Gary wanted to get in shape for a Triathlon in 10 weeks having never done one before. This was a brave undertaking for most people but even more so considering Gary had just admitted to barely being able to swim…eeek time to get this determined nut in the water.
(Triathlon=Swim bike and run a set distance for time)
We discussed what he expected to achieve, why he wanted to do it and what needed working on. Having lost a significant amount of weight already he wanted like to lose a little more and strengthen his body for the Triathlon and a Half Marathon. The reason for this undertaking? To keep his body in tip-top health due to having a heart condition and for the challenge.
So into the pool we went, splashing around and drinking the pool but found a very focused, hard working person who gives everything to improve. From nervous beginnings on the float and forays into the deep end we developed his front crawl and confidence to swim underwater. We also worked on competition prep working under time pressure to simulate the experience he would have on the day of the event.
Back on dry land I began to teach Gary the big lifts and essential human movements to give him muscular strength and endurance to minimise the risk of injury from the trials of tri training, we kept it all fresh too with agility and balance based work.
Well Gary did enter his race having lost considerable amounts of body fat and inches off his waist, his target was to finish in 1hour20 minutes, he smashed it in 1 hour 17 mins with the split times below, well done Gary 🙂
SWIM: 9:35 Â BIKE: 52:09 (23k)Â RUN: 15:46 (2.5k).
But rather than listen to me why not hear what Gary had to say about his experience below and perhaps it will inspire you to take on a competition challenge next year.
     “Having already made good strides to lose weight and get fit I found I was bored going to the gym and wanted to step things up. I had a long term target to run the Basingstoke Half Marathon and had been doing some running and cycling to get in shape. I started thinking about an interim target and thought I’d only need to add swimming and I could do a triathlon. So I duly found a triathlon and signed up. At this point I should point out that I don’t swim. Maybe just about splash down the length of a pool as long as it didn’t have a deep end!
Lizzie was recommended to me as a personal trainer with triathlon experience and knowledge. (I’ve since found out that she knows a hell of lot more than that).
I signed up for two sessions a week. One swimming – Lizzie is a qualified swimming coach – and the other mixing elements of her fat burner and the muscle strength programme.
It took a while before we could get going – I needed a doctor’s sign off as I have a condition called atrial fibrillation (basically an irregular heartbeat) and then just a few days before our first session I went and had a stroke, almost certainly caused by the AF.
I certainly wasn’t going to let that stop me. I had to postpone my triathlon and wait for the doctor’s OK to start training.
So how did the training go…Let’s start with the swimming. I don’t like swimming and don’t like being out of my depth. After I demonstrated my (lack of) swimming prowess to Lizzie at the start off our first session she stated “I think we’d better start at the beginning”…
 Lizzie definitely took me out of my comfort zone and put me under pressure during the swimming sessions, but also made it interesting by bringing in new drills and activities as I was ready for them.  We only had time for 8 lessons before I competed in the triathlon. It was only a super sprint distance and my swim time was slow, but it was a great feeling as I climbed out of the pool on the way to the first transition. Swimming is very much about technique and in my case mind over matter. Without the help and advice I got from Lizzie I would have struggled on both fronts. In particular my water confidence has improved massively and in the couple of sessions we had after the triathlon, when the pressure was off, Lizzie even had me diving in the deep end.
Parallel to the swimming sessions were the weekly workouts. As with the swimming, there is a lot of focus on doing the exercises right. “Point those lasers”, “heels down”, “straight back”, to be heard regularly. Each session is planned and no two weeks are alike. Lizzie has the rare ability to make these sessions hard (sometimes very hard) but fun at the same time. Most sessions we did outdoors too, thanks to the great summer we had this year.
The nutritional advice was also very useful, though I was less successful applying this! But I did try to bring in as much of the advice as I could.
The bottom line though is the result. The before and after stats show the success I was able to achieve over 10 weeks guided by Lizzie’s expertise. Particularly pleased with the body fat percentage that came down from 18.2% to 13.9% and the visibly noticeable 3 inches off the belly. We should have done a before and after photo! BTW I completed the half marathon in just over 2 hours and have also taken over 2 minutes off my 5k Parkrun PB.
If you are looking for a personal trainer that will listen to what your goals are, design a plan to get you there, work you hard but make you laugh, then you could do a lot worse than Lizzie Havers at Fitness Chrysalis.”
Well done Gary and lets look at what you are going to do this year!!
If you have a challenge you would like help with from writing a plan to getting serious training in drop me a line to see how I can help. Â 07891646667 Â fitnesschrysalis@gmail.com