So, the hard part is done for Mary, she has mailed me, probably told me what she would never tell anyone …  that she has more of less let herself go and has no interest in herself …  that’s a pretty unhappy place to be and it’s a pretty hard thing to admit even to yourself. We get the ball rolling, we have an appointment for the next morning.

Why so quick you ask? Ok so, Mary doesn’t seem like a very confident woman regarding how she looks and feels about herself, she’s quite vulnerable so anything can stop her from following this through.  She has a goal, 5 months which will be here in the blink of an eye and if she doesn’t do it now she’s going to regret it and wished she did it sooner.

My advice to anyone who can relate to Mary, act on it now and don’t wait around because even though our mind is a great thing, it doesn’t want change.  That little voice that’s making you feel like your ten-ton Tessie when you are nowhere near it, needs to be reprogrammed to a different way of thinking and using your body.

“After one training session your mind and body will love it.

TRUST ME. I HAVE WALKED YOUR WALK”

The Meeting

9am Mary shows up to Sharon Doherty fitness. We greet with a friendly hug and we take a seat.

I always ask straight away what I can do to help you, even though Mary did tell me in the email but when you connect with someone on a 1-1 level it just spills.  Now we have a foundation to work on, we chat about children, lifestyle, food, social life, but most importantly I touch base on the support network surrounding her …believe it or not I don’t ask any personal questions most clients just talk it out, I listen and now we have built a wider foundation.

We need to work on her mindset more than anything and I’ll do that while she trains with me in her sessions. So, I discuss Marys options and I offer classes or personal training or both, whatever she feels is the right one for her.

Mary decides the on the monthly Personal Training package which is 2 personal training sessions per week and unlimited access to SDF’s huge range of fitness classes.  She is delighted to hear that most of the women training with me are all in the same boat regarding how they feel about their bodies and most are between 30 and 55 years of age.  That made her feel so much more comfortable.

So, it’s two RT24 classes a week along with her 1-1 Personal Training, we won’t worry about her diet yet for the first month. I just want Mary mixing with likeminded women so, that combined with exercise will have a massive impact on her mind, which is where we need to start.

“We chat about the weighing scales and why I don’t agree with it.  However, we will try it for a week or two, but we will see more from the measuring tape than the weighing scales.”

I can chat about the weighting scales throughout her sessions and explain why I don’t use it or recommend anyone using it. We chat about her diet and we twigged a few things.  We change one or two things at a time and we see how it goes.

I removed all bread, no take away, no wine and 3 balanced meals a day with 2 snacks, remembering she’s not on a macro plan or counting calories.  I just want her to slightly change her relationship with food.

I go through my first diet bible that I wrote especially for changing eating habits and she is quite happy and seems positive leaving the gym… and surprisingly excited.

Session 1

The following lunchtime we get her started on her sessions. All very basic to start, I went through some fitness tests and light body weight exercises while talking to Mary with every rep.

This is the session that I build the clients programme around. I watch for weakness and strength and monitor every breath.

We do a full body session hitting everybody part and we finish with some light steady cardio. Was it tough? Yep but only because this is all new, her body was in shock but loving it at the same time. Walking out that door Mary feels awake … her mind feels awake, revived, free.  Marys body even though it’s tired, it’s a happy tired, an awake tired.  If you train and you have gone through a stage of not training, you will know what that feeling is like.

“THE SLUGGISH FEELING IS GONE. THE SPARK IS LIT.”

This incredible feeling is called endorphins.  When you train, these hormones are released from the brain and nervous system, they have a lot of physiological functions…. these are peptides which activate the body’s opiate receptors, causing the analgesic effect (feeling amazing).

All those big words. In other words, exercise makes you feel amazing. Who doesn’t want to feel amazing?

I build a programme for over the next 2 weeks for Mary using more compound exercises so I’m hitting more muscle groups at every session.  My sessions are mainly based around compound exercises and core with HIIT Cardio.

When working on Marys fitness levels and mindset, remember everything will fall into place. Even though I may focus on your legs or your back in a session you will still get a full body workout because I don’t agree with training 1 muscle group and ignoring the rest, yes, I’ll train a certain one harder, but the whole body will get worked on. Technique is also crucial, and this is something I am quite strict on even in classes.

I won’t go in detail about every session because I can’t, every session is different. But what I will say is that the benefits of personal training are huge and catered to the individual needs.

“Every person has different goals and reasons why they get personal training.”

Me as a coach, Personal Trainer, Sports Nutritionist and I also have a holistic background, I am also someone that has been over weight and under weight with an eating disorder that has maintained a healthy lifestyle as much as I promote it and I understand the daily chaos of life and how unbalanced it can get.

If this is something you would like more information on,
I’m always on hand to answer your questions or to arrange a chat …