Helen Hill

About

I can’t remember exactly when I decided to be a personal trainer. I have always been keen on keeping fit and active and spent years going to aerobic classes and doing extra abdominal crunches, to try and flatten my tummy. I took up scuba diving in my early 20s and spent several years travelling the coast and abroad to experience some amazing dives.

In my 30s I needed a change in career direction, but still I didn’t identify personal training as being an option. Instead I decided to join the fire service and make a difference in people’s lives by becoming a firefighter! By getting an office job at Avon Fire & Rescue Service and then with help and guidance from the officers I met, I began my training for the firefighter recruitment process. I had never been a runner before and didn’t think I could, though now I had a bleep test to pass, so that had to change. I popped along to the local outdoor running track and spoke to the coaches there. They happily invited me to join them in their track sessions and I was welcomed into a group of 14-15 year olds, most of whom would beat me!

When Avon Fire Rescue Service were next recruiting, I applied, feeling confident and prepared. Each step came and went—the written test, bleep test, ladder climb, hose running and breathing apparatus test—and I was passing each time! In the end, and against over 1,000 applicants, I was put on a reserve list, though unfortunately I wasn’t selected.

However, I wasn’t going to stop there and after my experience of a more structured training programme, I decided to spend my time between firefighter recruitment processes by learning more about fitness, diet and nutrition. I embarked on a diploma in Personal Training at Lifetime Health & Fitness in Bristol. Not one for doing things by half, I signed up to taking additional modules on Exercise Referral, Older Adult and Anti & Post-Natal Fitness.

I found the course so interesting and discovered where I had been going wrong in my own training and diet; and why the many abdominal crunches wouldn’t flatten my tummy! I enjoyed the course so much that I wanted to share what I had learnt and decided I could make a greater difference to people’s lives by personal training and advising on diet and nutrition.

I still had my office job and Avon Fire & Rescue Service, but now I was running fitness sessions for operational firefighters, trainee firefighters and support staff, along with offering guidance to other women aspiring to be firefighters.

Seven years on and HH Fitness is providing personal training to people with a wide range of age, size, weight and fitness levels, across Bristol, Bath and South Gloucestershire. I love the work I do and I hope my enthusiasm rubs off on my clients.