Holly Collier PT

Happy Intetnational Yoga Day!☺️🧘🏽‍♀️

Happy International Yoga Day ✨🫶🧘‍♀️

This year, International Yoga Day's theme is 'Yoga for Self and Society.' Here we are, the lovely Instructors that teach Chair Yoga in your Care Homes and communities. Abi, Leila, Holly, Lucy, Alex, Gemma, Jennifer and Libby 🩵

Yoga lifestyle has a special place in all our hearts and is the fundamentals behind our classes.

Yoga for society is at the core, what we do! Delivering wonderfully engaging, interactive and mindful Chair Yoga classes for the elderly in society.

Its been a busy busy month already! In June we are teaching a total of 99 Chair Yoga classes. WOW!!! Elated to think of all the elderly that are getting to experience movement and connection.

Feeling grateful! Share the positivity today and spread love, kindness and joy! Namaste 🙏

Congratulations to Alison for completing her 12 week programme!😄👏🏼

Alison is 60 years old and has arthritis. She came to me with no real love for exercise, apart from pretty walks. She wanted to lose weight and also feel more mobile in her joints.

12 weeks later, this wonderful woman not only surprised herself with how long she could hold a plank for, but she also feels she has more mobility, her back feels more loose, and her tummy has toned! She feels a lot stronger now, and noticed a huge difference in how easily she could complete tasks while gardening.

Alison was such a happy and smiley client! She was very enthusiastic and trusted the exercises I was giving her, even if she was unsure of them at the start. She beat her plank time by 1 minute 2 seconds, she can now squat with weight, and she increased the weight on every exercise multiple times. So proud of you Alison! Keep up the fab work☺️

Another client who has reached her goal!👏🏼🏆

This client came to me with an on going shoulder injury she had since college. Her goal was to stay more consistent with training and to strengthen her shoulder in the process, so she wasn’t in discomfort.

Over her 12-week programme, I gave my client shoulder mobility exercises and exercises to help strengthen her shoulder as well as the rest of her muscles.

This fabulous lady achieved her goal and stayed consistent, even when she had a busy week! She listened to her body when she needed to prioritise rest, and she also noticed her shoulder feeling more free and stronger too!

My client always pushed herself every session, even though it was an early start for her 1:1 session. She was dedicated and consistent, and her progress really shows! Brilliant work Smith-Machine😆

Congratulations to Fran for completing her 12-Week Programme!👏🏼

Fran came to me with a half marathon booked near the end of the year. She had ran a couple of half marathons in the past, but at the time felt that park runs (5km) were a push.

Fran NOT ONLY improved her 2024 park run time by 1 minute 16 seconds (which is A LOT for all of you non-runners out there) over the 12 weeks, but ALSO ran a half marathon in her training… BEFORE work one morning! As if it was just a quick little training run!!

Fran always put in 100% into her training, completing every extra rep, set and weight that I’d give to her. She started with just a park run each week, to then increasing to another 2 running sessions plus her 1:1 gym session with me. Look how her hard work and determination improved her performance!

I am so proud of you Fran for absolutely smashing your goal of wanting to be able to run 15km, and managing to run a half marathon, which is about 6km extra! I think everyone will agree with me, that you are Fran-tastic!

I’m looking forward to carrying on being your PT and seeing how you progress further! Incredible work Fran, keep it up😄

🩵Mental Health Awareness Week🩵

Why I want to spread awareness…
Obviously I’ve always wanted everyone to feel happy, who wouldn’t wish that. But truly this all stems from losing one of my closest friends back in 2017. He was such a friendly, caring, thoughtful human who was always there for others. Ollie commit su***de just over a week before his 18th birthday. Still legally a child. Nobody ever expected it, as he was always the friend that was there for everyone else. It broke all our hearts, and still hurts to think about to this day.

Looking back after it happened, it seemed we just missed/ overlooked the little signs, even if there were just a few.

And that right there, is why I want to spread more awareness. I want people to notice the little things, and not just ask if someone’s okay, but ask twice. To completely stop what you’re doing, look them in the eye and genuinely ask how they’re doing mentally.

I want the stigma to decrease, so that people with mental health illnesses aren’t afraid to open up and don’t fear being judged. I want them to be able to talk to someone and to get the support they need to manage and recover from their mental health disorder.

What I’ve done to try and help spread awareness:

💜Taken exercise classes at care homes
• Spoken about dementia, and used purple balloons in our activities as purple is the colour that symbolises dementia awareness. Everyone at has helped to spread awareness over loads of care homes this week!

