“As a 44 year old woman, I have struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember. For many years I have followed fad diets and counted ‘points’ at every meal only to find I lose weight but regain it all in time. Likewise I have started countless fitness regimes only to lose interest or motivation
after a few weeks.
Since committing to a Personal Training schedule with Jodie I can honestly say this is the strongest and fittest I have ever felt. Jodie has an enthusiastic and empathetic approach to her sessions. She is totally committed to making your time spent in the gym as beneficial and enjoyable as it can be.
Jodie provides support in the form of nutritional knowledge and makes each training session fun and varied so you don’t lose interest. I find my weekly approach to food and exercise is more structured and balanced. I am not an athlete …I don’t run marathons …I’m just a normal woman with a busy schedule who wants to take care of herself and invest in my future health. I’m achieving this under the watchful eye and expertise of Jodie. Nowadays I look forward to my sessions in the gym!”
“From 10st 3lbs to 8st 13lbs in just 10 weeks! Not only did Jodie give me my figure back but she gave me the confidence I hadn’t even realised that I had lost! Jodie worked hard to firm up my weak areas and develop my strength.
Training sessions have great variety which keeps the gym an exciting place to be! Jodie is a true listener and makes you feel comfortable and believe in what you want to change and improve. I cannot thank Jodie enough for how She has helped me achieve what I wanted from my workouts. I feel more body confident and healthier thanks to her with improved definition on my stomach and arms again. If you want to make a real change to your health then get in touch with Jodie now…you won’t regret it!”
“After my move from Sweden to England I joined my local gym to get in shape but I soon started to feel stuck and unmotivated with my routine! I decided to seek some professional help in the form of Seal Personal Training’s Jodie Arculus.
Since I’ve started Personal Training with Jodie I’ve found new motivation in my exercise sessions and she has helped me understand what I need to develop. Twice a week she puts me through a challenging strength conditioning programme. I feel leaner and fitter than I have for years! Jodie always gives sound advice and if I have any questions regarding my health and well- being she is always on hand outside of sessions to keep me in check and focused. The decision to seek some professional ‘one 2 one’ guidance has benefited me greatly. Jodie is a great listener I couldn’t recommend her highly enough!”
“I couldn’t thank Nikki enough for what she has done for me, not only for my overall health and body shape but mostly for my self-confidence. I have never been overweight but I had very specific goals, which initially seemed impossible for me to achieve. Nikki reassured me that with the correct scientific approach to both my training and nutrition programme my targets were possible. I had really lost my confidence in training but Nikki has shown me how to overcome these obstacles and achieve my objectives. Her training is personal and specific to me…she is always friendly and approachable. I couldn’t be more appreciative of the way she supports me. I’m now leaner than I ever have been and have a more structured and personalised approach to my training … thank you Nikki!”
“Due to work commitments exercise was largely neglected through my 40’s and 50’s. This resulted in several trips to the doctor as my overall health had started to suffer. Blood pressure and cholesterol were a bit on the high side and my joints and flexibility were in decline. I was advised to seek some professional help and did so with Jodie Arculus at Seal Personal Training. Jodie was highly professional from the outset. She listened carefully to my health goals and using her sound exercise knowledge designed appropriate ‘one 2 one’ sessions that have gradually over time restored my well-being and general fitness. I wish I had started 10 years ago! I’ll be honest, at first I used to dread coming to the gym. However, I made a commitment to myself and to Jodie that I would initially stick at it for 3 months. My weekly nutrition intake has been well organised and combined with 2 regular sessions per week in the gym my cholesterol and blood pressure have returned to satisfactory levels. I couldn’t thank Jodie enough or recommend her highly enough. I’m now looking forward to a long, healthy, active and rewarding retirement.”
