Aileen 75 years old came to me struggling to walk upstairs let alone take part in any fitness classes. Starting gradually she was able to slowly work her way on to a new machine each month. Sometimes it would be a step back to take two steps forward. We began on just the treadmill at the slowest speed and lowest incline because she was unable to work on any other cardio machine due to her arthritic knees.
Over the months she has progressed and is still working hard with her training. Personal training helped her become more physically active when taking part in exercise but also in her everyday life. She can now use every single machine in the gym and has reduced her pain dramatically. She now takes part in an additional class at the end of the week which seemed impossible at the start.
Aileen also went on holiday for a week, and on her return, she mentioned the hotel was on a very steep hill. She spoke about how her knees tackled the steep inclines with ease and that if she had not taken part in physical exercise her holiday would have not been the same. Top work Aileen.
In October 2019, following months of pain, an MRI scan showed that I had a large extruded L4/L5 disc herniation. This left me feeling apprehensive of any physical activity and as such my physical and mental health suffered significantly. However, with Gaz’s encouragement and support, when lockdown restrictions were eased Gaz started to work with me to gradually get my confidence back.
In my first session, I nearly backed out of going, to be honest, but Gaz put me at ease straight away, and like the pro he is, he worked out what areas I needed to strengthen in order to support the recovery of my back. As part of my review with the spinal team at Leeds hospital and I told them the exercises and strengthening I was doing with Gaz and they were more than happy I was doing the right things. I’m pleased to say I’ve been told by the hospital following another scan that the disc has returned! Thanks to Gaz my confidence is growing in what I can do and even when I have a wobble he breaks it down so that I can make small steps to reach the end goal.
Gaz is extremely knowledgeable on safe techniques in using weights and I have absolute trust and faith in him. My strength is improving and I’m even doing deadlifts!
