Another year, another batch of success stories. Over the last few years, I ran an article on the biggest client success stories of that year. And this year is no different. So this is where we’ll feature some of the best case studies, including our choice for the ultimate title of “client of the year.”
How are our selections made? We look at a few different criteria:
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They got great results
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They attended workouts with very few cancellations
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They were rarely or never late
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They were fun to work with
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They spread the word to their family, friends and colleagues
If one of your new year’s resolutions is to get in better shape, and you’d like to be featured in next year’s article for how great of an improvement you made, fill out this form to see if you qualify to work with us.
Without further ado, here are our star clients (and the biggest success story is a the very end of this article), in no particular order:
Honourable Mention: Ivan
Ivan first met me when I gave a talk for his rotary club. A couple years later, he started working with our trainer, Peter.
Finally, after working with us, he was nominated as one of the clients of the year. Why? Because Ivan almost never cancels, and almost always shows up early to do a little bit of “extra credit” work on his own.
Even though he’s in his 50s, he’s a ball of energy. He also tells cheesy funny jokes during his workouts. Peter thinks it’s just to buy some extra rest time between sets. But it works.
A couple years after Ivan started working with Peter, he got his wife, Santha to start training with another one of our trainers as well. Ever since that point, Ivan’s results improved even more. From January to September, he:
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Lost 10 pounds (he didn’t have much to lose in the first place)
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Lost 4 cm off his waist circumference
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Lost 13 mm from his belly (that’s A LOT!)
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Increased thigh circumference by 3 cm
Honourable Mention: Kawal
Kawal came to us at the recommendation of her dietitian. She wanted to lose fat, and was an overall healthy 53 year old woman. Yes, she took Synthroid (a medication for her thyroid), but other than that, no issues.
When we did her initial assessment, we saw that her 3 highest areas in terms of body fat were her belly, at 34.5 mm, thighs, at 33 mm, and her love handle, at 25 mm.
So we paired her up with our trainer, Kevin, and over her time with us (about 5 months), she made some very impressive progress:
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Her weight went from 143, down to 134 pounds
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Her waist circumference decreased from 89 cm to 83 cm.
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Her thigh circumference dropped from 60.5 to 53 cm
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And the biggest change was in her arms – the fat on her arms went from 22mm to 14.5 mm.
What do all these measurements mean in “real world” terms? She was leaner, healthier, stronger, and her arms were more toned.
Honourable Mention: Alex
Alex was referred to us by one of his friends, and right from the bat, he hit it hard and furious, working out 3 times per week with our trainer, Kevin. He bought 30 sessions, and in a matter of about 3 months, here are his results:
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His right arm circumference increased from 33.5 cm, up to 38 cm. He’s now selling tickets to the “gun show.”
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His chest circumference went from 122 cm, to 116 cm
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His waist circumference went from 114.5 cm, to 109 cm
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His thigh circumference went from 66, to 59 cm.
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And the biggest area of body fat, his chest went from 24, down to 18 mm.
In “real world” terms, what these measurements translate to is: his arms a lot more muscular now, and he’s overall a lot leaner and more toned.
Honourable Mention: Fay
Fay started working with one of our downtown trainers, Nem last January, and at her best, she managed to lose 40 pounds, 4 cm off her arms, 10 cm off her waist and 5 cm off her upper thigh.
So she looked better in her dress and had a lot more energy. But besides the metrics, how did it affect her life?
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With the extra weight, her knees were really hurting. After losing 40 pounds, and doing additional exercises for her leg muscles, the knee pain decreased.
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She got better sleep as her nutrition and activity levels improved
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And exercise helped lower her stress levels.
But in addition to these cool changes, Fay is very inquisitive, and loves learning how the body works, so she asks. And Nem is delighted to answer.
She bought our biggest package (which in and of itself is a leap of faith, since she’s worked with other personal trainers in the past and had mixed experiences) of 50 sessions (twice!), and despite fitting in 100 personal training sessions over the year, not once was she late, and not once did she cancel. We like that 🙂
Honourable Mention: Iris
Iris started working with us after hearing me give a presentation at Multi Health Systems. She initially had the goal of weight loss. But when we dug a bit deeper, we realize that it’s not really weight loss that she wanted. It’s all the stuff that comes from weight loss that she wanted, namely:
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To have more energy
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To decrease the headaches that she was feeling (she would take 2-3 Advils per month)
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To decrease her lower back pain
So we paired her up with our trainer, Daniel, and we got to work. At first, when weight loss was the goal, it wasn’t going so well. Then, once the focus switched to more energy, fewer headaches, and decreased lower back pain, she started making a lot of progress. Slowly, but surely, Daniel would add one small new habit. Until now, about a year later, she’s at a much farther place than she was before:
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Her energy levels were much better than before
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She no longer takes 2-3 Advils per month
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She hasn’t complained of lower back pain for 6 months.
Oh, and although it wasn’t really the focus anymore, Daniel still took a “by the way” kind of measurements, and she ended up losing 10.5 pounds.
The reason Iris got an honourable mention is because she’s fun to work with, talks to her colleagues about us, and she has great compliance to Daniel’s recommendations.
Client of the Year: Santha
And, of course, we save the “best for last.” The client of the year for 2017 is Santha. Santha is Ivan’s wife, and after working with us for a couple years, Ivan finally got Santha to start working out with us. Santha was getting older (44 years old), and had noticed her figure starting to slip. The clothes weren’t quite fitting right, she didn’t sleep as well, and her lower back was hurting very often.
So we paired her up with our trainer, Brian, and we got to work.
Her results over the past year were absolutely remarkable! She:
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Lost 30 pounds, which took her from a size 6-8, down to the 0-4 range
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Her deadlift went from 55 pounds, up to 105 pounds. A very big improvement in the strength of her legs, hips and lower back.
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Her stamina and energy levels are a lot better. She now does 20-30 minutes of interval training at the end of each one of her sessions with Brian.
But besides the incredible progress that she made, there were other factors that “clinched the deal” for Santha, to make her client of the year. In 2017, she traveled for 2 months, and despite all the travel, she did her workouts with Brian over video chat, and didn’t miss a single workout in 2 months. If that’s not dedication, I don’t know what is.
