Be the Fittest with Ty Brennand

It’s a time of peak opportunity for personal trainers in January, as many of us arise sluggishly from the sofa after a period of Christmas feasting and try to reinvent our diet and exercise habits, with plans to lose a few excess pounds or finally train for that half marathon. But unlike many PTs, who are banging hard on the ‘New Year, new you’ drum in January, personal trainer, entrepreneur and motivational speaker Ty Brennand says we should be easing in gently.

‘Don’t be too hard on yourself in January – start with something mindful like yoga, stretching or a short meditation,’ says Ty. ‘Maybe just start with a ten minute run or just have a dance to some good tunes at home. January is a tough month, so don’t kill yourself working out, just do things you enjoy and build yourself back up gradually.’

Ty believes in listening to your body and setting realistic goals, and he acknowledges that January isn’t necessarily the best time to suddenly start eating salads and going to spin classes, with the dark evenings, cold weather and leftover Christmas chocolates to contend with. ‘Let’s face it, from November all the way through Christmas we might be indulging, and then January comes and people think they can lose all the pounds they’ve put on in two weeks and get back into their exercise regime,’ he laughs. ‘For me, I want people to understand that this may not be possible, but as long as you start to get moving in January and set yourself a couple of goals, such as to exercise two or three times a week, or every day when you wake up do five minutes of stretching, because then when January comes to an end and it starts to get a bit lighter and you feel like spring is coming, then you can start pushing yourself a bit harder. But the important thing is that you’ve built a foundation from January, maybe with lower expectations, but then as things get brighter you’ll feel ready to train harder.’

Hard work pays off

Training hard is certainly something Ty knows a lot about. After growing up in London in difficult circumstances in a single-parent family, and coming perilously close to following the wrong path a few times, he channelled his love of working out – originally inspired from childhood by his martial arts heroes – and developed his own fitness regime. This became the basis of a life-changing business that he launched in 2013, with support from The Prince’s Trust’s Enterprise programme. By 2014 he was a Prince’s Trust Young Ambassador and starting speaking at large-scale events, using his charisma and success to inspire other young people to follow their dreams. He also recently joined the board of the Trust’s new RISE campaign.

‘I have my mentors from the Prince’s Trust and I’ve seen how they’ve succeeded with their businesses and their stories are inspiring, some of them came from nothing and now make millions and they are using their knowledge and skills to help people,’ he says. ‘That really inspires me. My clients also inspire me. I see them every week and they put in 100 per cent, and are always trying to be better.’

After working tirelessly to build his brand, Ty now has a celebrity client list including names such as David Gandy, Game of Thrones star Nathalie Emmanuel, Made in Chelsea’s Binky Felstead, Saturday’s singer Mollie King and I’m a Celeb winner Vicky Pattison. He also recently launched his own branded clothing range; has worked with Reebok on influencer campaigns and is a brand ambassador for Grenade energy snacks and Smart Water. During lockdown his daily live workouts attracted 20,000 new social media followers and he’s since launched a ‘Workout with Ty’ training hub on his website, so fans can subscribe to join new weekly and live classes.

Ty says he does often reflect on how things could have turned out so differently, if he’d chosen a different path in life. ‘It’s always when I go back to where I grew up and see people I haven’t seen for years and they see what I’ve done and say that what I’ve achieved is inspirational. It can change things around for people when they see people just like them achieving success. You can change your life around, whether your passion is for fitness or sport or something else, you can make a success of it. I’ve taken every opportunity and worked hard and proved it can be done.’

Mind and body in harmony

For Ty, just training as a PT was never going to be enough for him, even as a child he had big aspirations. ‘Obviously when I was younger I was telling my mum I wanted to go to China to train with the Shaolin monks! I don’t know what I was thinking but I was always intrigued by stuff like that. But things changed as I got older and I got interested in body building and growing muscle and I was always intrigued to see how the body can change through exercise and training, and then how it impacts on health, making you stronger, fitter and happier.’

While working as a PT, Ty discovered yoga, almost by accident after working with a client, an Olympic athlete who wanted to improve his flexibility, and was so hooked that he took three years out of from weight training at the gym to focus on his yoga practice. ‘I discovered the positions you can adopt in a yoga class can often be more challenging than anything you can do in the gym,’ he says. ‘With yoga you have to get into it physically at first and then get into the breath work, but after this one really tough class I just knew I wanted to learn more. I was still doing some cardio but I stopped doing the weight training while I trained in yoga. Now I combine everything – go to the gym and do yoga, and I love the balance and the great dynamic I can achieve by practicing both, and I share this with my clients too.’

It’s the inclusion of yoga that makes Ty’s new – and first – book so inspiring, as it focuses on both mental and physical wellness. Be The Fittest is a 12-week plan for training, eating and listening to your body, incorporating workouts, yoga, meditation and healthy recipes, many created in partnership with top chef Scot Paterson, Chef de Cuisine for TING Restaurant at the Shangri-La Hotel at the Shard, London. ‘I teamed up with Scot because he knows and understands ingredients. I may know about healthy eating but I’m no Jamie Oliver or Gordon Ramsay, and I wanted the recipes to taste really great. I didn’t want people saying ‘who’s this kid who can’t cook writing a recipe book’! I tried to make them tasty, exciting to make and also easy. I’ve included lots of veggie recipes in the book, possibly more veggie dishes than meat. I really wanted to reflect a balance as that’s the way I eat at home.’

Ty went vegan for a year and ran the London Marathon as a vegan, after being selected as astronaut Tim Peake’s ‘shadow runner’. ‘I still eat mostly veggie/vegan now. I did find it hard to give up dairy, so now I keep the fundamentals of plant-based eating but I will eat dairy if I feel I want to.’

So, what’s the best advice Ty can give to anyone hoping to boost their health and fitness this year? ‘Just remember it takes time to achieve your goals, sometimes you’ll feel like you’re smashing it, other times you’ll be thinking ‘what am I doing’, he says. ‘The path to fitness can be a roller coaster, but it’s important to be consistent and to do it to make yourself feel better – find what you enjoy, what you love and you’ll keep doing it forever.’

Ty’s top tips to stay motivated:

Find the exercise you love

A lot of people get put off sport at school because they just didn’t love the sports they had to do, or no one spotted their potential, or pushed them to achieve more. But life changes and there’s no reason that working out can’t be your thing now, even if it wasn’t in the past.

Keep what motivates you in mind

Just remember why you are exercising, not just for aesthetic reasons but for health, or because it’s medicine for your mind, or you need to stay fit for medical reasons.

Put together a good playlist

I think having a good playlist always helps – pick music that gets your blood pumping and puts you in the right mindset for exercise. Good tunes help you feel less sluggish, and pick up your energy levels.

Be kind to yourself

I tell my clients to be sensitive to their bodies. If you’re feeling tired, worn down or coming down with a cold, then a high intensity or heavy lifting session might not be right for you. A lighter movement and breathing session will make you feel better, you’ll sleep better and wake up with more energy the next day and then maybe you could try that harder session.

Schedule time for exercise

Every day we take time to brush our teeth or cook a meal, so set some time aside for you and to take care of yourself and your health. Even if it’s just 20 minutes. It’s so important, you don’t have to kill yourself working out, just do something and enjoy it.