Personal Training at David Lloyd Studio, Putney

What they say:

By keeping the equipment, enthusiasm and knowledge that makes our in-club PT sessions what they are, and condensing it to fit a high street location, you’re left with a specialist, easily accessible place to train, improve and maintain, with some of the best in the business.

Whether it’s one-to-one or within a small group training session, you’ll stay motivated in our state-of-the-art Putney studio.

Putney Studio

What I say:

With one of my close friends, and fitness partner in crime, recently qualifying as a personal trainer, she invited me down to her studio in Putney to put those qualifications to use - providing me with a one and one personal training session that left my muscles satisfyingly sore for days!

Interior 1

What we did:

Since I'd already worked lower body at the Lululemon Run Club that morning, Sasha designed a muscular strength and endurance based session focusing on the back, chest, shoulders and core, giving my poor calves a much needed chance to repair.

After a 500m row on the rowing machine, which Sasha advised is great for warming up the whole body in a fast and efficient manner, we were straight onto the workout, firstly beginning with assisted pull ups....

Assisted pull ups

Now, this is a move I'm familiar with as I incorporate it regularly into my 'back and biceps' workout days, however Sasha had me perform it using narrow, medium and wide grips - 3 sets of each - which was a lot more difficult! The wide grip, the one I usually go for, is much easier, but by mixing in the narrow and medium grip it really works the entire back much more effectively.....

Lat pulldowns

Next we went on to our series of supersets - a common training technique when two exercises are performed back to back without stopping.

Our first superset series was dumbbell chest presses, coupled with dumbbell chest fly's. After completing three sets of each, I rested for one and a half minutes, before  moving on to the next superset series of wide grip lateral pulldowns coupled with straight arm lateral pulldowns - again, mixing the grip to target all the muscles! 

Wide grip lat pulldowns

Once these were completed, as she knows they are my favourite, Sasha then incorporated some TRX exercises into our session. 

First up we went for the TRX row, which I love as a great alternative to the bent over barbell row as it puts much less stress on the lower back. Next up, we went for I, Y and T's - an exercise I'd never heard of, but was brillianty demonstrating by Sasha as below, lifting her body and using the shoulder muscles to pull into an I, Y and T shape consecutively, working into the shoulders from different angles for the perfect sculpting....

Give me an I.....

Give me a Y....

And T!

For our last upper body superset, Sasha instructed me we were going for 3 rounds of weighted tricep dips with elevated push-ups. Feeling slightly relieved by the 'elevated' part, my relief didn't last long as I discovered it wasn't the easier  upwards elevated push-ups I was hoping for. No, not with Sasha George, who continued to push me right to the end with a decline elevation..... so much more difficult!! It's a good thing this girl is my friend!

Working every last muscle fibre in my body

Just as my upper body was falling into failure, we finished went for some ab work on the swiss ball, combining swiss ball crunches and roll outs. 

Roll outs

Crunches

Finally, we went into a much needed stretch, where I was simply allowed to lie on the floor as Sasha pulled my muscles in different directions. It may sound extremely lazy,  but after such an intense workout,  to have somebody else stretch me out felt like absolute heaven!!! 

Intensity: 10/10

As we were working in supersets, although a simply technique, it is highly effective for intensifying the workout as it really exhausts the muscles to maximise results. Since you perform the sets back to back, not only is it much more time effective, but it also spikes your heart rate for the duration of the workout, meaning maximum fat burning. 

With such high intensity, I admit there were times where I simply couldn't complete another a rep, and that's where Sasha stepped in! Giving me vocal motivation to bust out that last rep, she would then step in with light assistance to ensure I really worked the muscle to failure. Now I see why having a personal trainer makes such a difference! 

Our warm up area

Amenities: 9/10

With TRX's, kettle bells, cardio machines, free weights and even power plates, the studio was fully equipped with everything you would need, and more. The changing rooms were bright, airy and spacious, complete with powerful showers, all the toiletries you would want, fluffy white towels, and hair dryers and straighteners for after.

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Price: 10/10

What I think is really great about the David Lloyd studio is that there are no membership fees - you simply pay for the sessions that you actually use, meaning you don't waste any money for unused days.

Furthermore, for all you readers, you can book in for an initial session just like mine, absolutely free of charge! Contact the studio at pt3.putney@davidlloyd.co.uk to book your place, and remember to ask for Sasha. Admittedly I've not tried the other trainers, but I'm sure she's the best....not that I'm biased of course :P  Trust me, once she's trained you once, you will want to return!

Never before have I been able to do this exercise with correct form!

Would I go back?

Most definitely! Whilst I am very motivated in terms of actually going to the gym, you've no idea how much having someone there watching my every move made me work so much harder. A much more effective and efficient way or working out!

So drop Sasha an email now to book and book in for your session - quickly, she's booking up fast!