🩵Handmade lots of leaflets to hand out after my group exercise classes at
•After each session I gave a brief explanation of why I wanted to spread awareness, and what I wrote in the leaflets.

💙Made an activity for the members at Pure Gym to spread kindness and positivity
•They wrote a kind note/ compliment/ inspirational quote to fold up and put in the jar, then they could take another one out for themselves. So many people participated, and so much happiness was spread! So grateful to work in such a kindhearted and wholesome-filled place🥰

To every single one of you - you are loved, appreciated and enough🩵

Wahoooo! My online option is now up on the pricing sheet😆

Just give me a message or email me at: [email protected]
And we can discuss your fitness goals.
From there, I can make your bespoke programme,
Add you as a client,
You will get a password emailed to you,
Then BOOM you can use my app anddd…
REACH YOUR POTENTIAL!😆🩵

So what are you waiting for??? Your fitness goals are waiting to be achieved, all it takes to start, is one little message☺️

See you in my inbox;)

Happy Gymming☺️

Huge congratulations to Andrea for completing her 12-week programme! 👏🏼

Andrea’s goal was to lose weight and increase her distance on her bike. As you can see from the photos, Andrea not only lost weight and toned her body, but also cycled further than her original 6 miles on her bike!

Every week Andrea progressed on each exercise during our session together. Some exercises I adapted in different ways to make them harder, and she still had perfect form!

Andrea said she feels 5x more confident in her body, and loves her body more now than she did before her training. All her hard work paid off, and she is still keen and motivated to stay consistent with training even though our 1:1 sessions have come to an end.

Andrea was an absolute pleasure to coach and always pushed herself in every session! Thank you for being my “best client” (even if you were my first/ only client for awhile)😂☺️

Here are some ideas of how you could help yourself to feel more positive…

1.) Listen to upbeat happy music - this can almost immediately affect your mood and make you want to sing along.
2.) Every evening, think of 3 things that make you happy, or that you’re grateful for.
3.) Each morning, think of 3 things you love about yourself.
4.) If you are feeling low, speak to someone. It can help to say things out loud to someone you trust. They might have advice, they might just listen, or it might help you brainstorm your own solutions.
5.) If you’re feeling happy, speak to someone. Loved ones aren’t just there to help you when you’re down, they’re also there to applaud you when you succeed in something or you’re feeling good! Even if it’s speaking to them to recommend a new series or book, it could help brighten up their day too.
6.) Take time for yourself. I don’t mean a quick break from life sat on the toilet, I mean actual quality time with yourself. Whether this be watching a film, having a long relaxing bath, doing a face mask, going to a bakery and eating a muffin by the sea. Whatever it is, take that time.
7.) If you feel you have been very low for a long time, seek support. There are so many online support groups, or groups that meet up and do activities, where they can share experiences and give advice what they might do which could help you too. Speak to your partner, family, friends or colleagues, you’d be there for them, and they’d want to be there for you too if they knew.

I hope these last few posts have helped you in some way to realise what area in life you may have been neglecting. Now you know how you can help yourself, or someone else to improve your/their well-being!

Extra happy gymming☺️

Locations we live, work and socialise in can also make a difference to our wellbeing. If you live in a clean, tidy caring neighbourhood, you are more likely to be happier than if you lived in a dirty, polluted area with nothing to do around you. Somewhere quiet, maybe better than somewhere with noise pollution. Somewhere with low crime would also be better for your well-being than somewhere with a high crime rate.

Your environment also includes the people we surround ourselves with. Do you live with family, friends, partners, or on our own? Are they supportive and encouraging? Do you argue a lot? Do you feel cared about/ respected? Do they make you feel stressed often or put you down? Do you feel isolated or lonely if you’re on your own?

These are questions to think about to help your well-being. Again, this can also be difficult, if your baby is causing you stress because they keep crying, probably notttt best to move out and leave the baby on their own. Also it’s mega expensive to move out, so this may not be a realistic option.

However, you can still make the decision who you surround yourself with in other areas of your life. Are your group of friends supportive and fun to be around? Or are they always putting you down? Do your colleagues encourage you and inspire you to be a better person? Or do they just complain with everything you do? Does your partner show they love you? Or do they have a go at you every day for the smallest of things? These are answers you can only answer yourself. Then it’s up to you to decide whether these people are helping your well-being, and to keep everything the same, or if they are bringing you down and you want to make a change.

