‘I lost 19kg in 20 days’: How Shane Barker overcame brain surgery to become South Australia’s best personal trainer

At 17 a brain infection stripped an SA teen of his fitness, he gave up on school and it eventually sparked his heath journey, now he’s been named the state’s top PT.

Ruby Stewart

2 min read

September 12, 2024 - 7:00PM

Shane Barker has been voted SA's best Personal Trainer. Picture: Dean Martin

Lifestyle

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An abscess on his brain stripped a South Australian teen of his heath and fitness, now he’s been named the state’s best personal trainer.

When doctors told Shane Barker he needed brain surgery and an extended hospital stay, he began a downward spiral.

After training hard throughout his teenage years to build muscle and improve his health, the then 17-year-old lost all of his hard work in a matter of weeks losing 19kg in only 20 days.

“I went through two surgeries to get rid of the infection on my brain, which then set me back about six months to a year,” Mr Barker said.

Shane Barker was overwhelmed to find out the public had voted the state’s best personal trainer. Picture: Dean Martin

Mr Barker runs a training service out of the Universal Balance studio in Redwood Park. Picture: Dean Martin

“I got very mentally down on myself in that time and then after I sort of wrote school off, still finished Year 12 but I was not too engaged in doing well.”

Against the odds, Mr Barker reignited his passion for exercise and has pursued a career in personal training.

“I felt like I wasn’t worthy in a gym and I wouldn’t regain that progress,” he said.

“But I sort of just reached a point where I was like ‘you know what, I survived, I got through this and I don’t really have another choice.

“It was more of a case of kind of switching my brain over to more problem solving … rather than just sitting in it.”

Shane Barker after his brain surgery in 2018 aged 17. Picture: Supplied

Shane Barker lost 19kg in 20 days after brain surgery at 17. Picture: Supplied

Shane Barker after his brain surgery in 2018 aged 17-years-old. He has now been voted as SA’s Best Personal Trainer 2024. Picture: Supplied

Now 24 years old, Mr Barker runs his own personal training service out of the Universal Balance studio in Redwood Park and he has been voted SA’s best personal trainer for 2024.

When The Advertiser rang with the good news, Mr Barker said it was “overwhelming in a good way” to be named the state’s top trainer.

“I’ve been a personal trainer for six years now so I guess it shows that all the effort I put in is not going to waste,” he said.

“I try to fit fitness into someone’s life not fit someone into fitness, which basically means that when I have clients come to me and a lot of the time they’ve had a goal in their mind for years … I try to get people to fit fitness into whatever they’re doing in their life at the current moment.

PT Shane Barker with regular clients Brooke Holloway, Jodi Douglas, Kylie Kyriacou, Christine Ruby, and Aaron Posad, who say he goes above and beyond helping them stay fit. Picture: Dean Martin

“It’s about making these small changes, building up your resilience and your mindset.”

Accountability can be one of the biggest challenges in anyone’s fitness journey and Mr Barker said a personal trainer can assist in ensuring you are sticking to your health goals.

“It just doesn’t work being that hard trainer where you are just going to scream at someone to do more reps, because the industry is growing, we are learning more about the right way to build muscle and lose fat,” he said.

“It’s not so much about that cookie cutter approach anymore, it’s really about advice.

“I just let (clients) know that I’m human, I have gone through certain things to get where I’m at and it’s possible for them.”