Glyn Edwards
I feel so much fitter and in better shape, I could not recommend Paul highly enough as a personal trainer. He has the ability to quickly work out what his clients need and how best to motivate and guide them...
Paul Laslett took over as my personal trainer in October 2006. At that stage I was a 47 year old lawyer with a 45 inch waist, a 47 inch chest and my weight was 118.5 kg. Whilst I had done some training before I needed someone to move me on, to encourage me to lose weight and to build up my power and aerobic fitness so that training actually benefited me.
Because I had a problem also with my low back, I had been advised not to do too much leg work which restricted Paul’s range of options in the exercises he could put me through. Over that 2 year period he has carefully improved everything about my performance from technique to effort. At the time of his leaving the gym, my waist is 43.2 inches, chest 44.75 inches and my weight is 108.5 kg. On top of this he has got my Concept 2 rowing times down dramatically so that by this year (being 49 – or nearly 50 as I remind him) my times have improved as follows:
- 2 km row – from 8 mins 22 secs to 7 mins 42 secs
- 1 km row – from 4 mins 24 secs to 3 mins 29.5 secs
- 500 m row – from 1 min 59 secs to 1 min 34.7 secs
Leaving aside the fact that I feel fitter and generally in much better shape, I could not recommend Paul highly enough as a personal trainer. I am not someone with a high motivation level when it comes to keeping fit. His personality and his lightness of touch in dealing with all his clients has made him extremely popular because everyone knows that they will have a really enjoyable time in the gym whilst making great strides forwards because he has the knack of making all his clients laugh with him while never losing intensity in the training session itself.
He always knows exactly how far and how hard to push people. I can say this not only from my experience but also from knowing many of the others he has trained who are all diverse characters and who came into the gym with different capabilities and different aims. He has the ability to quickly work out what his clients need and how to best motivate and guide them. He is a terrific character who is able to communicate a love of fitness and his own deep technical knowledge in an easy-going manner. He has built up a clientele with a very profound sense of loyalty to him and I cannot imagine that any of them won’t miss him. It will be someone else’s gain.
I would be happy to provide any further details that anyone might want.
David Ardley
I have utilised brightsidept’s expertise since they approached our Triathlon club (Southampton). I have had a long term injury that required me to significantly improve my core strength aid my running. I have been seeing them weekly and have yet to have a training session that has not contained some unique exercises. This has made the training interesting - and tough! I have noticed improvements and my running is getting better. brightside has the benefit of a strong running background and has been able to apply the coaching he has recieved clearly and with enthusiasm. I would recommend brightside to anyone looking to improve their running technique and core strength.
Matt Turner
Brightside has worked with me on my fitness goals off and on over three years. The motivation is amazing, and I still use their training programmes today. As well as getting me into the joys and benefits of running (which I previously hated), they even developed a specific plan to improve my strength and conditioning for my main hobby - surfing. It made such a difference - and quickly. Brightside are also well up on nutrition and general healthy lifestyle tips, too. There you go - can't recommend them enough.
Jeremey Over
Since hiring brightside as my personal trainer, my attitude and mindset towards health and fitness has completely changed. This is all down to the knowledge and motivation of the staff, it is clear that they love what they do. The programs are varied, and the e mail support is second to none.
Patricia
When I first started with Paul I was unable to run for more than 5 minutes due to poor lack of style and confidence. Paul was very patient in teaching me from the very beginning on how to run properly and he knew exactly what I need in order to become a good runner. We worked on intensive training sessions over 3 weeks which meant that within less than a month I was able to not only get around the block but complete a proper run with good style. I was really impressed with his teaching that I would recommend his intensive courses to anyone as my results were superb. I am now able to have more goals which will include a half marathon and even a triathlon. I couldn't believe that I could learn to run in such a short amount of time.
Ceri
I initially recruited Brightside to help me improve my running as I had lost all motivation following an injury. Brightside not only motivated me but helped improve my technique to make me a better runner and to avoid further injury. Shortly after starting the running I found out I was pregnant. I was cautious about exercising throughout my pregnancy but with Brightside's reassurance and support I kept myself active (I am sure this also helped with the birth!). I had my beautiful baby girl at the end of July and was eager to get back into fitness and to drop the baby weight and had set myself the goal of running the Great South Run in October. Brightside helped me slowly build up my fitness and get back into running and I successfully completed the Great South Run in October and I am only 10 pounds away from my pre-baby weight, I am certain I wouldn't have achieved either of these without their help and support. Not only have they offered help, encouragement and motivation but they have also been incredibly flexible with training sessions allowing me to fit the training around my new baby.
