A face only a mother could love; and even she struggles.
My name is Ross Stewart and I am a Personal Trainer based in Glasgow, Scotland.
I change people’s lives for the better 1-on-1, online and via my bootcamp; which is cooly called: Fit Fast Bootcamp.
When I’m not doing any of those, I am either getting punched in the face, strangled, lifting weights, posting useful fitness-related tips on facebook/twitter, writing content for this delightful blog, eating, sleeping or drinking coffee.
Now that the introductions are out of the way, I’ll give you a brief run-through of my life thus far, starting around age 14.
The Early Days
My ‘fitness journey’ is very cliché: I was in high school, I had some puppy fat (okay, I was ‘chubby’) and I aspired to look like a Men’s Health cover model.
Sound familiar?
So I joined my local authority gym and made a promise to myself that I’d go five times-a-week until I had a six-pack.
I stuck with the bog-standard ‘10mins on each cardio machine/machine-weight circuit/sit ups’ program I was given on my induction initially and then started doing my own thing. My technique wasn’t the prettiest, my weights weren’t the heaviest, but I plugged away and made progress.
University
Upon finishing high school, I signed up to study a four year honours degree in Sports Studies at the Scottish University of Sporting Excellence. During this period I studied all things sport (as the course name suggests) – including: human physiology, nutrition, sports psychology and many other sport-related topics.
I was also lucky enough to intern – and then work for – the university’s Strength & Conditioning department; where I got the opportunity to learn from the best coaches around and I worked with national, international and professional athletes across a variety of different sports, including: football, rugby, boxing and Thai boxing.
Whilst at university my love for martial arts blossomed and this led me to training in, competing in and coaching Thai boxing. After graduating* I travelled to Thailand to immerse myself in the culture and learn from/rub shoulders with the best.
*I should probably say ‘instead of’ graduating as I was actually in Thailand when my graduation ceremony took place…sorry, mum. But, hey, at least I’ve got the certificate.
Personal Training
When I returned from the land of elephants, lady-boys and tuk-tuks I began putting my passion for fitness to good use by working as a Personal Trainer in Glasgow’s busiest gym.
Playing a game of punch-face.
I remained there for a few years, training people from all walks of life and focusing on
continuous self-improvement through my own education and training.
I continued my training in Thai boxing and began training in other martial arts, before mashing them all together to compete in mixed martial arts (MMA) – yes, I am the worlds least likely (and best mannered) ‘cage fighter’.
However, despite fighting in cages, I am not a bad ass. More on that later.
With my Personal Training business doing well and my athletic career seemingly blossoming, I committed what most people would refer to as ‘career suicide’ by leaving it all behind to fulfil a life-long dream of travelling to the other side of the world…
Australia
Initially, I had intended on taking an extended holiday ‘to see if I liked it’, but once I got to Sydney I was sold.
The combination of the hustle and bustle of the city, the serenity of the beaches and (most importantly) the immense coffee culture was too good for me to pass up on, so I dropped my anchor and hung around.
Once again, I began work as a Personal Trainer – this time in a thriving studio, where I had to repeat every sentence ten times and work hard to convince my colleagues and clients that I do, in fact, speak English.
After almost a full year of sunbathing, gallivanting and lots of learning, I shocked everyone by returning to the cold, wet and grey of Glasgow where I’ve now ‘set up shop’.
There’s no place like home…or so they tell me.
My Goals
My goals for this blog are to educate, motivate and inspire people to get up off their backsides and get into shape. Too many people live their whole life with a body they are uncomfortable with and I see this as entirely unnecessary.
With (a lot of) hard work, dedication and the right direction, anyone can become fitter, leaner, stronger, more confident and generally awesomer (did I mention I like making up words?) than they currently are.
It is my intention to make these seemingly mammoth tasks a little easier to achieve than it has previously been by providing research-based information, real world examples and the odd bit of (what I believe to be) humorous motivation along the way.
It’s probably important to state, at this point, that if you don’t have an open mind or are ‘set in your ways’ you’re probably not going to enjoy my posts and you may be better off going elsewhere for your information.
Some of the stuff I write about and recommend could be referred to as being a little renegade. However, it is – and always will be – what I believe to be the most effective means of getting in the best shape you possibly can, based upon my (continuous) research and experience.
Without further ado, I hope you enjoy my content and if it helps improve your life or fitness levels in even the smallest way, I’ll be absolutely delighted.
P.S. A few fun facts about me
The most accurate sentence anyone has ever said to me was: “You’re not as good looking as you think you are.”
Myself, the cliff and the 11 year-old girl, seconds before she ruined my day.
Despite my ramblings about healthy eating and organic produce, my favourite foods are – in no particular order – pizza, doughnuts and chocolate croissants.
I love coffee. I drink more of it than I recommend my clients drink and I talk about it a lot. We’ve all got our vices, right?!
I negated any chance of gaining a reputation as a bad ass after I won my first MMA fight by crying in the cage as I got my hand raised. The phrase: “real men cry” was not accepted by my teammates/coaches as a ‘get-out’ and they’ve called me ‘Bubbles’ ever since.
To further highlight my non-bad assery: I went cliff jumping with some friends whilst I was in Australia…well I went to the cliff with them, but I didn’t jump. I stood at the edge for around half an hour watching my friends hop off one after the other and finally walked away after an 11 year-old girl sauntered straight past me and jumped.
Ross Stewart Fitness 