Josh - 1 year
"Life at 300lbs almost wasn't worth living."
In the course of a year Josh has lost 77lbs (5.5 stone), significantly improved his strength and health markers, and now happily lives out his weekends hiking some of the best peaks in England, a long-awaited dream of his!
When we first spoke, Josh told me that he’d always been on the bigger side as a result of poor diet choices and a sedentary lifestyle, something which Covid only made worse. At nearly 300lbs, his confidence was rock bottom, he felt he had a diminished quality of life and with a history of diabetes in the family he knew he needed to make some big changes to his lifestyle before it was too late.
Fast forward one year and Josh’s relationship with food is completely different. He’s learned to love cooking and now understands what to eat to control his weight and fuel his body whilst allowing room for some indulgences. He’s earned his “gym bro” status consistently pushing his limits in the weights room 3 times a week (and enjoying it!), incorporating cardio into his weekly routine and heading out onto the trails most weekends for hikes he never even conceived of doing. For the first time in years, he even felt confident enough to hit the sauna with his friends, and felt really great about his body.
His confidence is shining bright. When we first started training together Josh was so nervous and would sometimes struggle to even look me in the eye. Nowadays he arrives for training with great chat up his sleeve, throws himself into lifting with fantastic form and energy, and has absolutely no problem ribbing me if he finds something I say funny!
Claire - 22 Weeks
Dropped 23lbs, built lean muscle, improved balance and coordination, and gained a whole lot of confidence along the way!
Claire had worked with personal trainers in the past but was looking for a new challenge that would not only shift the needle but also help her to fall in love with the process. She wanted a good education on both nutrition and lifting with proper technique, a structured plan to keep her accountable, and the right balance of carrot and stick to motivate her.
Claire's nutrition plan was centred around a sustainable calorie deficit with high protein and wiggle room for indulgences. Her training was a mixture of heavy lifting and conditioning, 2-3 times per week, following 2 progressive programmes for 10-weeks at a time. Claire is now functionally strong, drastically down on body fat, and her mobility has improved tenfold.
But the best part? She now genuinely looks forward to her training sessions and her confidence in her own abilities has shot through the roof. I hardly recognise the girl that walked through the door 22 weeks ago!
Neil - 6 Weeks
Neil’s knock-out transformation has boiled down to the effective execution of 3 core pillars:
1️⃣ - Regular strength training following a progressive programme
2️⃣ - Learning to lift with good form to maximise the effectiveness of movements
3️⃣ - Increasing calories with a focus on protein to facilitate the growth of new muscle tissue
“I've attempted this many times over the years and this is the first time that I've finally felt like it’s working… [I] can’t quite believe it.”
Neil reached out to me with clear goals - to gain mass and sculpt a muscular physique 💪
Neil had been the same weight for most of his adult life and had attempted to build muscle in the past but with little success. As a keen runner, his cardiac fitness was already in a great place but he was lacking the knowledge and consistency to effectively build out his physique in the gym. It was time for a change.
Over the six weeks, Neil was able to commit to training with me twice per week, plus 1-2 additional sessions on his own. I educated him on the What’s the How’s and the Why’s of the exercises I’d selected for his training, to help him squeeze every last drop out of the movements. We also completed a full nutritional review where it soon became clear that his active lifestyle demanded a higher caloric intake than he was accustomed to.
He has followed the plan to an absolute T and is living proof that you can make big changes in a short space of time with the right attitude, education and a little determination.
Sophie - 16 Weeks
Sophie came to me as a referral from one of my existing clients. She wanted to learn how to lift weights and lose a little weight in the process but she was nervous of the gym and didn't know how to get started. She also wanted help with her nutrition as previously she had lost weight only to put it back on again afterwards.
So what did we do? I got Sophie started with the basics of weight training which she picked up very quickly and for the first few weeks we focused mainly on getting her comfortable and moving well in the gym, whilst placing her in a small calorie deficit to start to bring her weight down. Then we began a more targeted diet phase, dropping her calories and gradually reversing her back up to maintenance. During this phase, Sophie lost over a stone in the first 6 weeks whilst continuing to build muscle and grow her confidence inside and outside of the gym.
Fast forward to week 16, Sophie has progressed all of her big lifts massively and was able to enjoy a higher number of calories over Christmas without gaining weight. Not only is she looking great, she also feels confident working out on her own in the gym without the fear of being watched or judged and now has the tools to manage her own diet and prevent weight regain. What's more, Sophie now feels happy enough in her own skin to allow friends and family to take photos of her at group events, so she can keep the memories forever!
Adele - 8 Weeks
Adele came to me in January 2022 being brand new to all things exercise and nutrition, looking to tone up and improve her posture. She is a busy mum to two little ones and wanted to take two hours a week out of her schedule to focus on herself and become healthier, leaner and stronger.
In just 8 short weeks of focused weightlifting and educated eating she did exactly that. Not only did she absolutely smash her fitness goals, losing 13lbs and rapidly building up her strength to hit some impressive PBs, she also clued up on the nutrient profiles of the foods she likes to eat and now makes smarter food choices to fuel her body and give it the goodness it deserves.
Adele isn't one to do things by halves and so every single session she showed up for herself, gave it her all and is proof that hard work and consistency pays off. I am so proud of how far she's come in such a short space of time and I hope her progress encourages anyone who needs a little nudge to take that first step, to get started and become a happier, healthier you.
Iain - 24 Weeks
Iain and I have been working together for 6 months to increase his strength and build a leaner and more muscular physique. It's safe to say he has been putting the work in and look at the results so far - WOW!
Iain already had experience working with PTs over the last few years so his base level of fitness was in a fairly good place, but his session plans were changing all the time and his progress had slowed right down. Over the last 6 months we've been focusing on progressive overload, sticking to the same two weekly sessions for 8-weeks at a time to allow him to drill down on form, get really good at a select number of exercises and nudge up his weights and reps each week to keep his body adapting.
As a former professional chef, rich food is at the centre of Iain's lifestyle and that wasn't about to change any time soon - nor should it need to. Iain has been able to make a modest reduction in his calories without too much trouble and has been getting his steps in with morning walks and weekend hikes, to allow him to continue enjoying all of the foods he loves whilst still losing weight.
Iain is one of the most hard working clients I've had the pleasure of working with. Each week it's Iain versus Iain and he continues to push himself out of his comfort zone to hit new PBs and build the body he wants. In the last 8 weeks alone, we've added another 17.5kg to his barbell bench press - talk about motivation!
"Jay takes the time to understand you and your lifestyle and tailors her programmes to match. The nutrition advice is also spot on. It's not like being at a bootcamp, more like having a cheerleader in your corner each time you go to the gym!"
- Graeme