Five Minutes with Harry Jameson

Harry Jameson is the founder of Pillar Wellbeing, set to open a centre at new Raffles London at The OWO hotel, combining a gym with personal trainers, physiologists, recovery experts, and the Pillar Kitchen restaurant.

Harry lives his work, and he also chases his work around London parks - he's famously the trainer who got Boris Johnson back into shape during his time as Prime Minister. But his work isn't restricted to politics, he trains Love Island contestants and its presenter Laura Whitmore as well as FTSE 100 CEOs and Hollywood A-Listers. But he is famously discreet, and his methods take in mental-health practises and good food as much as physical work-outs, which makes him a man to worth listening to if you want to shake off the pounds.

Five Minutes with Harry Jameson

We all know there isn’t a five-minute fix, however... we also know that consistent behaviour over time is what yields results. My morning five-minute ritual involves a cold shower/ice bath and a focused box-breathing exercise. Box breathing is a mindful breathing technique that helps to focus the mind and manage stress.

It involves breathing in for a count of four, holding for a count of four, exhaling for a count of four and then holding again for four. Each count of four represents a side of a square that is visualised while inhaling or exhaling. This form of meditation has been proven to help down-regulate the autonomic nervous system, which helps both the body and mind relax and move away from the fight or flight response.

These two things regulate your nervous system, giving you more energy and a big endorphins kick, which in turn gives you the tools to burn more calories in the gym and through overall physical activity.

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A nutritious meal for healthy eating is... a high-protein breakfast. This is key, I always go for eggs and smoked salmon. A quick fix I reach for is... a biltong. To satisfy sweet cravings, I snack on berries.

In fitness people look for... ‘feeling’ — we want our clients to feel happy, energised and focused. This is the result of moving, eating and recovering properly. Fitness is a tool to help you feel confident and energised — it’s a new way of looking at exercise than just body shape.

The best piece of home gym equipment to invest in is... The Technogym bench. It’s compact and contains weights, resistance bands and other practical bits of resistance kit. It also acts as a storage unit.

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I think that intermittent fasting is... .controversial, as not everyone agrees with it, but I do it personally and with clients and see a number of benefits: it reduces overall net calorie intake; it creates focus and discipline; it makes it easier to move the body into ketosis (using stored fat for energy); it provides a simple structure for those with busy schedules; it gives a little less restriction during ‘feeding windows’ to eat what you like; and it is sustainable over a fairly long period of time.

The best way to avoid cramp is to... stay hydrated and take on electrolytes. Bananas contain potassium, which is good for stopping cramps.

The best tip for summer arms is to... work biceps and triceps together in supersets. Use simple dumbbells for bicep curls and tricep ‘kickbacks’.

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We can beat travel jetlag by... using a warm shower and then let your body cool naturally at the end of the day. As you cool, your body will naturally start to produce melatonin, your natural sleep hormone.

My favourite apps and tech are... the app Whoop to track sleep and recovery — and I love my new Apple watch.

Vitality Training at The Owo London