I was first introduced to Chris through a mutual friend who he'd also trained. I didn't really know what Personal Training would look like, I envisaged, you'd meet someone in a gym 2-3 times per week, they'd tell you to pick up something heavy then put it down again, repeat for an hour, then go home, hopefully at some point along the way you'd magically lose all your weight and live happily ever after.
Whilst a small part of that is true, what I massively underestimated was the power and impact of the coaching, mentoring, and accountability. You might think, I'll just got to the gym by myself, or with a friend, or someone from work, well, what's worse than one sheep stuck in a cattle grid - TWO. You reach a point, and age (I'm 37) where you need professional input, if there was an issue with your car, you'd take it to be fixed by a mechanic, there was a problem with my body and it needed to be fixed, permanently.
On top of that, because I do a manual job, I was very aware of sustaining an injury which could prevent me from working. I wanted to be shown how to weight train, not just effectively but also safely.
When we had our initial call, I explained I'd already lost 30kg myself through a combination of calorie counting and walking 10,000 steps per day, however, when I reached my goal, I didn't really know where to go from there as there was no framework or structure in place. I hadn't changed who I was or what I was doing to lose weight and keep it off permanently I was just on a mission to reach a goal using a combination of will power and determination - as it turned out I'm pretty determined, but you can't rely on that forever.
I knew I needed help, I'd regained some of the weight I'd originally lost, old habits really do die hard. I just wasn't sure on what I needed help with.
So I took a punt and met Chris at the gym for my first session - after panic buying mis-matching XXL gym wear... yikes.
The first three months were focused on flexibility and mobility, areas I was not even aware I was in desperate need of help, however, this isn't the fun part of training, and I didn't feel like this was helping me lose weight, again, I was looking for this magic wand (it doesn't exist). Chris explained - you can't build a house by starting with the roof, so I just had to trust in the process.
Three months later and I'd made progress, in terms of not missing a session, however, I was still trying to see what I could get away with, I was still drinking booze with great enthusiasm 2-3 times a week, eating whatever I wanted, whenever I wanted. So the number on the scale wasn't going down - it was actually creeping up!!!!
Chris could see I was stuck in a rut, we had a chat, well, more of an intervention, thankfully, after I'd had an internal tantrum, I responded positively, cut out booze (initially at least), downloaded MyFitnessPal, started eating clean, healthy, balanced, whole foods, hitting my protein targets and results came fast, much faster than I expected, I just needed to stay consistent. My weight would hover in the same area for up to 10-14 days then one drop 1kg.
3 months after the chat, I was 22kg down, fitter, healthier, stronger. I'm now 50kg down and am now doing the hard work, keeping it off for life.
Chris helped me build a system that is up and running for life, I strategically eat more on the days I go to the gym, these are also my days off so it feels like I'm treating myself, I don't drink booze 80% of the time so the 20% of the time I do, I can - guilt free.
So if you're serious about changing your life - and not just losing weight - then give these guys a shout.
10/10
P.S. Rob is also lovely.