Sunday saw the official launch party for UP Manchester, the global personal training company owned by Nick Mitchell who is often labelled as one of the best trainers in the world.

The event was held at the Old Granada Studios, the temporary base for UP. They’ll be moving to Spinningfields next year. On arrival I was introduced to Coronation Street actress and new mum Catherine Tyldesley.

Catherine was extremely friendly and was happy to take time out to answer fitness and nutrition related questions from myself and fellow bloggers Nina and Anoushka. Catherine has known Nick Mitchell for 3 years and trained at his Mayfair gym in London, she was so impressed with the quality of training that she would regularly travel to London on her days off just to train.

As you can see from the photo Catherine looks remarkable just 6 months after the birth of baby Alfie (the adorable little man was in attendance) and one of the questions I was keen to ask was what was her training regime whilst pregnant and does she follow a nutrition plan.

“I continued weight-training right until I was 7 months pregnant. Then 4 weeks after birth and after seeking advice I started light exercise by walking and now I train for around an hour doing HIIT and weights with Matt Warner. Everything is so well researched and detailed, even using blood analysis so I know I am getting the best training and I am now almost at my pre-pregnancy weight. The first thing they did was asses my gut health to see what foods I should be eating for better energy and to help me sleep better.”

Also in attendance were X Factor’s Josh Daniels, a handful of Coronation actresses and some more local celebs.

After the interview I sampled the food on offer which included a BBQ and lots of healthy options and protein-rich foods such as salmon and eggs. And since we all love chocolate we were treated to handmade chocolate protein balls (yum).

Drinks were provided by Hildon Natural Water, Vita Coco and Rust and Stone, the latter providing delicious smoothies.

We were then called back in to the gym to hear a few words from CEO Nick Mitchell where he discussed the reasons for bringing UP to Manchester and future plans including plans to branch out in Dubai, Tokyo and Beverly Hills, with a Glasgow gym due to open shortly. He was also kind enough to give us an insight in what training at UP involves. And was extremely motivating when discussing how you can achieve great results by committing just 3 days of training , following the plan 100% and making yourself accountable.

Next it was ribbon-cutting time courtesy of Nick, Catherine and Emmerdale actress Gemma Atkinson who’s partner Olly Foster is a trainer at UP.

I must say after a few months of struggling with motivation and missing gym sessions I left the event feeling very motivated and with a very generous goody bag which included protein bars and flapjacks from Reflex and pieces of gym kit from UP.