“Maintaining a certain level of fitness has always been a personal goal. Training with Jodie Arculus has enabled me to achieve that goal. Jodie clearly takes time to learn about the individual needs and aspirations of her clients and then tailors workouts to meet those individual objectives. I am always challenged during each workout and look forward to each session under her guidance. No session with Jodie is ever the same, she has obviously taken time to structure each workout so there is always variety. I currently have a shoulder injury and Jodie has been working with me to help with recovery, but at the same time ensuring that my workouts are still challenging for the other areas of my body. Sessions are both imaginative and rewarding. I would absolutely recommend Jodie as a Personal Trainer, whatever level of fitness or personal goals you set out to achieve.”
“I’ve worked with Jodie Arculus as my Personal Trainer for 18 months. My fitness levels have improved in areas I previously struggled with…especially core strength. Jodie is an expert at gauging just the right amount of intensity I can cope with in any particular session. As a full-time business woman there can be days when I get to the gym and my mind and body are elsewhere. It’s reassuring to know that Jodie is on hand to take care of everything and helps re-direct my energy to where it needs to be! Having recently injured my ribs Jodie’s ability to work around this area but still maintain my overall fitness progress was invaluable. I would recommend Jodie Arculus as a Personal Trainer to anyone wishing to set targets and thereby improve their physical fitness!”
“I’ve been training with Steve for approximately 3 months and can say he has reinstalled my interest in training. Steve is very easy to work with due to his easy going personality but also with well structured routines and advice. Steve’s knowledge is second to none on all aspects of training, nutrition and rehabilitation, he has given me recipes and nutritional advice that I use on a daily basis, which has seen me lose over a stone in weight. Steve has also steered me in the right direction with organic supplements which has definitely helped my progress alongside plenty of hard but enjoyable gym sessions. I have been into fitness for sometime but since joining seal fitness I have definitely benefited than just training solo.”
I’ve worked with Steve for the past 6 months. I started with him to help me build up my muscle damage from an injury that occurred a year age. He knows exactly how to push you seeing your limitations and working on your weak spots. He is very professional knowing what exercise is best to achieve your goals. I’ve achieved so much in the past 6 months surpassing all expectations. Steve is committed to you and will work with you to achieve everything you want whether you need help with a dietary plan, or you are struggling in the gym on your own he will come give you guidance to make sure you get the best workout possible. He always says to me if you don’t see results with your trainer he is not training you properly!! And if you train with Steve you will see results!
“Personal training has been a great experience. I knew what I wanted to achieve, but I found I lacked the confidence to go to the gym to get the results I wanted. I was initially very apprehensive about having a personal trainer. I also lacked the knowledge to use the gym equipment safely and effectively. It’s also easy to lack willpower and not push your limits when you try to things alone initially.
Steve in particular has been great – very encouraging, professional and also explains everything very well and demonstrates techniques when required. He will always try his best to fit you in when you are struggling to find time for a training session and always makes you feel like you have got value for money. The results I have achieved have been far more than what I ever imagined and I can now also use the gym equipment myself effectively and more importantly safely. He was also great in giving advice on nutrition and what foods to avoid.
I always thought that personal training was just for body builders or people training for competitions or marathons – but training with Steve I soon learnt that Personal Training has its place for even the most regular gym user… I absolute love the motivation and knowledge that Steve passes on to me on a week to week basis.
I still have regular sessions to intensify my training and keep my motivation going and help push my limits. Strongly recommended.”
“I was training for the London Marathon and confided in Ali as I needed some one to motivate and push me, I would never push my body to the limit because I had run out of ideas and didn’t have the motivation. My training sessions that I had with Ali were fun, interesting and a change from training on my own. Every training session was different consisting of strength and conditioning, fitness tests and speed work.
Ali tailored my training sessions for the marathon and I was extremely naive to believe that it’s not all about road running. I thoroughly enjoyed the strength and conditioning sessions because this was a total change from my usual workouts on my own. Each strength and conditioning session would involve different exercises focusing on my legs and involving upper body strength and core work.
The fitness tests and speed work would involve high speed cardiovascular workouts that would push my body to the limit. I have never been so fit and healthy while training with Ali before and I will ensure to keep this up.
Ali is a professional, motivated and enthusiastic personal trainer who really knows his stuff; I would recommend him to everyone because of the wide variety training programmes that he can tailor to individual needs.”
