TESTIMONIALS
Sue 3 x 60 kg July 2016
Sue 3 x 60 kg July 2016
Sue 1 x 60kg Feb 2015
Charles Dec 18
Charles Aug 18
“My foray into strength training began in 2013 at the age of 73 following much urging from my daughter who had been working on her own strength training and who was concerned that her ageing parent should avoid the loss of mobility and risk of falls that many older people experience.
Reluctantly I began, not knowing quite what to expect and very nervous about injury to a back already weakened by surgery years before. I had also been diagnosed with COPD.
Within a few sessions I was totally hooked on this, to me, new form of exercise. If you enjoy a challenge, would like to see your strength and fitness increase and balance improve then this may be for you. It is really very exciting to go fairly quickly from half squatting with a light weight of 5kg to full squats with over 40kg. Deadlifting can be scary, particularly when you get to lifting your own body weight but also enormously exhilarating. Bench pressing is delightful as you get to lie down for a bit.
The results for me have been a noticeable increase in general fitness and muscle strength, i.e. when getting out of the bath and in balance, i.e. standing on a step ladder to change a high light bulb. I have also been able to prevent deterioration in my lung function from the COPD. A recent X-ray showed no sign of osteoporosis.
Stephen Weil is an excellent trainer who will never skimp on the warm up exercises and correct technique for each exercise at all times. He will never push you beyond what he knows you can do, although he will push you to do more than you think you can do. I can honestly say that I have never had an injury from the training in all these years.
Stephen also has a very pleasant personality and a wealth of stories about weight lifting and strength training in general which help the sessions along. It has been a real pleasure to work with him over the past four years."
​
Sue’s Story aged 77
"I worked with Stephen Weil while in London this summer (2017) with the result that he has wholly converted me to training with free weights in preference to machines. In only 12 weeks he had me dead-lifting 115% of my body weight, as well as bench-pressing 50kig/110lbs and squats with 70kg/155lbs.
My opinion about this is that it requires a high degree of trust in the trainer, thus while my ability to handle increasingly heavy free weights increased rapidly, so did my trust that Stephen would take me to whatever I could handle but never into the injury zone. And so it proved to be, with the result that my strength increased markedly, with no injuries and no concern about injuries.
Stephen has a finely-tuned ability to help his client go to the limit but never beyond it, so the result is always a triumphant feeling of accomplishment and a satisfied feeling of exhaustion. I think he is as good as it gets."
Charles - My age is 76. (Dec 2017)
"So we all know that exercise is good for you, and that you should keep it up when you retire. We did the usual and joined a gym, and then like most people we went for a few months and then didn’t go at all.
Then a chance meeting at our local micro pub lead us to chatting to Stephen. A Kiwi connection at first and then we were totally in awe of a video he showed us of a very fit weight lifting 77yr old lady. Fast forward and we are now trained by Stephen twice a week. Although it sounds slightly unbelievable training really is fun even though we work hard. We do a variety of exercises each session, from weights, to balance exercises to boxing.
More importantly unlike the gym we actually like going twice a week. We feel fitter, healthier and have had lots of laughs along the way. At age 61 and after 4 months of training, Deb can dead lift her own body weight and I’ve finally managed to do proper press ups. We both can see a change in our body shape (in a good way!) and although Deb has osteoarthritis in her knees, Stephen has very carefully strengthened her leg muscles which is helping enormously.
So we whole heartedly recommend Stephen as a weight trainer. And yes we do still occasionally meet in the pub, as you never know who you may bump into…"
Sharon & Deb Dec 2018