HE'S a successful gym owner and personal trainer. They are desk-dwelling Evening Mail team members in serious need of a better lifestyle. (Sponsored)

Ulverston gym chief Henry Armer has set himself the stiffest of challenges as he bids to transform self-confessed 'cuddly man' and motors advertising rep Ryan Parkinson, and desk-dwelling fizzy drink-loving editor James Higgins into fitter, healthier individuals.

Here the pair write about week three of their six week journey with the personal trainer.

James ' diary

THE hour was 2.54am. I was wide awake. I had gone from deep slumber to middle-of-the-day alertness in, well, the blink of an eye.

I calculated how much sleep I could squeeze in before my 6.30am alarm; Henry time was looming. Minus the 10 minutes I guessed it would take to get back to sleep, I reckoned on just under three-and-a-half hours.

I dozed back off only to jolt awake what must have been just five minutes later. Incredibly, dawn had broken. I knew Henry would already be at the gym for his early morning bootcamp . I groaned, hit snooze and gave my alarm the cold shoulder.

It is a persistent adversary though, my alarm. And as I gave the snooze button a few more taps, it came right back at me. The time is now 6.50pm.

I see my gym gear laid out on the floor. I wondered what excuse I might make for not showing; bad back, fatigue, headache…

But I know if I push through the morning malaise, and get my backside down to the gym, I’ll be flying on a cloud of post-exercise adrenalin and serotonin to 8am.

I managed to get from bed to the gym in nine minutes. My training partner Ryan was annoyingly chirpy due to his up-with-the-lark tendencies.

We warm up before moving into a series of stretches – then expend some serious energy on the rowers. My heart is pumping, arms burning, body screaming for a break. But the calorie burn is satisfying. The undoubted good this is doing in a cardio capacity keeps me going. I develop a new found respect for the Oxford and Cambridge boat race teams.

Then it’s on to a mini circuit. Four exercises in quick succession, simple in their execution, but lethal in terms of the energy they sap.

Henry was in a demanding mood. There was no let-up; no that’ll do, just give me one more. It’s the end of week three and I’m starting to feel a change.

Find out more about Henry's PT offering here.


Ryan's diary

Finishing week 2, starting to feel a bit better in myself, thinking the early starts and morning pain are starting to make a difference, in my head at least. We are surprised with an “impromptu” “core” workout, hmmm at least this looks like its mostly lying down!!!

Well, after 20 minutes on the floor with Phoebe (another of Henrys team of PTs, whom my grandma would describe as a “slip of a girl”) I was broken.

I ached for most of the week, but did try to replicate the workout a few times at home through the week; I don’t like to be beaten, “I will have a six pack, I will have a six pack”, I am just going to keep telling myself that!

Think I made the mistake of saying, “I thought Henry was the easier option.” He appeared to take this personally, as he stepped things up in his sessions this week. I am sat here now at my desk with arms of jelly and fists of ham trying to type.

Monday morning after the warm ups and stretching, we were ushered down to the weights room, for a spot of strength training. Now I like to think that I am, or at least was quite strong, but the exercises were muscle specific, working individual muscles with constant repetition. The aches of the core session paled into insignificance.

To be honest, Friday with Henry this week was more of what was done in the weeks past, but just a little bit tougher. Rowing, ropes and repetition being the order of Friday morning, I did notice that his “just 10 more seconds” were pushing 15-20 seconds and the pauses were a bit shorter. Or, was this just in my head?

Looking forward to week 4. I will have a 6 pack, I will have a 6 pack…………

Find out more about Henry's PT offering here.