I have never considered myself as particularly unfit, and I’m not overweight so I’d never really thought I needed Personal Training. I did recognise however that my programme lacked resistance work (both upper body and legs) and I wanted to increase my muscle mass and gain some strength – I didn’t know where to start though, and felt a bit of an idiot hanging around the free weights area with all the “big lads”.
Ali understood this and designed a programme that produced visible results (friends and family noticed the difference, and I did too) whilst improving my confidence and expertise to train alone. Working with free weights is now an integral part of my programme and I feel my overall fitness has improved.
Ali tailors each session to what you need – if you’ve had one of those days at work, then perhaps a boxing session to warm up with, if you’re a little exhausted then no problem, time for some core work on the swiss ball – I never got bored with my sessions because in each one there was something new, yet each one was cleverly designed to work towards the same goals.
But more importantly it’s an enjoyable, fun experience – you feel like you’ve got so much out of that 1 hour session. Life for most of us is so busy that finding an hour to train can be difficult, Ali made sure I got more out of one hour than normally I would get out of double that time – and when time’s a valuable commodity that’s so important.
Ali is not your typical personal trainer, the kind of ones, which focus on weight loss & getting the unfit fit, he also pushes the fit and active to be fitter and helps those who love sport and exercise achieve their training potential like me.
Whilst training for the Flora London Marathon this year (2008) Ali placed great emphasis on strength and conditioning for such an event. Exercises to improve my ankle knee and hip alignment became an important part of my routine. The exercises were fun and innovative often spending most of the session balancing on one leg on various surfaces to improve the performance of my gait. I certainly felt the benefit from these as my legs felt strong right throughout the 26 mile course.
The Greenseal Ladies Triathlons and ‘Wolverine’ rowing events were also good to do throughout my training as they pushed me physically and it was a refreshing change from the endless road running!”
I have been Personal Training with Ali for the last 8 months. I decided to start the sessions as in 2006 I injured my knee resulting in cruciate ligament reconstruction. This took a long time to heal and I never thought my knee would be strong enough to return to vigorous exercise ever again. I spoke with Ali and he recommended Personal Training.
The training for the first couple of months was centred on stabilization exercises for my knee joint, and building my leg muscles back up. This was integrated with gentle CV workouts which increased my self confidence as I gradually lost some weight that was gained in the post operative phase.
A few months later we agreed that I was strong and fit enough to begin training for one of Ali’s triathlons, which involved rowing, cycling, and running. I could not believe how far I had come in such a small period of time. I ended up coming fifth in the event! I am now running regularly and my knee injury seems a thing of the past!
I would highly recommend Ali to any further clients, he is very approachable and understanding but determined to keep pushing you so you can achieve your best in each session.
I’ve trained with Ali for over five years – two-hour sessions twice a week. We covered just about every aspect of performance: CV, including running, swimming and rowing; weights and individual muscle groups; and diet. Ali broke all this down into specific areas to concentrate and hone technique as well as performance. Some of it was very innovative – like running up hills pulling Ali attached to a bungee rope (which got incredulous looks, but is the most draining, effective work-out I’ve ever done).
I wanted to be more than fit. Ali pushed me exactly as I wanted (although occasionally hating his guts during some of the more strenuous sessions). But he was always flexible and told me off more than once for obsessively training too much.
Ali also organised gym triathlons. They have become very competitive, with league tables and PBs all recorded. But they’re good fun too – which is the point – and gave us all something to train towards. I couldn’t recommend Ali highly enough. Training is not just about training; it’s about how you live. He doesn’t lose sight of that.
I have enjoyed PT with Ali for 2 years now, and in that period have realised a massive increase in both cardiovascular performance and strength. I was delighted to complete the 2007 Flora London Marathon. My posture has also improved significantly and my lower back pain has become a distant memory.
Attention to detail regarding technique and his unrelenting drive and focus are at the forefront of each session. One of the aspects I most enjoy is the variety and spontaneity of the sessions. The objectives of each session are clearly outlined and you receive excellent guidance throughout.
