Tracey Kennedy: Tracey works as a personal trainer with Body Technology personal training. She specialises in teaching yoga and Pilates. "I mainly work with clients recovering from injuries and Down's Syndrome children," she says.
Tracey has found that a mixture of yoga and Pilates is terrific for her Down's Syndrome clients. "The kids pick up the movements very easily and find it a lot of fun," she says.
When Tracey takes on a client she assesses their individual needs before she designs a programme. "I look at diet and nutrition and I also ask the client to stand on a stability disc. This assesses core strength or weakness and shows any body misalignments. It also gets people to look at their own body shape.
"I design specific programmes combining pilates and yoga for each client and each programme is very unique because each client is very individual. I also use a lot of ball therapy. I use a hedgehog ball or spike ball. It's around 10cm in diameter with spikes sticking out of it. It's great for placing on the soles of your foot because it works like reflexology to stimulate the central nervous system. I use this during the cool down for about four minutes and it leaves the client feeling great.
"Some of my Down's Syndrome clients can be very withdrawn and the exercise draws them out. They might start laughing during some of the exercises which works as a great release for them," she says.
Alan Farrell: Alan is a personal trainer specialising in the Chek (Corrective Holistic Exercise Kinesiology) technique. "Chek is corrective exercise which takes on a holistic approach," says Alan. Alan works with people of all levels of fitness, but finds the technique particularly beneficial for those suffering back, neck or shoulder problems.
"A lot of my clients are sedentary office workers who complain of rounded shoulders and lower back pain," he says.
Alan's corrective treatment sessions consist of flexibility exercises, core stability work, strength training, power training and nutritional analysis.
"Initially I do a postural analysis of the client and measure their flexibility using a goniometer. The goniometer is an implement resembling a school protractor which measures the joint's range of movement to ascertain flexibility. I then examine the client's tight areas on the body that need to be stretched and I design a specific programme to stretch these areas and strengthen the weak areas."
"I also look at the client's diet and give nutritional advice. I use metabolic typing using a questionnaire. Metabolic typing tells how a person responds to the food they eat so I ask how they felt after certain foods and ask them to pay more attention to what they eat.
Core stability exercises include abdominal work and squats and lunges for the legs. I encourage the client to work without weights to gain core strength and just concentrate on getting the technique correct. Core work is functional exercise, working the muscles that we function with on a daily basis. The final step is strength and power training where the clients use weights to build strong, toned muscles. I monitor my clients regularly and change their programme after four to six weeks. One session costs an average of €90," he says.
Karen Byford: Karen works as a personal trainer with an additional qualification in Pilates. "I train all sorts of people using the Pilates technique. I think it's the most amazing exercise around, it's so slow and controlled anyone can do it," she says.
Working one-to-one with a client can achieve better results because you can carefully monitor the client's progress, says Karen. "I begin the personal training session with a postural assessment to see any imbalances on the body. Some people may be misaligned and have more muscle tone on one side of the body. I also find that people don't know how to stand properly because they may be fatigued and so their posture suffers. Based on the assessment I train the client to become more aware of their body and build a specific programme around their precise needs," she says.
Pilates is all about toning and strengthening the body, paying particular attention to the core areas which include the abdominal muscles, the lower back and buttocks.
Karen treats women after they have given birth and people suffering back pain. "After pregnancy women need to get their body awareness back and a lot of work needs to be done on the pelvic floor muscles and the abdominal muscles. They can also include their babies in some of the exercises. I don't treat my work as a life philosophy like yoga. I regard it more as an exercise regime and I try to bring understanding to what I am doing because if a client understands why they are doing specific exercises then they are more inclined to enjoy it and benefit from it," says Karen.