Here at We Are Models we believe modelling should be a lifestyle, not just a career. We’ve been talking a lot recently about health and nutrition, so we wanted to add a piece on fitness into the mix.
When you’re leading a busy life (as we know you all do!) finding time to exercise can be a challenge. How do you know where to start if you’re not as fit as you could be? What types of exercise should you be doing? What if you just don’t enjoy it?
We caught up with Jordan James, a freelance personal trainer with a decade of experience in the fitness industry.
Jordan has a wealth of experience to share, and his particular specialism is conditioning, meaning weight loss, muscle mass building and flexibility. He teaches numerous classes including core stability, body pump and boxing as well as his work as a PT.
Here’s what he had to say.
WAM: Hi Jordan! Thanks for making time to have a chat. I know our model community are going to love hearing from you.
Jordan: Hey! You’re welcome. I could talk about health and fitness all day every day if I’m honest, so it’s no burden.
WAM: First things first, then. Imagine I’m a complete exercise novice… what should I actually be spending time doing?
Jordan: Well, that’s not really the first thing. The first thing I want to say is that exercise should be fun. It shouldn’t be a chore – just something you ‘should be doing’. It’s a lifestyle choice. It’s about looking after your body and mind in the best possible way, not just exercising for the sake of exercising.
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Fitness shouldn’t be a chore. It’s a lifestyle choice. It’s about looking after your body and mind in the best possible way, not just exercising for the sake of exercising
WAM: That makes sense. Recently we were chatting to one of our community members, Ewa. She’s a dancer, model and sports nutritionist and she says the same thing: looking after yourself should be holistic.
Jordan: Exactly that. I always say to my clients, diet is more than 50% of your training. It’s about recognising that you can’t do one thing in isolation – if you’re not eating well, or you’re not mentally in a good place, or you’re not exercising – that will have an impact on all the other areas of your life.
Good health starts in your head first, you know? It’s about a commitment to putting yourself first.
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Good health starts in your head first. It’s about a commitment to putting yourself first
WAM: And once you have that attitude, what type of exercise should you be doing?
Jordan: Well, there’s not ‘one thing’ you should do. The first thing is to find ways to make exercise fun, so you can build it into your lifestyle.
I choose to do boxing instead of other cardio, for example, because that’s what I enjoy. But you have to focus on what you don’t enjoy too, because those are generally the areas you have to work on. People enjoy what they’re good at, so take some time to work on the things you’re not good at. Just find fun ways to do it.
There are three areas that you should focus on though. They’re a triangle, you can’t do one without the other if you’re properly looking after your body.
The triangle is Cardio, Resistance and Flexibility.
WAM: So we should be getting a balance of those three things?
Jordan: Yes, exactly. People tend to be better at one part, which is what I mean about not just doing what you’re good at.
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You need to find a balance between cardio, resistance and flexibility training. They’re three sides of a triangle – you can’t do one without the other if you’re looking after your body
WAM: What happens if you don’t do all three?
Jordan: If you do too much cardio and no resistance training, you’ll be much more open to injury. It’s the stereotypical runner who won’t stop running – but they often have knee, hip or lower back injuries because they’re not building strength in those areas.
If you do too much resistance with no cardio or flexibility you can get really restricted and build up muscle tension. You’ll be less able to move freely, which is obviously a bad thing. Then if you do pure flexibility work, just yoga or something like that, you can make your tendons and joints weak so you need to do some resistance there.
And if you’re not doing enough cardio work, that’s not healthy for your heart. Cardio is important to support everything, it’s the base. Back when we were in school, we used to run around constantly – play. That was cardio, all the time. Then as adults we tend not to do enough. Cardio strengthens the heart, which helps pump more oxygen to the brain which helps energise you and in turn improves your mood.
Basically you need to find a balance of activities, because of three of those areas are really important to being healthy overall.
WAM: So, resistance training. That’s an area that men tend to be more drawn to than women. I guess a lot of women are concerned about ‘bulking up’ by doing weights. What would you say to that?
Jordan: It’s a complete myth! You won’t bulk up by doing resistance training, unless that’s what you’re actively trying to do. People who get ‘big’ have worked really hard to get there – it’s not just going to happen by accident just because you started lifting weights.
Commercial Modelling
You won’t bulk up just because you started lifting weights. It’s about conditioning your muscles so you’re fitter, stronger and healthier
Resistance training can have different objectives. You might be trying to bulk up, or you might want to build strength, or build muscle endurance. My point is this – everyone should be doing strength training, and you’re not going to bulk up unless you’re working really hard with that specific goal in mind.
Resistance training is about conditioning your muscles, which makes it a lot easier to do everything throughout the day. Not conditioning your muscles can lead to joint pain or back pain.
WAM: Which brings us on to flexibility. Why’s it important to work on being more flexible?
Jordan: It comes back to exercise being a holistic thing. If you have relaxed muscles then you’re got a relaxed body, a relaxed mind. If you’ve got a lot of tension in your body, which happens when you’re inflexible, you’re not going to be relaxed mentally.
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Exercise is a holistic thing. If you have relaxed muscles, you’ve got a relaxed mind and you can perform better
Basically tension in your body translates into aches and pains, which translate into you not being your best self.
WAM: Are there any areas in particular we should work on, in terms of flexibility?
Jordan: A lot of people end up with very tight hip flexors and hamstrings, which comes from sitting down a lot. You can get a weak lower back too. It’s little things, like sitting with your lower back straight and rolling your shoulders back while you’re working, if you work at a desk.
I always recommend people stretch every day, even just five minutes in the morning. You might just do a hip stretch when you get up, for example. The key is to do something. We talk ourselves out of exercise really easily, if we make it seem big and overwhelming. Just five minutes, even two minutes. Everything you do helps.
WAM: OK. Cardio, Flexibility, Resistance. Got it. Do you have any parting words to share with our We Are Models community?
Jordan: I guess I’d re-emphasise the most important thing is to do it for you. That really can’t be said enough. I see a lot of people who say, I’m training for this event, or getting ready for this holiday, and as soon as they’ve reached that goal, they stop. Fitness isn’t a means to an end – it’s an end in itself. You should want to be healthier, for yourself.
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The most important thing is to do it for you. Fitness isn’t a means to an end – it’s an end in itself
WAM: Jordan, thank you so much. And where can we find you if we want to book personal training sessions with you?
Jordan: I’m based in West London, and I train with clients anywhere from private gyms to parks. There are always places you can train – I believe in getting outside and getting creative as much as possible, making fitness something you love and are inspired by.
You can check out Jordan’s website HERE, email him HERE or check out his Instagram, Facebook and Twitter.
Also this May Jordan is holding PT session for all of We Are Models Members, to find out more about these sessions. If you want to sign up for the membership you can do so here.
