Testimonials

Tracey Elliott

I have always hated exercise.  Seriously hated it.  I was the kid who always had a note to excuse me from PE – a cold, cramps, nits, you name it I would use it (true or not so true) to get out of exercising.

So Derran had a real challenge on his hands when he took me on as a client.  His patience is legendary.  He has never given up on me, even though I have often given up on myself.  I used to hate burpees.  Now I don’t.  Loving them may never happen, but the improvement is obvious.  My fitness and stamina have improved no end.  The weight is coming off. I no longer feel tired all the time, and I miss Derran and the exercise if I cannot see him for any reason.  For me, this is nothing short of a miracle.

If you want a sergeant-major who shames you into exercising, dont ring Derran. If you want a trainer who encourages you to exercise, and makes it (almost!) enjoyable, even for a lazy git like me, get in touch.  You won’t regret it.

Lisa Walker

I used to be quite fit, but after having my little girl in December 2008 spent the next two years sitting on my sofa talking about what I was going to do to loose my baby weight and get fit again. I finally decided it was time to stop talking and take action. I thought about joining the gym but knew, particularly trying to balance a full time job and looking after my little girl, I would find every excuse not to go, and when I did go, would not work as hard as I should. I needed something that would fit into my routine and give me the motivation I needed. I decided to give personal training a go. I looked at a few different trainers on the internet, but Real World Fitness caught my eye – no magic solutions, no promises of super fast weight lost, just practical, sensible advice. When I phoned Derran and found out that he lived on my road and that he would come to my house, I really had no more excuses!

Derran immediately he put me at ease. He wanted to know what I wanted to achieve and what my goals were, instead of trying to impose his goals on me. He gave me some realistic advice on my diet – no cabbage soup diet in sight! He gave me the confidence I needed to start exercising again after such a long break. I have now been training with Derran (and more recently Rebecca) for about 5 months (once a week for the first six weeks increasing to twice a week thereafter). I have lost a stone in weight, but more importantly my body shape has changed. I am leaner and more toned than ever before. At first I didn’t really notice the changes, but when people at work started commenting, I know the changes were significant. Two sizes down in jeans and counting, so I know it is working. I also feel fitter than ever before (despite having run the London Marathon in 2007). I trust Derran and Rebecca implicitly. They both know me and my capabilities. They constantly challenge and push me, something I know I wouldn’t do if I was training by myself. They have me lifting heavier weights than I ever thought possible.

Derran has also helped me improve my diet, but what I love is that he is realistic about it. I have not given up chocolate or chips, but it is all about balance and moderation. Derran understands this and never lectures me.

Whilst there are still occasional days when the last thing I feel like doing is training, I am glad that Derran and Rebecca turn up and when they say 100 burpees, I just get on with it. I ALWAYS feel so much better for it. Derran and Rebecca are not just trainers, but people I enjoy spending time with and I have even persuaded my husband to start joining us once a week.

Thanks Derran.

Mark Fowkes – making it through a cricket season uninjured!

I worked with Derran for 9 months and in that time, doubled the strength in my back and my shoulders. Derran has a great balance between pushing you to your limits and yet keeping it friendly. I really enjoy working with him, his flexibility around my busy schedule is great. I’ve almost achieved my goal of playing an entire cricket season without injury due the fact that I’m stronger and fitter, just 4 games to go….

Alexander Lewis – 23 – 107kg (17st) to 68kg (10st10lbs)

Before starting with my personal trainer, Derran, my relaxation and exercise consisted of playing on my PlayStation, cycling to work, and being pushed into taking the dog for a walk. My diet wasn’t healthy either. I was picking unhealthy foods to make up for my lack of self-esteem – and as a result, turned into a couch potato!

Alex’s ‘before’ photo from April 2009:

…and at June 2011:

Having dyspraxia meant I was no good at sport, having poor balance and co-ordination skills, which led me to get my ‘activity’ from computer games.

Then the telephone call came from Derran, and my life changed. I didn’t know what to expect…could I do it? Would he be able to help? The answer was ‘yes’. Over the last 9 months I have gone from weighing just under 17 stone (at a height of 5’7”) to 12.5 stone. My strength and fitness have increased beyond all recognition. When I first started, a 30 second jog would leave me out of breath and tired, but I now manage hour-long weight training sessions, kettlebell circuits and boxing rounds. I’ve gone from being barely able to deadlift 20kg, to 125kg. I’ve also managed to complete 25 full press-ups, when I couldn’t even support my own weight on my arms seven months ago. The next goal is getting some full chin-ups!

Alex in mid-deadlifting!:

Through training with Derran, I’ve met like-minded people who are into exercise and help motivate me even more. My diet is much improved too (with the occasional cheat here and there!), and the weight is still coming off as well as getting stronger, fitter and definitely gaining more muscle! I feel I’ve turned my life around with my own will-power, the commitment of Derran helping me, to prove to everyone I can do it and will achieve my goal – to have a physique I can be proud of, and be able to take off my t-shirt on holiday without being self-conscious about my weight.

