S01E06 - Survival, Percy Pigs and an Indecent Proposal

In this episode Niko uses his car boot to survive, starts the Percy Pigs nutrition plan and has to deal with a very indecent proposal from a client in the park...

Transcript

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Welcome to the PT Chronicles Podcast, the story of a small town Welsh boy and his rise to the very middle of the fitness industry. As always, I'm your host, Nico Algieri, and I'm also the main protagonist in this story. So now we're gonna get into episode 6. Survival, Percy Piggs, and an indecent proposal. Everything was going swimmingly with the career and life. I was rocking it at Bootcamp Palates. My PT clients had increased as well because of Bootcamp Pilates, but also because of referrals. The word had got out about the guy in Hyde Park with his TRX. Now back then I was one of the only trainers in London using TRX. So I almost became the go-to guy for suspension training. Yes, there were a lot of master instructors and TRX courses going on, but no trainer had really adopted it as their go-to modality to train their clients. And of course, I did, and that stood me out from the crowd. Also, Sophie and I were constantly trying to find new and improved ways of removing each other's clothing, and we did it effectively. So career tick, money tick, sex, tick. Only one negative, and that was trying to fit sleep in either side of all this. I would wake up at 5 a.m. to enable me to arrive at Bootcamp Pilates at 6 a.m. to open the studio ready for the 6 30 a.m. class. I'd then teach three classes back to back, and then I'd have a two hour break which I inserted two PT clients into. So I was trying to work every hour, which of course you're supposed to, but you need to actually rest and recover. I'd then head back to Bootcamp Pilates to teach the afternoon block and then finish with three PT clients in the evening. I'd then head over to Sophie's, rip off her clothes, put her against the wall, and then go home. And then I'd watch a movie. Then I'd repeat that process every day. I was young, I was full of it, but my sleep and nutrition didn't quite meet the physical demands of what I needed. I was starting to crack a little bit. I would find sleep anywhere I could. Survival was paramount. Now we've all crept under a desk at work after a massive bender, leant against a wall or a quick couch nap. Well, my desk became the world. I was sleeping in my car, and if a traffic warden knocked on the window if I was in a regular parking space, I would move my car, and then to avoid anybody bothering me, I would get into the back of the car, let the back seats down, and climb into the boot and sleep in the boot, even if it just got me 20 minutes power nap. I'd sleep on the tube, I'd sleep on benches at the station. Once I fell asleep actually standing up whilst coaching a client because she was so boring and I was so tired, she was in a plank, I actually fell asleep standing up. I have a friend Matthew who lives in Scotland, who always comes out with these really cool sayings, but this one to reference this client is she could put a glass eye to sleep. That was her chat level. Anyway, I was barely surviving physically with zero intention of slowing up. So I took on, because I wanted to still be the best and the go-to trainer at Bootcamp Pilates, I took on evening slots on Thursdays, even though I was teaching the 6 30am classes most days. I was utterly obsessed with packing out their classes and being the best trainer available. So much so that about 10 times a day I would go on to the webpage. Obviously, we had a uh password to get into the back end of Bootcamp Pilates booking system, and I would see how many people were in my classes, whether they were sold out, and what the waiting lists were, and I was obsessed with having the largest waiting lists, which of course after about eight to nine months of being there, I did. Obsession your profession is amazing and it it's what makes you the best. It can take over a little bit though, and it it uh it reduces your it reduces your aperture for life. You you you actually become a little bit tunnel vision and it's great and it's what brought me to the top of bootcamp Pilates, but obviously I wasn't looking after myself. There's a lot of press and there's a lot of Instagram accounts, there's a lot of science behind why we need sleep these days, but at the very basis of it, it keeps us healthy and it keeps us functioning well. It lets your body, your brain repair, it restores, it re-energizes, it helps your muscles heal, it makes your joints move a little bit more fluidly, it improves your mood, your focus improves, you get better memory. And most adults need about seven to nine hours of sleep. I I can't even tell you how much I was getting, maybe three to five hours, but it was wearing me down daily. And actually, talking about human physical performance and mental performance within fitness when you don't have enough sleep, there's something that happens to me later on in the PT Chronicles that is a direct result of being tired. I was barely surviving physically at this point, with zero intention of slowing up. I took on more slots at Bootcamp Pilates, particularly Thursday evenings. So think about it, I'd be teaching from 6.30 to 9.30, then I'd do PT, then I teach the afternoon slots at Bootcamp Pilates, then I come back again in a Thursday evening to actually teach another four hours. So it was nine hours in one day that I'd be teaching on Thursday. And it was all about, you know, packing out the classes, being the most complete trainer, and just being successful at my job, but of course it was taking its toll. Now, one particular evening, I was completely dead, out on my feet. Now I was teaching those four classes, and after the first class, I had a five minute break. Now, Bootcamp Pilates was built just above the Waitros on Porchester Road. So I sprinted downstairs, bought two packs of Percy pigs. If you don't know what Percy pigs are, you haven't lived your life. Uh went back up and I consumed both bags of pure sugar within three minutes, giving me two minutes to talk to the clients, and then roll into the class. About three minutes into class, the sugar hit my system, and as I cued the class into a perfect dumbbell lateral lift of lunge, the black tunnel closed in on me. I instantly passed out, woke up about seven seconds later and still managed to shout out instructions for the next movement, but laying down in a prone position. Highly embarrassing, but essential. Now for the next part, I need to give you some context. I had super fans at Poot Camp Pilates, diehard female Pilates ninjas who never missed a day of my classes and looked at me the way a groupie would a rock band. Now this isn't bragging, this is just the way it was. They came every day just to see me and do my classes. Now there was one woman in particular who, if I was a wrong, would have stripped naked in class if I'd asked her to. She asked me for PT. PT with Maggie was great for a few weeks. We were TRXing off the tree in Hyde Park, doing a bit of boxing, and she was getting confident, stronger, leaner, but she was almost getting too confident. We finished a session after about five weeks of training, and as I'm packing up, she says, So this is gonna be my last session. I was like, Oh really? Why? I was disappointed because obviously that's a good client, but three days a week that's good money when you're first starting out. Oh, my husband just got a job in Dubai, so we're leaving next week. But then if face changed to an almost I don't know really how to describe it. You know Jessica Rabbit from Roger Rabbit? Yeah, that sort of look. So I was wondering, did you want to sleep with me before I leave? I as calmly as that, I nearly spat my imaginary drink out. Now, as flattering as that was, to be put in that position face to face with a client who you then have to walk back across the park with after you've packed up is a little awkward. Also, the power shift was immense. I was the PT, I was the one in control with the confidence. She took it from me like that. My reply was simple, and you'll find that out in episode seven. I'll see you soon on the PT Chronicles podcast.