Personal Training

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Targeted Sessions

It would not be practical to detail every possible session due to the inherent variety of personal training. However, training sessions tend to follow a rough structure depending on your particular set of goals.

Weight loss

Sessions concentrate on activities that will burn the highest number of calories, and have the most significant effect on increasing your post exercise calorie burn. Nutrition advice also features heavily in weight loss programs, but during the 1:1 sessions we tend to focus on “sweat sessions” to maximise results.

Improve fitness

Whilst an increase in fitness is a natural by-product of any weight-loss program, if your goal is to get a bit fitter whilst perhaps losing a few pounds along the way, training sessions take on a slightly different look. The focus is still on functional movement patterns, but workouts generally build to a higher intensity as fitness increases. Weight loss is now the by-product of this type of workout but goals tend to centre on improving performance rather than just losing pounds.

Toning

Perhaps the hardest goals to achieve are those that involve toning muscles. Losing weight is relatively easy when you have a lot to lose, but shifting those last 5 or 6 stubborn pounds is more challenging. Training sessions use targeted exercises to focus the attention on particular areas, whilst maintaining the ethos of working the body as a whole. Whilst is it physiologically impossible to “target train” an area and spot reduce body fat, certain exercises have a greater effect of toning the underlying muscle than others, providing quicker results than more general programs.

Posture and back care

All training sessions have posture and alignment at their core but if you have been suffering with back pain or painful joint movement caused by poor posture, you will benefit from carrying out certain exercises. Improving mobility and becoming aware of your posture are the foundations of any effective training program and if your main goal centres on improving the way you move then your workouts will have a greater emphasis on body awareness, balance and core stability.

Stress management

It has long been accepted that exercise can help reduce the harmful effects of stress, but not all exercise is equal in achieving this goal. High intensity exercise can actually increase the level of the stress hormone cortisol, one of the most common precursors to high levels of belly fat. Exercises that reduce or limit your body’s production of this hormone are most effective at managing stress and promoting overall well being. There are also several stress management techniques that can be applied ranging from nutritional interventions and sleep patterns to improving personal effectiveness and productivity.

Sports conditioning

If you play sport to any level, your requirements as a client become very different. Alongside your more general goals (e.g. weight management, improve fitness and muscle tone), improving sports performance is an underlying principle of every session. Specific sports that benefit from conditioning exercises include anything where elements of fitness are called into action.

Golf – increase your swing power by developing a smoother, longer backswing and more stable foundation to drive from. Rotational stability and mobility are key elements in an effective golf swing and making improvements in this area involves the application of several exercises and stretches

Racquet sports – moving about the court, maintaining balance and delivering more powerful shots can be developed by engaging in a functional conditioning program involving agility, reactivity and quickness (AQR)

Ball sports – improved speed off the ball or to the breakdown, more agile movements and increased fitness to the end of the match are fitness elements that can be improved with a functional conditioning program

Equipment

We will use a variety of equipment during our personal training workouts, including some of the following:

	Kettlebells have been around for centuries but have only recently begun to feature heavily in the fitness industry. They can be used for a multitude of exercises and once the technique has been mastered they are highly effective at producing incredible results
	Suspension trainers utilise your own body weight and allow you to perform an enormous variety of targeted exercises. The suspension trainer is attached to a point (top of a door or tree for example) and then you place your hands or feet into the straps to perform the exercises
	Swiss balls are perhaps the most common piece of training equipment used by trainers. They provide an unstable surface to exercise from, forcing the core muscles to work harder than they would on a chair or bench. Classic exercises such as sit ups and back extensions work the core directly, whilst strength movements like presses and pulls work the body as a system
	BOSU balls work on a similar principle to Swiss balls, in that they provide an unstable surface to exercise from. The key difference is that they have a flat side, which enables you to perform standing exercises as well, which opens up a huge range of functional movements
	Resistance bands are used to provide added resistance in strength training exercises. They can be used in pressing, pulling and leg exercises to strengthen all the muscles of the body, and come in a range of strengths to accommodate different fitness levels