I’d say to anyone else: don’t think it is easy. It isn’t, and there are times when you don’t want to train, or don’t want to do another rep, and don’t want to eat something healthy. It’s hard to stay focussed, and it would be easier to pick up the phone and cancel a session…but do I really want to do that, now I know what I can achieve? No! I just think of all the effort I have put in already, and how much fun I have training now, when it used to be something I dreaded. Like Derran says to me, he’s only the guide – I’m the one who has to actually lift the weight, run the extra few meters or keep hitting the punchbag.

On a more personal note, Derran is no longer just my trainer, but also a friend who has given me back my self-esteem and worth. If you want to change your life around like I changed mine, I can’t think of anyone better to recommend to help you.

Donna P – from 16st 5lbs, to 10st 10lbs (and still going!)

I have been working with Derran for nearly two years now, and I haven’t felt this fit in my life. My goal was to lose 67lbs, and this has come off with the help, support and motivation of Derran. I’m now carrying on and deciding to lose even more weight, and get even fitter.  Not only on the fitness side of things, Derran has helped me in the nutritional side also, its great that you crave the right foods your body is wanting. So with fitness and healthy eating I am getting to my goal weight.

I would be lying if I said my workouts were easy, they are tough and you do sweat and ache after each session, but how good does that makes me feel. There have been a couple of days where I have felt I couldn’t do the hour’s workout, but with Derran’s motivation you push yourself even further and feel so much better for it.

I had never worked with kettlebells before, what a work out they are! You would not believe how they work muscles you never knew existed. I really look forward to my workouts with Derran (so do my cats, they get away with anything!), as each workout is varied working with kettlebells, boxing, ab work, push-ups and even burpees which I do not like, but hey you can’t win them all!

If you are wanting to work hard, and challenge yourself I would recommend Derran, he is very motivational, and pushes you, as he knows you have got it in you to do those extra leg raises, punches or swings.

I look forward to many more workouts with Derran, I bet there will be a few more surprises added to my workouts as time goes on, what’s life without it’s challenges?

Derran has been a great support in my progress, and has become a friend, he is only a phone call or e-mail away to offer you those few words of inspiration or advice to put you back on track again.

Thank you Derran.

Anna G – 20lbs down and counting!

Anna had trained with other PTs, but hadn’t quite seen the results she wanted. We addressed nutrition as a priority, and also upped the intensity of her twice-a-week training sessions.

In the 5 months we  worked together, Anna shed a total of 32lbs and is well on the way to achieving her target of a 3st loss. Her fitness is also completely unrecognisable from those first few sessions. Well done, Anna – the results you’ve had are all down to the determination and effort YOU have put in!

Anna S (I train a lot of Anna’s!)

Anna  came to me with pre-existing knee, back and foot problems, some of which had required surgery in the past and ongoing physio to make day-to-day life manageable. Despite having a number of injury setbacks, and having to work very hard to strengthen muscles around the weakened areas, Anna kept plugging away and training around her injuries and refused to let them get in the way of her progress.

In the time we’ve been training, Anna’s knee issues are now completely resolved due to strengthening the muscles, tendons and ligaments. Her lower back issues are also non-existent now, through again strengthening her spinal erectors and improving her core strength. Recently, she has also managed to avoid surgery on her foot by putting in some serious effort with her physio and her training. All in all, her determination to beat her injuries has meant she’s avoided the operating table – something everyone should try to avoid if they possibly can!

Anna has managed a single rep deadlift of 115kg at a bodyweight of just 55kg, which is an awesome achievement for anyone, let alone someone with her injury record and relatively short length of time training. She also regularly deadlifts 80-95kg for 5 sets of 5 reps. Just proves a woman can be strong and not look like a Russian shot-putter!

If I can persuade her to become Internet famous, we’ll get up a video of the deadlift!

Lou Silver – training through pregnancy

Having been training as a kick-boxer 3-4 times a week for a few years, I was really worried about losing my fitness whilst pregnant.

Being teetotal for the first time, I re-allocated my beer money as fitness money and started training with Derran at 6 weeks pregnant (slightly odd that my personal trainer was the first person to know about my pregnancy!) and he supported me to push myself as far as I was able to go during my first trimester when I was very tired and sick. Everything was tailored to suit my stage of pregnancy and my energy levels on that particular day. I was more toned than I had ever got through kickboxing, and in spite of being pregnant!

As my pregnancy progressed we modified some of the exercises to take the pressure off my abs (and my bladder!), but added in a bit more boxing to keep my stamina up. I am absolutely certain that without Derran’s help with training, motivation and pushing through when you feel you’ve nothing more to give I would have found my labour (3 and a half days induction ending in emergency c-section…!) far harder than I did. As it was I was able to manage without pain relief until half way through the third day, and only then due to fatigue.

When my baby was 7 weeks old I was back at the gym, and after another 10 weeks of light training I was back at the kettle bells. I eventually lost the 17lb of baby weight which I’d piled on after the birth, largely due to the fact that every visitor came laden with cakes!

I would definitely recommend Real World Fitness to support anyone throught their pregnancy!