Whatever you decide,

Happy Gymming☺️

Nutrition

•Carbohydrates provide you with the most energy. You can get carbohydrates from pasta, bread, rice, cereal, cake and sweets.

•Fat also provides you with energy to use for daily activities, keeps you insulated and enables fat-soluble vitamins to be transported around the body. You can get fat from: nuts, avocados, lard, fatty meat, biscuits and processed foods.

•Protein helps with growth, repair and hormones in the body. You can get protein from meat, eggs, beans and seeds.

I will go into more detail on nutrition another day, as this post is about well-being. Consuming enough of these macro nutrients daily is vital for your body to function, repair itself, and to have enough energy to be able to do daily tasks as well as exercising.

The more you move, the more energy you need, the more food you should eat. Nutrition is important for your well-being because if you don’t eat enough, your body will not have enough energy. This means you will feel lethargic, fatigued and have low/no motivation. You may become irritated more easily, or feel frustrated with yourself that you can’t do something as easily as you usually do. E.g if you haven’t eaten enough before a 10km run, you might be slower, or find it a lot more effort, because your body doesn’t have sufficient energy to use. This can be the same for daily tasks though; including work, walking upstairs, socialising or doing household chores.

So, now you know another area where you can improve your well-being. Making sure you eat enough food so you have energyyy and don’t get Hangry at people😂 Also making sure you have a balanced diet and not just eating processed foods and sweet stuff all the time will help improve your mood so you don’t feel sluggish!

Happy Gymming☺️

Sleep is soooo important! I don’t know about you, but if I don’t get enough sleep, I function about as well as a bike with no wheels. I lack concentration, I get emotional over things that I don’t need to and everything annoys me. It is recommended you get between 7-9 hours of sleep each night. (Although I heard it may be more for woman, so I’ll do some research!)

It is also very important to rest when your body needs to. When I was younger I never listened to my body. I loved running and I was so addicted that I competed in a cross country race while ill with shingles. Another time I tried convincing everyone I was fine to run a cross country race even though I was limping badly on the warm up😅 Fortunately now, at 25 years old, I actually listen to my body and usually recognise the signs before I reach burnout or get ill. When you are injured, rest. Then you can start to do strengthening or mobilisation exercises to help gain strength in that area again so you are less likely to get injured in the future.

Scrolling on your phone or watching TV before bed can also keep your mind buzzing for longer, making it harder to fall asleep. It is recommended you turn off your TV, or don’t look at your phone about an hour before you sleep. You could read a book, or buy those anti-blue light glasses which can protect your eyes from the screens, making it easier for you to fall asleep at night, and get the rest you need.

Stress. We can all feel stressed sometimes whether it’s due to work, relationships, or burning your toast. Some days things get to us more than others, that’s normal, but here are some ways to help feel relaxed again… Breathing exercises such as inhaling to the count of 4, holding for 2 seconds, then fully exhaling for 4 seconds and repeating. This can help slow your heart rate back down to resting and make you feel more relaxed. Doing things such as exercise, something crafty, reading a book, listening to music or doing your favourite hobby can also help to relieve stress and make you feel relaxed/ happy again.

Happy Gymming☺️ and recovering - for a happier you🥰

How to do perfect plank variations part 1:

1.) The fantastic full plank: Keeping the same form as the original plank, but this time instead of leaning on your forearms, you will be resting on your hands. Keep your arms straight, and have your shoulders, elbows and wrists in-line.

2.) The fancy forearm side plank: Lay on your side, and prop yourself up with your forearm and the side of your foot. Keep your hips straight and in-line with the floor and the ceiling. This plank is great for improving balance which also makes your core muscles work harder!

3.)The sensational side plank on hands: Very similar to the previous plank, but this time leaning on your hand instead of your forearm. Keep arms and legs straight and strong also have your hips straight, not slouched!

Hope this helps to spice up your workouts when doing the plank!

Happy Gymming☺️

How to do a perfect plank:

Picture 1: Arms = Rest on your forearms either out straight, or with your hands together - whatever you find more comfortable. Your shoulder should be in-line and above your elbow to keep you stable.

Picture 2: Glutes = No bottoms up in the air!

Picture 3: Hips = Nooo slouched hips.

Picture 4: Back = Keep your back straight! A sturdy, straight back, hips in-line and abs engaged to stay strong.

Picture 5: Feet = Have your toes flexed on the floor to keep you up.

