Springfield Personal Training

Reminder! I’ll be closing the studio for half term next week, but will be back ready to coach on 3/11.

I’ve had a stinking, snot fest of a cold this week, so have had to avoid all in-person training. I was also in a nice groove with my own training, but have learnt over the years that training with a cold doesn’t do me much good at all.

Instead, I’ve been focusing on mindful, The Iceman (Wim Hof) breathing techniques and gentle stretching, followed by cold showers.

It’s always hard to know whether the stuff you’re doing is helping, or whether you would have just gotten over the cold anyway, but it’s been a mental boost to know that I’m keeping my lungs strong and building resilience.

See you after the break!

A final session before a few weeks rest from training people…a nice little barbell complex! Rows, stiff leg deads, cleans, cleans + press, press. Good for my mobility and gets me out of puff!

I’ll be contacting people on 16th August to fill in slots for that week on a first come first served basis. Until then, keep your training ticking over and hopefully enjoy some sunshine!

First Covid jab….done!

Another step along the way to making training as safe as possible for both me and my clients.

When I first reopened the studio last year, I was very, very apprehensive. Even though I was cleaning thoroughly, keeping the room ventilated and wearing a visor, I still carried a lot of fear.

This time around though, the fear is gone. The mask, the cleaning, the ventilation…because I started it all last year, it is all now just part of the routine, and the anxiety isn’t there anymore.

In addition, i’ve been rapid testing twice a week, and now i’ve had my first jab. It all adds up to a really positive feeling…

While the studio was shut I had to take on some additional work outside of training, which will run through to the end of June. I’ve had some new enquiries (which is great!), but don’t have any availability for new people until early June, and then much more availability from July onwards. That said, it you’d like to find out more, or get your name down on the list, let me know!

It’s been a place for archery. Zoom discos. Zoom quizzes. Endless hours of being goalies. Evening zoom drinks with friends. Floor is lava courses. Football watching and indoor camping.

Everything but a place for Personal Training!

But tomorrow, I’ll once again be welcoming people into the studio, and I’ll once again be a Personal Trainer.

Like a lot of people, my job was very much impacted by the pandemic, which meant I had to find some alternative work. For the next few months I’ll be balancing both, with the hope that I’ll be in a position to take on some new clients by the summer.

Until then, I can’t wait to welcome back clients who have trusted me to train them for years, and I’ll do my best to fit everyone in.

See you in the power rack!

A beautiful morning in Lionmede Park, and the first step on returning to in-person Personal Training.

This week I’ve scheduled some trial outdoor sessions to help me get back into the swing of things. Remembering what to take, remembering to clean everything, sanitise throughout and keep a safe distance. It was genuinely uplifting to be back training someone in person.

The roadmap out of lockdown allows gyms to reopen on Monday 12 April, so all being well, I will restart in-person training on Wednesday 14th April. As before, that can either be outdoors in Lionmede Park or back in the studio (Hooray!).

Anyone that knows me won't be surprised to hear that I’ll be taking a very cautious approach to having people back in the studio, with doors open, sanitiser used regularly, a lot of space between us, and a lot of cleaning. I’ll also be wearing a mask while indoors. At that point in the roadmap, you will only be able to train inside with me on your own, or with people in your own household, so group classes will remain on hold for the time being.

If you’re looking to return to fitness but would prefer a private, safe space in Chelmsford, then drop me a line to find out more about how Personal Training can help.

Looking out at the ‘snow’ while online training this morning brought back some nice memories of all the times we trained in the snow when I used to run my Outdoor Fitness class on a Sunday morning. We were super hardy in those days! Flipping the big tyre during 0 degree temps and freezing rain....glory days!

To update you on our current situation, we’re still only offering online sessions with existing clients, and that will continue throughout February. We’ll review it again at the start of March.

Hopefully it won’t be too long before we all feel comfortable enough to restart training in the park, and then back in the studio.

Keep safe out there folks x x x x

“...Your Scientists Were So Preoccupied With Whether Or Not They Could, They Didn’t Stop To Think If They Should.”

Soon after the lockdown announcement was made, the updated guidance showed that you are still allowed to exercise outdoors with another person.

Since I restarted training people in the summer, the majority of my sessions have been outdoors, so from a financial and business point of view, I was relieved that I would be able to continue training people 121.

I have had so many discussions over the past six months about what a difference our training sessions have made to people’s physical and mental health during the pandemic, and my immediate gut reaction was that I wanted to continue to provide that support.

