf, away from my sessions.
The Sparkle Programme was added last year. I am a qualified nutrition adviser and my boyfriend is a Precision Nutrition coach (again, out of passion), so we devised a programme that is easy to follow and sustainable long-term, because it mainly focuses on eating healthy and learning better eating habits - the weight loss is a happy by-product. A lot of my clients train with me and do the Sparkle programme at the same time - fitness and nutrition complement each other perfectly for a complete overhaul :)
What is a typical day in the life of Wolf Approach & Sparkle
Ah they're quite different! The Wolf Approach boot camps take place 3 times a week - I like to look at who is attending the sessions beforehand, so I can plan the exercises accordingly. Because I pride myself in offering fitness for all, I think it's important to be able to give alternative exercises for different abilities.
My PT sessions are run out of my garden, where I have a fully kitted out rig - again, these are planned with my clients' abilities and personal goals in mind, so each session looks very different from the next. Planning, setting up and disinfecting everything takes a big chunk out of my week, but I think it's important to do things properly. My PT and group fitness clients know they can always contact me with any questions or for advice; in fact, we have quite an active social group on WhatsApp - so some days are really busy with not a lot to show for it, if that makes sense. But I don't mind.
I write home workouts for clients too, so am often found doing little introduction videos if they're not sure about something. If I get a few minutes spare, I like to do a quick live or recorded demo on my Instagram account which I feel will be useful for my followers, e.g. about things like good technique and posture, glute activation, foam rolling etc - have a look!
The Sparkle is more constant, as it takes place on WhatsApp - we have small supportive groups and I am always available for feedback or advice. Some days are busy and other days I need to remind my group of what we are working towards, haha. They get a daily lesson, too, which all works as part of a wellbeing toolkit they 'keep' after the 6 weeks. I am trying to write this programme as a book at the moment, as my clients have achieved so much and enjoyed it a lot - I feel this is the best way to reach a bigger audience and help more people feel better inside and out.
Are there any memorable stories of how you have helped someone on their journey?
This sounds really bad, but I get so much great feedback that it would be hard to choose one. I sometimes share snippets on my social channels, but understandably, a lot of my clients are very private about their achievements. I often get messages that have me in tears (my boyfriend would say it's because I'm overly emotional anyway, but then he would!) - clients sending me pictures of themselves smiling at their own reflection, wearing a gorgeous dress in a smaller size, saying how much better they feel mentally after a session, even sharing a new deadlift PT after going it alone in the gym - every message makes my heart sing and is exactly why I made this decision in the first place.
you are unfortunately experiencing long Covid. Could you tell us a bit more about your Covid experience and how has this affected you, your life and your businesses.
Ah, It was so hard. I got ill towards the end of March 2020 - I had been a bit under the weather for a few days (no cough! no temperature! temporary loss of taste and an unbearable headache that nothing would shift). I taught an online fitness class on the Saturday morning and within 20 minutes of that ending I couldn't breathe. I felt as if someone was sitting on my chest, my airways went beyond dry - water made no difference - it was awful. I deteriorated so quickly, and then contracted bacterial pneumonia on top of things. I ended up spending 2 months (!) in bed, most of the time unable to do more than just 'lie' there, trying not to panic. About 6 weeks in I couldn't even cross my legs, as I had no strength left in them. My doctor said that was because my body had thrown everything at keeping me alive. It was a very sobering and terrifying thought. I obviously couldn't coach during this time, but paid a friend coach of mine to do my sessions for me, which was great as it meant my clients still had some continuity. As a newly self-employed business though there was zero government support, a very unsettling time.
That sounds beyond awful. How have your businesses and your knowledge helped with your recovery process.
The road to recovery was hard, long and very slow - in fact it is still ongoing, as I am still being tested for heart and lung issues (though the latter appears to be okay, fingers crossed for the former). I realised very early on that I needed to give my body energy to help it fight, but I was unable to provide for myself, yet obviously isolating. I was so lucky that my boot camp clients, my boyfriend and my ex-husband kept leaving me nutritious food on the doorstep. I would force myself to crawl down once a day or so and retrieve them - it really made all the difference, and I cannot thank these people enough.
The severity of my illness also made me realise that - at that point - there was nothing that could really help against Covid and our best chance was to have a strong immune system and healthy body. Once I had sufficiently recovered, I put on a (free) 1-week event with little daily challenges to help people take better care of their immune system - it was a bit like the Sparkle programme in a bitesize format. I know it helped a lot of people, many still live by these easy to follow guidelines but it also gave them something positive to focus on during a confusing and scary time. I called it the Rainbow Race, and we tied it in with a fundraiser for the NHS.
Because of my fitness background I also knew I had to keep moving to stop my muscles from wasting away, but that was easier said than done. Some days, I truly couldn't. Once I felt better I found myself comparing myself to what I could do pre-Covid and getting upset at my weaknesses. It's taken a severe mental battle to strip it back and start again - but I am getting there, slowly and safely. I put on a lot of weight when I couldn't leave my bed, so I understand exactly what I ask of people in my programmes (but I am also living proof that it works).
Do you have any tips/advice to offer our community with regards to transitioning to the new normal? (Nutrition/Exercise/Mindfulness)
Yes - do all of them! :D Seriously - it's as I say above: use what has happened as a timely reminder that things can be replaced but people can't. There's only one of you, and your body and mind deserve the best out there. Sometimes things seem overwhelming - this is why I like to work with SMART goals for all my clients and help them break them down into small achievable goals - you just need to start. Move a little more. Find a good coach who can teach you correct techniques (safe a fortune in physio and pain management!). Try different sports - there will be something out there you will enjoy. Eat more veg and drink more water. Put the phone down and pick up a book. Sleep. A good life quality is in fact easily achievable for us all.
How can Wolf Approach/Sparkle help our community?
Joining either or both, the Wolf Approach and the Sparkle, will make you feel better, more confident, more in control and happier. Most of my clients come from word of mouth recommendations - so, they are also making people feel better, see? And so, it spreads. Everyone is welcome at my classes, in fact I have had a number of people over the last year who couldn't pay much because of the ongoing situation - and that's okay. Whilst I am obviously trying to run a business to keep a roof over my children's heads, first and foremost, I want to help people feel better. Hopefully I am helping make the community a little brighter one person at a time.