WE have all been encouraged to keep fit during the months of the coronavirus pandemic and some of us have been less successful than others, but for Lanarkshire man John Graham his approach to physical training has won him a UK title, that of Best Home Gym.

A qualified personal trainer, Graham decided to bring some innovation to setting up his home gym and it has paid off with the title of Best in Britain from Protectivity, the specialist provider of niche insurance services.

They set up a quest to find Britain’s best home gym and announced yesterday that “the search has come to an end, revealing a worthy winner”.

With personal training insurance being a major part of Protectivity’s products, they asked the British public to submit images of their home gym set-up to be in a chance of winning, and Graham is the winner of a year’s supply of protein goodies from Bodbox worth £300.

Graham said: “I first qualified from college with PT qualifications when I was 19 in 2002, so a very long time ago now.

“I do miss the personal training side of things, so I decided that along with my own gym, I’d refresh and update my previous qualifications and add in some specialisation too.

“I have always been creative in the gym and I like a mix of indoor and outdoor training. I don’t mind the cold temperatures as long as it’s not raining. I like taking the ‘portable’ equipment outside in the good weather, like bikes and rowers and circuit equipment, and hidden behind the shed I have some outdoor training equipment such as weighted kegs, tyres and heavy slam balls etc.

“One of the items I couldn’t get hold of due to lack of stock was a step. I had a few pallets so they are used for a platform for heavy ball slams, and I can increase/decrease the height for step-ups squat jumps and lunges.

“When I saw the competition, I was all set to enter and after seeing what the prize would be, it gave me a bit of an extra incentive to get the place tidied up in time before the closing date.

“Hopefully this is a game-changer. I enjoy my protein shakes, bars etc because I’m always on the go, and it saves going to the shop for unhealthy snacks.”