Personal training at Safe Strength Chepstow - Typical session
We making it easy
Clients can dress in ordinary or exercise-specific clothing as is their preference or simply what is convenient. Clients generate body heat during each exercise, but not to the point of sweating, and may remove a layer of clothing during the session. Clients arrive dressed in any way that makes them feel comfortable. They are not required to wear gym clothes. Business or casual clothes are welcome.
When clients arrive they are offered lemon flavoured water and set their things down. The first exercise is usually a small exercise to warm up the shoulders and discuss any physical updates relevant to the training. There is a customer toilet which clients are free to use and when they are ready the session begins. No mirrors or music is playing during a session and clients have 100% attention from their trainer. The privacy of the studio allows clients to focus on their exercise and not have any distractions or worry about any onlookers.
The start of the session
Then the session proceeds with between three and eight machine-based seated exercises done for a maximum of two minutes each. As a contrast to other forms of exercise there are no free weights such as dumbbells or kettlebells and clients are never given floor exercises. The client is monitored and coached through each movement during each exercise to make sure they have really good technique and stay safe with good biomechanical action. Each machine is set the same each session, customised to that person's unique limb and body sizing. The personal trainer encourages you to a suitable level of effort for your current fitness and conditioning, from very easy to very hard. A benefit of the consistent approach is that the trainer knows the clients capability and can precisely customise the resistance level to be challenging and invigorating each time. In each exercise clients are told which muscles are the target muscles so they can focus their effort and not deviate from good technique. This expert guidance is one of the most important parts of personal training and safe strength. Great detail is observed in how clients move during the exercises. Also specific to the needs of each client is the time taken between exercises; for those that are a little unsteady there is no need to rush.
Range of motion
Great care is taken to minimise any unnecessary aches after the session. Most clients report feeding good after each session and good between sessions, noticing how using all of their joints makes their body feel fresher and more relaxed between sessions. Feedback is constantly sought from the client on each exercise once completed and their overall state of well-being. Although several exercises Tend To Be invigorating high heart rates and sweating are avoided during safe strength sessions. One of the reasons for this is called venous return which is where, with this particular style of exercise, the muscles help push the blood back to the heart. The result is that the heart is assisted by the working muscles and the heart rate (usually expressed in beats per minute) does get as high as during intense aerobic / cardio-vascular exercise. Stretching is not part of Safe Strength sessions and neither is using an extreme range of motion. However when seated in machines securely it is possible to safely use a large range of motion for a given exercise/movement, this helps train the body to support that joint with the surrounding muscles. The best example of this is the leg press clients are able to bend their hips and knees further than they would when freestanding on the ground because there is no risk of falling and there's no requirement to keep your balance when you’re seated in a machine.
Stretching
Although specific stretch exercises can be of benefit it's the case that clients find no additional stretching is needed for Greater mobility in their joints to be achieved. Depending upon how experienced a client is, their body has learnt to relax muscles which aren't involved in an exercise and focus resources on the exercises which are involved in a given exercise. For instance, on a pushing exercise with your upper body the upper body pulling muscles are the antagonists and these learn to relax. By using muscles in this way, through a good range of motion, clients find it helps relieve tightness in muscles and become less stiff in their day to day movements. A tight muscle is usually a weak muscle so making everything stronger is of great benefit and feels great.
The end of the session
The last machine exercise performed is in the lumbar strength back machine, which is done at a very moderate level of intensity to ensure really good invigoration of the back muscles without risking strain. Also during this 2 minute exercise an education point for the week is explained to the client so they can improve their understanding on the ins and outs of strength training. Often at this time clients will ask the trainer questions about other aspects of their health and fitness. After the machine based routine is complete one or two specific band exercises are added on to target specific smaller muscles appropriate for that client. The client is encouraged to drink water before leaving and any change to the next session schedule is discussed. The next client may arrive to the studio before the end of a session however there is a separate waiting area so that the session doesn't get disturbed and remains private.
In a nutshell: just show up and we do the rest!
If you're considering a new strength training program, why not book an introduction at Safe Strength Chepstow. During a consultation, which takes about 45 minutes in total, you can have a 10-minute test workout so you can get familiar with what machines and what exercises are available and if you would be comfortable with the Safe Strength trainer.
The strength training studio and 1 to 1 coaching in Chepstow can be found here:
