Month: March 2023

How do we track your progress… 

Once we have started working together with our personal training and we are confident that the fundamentals of movement patterns, exercise technique have been completed and your confidence has grown in these areas, we move to tracking progress. 

This can be done in a variety of methods, my personal choice is whatever works best for each individual client. Some peoples’ main goal is to lose weight so we use the weighing scales, if your goal is to drop a dress size we will use measuring tape. If your goal is to get stronger we will track your lifts and compare them on a monthly basis. If you want to be healthier in general we will track heart rate and recovery times. 

Often we will use all of the above and at times one or more will become obsolete to us. For example if your goal is to lose weight after a while the scales aren’t going to change as you already have low body fat, at this point you may want to set new goals and news tracking methods. 

Tracking progress is an extremely useful way of keeping you on track and seeing your goals get closer and closer each week is an incredible motivator. But it can be the poison apple and I always advise my clients not to get too hung up on any progress tracking as at some point fat loss will slow down, muscle growth slows and weight numbers stagnate, simply put you plateau and at this point you have to stay confident that progress is made even if the needle is moving far slower than it began. 

Tracking progress is incredibly useful but it is just a tool. Your general feeling of wellbeing, confidence in how you look and your body’s ability to perform any function you need it to are all indicators of progress that we can’t track but I would value those methods above all others.

Working as a personal trainer in Galway, it’s my responsibility to make sure you are getting the value from your investment in your exercise regimen. If you are training alone now, stuck in a rut or just not seeing the fitness results you’d expect, please contact me to discuss how I might be able to help you.

The following paragraphs will outline what our first PT sessions in Galway will look like.

As many people can be slightly intimidated by the gym environment and even the concept of hiring a personal trainer in Galway, I try to meet my clients at the entrance door and give them a brief tour of the facilities, changing room location, lockers, and the gym floor where we will be doing the bulk of our work.

The next step is to get started with gentle warm up, we will tend to use the treadmill but any preferred piece of cardio equipment will of course be used. This initial warm up serves two purposes, number one is of course promoting blood flow to the muscles but also this allows us to chat a little bit to ease any nervous tension. This initial few minutes is just general casual conversation, nothing about exercise, this could be what you did at the weekend, or how your day is going.

When we have gotten some blood flow we will move to the assessment part of our session. We will perform a number of tests which do not give a pass or fail result, they are more to  give me a deeper look into what your strengths and weaknesses are. We will do several mobility and flexibility tests as well and stability tests. After these tests are completed we will move to whatever is most necessary at that moment. If I feel that there is a mobility issue we need to start work on that immediately and I will demonstrate various exercises or movements to improve the mobility problem.

At this point we will move to movement patterns. Movement patterns are exercise techniques and these are absolutely essential to perform correctly. This will be the bulk of the training sessions going forward which will help you to build an aesthetic and functional physique. Correct movement patterns are essential to removing the risk of injuries, and will help us to achieve your goals as quickly as possible.

Our initial session will not be intense, on the contrary it will be relaxed and easy going. The main reason for the first session is for us to get to know each other, assess your current fitness levels and practise some of the essential movement patterns. As your new personal trainer, it’s my responsibility to get your new regime off to the right start and I hope this short article tells you a little bit more about me and how I work. Reach out today for a chat and I’d be delighted to tell you more about how I can help!