Scottish personal trainer Kenny Walker has become quite the celebrity recently with his virtual workouts with some even branding him as the ‘Scottish Joe Wicks’.
Kenny has been working as a personal trainer for over six years but despite the gyms closing due to the coronavirus pandemic this hasn’t stopped the 30-year-old from helping people to keep fit at home. Kenny said: “When lockdown happene things started to feel surreal and I knew it would be a while before I could return to my passion of delivering group exercise classes.
“I’d had a few people message to ask if I would be delivering virtual classes, but never did I think it would become what it is to date! At the beginning of lockdown I thought I’ll do the virtual classes for a few weeks, then I’ll be back to work. It’ll keep my fitness levels up to scratch. I had no idea how long it would last.”
Kenny, who has branded himself as ‘The Group Ex Guy’ started off hosting small group classes of ten people on Zoom in a bid to keep the lockdown cobwebs away. But what Kenny didn’t realise that instead of creating just a fitness class, he had had created a community.
He said: “It’s all about celebrating each other’s small and big wins, the mind-set shifts, the change in body shapes and the improvements in fitness levels. It really was shaping out to be a positive community of like-minded folk. The timetable was suitable for everyone, of all ages and whether or not they were still at work – we had a variety of times and high/low impact classes!
Kenny said he didn’t only want to do his classes for physical fitness but for mental health too.
(Image: Instagram)
He said: “Lockdown brought a feeling of losing freedom for a lot of people which naturally caused feelings of sadness and anxiety and with mental health being more important than ever I felt it was important to create this safe space where we can all talk too. Exercise is the core of it but we now also have a group chat where we can talk about anything too.
As Kenny’s classes and timetable began to grow as the weeks went by and it was clear to him that with the increasing demand, that people were really connecting and building relationships all through fitness.
People actually started to say he was like the Scottish Joe Wicks. Kenny said: “I had a laugh to myself when a few folk called me ‘The Scottish Joe Wickes’.
“It was important to me to give people what they wanted and as their voices really mattered to me, I put together a short questionnaire to get feedback about the next timetable and this was received really well. Helping others reach their potential whilst stuck at home was and still is really important to me.”
Kenny said he lives and breathes for fitness and helping people achieve their dreams, whether it be in lockdown or not and will continue to do so for as long as he is working. He said: “I have always had a huge passion for helping people be the very best versions of themselves and believe that they can achieve whatever they wish. Since day one, I have told each and every single one of them that ‘YOU are the BOSS’.
“The demand for fitness at home has been so huge that I am currently working closely with a web designer, to create an app that people can access, even well after lockdown so that they can still have the ability to exercise from the comforts of their own home! This really is just the beginning of TheGroupExGuy!”
For all Kenny’s information to classes and workouts, visit his Instagram page.
