Testimonials

Since developing epilepsy 9 years ago I have been wary of doing a lot of the outdoor active sports I used to do.  ( Caving, surfing, walking the hills, cycling the mountains and long open water swims)

I’ve no interest in team sports bar the canoe polo that I used to play and now being a non-driver was limited to something within walking distance. I  was also after many years of outdoor sports crocked in various way with  various injuries. I needed something to give me a kick start to get me going again.

John provided that, he  oversaw a set of exercises to work the various muscles groups that I needed to work. Exercise that varied so that I didn’t get bored with the challenge that I was been faced with. Exercises that took account of the various areas that I PERSONALY needed to address. This was something that was specific to me and my needs as opposed to a general catch all that you get from other group sessions. He pushed me to go as hard as I could, not to pain, but to achieve my aim. His eye watched for the possibility that I was aggravating an injury and lead me to other exercises that achieved the same result but in a different less injury aggravating route. I also learned my strengths and weaknesses and ways to address same. That sort of custom tailored approach is not something you will get in big fitness centres, where you walk in and are let get on with it, or not get on with it ! Here  you get the motivation, you get instant feedback..

In my case with the reservations re triggering a seizure, or aggravating old injuries, the reassurance of someone keeping an eye over mattered.  When you have someone keeping an eye on you, you are inclined to keep on pushing and the odd gentle reminder is no harm. NB gentle friendly reminder, encouragement,  not this boot camp rubbish where the main response triggered is the desire to go over and nut the B******d.  Not that he let me relax and step down, no way, but the approach in encouraging me to push and push hard, increasing stepwise was right.

The others in the room were a friendly bunch and we were all striving at different levels to achieve our aims.

Having a specific appointment meant that you couldn’t fool yourself by saying ah sure  I’ll go tomorrow. If you didn’t go someone knew and might ask you about it next time. (After 20 years you learn to ignore the missus’s telling you to go out and exercise more J ) Not that I needed too much encouragement, I enjoyed the sessions, the banter and the dull ache at the end of the secession, the reaching of realistic targets,  gave me a sense of achievement that I’d missed.

Another gain was the food diary which was actually frequently read, comments and suggests made and change slowly introduced.

So at the end of the 4 weeks I can safely say while to body still is crocked, its less so,  I’ve kicked the Coke (a Cola) habit, my recovery times have come down,  and the mind is in a better place in regard to taking fitness restoration further.  ( which may please SHE WHO MUST BE OBEYED )

John

– John K

All the savvy fitness fans are ditching the treadmill and the aerobics class and taking over the weights room. So, obviously I had to take up the challenge presented by John Dwyer of the newly-opened gym in Naas Town Centre. Could four weeks of training on a free weights programme help me tone up and build
lean muscle?

My programme incorporated the benchpress, squats, deadlifts and shoulder presses, plus stability and core work.

Each session, and there were two a week, lasted about an hour. Here’s the thing to note about personal training
sessions – there is literally nowhere to hide and no fooling yourself that you’re working out when you’re really faffing around the back of the gym watching telly. Every angle is measured, every posture is corrected and every attempted cheat is spotted.

Week one, and who’d have thought rolling some tennis balls down your back could cause such agony? The foam rolling warm-up was definitely working out the knots in my back. One exercise had me simply crawling in a straight line up-and-down the floor, to work on my balance and coordination.

My eight-month-old niece would have been embarrassed at my technique. Hat tip to all babies out there, it’s harder than it looks.

The first ‘proper’ weights workout was very challenging, in that it takes repetition and concentration to get the
movements down correctly. It didn’t seem at the time like I was working hard, but my legs were like jelly and my heart galloping after it.

Week two and I was whingeing because the deadlifts were taking the skin off my hands. I decided it would look too girly to invest in a pair of gloves, so I take to the proffered bowl of chalk and channel my inner Soviet gymnast.
Switching grips during lifts helped immensely.

In my days ‘off ’ from the gym I incorporated as many long, brisk walks into my routine as possible, such as quick 40 minute spins in the evening, or opting to get the bus to work and speedwalking the 15 minutes to the stop.

By week three, my mobility had improved immensely and I could finally do a split squat. Foam rolling also didn’t hurt as much as at the start. Hitting weights targets become an enjoyable mental challenge and I’m thrilled to bits when I smash my number of squat reps.

John also spotted that I have a slight pelvic misalignment, and gave me some exercises to do which might prevent me developing a hopalong gait in the future.

Four weeks in and my movement was much more fluid and the challenge of doing just one more rep or at a slightly heavier weight had become addictive.

Unsurprisingly, at my retest, I’d lost inches all over and had gone down a jeans size. My stress levels have decreased and my joint mobility feels significantly smootherand the joints less achey. More importantly, I’m thinking I’ll be keeping this up – I’m not quitting without hitting that 50kg bench press and 80kg squat

– Laura Coates, The Leinster Leader