But Dr Ian Malcolm from J Park, kept returning to my head as I mulled over my decision.

Just because I could carry on training people doesn’t mean I should.

Okay, Jeff Goldblum, I hear you.

It’s clear we’re in a difficult situation right now. Even that’s probably a gross understatement. And while training one to one outside is allowed, and I feel perfectly safe with my approach to it, it doesn’t feel to me like it is in the spirit of lockdown, at a time when we need to minimise our social contact as much as possible.

So I’ve decided not to continue in-person training for the time being, and stick to the safety of remote sessions.

I’m afraid this also means that I won’t be taking on any new clients at this stage, which will allow me to focus on my current clients as well as homeschooling.

I hope you are all doing okay, and if you have any questions about beginning training, where to start with exercise, or need ideas of what you could do during this new lockdown, just drop me a line and I’ll be happy to help.

Another successful online session completed, with my super swanky set up of an old laptop balanced on top of a cajon on a bench, with internet from a lead which runs all the way to house!

I’ve had several enquiries about my Tier 3 status, and I can confirm that Personal Training can continue in our studio, outside and online.

We are still endeavouring to keep the studio as safe as possible - doors open, visor/mask on, cleaning in between clients, enough hand sanitiser to bathe in, keeping our distance etc.

We want it to be so safe that even if one of us unknowingly has COVID, our protocols will mean it won’t be passed on.

We’re running sessions right up until Christmas Eve, so if you did want to squeeze some Personal Training in before the big day, we’re ready for you!

We’ve had some fantastic sessions in the park this week, throwing around tyres, kettlebells, and using benches and the tennis courts to make up diverse, challenging workouts.

As we’re working out outdoors, there’s often people walking past, whether on their way to the play park or out with their dogs. I always wonder what they think when they see my sessions happening.

Today, they might have seen Cath Parmenter slamming this tyre to the ground and thought it looked really complex and intimidating. Yesterday, they might have seen Marilyn’s session, where we walked a lot and continued her rehab with gentle wrist, elbow and shoulder mobility exercises and thought it looks super easy, what’s the point of Personal Training?

The point is, it’s personal to you. Cath has been training with me for years, has a great understanding of positioning, bracing and a huge range of exercises, so tyre slams were pretty straightforward (and fun!). Marilyn is coming back from a bad elbow break and hasn’t trained for 18 months, so gentle mobility, walking, and working on moves prescribed by her physio are just what she needs right now.

So if you walk past and see us training, don’t worry! Your session, when we come to do it, will be exactly what you need.

Happy training!

You won’t be surprised to hear that from Thursday, we’ll once again be closing our studio. While it’s obviously disappointing, that’s the decision and I can’t change it.

So what can we do? Well, we can train outside! We spent the whole summer training in Lionmede Park, and with a few more layers, we can do the same again.

Plus! We can train online! We massively upgraded our internet speed in preparation for lockdown 2 (‘just in case’ proved useful this time!), so if you are a current client, I’m happy for us to move online.

If you aren’t a current client and want to train in the park or online over the next month, please get in touch ASAP to go on the waiting list. I’ll spend the next few days working out timings with everyone I currently train, and may have just a few slots left.

We can do this!

Yesterday I had this remarkable woman back in the studio after a long break!

Marilyn spent a large part of 2019 battling cancer, and finished her treatment just as the lockdown was put into place in March. Armed with enough wool to knit a hat for the entire population of Chelmsford, she expected lockdown to be full of recovery, post-cancer drugs and knitting - until she tripped over at home and broke her elbow.

It’s been a long road back, and in all honesty we were both a bit scared about her returning to exercise.

But we took things very gently - testing the elbow with gentle movements and then resistance band work, getting movement back into the shoulders, going through the exercises she’d got from her physio, and then getting to the floor and working on some broad pilates matwork.

The most important part of our session was towards the end - practicing getting up off the floor, and down again, several times. We tried several different ways and were both delighted that we found a way that was possible.

Marilyn continues to be a beacon of positivity when she would have every right to be down about the last two years.

Thanks for being awesome, Marilyn, and thanks for trusting me to be your Personal Trainer!

When we reopened the studio, we decided we would keep the windows and doors open for the whole winter. The more I read, the more it seems like the right choice. This article explains the importance...

UK could be urged to keep windows open in effort to curb Covid-19 Scientists call for information campaign as evidence on role of poor ventilation mounts