More importantly, had it not been for all the above, plus all the laughs along the way, I do not feel that my initial curiosity with P.T. would have developed into the way of life it has become. He is a credit to his profession. At the end of this year I am running the New York Marathon, I really can’t believe how life has changed. 2007 Flora London Marathon (4hrs 7m)
A year and a half ago I moved to England from America with a 15-pound overweight body. The stress of the move added even more weight to my body in the months that followed. I finally decided to do something about it, so not only did I join a gym, I also hired Ali Seal to jump-start the whole process. We began to work on an aggressive cardiovascular workout, striving for my personal best each time I came into the gym. I would bike, row and run my little heart out. Eventually I was fit enough to compete in two mini triathlons and just recently I completed a 5 mile Fun Run. Ever so slowly the weight has come off. To date I’ve lost 28 pounds. Two whole stone! There is more to go but I feel like I’ve been given the tools to loose more, keep it off and succeed. We’ve now integrated weights to my program, focusing on the large muscle groups for toning and contouring while burning additional calories so that I can continue on my weight-loss program. I’ll be forever grateful to Ali, who helped me achieve goals that I thought were impossible and to live a healthier and skinnier life. Completed 8km Knowle Fun Run in 51 mins
I have trained with Ali for over three years. My training has been quite varied however focusing on cardio workouts to help combat the rather unhealthy diet/life style I used to lead.
Personal Training has become a significant part of my life, often having two sessions per week, and has altered my perception of training and healthy living completely. The PT sessions removed the ‘boredom’ of gym training, and is now an enjoyment rather than a chore! Furthermore it has transformed my eating and drinking habits between my sessions.
Prior to hiring Ali I was 90kg, and had only managed to run a maximum 5 miles. My focused training gave me the appetite and confidence to train and run in the Chicago Marathon in 2007, at the same time raising over £20,000 for charity.
I have sustained my weight below 75kg now & have now booked my place in the 2008 New York Marathon and look forward to seeing this city from a different perspective.
I would have no hesitation in recommending Ali for your training, and just remember ‘pain is weakness leaving the body’!!!! Completed 2007 Chicago Marathon 4hrs 2 m
I originally decided to have a Personal Trainer as I felt that I needed that extra push to get my fitness regime onto another level. I choose Ali through recommendation from other members of the gym. My first impression of Ali was that he was came across as very professional, enthusiastic and motivated. In our first session we discussed my goals, strengths and weaknesses. I told him that my main focus was to improve fitness levels and my overall muscle tone and posture. Ali took that into consideration as we outlined what sort of exercises would benefit me.
From that first session I never looked back. Each and every session was aimed at my goals. I looked forward to my training knowing that I had someone giving me 100% time, effort and encouragement to get me into the best shape I could be. The sessions were always intense, challenging and effective. They consisted of full body workouts integrating balance, strength, core stability and cardio training. Sessions were always varied and fun – for example boxing, circuit training, long distance running and sprinting outside.
In the year and half I have been training with Ali I have become more aware of my body and its capabilities. I was unable to run for more than five minutes when I first started my training. Now I am entering my first half marathon leading up to a full marathon in the near future. He has helped give me a solid foundation of my health and lifestyle that I will continue to build on. I have thoroughly enjoyed having him as my trainer.
“I first came across Steven and Seal Personal Training whilst in the gym and originally approached them for personal training for my 15 year old son, who is a keen athlete and wanted to increase his overall strength. Being a young age, I was keen for him to learn how to use equipment in the gym properly and develop the correct techniques, all of which he achieved during sessions with Steven.
I then decided to take the plunge and began having PT sessions with Steven myself; my aim was to improve my general fitness and lose weight. Steven is always very professional, motivated and enthusiastic and has a lot of fitness knowledge which he gladly shares during sessions. Steve has great attention to detail, always ensures the correct techniques are used and his sessions are always planned well, with activities varying each week. Sessions are always fun and challenging and cover fitness, core, strength and conditioning. I achieved my weight loss goal, feel great and recently completed the Birmingham half marathon; something I wouldn’t have thought possible this time last year!”
