Mike McGraw

Occupation: Director www.development-initiatives.co.uk

Goals: Complete 114km charity ride and lose some weight

Comments from Mike

Having foolishly agreed to 114km charity ride in January 2011, not having cycled for too many years, the July deadline gave enough time to prepare and gain a reasonable level of fitness. The sensible thing was to seek professional advice and John Williams at HFPT provided exactly that.

The initial challenge of a rigorous two hour physical examination turned out to be a thoroughly enjoyable and non-threatening experience. This was owing to two things. Firstly the  application of a sound process and secondly John’s ability to understand the person he is advising and adopt an appropriate approach.

The process starts with both parties understanding what your precise objectives are. Then basic measurements such as height, weight, body mass index and heart rates are measured to form a basis for the rest of the examination and final training plan.

Just about every metric on joint flexibility and stretching are assessed, exercises explained, demonstrated, practised and agreed as part of the plan. Sessions on the turbo trainer measure heart rates and anaerobic thresholds and all the measurements disappear into a laptop. Only to reappear in an easily understandable format in the final plan and recommendations.

The properly presented training plan is received within 48 hrs. and a mid-term formal review, plus Skype calls to check anything you have forgotten, keeps you on track.

With the ride successfully completed and with a lighter fitter body, I can only recommend John and HFPT. He is professional,  meticulous and supportive.

Comments from John

Mike was great to work with being very clear about what he wanted to achieve and open with his concerns. Based on the insights from Mike and the fitness assessment results I devised Mike a challenging long term training plan with stretch routines, resistance workouts and cycle sessions. Mike followed the plan excellently asking a few questions on the way to clarify things. I was thrilled for Mike when he communicated that he had completed his charity ride for Springboard UK with an average speed quicker than the original goal! Very impressive.