Covid gave us a chance to do things we never got the chance to complete due to our hectic schedule
Gym owner John Neill, who was featured in Men’s Health magazine, urges people to get fit to fight Covid-19. Stephanie Bell reports
ABelfast man who has gone from stacking supermarket shelves to being featured in the pages of Men’s Health magazine as a fitness guru has urged people to protect themselves against illness by exercising.
As the Government launches its new anti-obesity campaign, John Neill, who runs his own gym in Belfast, says doctors should replace anti-depressant medication with prescriptions for exercise.
The 32-year-old has made a remarkable transformation in his own life over the past 10 years and is now dedicated to helping others trim down and get active through his gym, Dedicated Fitness.
His approach is to develop training techniques that improve both people’s physical and mental wellbeing.
Ten years ago, John worked in a local supermarket, was unhealthy, depressed and had a fitness level of zero.
He started to go to the gym as his sister was working there at the time, and in a very short space of time it literally changed his life.
He recalls: “I, like many young men in Northern Ireland, was just on the hamster wheel of life — going to work, coming home, eating junk, living for the weekend to have a drink, repeat, week after week.
“I didn’t know the extent of it at the time, but looking back, I was depressed, moody and completely stuck in a rut.
“I decided to try the gym as my sister worked there and I was expecting to hate it and while it was physically hard at the start, it literally changed my life in a few short weeks.
“I noticed my mood lifted, my strength increased and the more I went, the more I wanted to look after my body.
“I stopped drinking completely and started to study the effect nutrition had on the body. I became hooked, so much so that I left my job and started training as a personal trainer.
“In fact, I got in such good shape that Men’s Health Magazine approached me to do a four page cover story.
“That was the beginning of an amazing 10-year journey for me.”
Today, John is one of the most sought-after personal trainers in Belfast with his gym located a stone’s throw from the city centre, in Townsend Enterprise Park.
He trains between 10 and 14 private clients every day working from 5am until 9pm in a busy life which is loves.
He also runs a team of eight other personal trainers and his wife Danielle (32) manages the day-to-day running of his gym.
Helping people lose weight or improve their fitness levels is his passion and he has welcomed the raft of new measures introduced as part of the Government’s new obesity strategy to get the nation fit and healthy and protect people against Covid-19.
Obesity is one of the biggest health crises society faces with one in every four adults and one in every five children in Northern Ireland affected.
The urgency of tackling what is being regarded as an health time-bomb was brought to the fore by evidence of the link to an increased risk from Covid-19.
Living with excess weight puts people at greater risk of serious illness or death from the virus, with risk growing substantially as body mass index (BMI) increases.
Nearly 8% of critically ill patients with Covid-19 in intensive care units have been morbidly obese, compared with 2.9% of the general population.
John says that by getting active will help people to improve their immune system and increase their ability to fight the virus.
He explains: “I encourage anyone who wants to improve their mental and physical wellbeing and to strengthen their immune system in the fight against Covid-19 to get out, get active or get in touch with one of our team who can help you on that journey.
“People begin by coming to us for physical reasons, to lose weight, tone up or improve fitness, but what they end up getting as a bonus is a complete improvement in their overall health and crucially their mental health.
“Right now, this is paramount and should be given complete focus by government and individuals.
“Combining fitness with cleaning up your diet is a huge part of it. Eat ‘clean’ is my mantra, which basically means eat foods which are grown in the ground, not processed in factories.
“Forget the buy-one-get-onefree sweet, processed treats in discount stores and head over to the fresh food aisles.
“Fresh vegetables, fruit, brown rice, pulses and grains are essential to give your body the ‘fuel’ it needs to perform at its peak and not break down or get ill.
“Protein is key in diets, lean meat, eggs and we recommend protein powder is incorporated into anyone training as it helps to rebuild muscles after a workout.
“This is so crucial that we have just launched our own protein powder brand as lockdown allowed us the time to complete this project we started a few years back.
“Every client who signs up with us gets a meal plan, which is a simple guide to what they should be eating throughout the day.
“I don’t believe in calorie-counting, I don’t think it is needed if people workout, eat clean and reduce or cut out alcohol intake.”
Clients come to John from all walks of life — busy business people who want to improve their health, reduce stress and look better; mums who have been stuck in a rut or want to shed excess baby weight and older people who haven’t exercised in a long time and know they want to prolong their lives and boost their moods.
As well as monthly membership for those wanting to come at their own leisure, daily classes aimed at body transformation and fat burning boot camps are also popular. One-to-one personal training sessions help people who want to take their results to the next level.
During lockdown John’s wife Danielle developed an online programme and classes, which went global.
John reveals: “We had people from as far away as Australia
and Canada log on and work out. Danielle also developed our own range of branded clothing which we are also shipping all over the world — we simply cannot keep up.
“Covid gave us a chance to focus on our business and do things we had in the pipeline but never got a chance to complete due to how hectic our schedule was.”
In fact membership has grown by 40% during the pandemic and to accommodate everyone John is now looking for bigger premises.
Ten years after outgrowing five different gyms, he is proud of what he has achieved: “From day one I loved what I was able to do for people. It was like you gave people from all walks of life the secret to a new life — only it was no secret!
“It’s a simple formula, decide in your mind you want to make a change, put the work in at the gym and in your lifestyle, clean up your diet and your health will improve. It’s that simple. And stick to it — that is the key and where most people fall down.
“But, so many people are struggling with their weight, mental health and level of fitness. They just need to know that getting out, getting active is the first step we can all do to increase our quality of life and
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