Picture 6: Feet = Don’t be a silly goose and have the tops on your feet on the floor.

Picture 7: Put ‘em’ all together, et voila… you’ve now completed a perfect plank! Wahooo😄🎉

Happy Gymming☺️

How to do a sublime stiff leg deadlift

Picture 1: Start by holding the bar with an over hand grip (or one hand over and one under if you prefer.) Lift the barbell off the rack and take a step back. Have the barbell resting in front of your thighs with your arms straight.

Picture 2 Hinge the hips back and keep your back straight. The barbell should be in contact with your thighs as you lower your body down, by hinging your hips back further.

Picture 3: Keep your arms straight and have the barbell just in front of your shins, but not touching. Make sure your back is still straight. Top tip: To help ensure your back is straight, have your shoulders back and chest up slightly, looking at a far point on the floor ahead of you.

Picture 4: Pushing your weight through your heels, push your hips slowly forwards again to straighten back up to standing. Remember on the way back up, the barbell will be against your thighs again and arms will be straight.

I hope this step by step guide helps you to perform a sublime stiff leg deadlift and you feel stronggg and confident the next time you execute one!

Happy Gymming☺️

How to do a high-quality hip thrust:

Picture 1: Once you have a bench/ box and weighted barbell at the ready, sit in front of your box and position the barbell across your hips.

Picture 2: After your barbell is in the correct position, you need to move your feet into the right place. This can take a bit of getting used to, so find where is comfortable for you.

Picture 3: Now you’re ready to go! Raise your hips up by engaging your glutes and pushing your weight through your heels. When you reach the final position, your body will be in-line, like the picture shows. Your core, glutes, and legs will be engaged, and you should still be facing forward. (No wobbly necks please, we don’t need to tilt them back as we raise our hips!)

Picture 4: As you carefully lower yourself back down, keep a strong body and don’t fully relax your muscles. Your glutes and the weighted plates will be just above the ground, and you will still be facing forwards. Then all you have to do is repeat to your desired reps and sets!☺️

Now you know how to do a high quality hip thrust with great form!

Happy Gymming☺️

How to do a sensational squat (with a barbell)

First of all, let’s look over the fact that I’m awful at photographing/ videoing myself, and I’m sorry it’s not super dooper clear, butttt, read on for each step so you know how to do a squat with the PERFECT form!😄

Picture 1: Look awkward… oh no, just me. Position the barbell on the rack so you can easily place it on and off without having to go onto tip toes. Once you have the barbell in place, stand under it, grip the barbell, and rest it on your upper back in-line with your shoulders.
*Top tip: Do not rest the barbell on your neck, because it is a lot of weight for your neck to hold and it could cause an injury.

Picture 2: HINGEEE! Step away from the rack, and HINGE THOSE HIPS. Tilt them back, keeping a straight back and sturdy legs. The knees should have a slight bend in them and not be ‘locked.’

Picture 3: Drop it like it’s hot🎵 Staying in the hinge position, bend your knees and squat down as if you were going to sit on a chair. Make sure your back is straight, your whole foot is on the floor, and the barbell is also straight on your back, so the pressure is even.

Top tips:
When you go back to the original position, make sure you push through your heels! No tip-toeing people! Your whole foot will be on the floor, but the weight should be pushing through your heels, as you rise back up to standing neutral.

Throughout the squat, make sure your knees don’t go over your toes. What I mean by this is: imagine you draw a line from your knee, straight down to the floor, the line should meet your foot, and not be in front of you toes. If your knees areee over your toes, readjust by sticking your bum back further and really imagine you’re sitting down on a chair:)

I hope this helps!

Happy Gymming☺️

Hello you glorious gym gems! I thought I’d share more about me and my journey so far as a PT☺️

Beginning of last year: I passed my Level 3 Personal Trainers Course and also completed my First Aid course.

Until end of August 2023: Worked part-time alongside my full time job, to earn some extra monies for travelling. Handed in my notice and finished working at my job after almost 6 years.

Between September-November: Me and Michaela went travelling all around Europe in her trusty car. It was an amazing experience!!

5 days after returning home: Handed out my CV to a few gyms, and heard back from PureGym. Had an interview, and got the job within 5 days🎉

December: Caught up with friends and family. Worked my part time job. Me and Ed went to New York, which was incredible❤️ Also prepared the documents I needed to start personal training.

