Florence (known as Rosie) Shakoor, who’s a member at Welcome Gym Cheltenham, is one of the second group of lucky applicants chosen to participate in our transformative “Revitalise” campaign. Earlier this year, the six health clubs in the Welcome Gym chain, with its charitable status as a Community Benefit Society, appealed for people that believed their physical and mental health could be transformed by the gyms’ offer of a period of free personal training, funded by the gyms themselves. In return, applicants were encouraged to share their experiences on social media, to inform and inspire others.

The response was overwhelming, with applicants mentioning everything from needing help to manage serious medical issues to lack of body confidence, wanting to be a role model for their children or a desire to look their best on their wedding day as reasons why they deserved to be chosen to join the scheme. The “Revitalise” campaign was so successful that during July and August it was revisited, and more of those original applicants (including Rosie), who had initially applied unsuccessfully to take advantage of the scheme, were given the chance to participate with the offer of two personal training sessions per week over a six-week period.

At only 4’10”, Rosie was worried about her weight but had reached a plateau and was finding it difficult to shift those pesky pounds on her own. As she is a vegan, she also needed some professional advice to make sure she was was getting the right nutrition, whilst trying to manage calories. Personal trainer, Hannah Howell, who is a world-class power lifter with a degree in psychology, was keen to work with Rosie to show her that strength training, positively changing her mindset and addressing her diet could dramatically improve her health, self confidence and enthusiasm for life and show real results within the six-week time frame.

With Hannah's help, Rosie put her heart and soul into her Revitalise programme and faced the physical and mental challenges with gusto. She has just finished her 6-week stint with Hannah and here are her thoughts in her own words: -

" I finished my last session with Hannah today and I wanted to just say a massive thank you to your gym for setting this up - it has been transformative!

Hannah is a fantastic Personal Trainer and I would (and will) hugely recommend her to anyone wanting to learn how to utilise the gym and the equipment properly and to achieve their aims for being there (in my case, weight loss and strength training). She's easy to get on with, patient and inspiring and also her knowledge, when it comes to nutrition, is a huge asset, as you can make sure all aspects of your life are helping towards your goal.

I entered the Revitalise competition after hitting a plateau in my weight loss and in the 12 sessions with Hannah I have learned so much and it’s helped in so many aspects of my weight loss journey, understanding past errors in eating and exercise and really developing my enjoyment of exercise and the gym. I’m only 4ft 10in and she’s introduced me to free weights, which I had never considered and which are in fact ideal, given that I’m a bit shorter than average and struggled with some of the set equipment. With her guidance, I have used so much more of the equipment in the gym and feel confident to continue using it now. I have learned that I can push myself much more that I had been, and that weights are good fun! I love the idea of training for strength as well as to lose weight. Everything she has taught me has just clicked ..I’ve lost almost a stone over the 12 sessions by following all of Hannah’s advice (exercise, MyFitnessPal app and balancing my diet to include more protein). I’ve also come to some pretty significant understanding of previous bad habits, which have hindered my success in the past.

Being vegan, I also applied to take part in the Revitalise programme because I felt I needed advice on how to support the exercise I was already doing and not do any damage through working out without taking in the right nutrients to support this. Having talked it through with Hannah (and keeping a food diary), it turned out that I wasn’t eating enough protein, so she’s shown me ways to increase that (red lentil pasta being a favourite!) I’m now eating a healthier a more balanced diet, including foods I love, to support the exercise. I have made positive lifestyle changes and these will continue until I have achieved my healthy weight, when I will adjust them to maintain this. I’m doing this for me (I’ve been overweight since I was a teen) and my daughter, who is four and a half and full of energy. This experience has been a most fantastic and hugely positive one and I feel incredibly lucky to have had this opportunity. I can't wait to keep practising what I have learnt and improving.Thank you Welcome Gym!"