On Monday evening, I had the opportunity to try a personal training session with Absolute Body Solutions (ABS) and had an enjoyable, sweaty session that was the perfect balance of tough yet fun exercises.
The gym, located on East Parade in Leeds City Centre, has been up and running in Leeds for about a year and a half. At 4.15, I arrived for my 45 minute session, not totally sure what to expect. As someone who trains fairly regularly, I was a bit nervous about getting started and was wondering how difficult or easy it may be.
Getting started
I received a warm welcome from the ABS personal trainers and was pleased to see a gym with lots of equipment, that wasn’t overcrowded with people all trying to use the same kit – this made me feel more relaxed straight away. My coach for the session, Gareth, started off by getting to know me a bit; understanding if I had any current training habits and what they were, to help tailor the session.
In a private consultation room, I was then offered the opportunity to step on a body composition measurement machine. As someone who can be a little apprehensive about stepping on a scale, it was nice to have it presented in a way where it wasn’t a requirement, but offered in a way to find out a bit more about the make-up of your body. I decided to give it a go and see what it said.
After stepping on the scale and waiting about a minute for it to take my measurements, I received a printout of all the readings. This gave me information on my muscle mass, fat mass, where my body carries its muscle and fat, along with a wealth of other information. All of this was explained to me by my coach, Gareth, in a very straightforward, non-judgemental way, and we talked about what I could do if I wanted to shift any of the numbers.
The session
Before getting started, Gareth told me the session would be a full body workout. The session itself began with a short warm-up on an assault bike, which uses both your arms and legs. After a couple of minutes on the bike and ensuring my heart rate was up a little bit, I hopped off and got started on the first two exercises. My coach talked me through the two exercises (leg press and lying leg curl on respective machines) and demonstrated both for me, highlighting the key movement points for me to focus on.
Then it was my go – throughout I received instructions to make sure I was doing it correctly and getting the most out of the movements, as well as lots of positive encouragement to keep me going. The weights were adjusted as we went to make sure I was pushed hard enough, but wasn’t over doing it, and I got short breaks in between. I’m someone who can be fairly competitive, and Gareth picked up on this pretty quickly and used this to push me and get the most out of me – which was more than what thought I could do!
This format continued for the next set of two exercises, although we moved away from lower body exercises, to focus on the upper body (incline chest press and lat pull down). After repeating the exercises 4 times each, we then moved on to another set of two exercise (split squats and glute bridge), where I only did each exercise once.
Throughout, I felt very supported and safe with my coach, and he made sure to keep checking in with me to ensure it was at the right level of difficulty for me. We then finished the session with pushing a sled up and down the track and a final task of 10 press-ups. By this time my arms and legs were definitely feeling the burn and I could tell I was getting a great workout in, and had the sweat dripping to prove it!
After completing all the exercises, we then finished my time at ABS by having a chat about what I thought of the session and ideas of how to get the most out of my training and reach my fitness goals.
Final Thoughts
Overall, my personal training session at Absolute Body Solutions was a fantastic experience. The combination of expert instruction, quiet gym atmosphere and challenging yet rewarding training session, made for an enjoyable workout. I left feeling accomplished and motivated.
If you’re looking for a personal trainer to help get you started in the gym or are an experienced gym goer looking for a new programme or challenge, Absolute Body Solutions is definitely worth a visit.
For more information or to book a free consultation visit the Absolute Body Solutions website.
Main image: Alex with coach Gareth. Photography by Alex Christensen unless otherwise captioned.