January 9th 2024: Started my first day Met the lovely staff and members, and took my first class 3 days later! Felt nervous, but after a few weeks, I became more confident. Now I’m singing along to my playlist mid-class😅😅 (As well as educating correct form of course!)😇 Completed lots of online training, both for a fitness instructor at PureGym, and to develop myself more as a PT. Also got my first 2 clients in January which was exciting!

February: Started focussing more on my business, made my Logo, ordered business cards, tried to post more on social media, and started getting more clients! I also enrolled on a mental health awareness course to get a better understanding of different mental health illnesses, learn the causes and ways of helping reduce the symptoms to create a better well-being.

March: Still training clients, love seeing their progress!! Been advertising for my bootcamp classes that start next month. Completed my Chair Yoga Training and have now joined Abi at the Chair Yoga Club. Also been preparing for an online version of personal training!! I’m very excited about this, and will reveal more soon when it’s all ready😆

If you’ve read all that, then congratulations😂 If there’s anything in life you enjoy and want to pursue, then GO FOR IT! You never know where you could be 1 year from now!🥰

If you find it hard to stay motivated when working out, then here are some useful tips to help you stay consistent…

1.) Make a goal you want to achieve by a certain date.
2.) Make smaller more manageable aims to help reach your goal.
3.) Reward yourself when you have achieved these aims.
4.) Speak to friends and family - they can help motivate you with positive words and questioning how training is going.
5.) Make your sessions fun. If you enjoy what you’re doing, it won’t feel like a chore.
6.) Remember why you started. Not just the reason, but the emotions that you felt too.

So next time you’re feeling unmotivated and close to giving up, try one of these helpful tips. I believe in you, you just need to believe in yourself!

To read about these in more detail, check out my ‘motivators’ highlight on my profile:)

Happy Gymming!☺️

Time to find out your potential at my brilliant body toning bootcamp!
Everyone welcome, whatever your ability! Push yourselves at fun exercises, tone your body, meet new people, feel accomplished by 11am, and enjoy a delicious nutritional breakfast afterwards too! Participate in sessions such as: challenging circuits, hard-core HIIT, glorious glute gains, upper body blitz, and so much more! Sound good? Read more details below…

Place: Meet at Kingston Country Courtyard Hotel Carpark. Most sessions will take place in the barn, while others will be outside where you can take in the beautiful scenery.

When: Starting on Wednesday 3rd April. 1 hour session every Wednesday morning.

Time: The session will be 9:30am-10:30am every Wednesday. Please get there 10-15 minutes early, so we can start the warm up at 9:30 promptly. After the session, you’ll be given a nutritional breakfast and get to socialise with like minded people.

What to bring: Wear sportswear/ comfortable clothes to exercise in. Bring a bottle of water, a jacket, and lots of enthusiasm!

How do I sign up?? - Message me on Instagram,
Email me at: [email protected]
or WhatsApp me on: 07510291130

Can’t wait to see you at my bootcamp!!

There are sooo many benefits of exercise!
Here are a few I’ve listed:
* Increase in strength
* Reduction in fat mass
* More efficient cardiovascular fitness
* Improved mood
* Increased flexibility
* Feel more confident
* Increased bone strength
* New way to socialise
* Decreased risk of some diseases

So if you don’t exercise regularly already, what’s stopping you? With so many benefits, it would be silly not to!

If you missed my stories, have a look at my ‘benefits’ highlight to read more about each benefit of exercise:)

Happy Gymming☺️

Doing a cool down after exercise is very important. Read on to find out why!

What is a cool down?
A cool down involves slowly decreasing your heart rate back down towards your resting heart rate. It also helps to remove lactic acid and prevent injury.

How should I do it?
Start with some light cardio, the idea is to bring your heart rate down steadily. This shouldn’t be an intense part of your workout, just a gentle jog, light cycle, or steady walk is perfect.
After a few minutes of this, it’s time to stretch. Focus on stretching the muscles you have just used in your workout; though, it is always good to stretch the whole body whether you’ve exercised or not, as this improves/ maintains your mobility and flexibility. This is especially important as we get older. By doing static stretches frequently, it increases how pliable our muscles are. The more pliable our muscles and the greater our range of movement = the more flexible we are.

Why is it important?
It is important to do a cool down to aid the process of removing lactic acid from your body. By stretching your muscles, it helps decrease the chance of feeling as stiff and achey the next day. This also reduces the chance of getting injured because you will recover from exercise sooner.

Sooo next time you smash a workout, don’t rush off home before doing a cool down:)

Happy Gymming☺️