Kaushal Shah

Occupation: Dentist

Trainer: Stephen

Goal: Climb the Rwenzoris mountains

Comments from Kaushal

I came to Stephen to devise a training schedule to help me climb the Rwenzoris (mountains on the Ugandan-Congo Border) in December 2010, this gave me about 3 months worth of training.

We met regularly once a week to review what I was doing in my own time at the gym, and also discussed practical things I could do to supplement my training – such as breaking in my boots and getting outside to walk as much as possible on uneven terrain as well as dietary advice. Aside from the strength and core exercises we did, I was impressed that Stephen was able to turn the gym space into an assault course that worked my entire body and especially the muscles I would use when climbing.

As I was able to complete the climb, this helped me to achieve my goal and proved the value of the training I received. It has also encouraged me to maintain my level of fitness from now on. I would recommend Stephen as a trainer for anyone wishing to get more out a gym, to get functional exercise and achieve their goals.

Comments from Trainer

Kaushal was a joy to train, for a number of reasons: his attitude, which was focused and committed. His goal was specific and we had a time frame to work to.

The main purpose of the training was to build endurance capability, but due to the nature of the terrain there was a need to develop balance, coordination and strong stabiliser muscles to cope with unstable terrain. To achieve this we focused on core stability, total body strength and endurance, and cardio workouts.

Our favourite method of training was turning the gym into an obstacle course: this allowed for whole body integration whilst coping with changing terrain, and it also gave me the opportunity to see how Kaushal’s body coped with various movement patterns so, if need be, we could adjust specific aspects of the training to cope with any compensations.

The results speak for themselves, it was fantastic to meet up with Kaushal in the New Year and see the sense of achievement on his face for having achieved a fantastic result.

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