Emma Earp
I signed up for a free consultation with Brightside as I wanted to lose weight and tone up for my wedding. I met with Paul initially and he really listened to what I wanted to achieve and the level of exercise I had done previously. He also put me in touch with Fiona, the nutritionist they work with, to help me with the IBS symptoms I was suffering with at the time. As I wasn't able to start the training sessions straight away, due to being in London for work, Alex then designed, and ran through with me, a set of exercises that I could do on my own in the evenings without even having to go to the gym, which was great.
When I started the sessions with Paul and Alex (they took the sessions in turns to keep it interesting) I started to notice the results immediately. I had been going to the gym on and off for years and never really noticed any difference but the exercises that they came up with really targeted the areas I was concerned about and I started feeling stronger and more energetic very quickly. Paul and Alex really know what they are doing and they made the sessions really fun. They knew absolutely how far to push me and kept me motivated all the time. Plus they were very flexible with the sessions and if a meeting came up last minute they were always happy to work around it.
I did 12 sessions in 5 weeks before my wedding and I couldn't believe how much difference it could make in such a short space of time. With the training sessions and sensible eating I quickly reached my target weight and felt confident about my figure on the day.
I was so pleased with the results that I kept up with the sessions after the wedding and continued to see improvements even going just once a week. After becoming pregnant and suffering from morning sickness for the first few months I stopped the sessions but I am keen to start again as soon as I can. Paul and Alex have offered to adapt my exercises to my pregnancy to help keep me strong and avoid back pain and also to help speed up the post pregnancy recovery. I look forward to starting the sessions with them again soon.
I can't recommend Brightside enough.
Chris Chalk
I can’t speak highly enough of Paul and the team at Brightside. It took me ages to make my first appointment and now I wish I had done so much earlier. If you are dithering about signing up – just get on and do it!
Ed Whittington
As a bloke in his early thirties who used to be fit and who had forgotten what exercise is, thetraining sessions have been a revelation. I feel more alert at work and need less sleep, and I don't need to worry so much about the dawn of the middle age spread! I would thoroughly recommend Paul and his team to anyone.
Mark Osgood
Paul's enthusiasm has encouraged me to get off the sofa and complete the Great South Run three times. Each and every session is worth so much more than a whole month's gym membership.
David
Regular sessions at Brightside have done wonders for my golf, at aged 61 my handicap has come down from 23 to 18 over the last 18 months. I have no hesitation in recommending paul and his team.
Graeme Harrison (Barrister)
Thank you for listening to what I wanted to achieve. Thank you for enabling me to achieve I wanted to achieve. Thank you for helping me rediscover how good being fit makes me feel. Thank you for keeping me going when I didn't think I could. Thank you for making me laugh even when I could hardly stand. Thank you for being there when I had time for a session. Thank you for understanding when I needed to re-arrange sessions at short notice. Thank you for being just brilliant at what you do.
Laurence
"Brightside has been one of the best decisions I made in 2012! It's been almost 5 months now and I don't regret any of it! Paul and the team have worked with me over the last few months and completely changed my running. Suffering from recurring knee pain, I was ready to give up running completely. But it only took Paul a couple of weeks to correct bad running habits and give me hope again through specific conditioning exercises, drills and speed sessions. Since then, I have made enormous progress and it amazes me all the time to see what I can do now and all this pain-free!! I am now training for a half-marathon and feel confident that I will do it and hopefully beat my pb!
The other important aspect is the motivation and support you get through training with Brightside. They are so positive and encouraging that you never feel discouraged. They are really easy to contact as well. If you have any question about your training or the exercises you've been given, you can just send an email and get an answer really quickly. This makes a huge difference when you've got a busy life and try to juggle lots of things. It just makes it that little bit easier.
So if you've been thinking of trying a personal trainer this year, I would definitely recommend Brightside! You won't regret it!"
Sarah
Woke with bad back/shoulders today after heavy digging at weekend....had a sesson with Dan....and aches are gone....conclusion..have aches, then do more technical exercises and banish those aches!