Client work
What I actually did with each client.
Where they started, the exact changes I made to their training, and what came out the other side. Names withheld until clients approve their own words.
52, desk job, never lifted before
She couldn't get her own suitcase into an overhead bin and had started avoiding trips because of it. She'd walked daily for years and assumed that was enough.
What I did
- —Benchmarked her on a trap-bar deadlift, a farmer's carry and a sit-to-stand so we had numbers instead of feelings.
- —Built two 40-minute full-body sessions a week around hinge, carry and press — nothing else, until those moved.
- —Added load in small, boring increments every second week rather than chasing a hard session.
- —Taught her to brace and breathe before every set, which is what actually made the weight feel light.
Eleven weeks later she pulled 135 lb off the floor and carried two 40 lb dumbbells the length of the gym. The suitcase stopped being a decision.
Deadlift: bar only to 135 lb in 11 weeks
46, perimenopause, training hard and exhausted
Five HIIT classes a week, waking at 3am most nights for two years, and convinced she needed to push harder.
What I did
- —Cut her training from five high-intensity sessions to three strength sessions plus walking.
- —Moved the hardest session to the morning and capped evening work at low-intensity mobility.
- —Set a protein floor at every meal and stopped the accidental under-eating that was driving the 3am wake-ups.
- —Tracked sleep alongside training load each week so she could see the trade rather than take my word for it.
By week six the night waking mostly stopped, and her lifts went up despite training less. Strength and recovery stopped competing.
Waking most nights to sleeping through by week 6
58, gym member for years, machines only
She'd had a gym membership for six years and had never used the free-weight area because she didn't want to be watched.
What I did
- —Spent the first three sessions on the squat and bench setup itself — bar height, safety pins, how to bail — so the equipment stopped being unfamiliar.
- —Gave her a written session card with exact weights and rest, so she never had to improvise on the floor.
- —Filmed her squat every fortnight and reviewed it with her instead of correcting her in the moment.
- —Progressed her to a full barbell squat over four months, with a box squat regression on stiff days.
She now sets up in the rack at peak hours and takes as long as she needs. The confidence came from knowing the plan, not from encouragement.
Machines only to barbell squatting in the rack
49, old knee injury, told to stop squatting
Two previous coaches had either ignored her knee or built the entire programme around protecting it, so she'd never actually progressed.
What I did
- —Worked out her pain-free range with a box squat and trained inside it rather than avoiding the movement.
- —Built single-leg strength — split squats, step-downs — to fix the side-to-side gap that was loading the knee.
- —Wrote a same-day regression for every exercise so a bad knee day changed the version, not the session.
- —Kept upper body and hinge work progressing at full load the whole time.
Nine months in she squats to depth without pain and hasn't missed a planned session because of her knee since month two.
Pain-free full-depth squat in 9 months
44, two kids, nine abandoned programmes
Every plan she'd tried needed five sessions a week and a schedule she didn't have, so she'd quit each one inside a month.
What I did
- —Designed the programme around the two sessions she could genuinely protect, and made those two count.
- —Wrote a 20-minute emergency version of each session for the weeks that fell apart.
- —Removed weigh-ins entirely and measured progress on lifts and benchmarks instead.
- —Reviewed the plan monthly against her actual calendar rather than her intentions.
Eight months in with no restart, and she's added weight to every main lift. The plan bent around her life instead of the reverse.
8 months, no restart
61, retired, wanted to keep up with grandchildren
Getting off the floor meant a chair and a hand, and she'd started declining anything that involved sitting down low.
What I did
- —Benchmarked a timed sit-to-stand and a get-up from the floor on day one and repeated it every six weeks.
- —Trained hip and ankle range first, then loaded it — deadlifts, step-ups and loaded carries twice a week.
- —Added a weekly session of getting down to the floor and back up, practised as a skill rather than a test.
- —Kept intensity moderate and frequency steady so nothing ever left her too sore to train the next week.
She gets up off the floor without hands, and stopped noticing when she does it — which is the actual goal.
Floor-to-stand without hands
Written by the coach and based on real client work; details are composited and names withheld for privacy. Individual results vary.