On 13th January, Birkenhead School and Linghams Booksellers in Heswall welcomed fitness coach, TV presenter and author, Joe Wicks, to the Wirral on his Veggie Lean in 15 book tour. Joe Wicks, otherwise known as The Body Coach, spoke to a full audience, who had travelled far and wide to listen to Joe talk about his Lean in 15 approach to diet and fitness.
Joe Wicks is a fitness phenomenon and we were delighted to welcome Joe to the School in conjunction with Linghams. January is a time when many of us will have set resolutions for the new year, so it was great timing for one of the UK's leading personal trainers to share his advice on exercise and eating a healthy diet.
Joe spoke to a full audience in Bushell Hall
Joe started out as a personal trainer, sharing his short intense high intensity internal training (HIIT) and 15 second recipe videos on social media. In just three years, he has transformed his personal training business into one of the biggest personal fitness brands, selling over 3 million books and building a strong following on social media, with 2.4 million people following him on Instagram alone. His influence is far reaching and an interesting statistic shared at the event is that Joe is personally credited for driving up sales of tenderstem brocolli, also known by Joe as 'midget trees', by 25%.
Joe talking about his new book 'Veggie Lean in 15'
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Joe’s passion for helping others to achieve their goals was undeniable and one of the many highlights of the talk was when he recognised a member of the audience, Tom, who had taken part in his 90 day plan and asked him to share his own personal story.
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Tom sharing his own inspirational story with the audience
Other audience members also had the opportunity to ask questions and get advice on topics ranging from diet and training tips, to how to set up their own personal training business and hair styling! Joe's passion is infectious and no doubt many audience members will now be completing HIIT sessions and following his 'Lean in 15' approach to diet and fitness.
Joe also spoke about the importance of questionning what goes into our food and how it is produced, such as the use of palm oil. Since becoming a father, Joe shared that he is much more aware of the long term impacts of our daily lives and the importance of addressing topics such as plastic pollution now.
Joe spoke about the importance of fitness on mental health which is something that the School looks to instil from a young age as part of an extensive co-curricular programme. It was opportune that Joe had chosen to speak at Birkenhead School, because he is now looking to develop a television series focusing on fitness in British schools during the course of this year following the success of his 'Fitness Weeks in Schools'. Mr Vicars, who is running the London Marathon in aid of Claire House, also took the opportunity to ask the Bodycoach for some training advice before he completes the marathon in April.
Mr Vicars, Headmaster, getting hints and tips from Joe, ahead of running the London Marathon in April in aid of Claire House.
Click here if you would like to sponsor Mr Vicars who is running the London Marathon for Claire House
Overall, it was another great event from Linghams Booksellers that has seen authors and high-profile names such as Sir Tony Robinson, Clare Balding, Chris Riddell, Carl Fogarty and Kate Humble visit the School.
Thank you to everyone who came to the event.
Click here to find out more about the School's Inspiring Talks Series.
You can view more photos from the event in the video below:
Photos taken by David Coleman. Copyright of David Coleman and Birkenhead School.