Let me introduce us. My name is Carol Bartram and his is Bob Bartram.

We are a husband-and wife team in Hull, close to the East Yorkshire coast in the UK. Between us we run Zest For Living, a Personal Training and Pilates business; we teach both one-to-one clients and classes, and I also do Massage and Sports Therapy. Bob works full-time as well as teaching Pilates classes and does all the maintenance work on our websites. We both write material for the web articles and I work part-time in the business and run the show at home, which is mainly clearing up after Bob and our Teen Daughter from Hell. Whom we love as if she were Truly Human.

We have our office in our living room (yes, it’s messy), and share our lives with an elderly, arthritic Rottweiler called Kira, who’s an angel; and a Bernese Mountain Dog called Maximus who’s unbelievably hairy, huge, and an abject coward. So much for the name!

Believe it or not, we didn’t get into the world of fitness until 5 years ago. I was fat, 40 and fed up with my job, and Bob was 45 with truly terrible posture and permanent back and neck pain.
But now that’s all changed. At ages 45 and 50 we are both stronger, fitter and free of pain for the first time in years. And it’s all down to what we’ve learned about regular exercise, healthy eating and Pilates. We know it all works, because we’ve done it!

Qualifications

In this business, you can never have enough knowledge; every year we go on as many training courses as we can. 

Carol: Personal Trainer Sports & Massage Therapist Pilates Instructor Level 3 Pilates Personal Trainer Aerobics/ Circuits Instructor Nutritional Advisor	Bob: Gym Instructor Circuits Instructor Pilates Instructor Level 3 Aerobics Instructor

All our qualifications have been gained with Premier Training and Northern Fitness, both highly respected training providers. We are both registered as Advanced Instructors Level 3 with the nationally-recognised Register of Exercise Professionals and can be checked on their website.

In 2008 we plan to add Physical Yoga and Pilates Personal Trainer to Bob’s repertoire, so watch this space!