“THE best medicine is to teach people to never need medicine at all,” says a young doctor from Malvern.

Dr Jack Darby is a firm believer in prevention and is passionate about fitness as a way to keep people healthy and reduce the risk of illness.

He is also convinced that fitness programmes can be used to help many people suffering from illness to improve their health and wellbeing.

Jack is a medical doctor who is practising as a personal fitness trainer and using his medical knowledge to develop tailor-made programmes for his clients.

He is trying to bridge the gap between the conventional Western medical approach to illness and the world of fitness training. He says the NHS is under immense strain and people believe they can live how the want and the doctor will be able to fix them.

“Throwing medications at problems is an imperfect solution, potentially giving rise to a whole host of new symptoms and complaints.

“I am not knocking conventional medicine, which is good. I am just looking at things in a different way,” he says.

And he’s had a bit of experience of how fitness can have a huge effect on health and wellbeing. As a young medical student at university in Leicester he lapsed into a diet of fast food and boozy nights out which saw his weight shoot up and his self-esteem plummet.

Jack decided to take charge of the situation and swapped his poor diet for a healthy one including vegetables, fruit, nuts and lean meat, while reducing his alcohol consumption. At the same time he started working out with weights and lost three stones of flab, replacing it with two-and-a-half stones of muscle. He says he felt brilliant.

When he started his training at the University of Leicester he wanted to qualify and practise as a GP, but he did what is known as an intercalated degree and went off to Loughborough University for a year to study Sport and Exercise Science before finishing his medical studies.

“I wanted to become a GP but Loughborough changed my mind. As a doctor you do not always have the time and resources to help change people. You feel a bit helpless within the system,” he adds.

He says many people who go to see a doctor because they don’t feel well are advised to get fit. But doctors don’t have an in depth knowledge of fitness training, while fitness trainers often don’t have knowledge of medical conditions.

“Fitness is not taught at medical school and fitness instructors do not know enough about medicine.

“Many personal trainers qualify in as little as six weeks with a focus on fitness training and only basic appreciation of anatomy and physiology.

“While they can design a good work out for the average person, they may not have the expertise to truly tailor a session to suit more complex requirements.

“At best they might simply not hit the mark, at worst they can exacerbate existing conditions or cause injury.

“Similarly, doctors rarely have a genuine appreciation of the intricacies of fitness training, having only a general understanding of the nuances of aerobic versus resistance training or high-intensity interval training versus steady state cardio.”

Jack, who runs Medift based in Malvern Link, says he focuses on four areas – sedentary lifestyle, poor diet, stress and sleep – and he doesn’t consider illnesses are a barrier to fitness, although he does not work with anyone suffering from a serious heart condition.

He says most of the people he works with are overweight and don’t feel good about themselves but exercise makes people feel great.

“Some are wanting to get relief from an ailment or get more vitality. There are a lot of people with diabetes and back problems, fibromyalgia and polymyalgia.

“I have a client with spinal injuries and diabetes. He has lost five stone and he is walking around and wants to be a fitness trainer.

“I believe my approach is unique and there is a need for it. There are not many doctors who take this approach but my feeling is that if it helps the patient, do it. It is just me using my skills in the most efficient way possible.”

Although his clients pay for their personal fitness programmes, he ultimately wants to provide fitness and wellbeing to people with medical conditions free with a GP or hospital referral.

“Some people could come to me for eight weeks at a fraction of the cost to the NHS and nip their condition in the bud. Everything is tailor-made to the individual. They have a personal consultation on their medical history as well as about all the things that would impact on exercise.

“I create an exercise programme for them and do it with them. I tell them what works and why it works. They are training with me and it is completely safe and I know they are doing it.

“Most of my clients stay for a few weeks and then they can go off and are free to do it themselves if they want to. I am transferring knowledge in a safe environment.”

More information on Jack and his approach to health and wellbeing is available by visiting http://medifitpersonaltraining.com/index.php/dr-jack-darby/, emailing queries@medifitpersonaltraining.com or phoning 07866 735780.

“Educating and empowering the public is a steadfast way to improve the health of our nation and I want to be instrumental in that.

“Being well is freely available to everyone,” Jack concludes.