Testimonials
Francis, 35
Before I started trainer with Aspire exercising at a gym was always a chore and I would find excuses not to do it. However, since i started working with Dave, I really enjoy exercise and it's now a major part of my life. I feel and look fitter and my diet has improved. I always did eat healthily anyway but Dave reviewed my diet and made several suggestions that have really helped.
I would recommend Aspire to anyone they have made a huge difference to my health and fitness.
Penny, 53
In a bid to lose weight and get fit at the beginning of 2010 I started to exercise on my own at home. Although this worked for a while I developed a severe persistent and painful Achilles tendon injury that made even walking very difficult. I eventually went to my GP who said I should either give up exercising at home or join a gym. Neither idea filled me with joy but I went along to Elite Fitness for more information and met Dave.
I had a chat with him, outlining my problems and he was helpful and confident that I needn't give up exercising completely but it was more a matter of finding the best way forward. Being inherently lazy I knew if I just joined the gym I’d end up going twice and then give up and I was also concerned that working unsupervised would cause more damage to my various injuries. That left me with the option of Personal Training sessions, something I never thought I I would consider, imagining lots of pain, shouting, and humiliation. However, right from the initial meeting Dave was very professional and approachable and I decided to book one block of sessions to see how it went. It is a testament to Dave’s encouragement and patience and the result he has helped me achieve that I am still going 7 months later.
Having listened to my goals, Dave designed a series of exercise programmes to help me achieve them, initially working around my injuries until they repaired and then strengthening those areas to prevent a recurrence and he has regularly changed the programmes to avoid strain and boredom setting in. The results have been nothing short of amazing – I have struggled with my weight and fitness for decades but with Dave's expert help and encouragement, I have lost 5 stone, dropped 5 dress sizes and have so much more energy and stamina. At no point have I felt like giving up – Dave has an approach of firm encouragement that makes me want to keep going and to improve and I am absolutely 100% confident that with his help I will reach my goals – I only wish that I'd discovered him 10 years ago.
Dave, 55
I've be training with Dave for around a year now and he has helped me improve my badminton game by working on my core stability and leg strength so I can move quicker around the court.
Katie, 20
I was trying to get into the police force and had failed the push-pull section of the physical assessment twice. You're only allowed 3 chances at it so I knew I had to get serious! I booked in for a 6 week block of sessions and saw Dave twice each week to make sure I maximised my time before my final attempt at the assessment.
Dave assured me that within this time we could work to build up my upper body strength and make sure that I passed the test. He developed a programme specifically targeting the muscles I'd need to improve and pushing me each session to make sure I did more!
By the time I did the assessment again, I knew I'd improved but wasn’t' sure how much and was really nervous. I needn't have been as Dave had helped my so much I aced it!
I have no doubt that without Dave's help I would have failed the assessment again and would not have become a Police Officer; I would (and do) recommend him to everybody and can't thank him enough for the help he has given me.
Debbie, 49
I must have joined nearly every gym in Bristol and been to every weight loss group that there is too but nothing seemed to work for me – I'd just about resigned myself to the fact that I was overweight and always would be when a friend said that maybe I should try Personal Training – the thought horrified me but as a before giving up completely I'd thought I'd better give it a go.
I called Aspire Health and Fitness and booked in with Dave for the free initial consultation where we discussed my goals, exercise and diet history and did a health appraisal to see how much work had to be done!
From the off, Dave put my mind at ease. He assured me that we could get things moving in the right direction and I'd start losing weight if I exercised regularly and kept an eye on my diet. The great thing was that he gave me lots of simple advice about my diet – no complicated systems or strict regimes – just simple pointers for me to make small adjustments to the types and quantities of food I was eating. The same with the exercise; I was 'all guns blazing' ready to exercise every day but Dave assured me that 2 – 3 times per week was ample for me to start losing weight.
Well, he was right, I'm now 3 stone lighter and have maintained this weight for around 6 months now so am positive that I will keep it of. The exercise wasn't easy, Dave made me work hard every time in the gym but it was more than worth it.If you've tried losing weight with fad diets, slimming clubs, or training by yourself and not got the results you've wanted give Dave a call – it worked for me, it's not bad as you probably think, not like you see on TV, and I'm sure you'll get the same results as I did.
Karen, 25
As a professional dancer I needed to improve my cardiovascular fitness, strength, and flexibility but without 'bulking up'. I was pretty fit, always had been, but was pretty much clueless when it came to working out in a gym. This is why a friend recommended Dave at Aspire Health and Fitness; they had used him before and got amazing results so I thought I'd give it a go.
I explained what I wanted to do to Dave and he developed an exercise programme for me to follow that made sure I would reach my goals but without putting on any extra muscle. He eased me in gently and then began increasing the work load gradually making sure I always progressed and kept improving. The best thing was that he explained why we were doing what we were doing along the way so I could see the theory behind the variety of exercises we were doing and how it was helping me with my goals.
Abby, 28
I had been a member of the gym for a while but never felt I was getting the results I needed, my jeans were still a little tight, and those bingo wings just wouldn't seem to shift.
When my boyfriend proposed to me I knew I had to do something about it as I wanted to look my absolute best in my wedding photos and not be worried about all my wobbly bits.
I didn't have a lot of weight to lose, just needed to tone up a bit all over and with Dave's help I finally got the results I'd been working for and everybody said I looked amazing in my strapless wedding dress.
Adriana, 47
I have worked with Dave to improve my fitness, flexibility and suppleness. The sessions are always interesting and never boring. I'd recommend Dave to anybody no matter what their health goals are.
Mark, 41
Being in the building game my life has revolved around fried breakfasts and drinking for the last 20 years or so and needless to say it had taken it's toll. I was well overweight and had been diagnosed by my GP as having high blood pressure and at a high risk of heart disease – that was the motivation I needed to lose some weight and get a bit fitter.
I contacted Dave by email to see if he fancied a challenge and he said he was up to it and was positive that he could help me lose weight and improve my fitness.
On our first session we did a health appraisal to see how bad I really was but this didn't seem to put him off and we booked in our first block of sessions.
I wasn't really looking forward to it to be honest, I’d never been a fan of gyms and was quite self conscious about the fact that everybody else would know what they were doing and would secretly be laughing and pointing at me... but I needn't have worried. Dave put me immediately at ease by explaining that 'everybody has to start somewhere' and the fact that I'd finally got around to doing something about it was an achievement in itself and that I should be proud of that fact alone. Looking back on it he was right – the hardest part of losing the weight was making the decision to do something about it and I’m glad I did.
I trained with Dave for 6 months, following his advice in the gym, reducing the amount of alcohol I drank, cutting back on the fried breakfasts.... I went from 23 stone to 17 stone! When I went back to my GP he couldn't believe what I had achieved and my blood pressure was back into a healthy range.
Dave always says that 'you get back what you put in' when it comes to exercise, he can only tell you what to do - YOU have to actually do it, YOU are doing the hard work, so YOU deserve the results. However, I feel he is being modest and have no doubt that I would not have got the results I did without his help.
Mike, 56
Being diabetic it is difficult to lose weight by dieting and I need to control my blood sugars. With Dave I have managed to lose 2 stone and and got my body fat percentage down onto the normal range through exercise.