Testimonials
Paddy Barwise
EMERITUS PROFESSOR OF MANAGEMENT AND MARKETING AT LONDON BUSINESS SCHOOL
As a result of consulting Carole I resolved two problems. Stenosis and acid reflux. We rehabbed rigorously leading up to my back operation, which was a great success. I have no doubt that my speedy recovery owes much to the work I did with Carole.
With Carole, you get access to a first-class selection of specialists. She ensures the right questions are asked and that the necessary follow-ups take place and then integrates the results into her training programmes and advice. When I first consulted Carole I had been suffering from reflux for some time and was also suffering sciatica type pains in my leg which my GP couldn’t diagnose. My wife had started working with Carole and had made enormous progress very quickly so I thought I should go and see her – to get a bit fitter, lose a bit of weight and to see if she could help me with the two specific problems which had been troubling me. The reflux was my first concern – it was bad enough for me to see a specialist who had picked up a heart murmur and passed me onto a colleague who did some more tests which showed that, in fact, I had a very strong, healthy heart. The problem was that I produced too much stomach acid but this could be controlled by taking some pills. The drugs worked pretty well but, as I explained to Carole, I wasn’t happy at the thought of having to take some fairly powerful medicine for the rest of my life because of a digestion problem. With Carole you don’t just get Carole, you also get access to a whole range of specialist medical advice. She doesn’t just arrange the appointments, Carole makes certain the right questions get asked, ensures the necessary follow up takes place and integrates the results into her own training programmes and advice. Which is why within a couple of days of meeting Carole, I found myself sitting with her in front of a couple of specialists who tested me for intolerances, deficiencies, and a host of other criteria. They gave me a list of do’s and don’ts and carefully chosen food supplements that Carole incorporated into an easily manageable diet plan. I felt the benefits almost immediately, came off the prescribed medication which eight years later I am still off.
Carole also arranged for me to see an osteopath who referred me onto a neurosurgeon who finally got to the bottom of the problem with a diagnosis of stenosis which can be cured permanently by surgery. Although I had been exercising with Carole throughout, we stepped up the training in the period running up to the operation and concentrated on building my core strength. The procedure has been a great success and there’s no doubt that my speedy recovery owes much the work I did with Carole. My work previously as Chairman of Which consumer association and accompanying projects mean I have a pretty extensive and exhaustive timetable so once a month I treat myself to one of her wonderful massages.
Tim Mcready
FOUNDER/CHAIRMAN OF SKILLCAPITAL & CO-OWNER OF MGR FILM PRODUCTION COMPANY
Carole goes far beyond superficial, she keeps you motivated and focuses on what is sustainable. When you work with Carole it transpires that she understands the needs of her clients in a way that is seriously impressive and differentiates her from the rest of the market: no amount of web blurb can seriously do that justice. Go and see her, try it. It is, by a country mile, the best personal training experience I have experienced.
I had a sequence of unsatisfactory experiences with Personal Trainers within the larger gym chains; I found that they had a one size fits all approach which subsequently meant I didn’t meet my objectives or over trained. They lacked sophistication in how they worked with me and didn’t take a bespoke approach. When I started training with Carole I realised her approach was completely different to anything else I had experienced: she immediately recognised that I had certain muscle groups that simply weren’t being activated when I exercised/hadn’t been activated previously; as a child I spent a number of months in an incubator and that brain to body connection which switches on those muscle groups simply hadn’t happened.
Before beginning traditional “training” sessions with me, Carole took me right back to basics. We worked at a very basic level on rehabilitative work to prepare me properly and give me the foundations for moving onto more. Carole has a corporeal intelligence and understanding to how she works with you-she immediately assesses whether you are in the right shape or mindset for a certain type of session and adjusts your programme that day accordingly. If you’re exhausted, she’ll avoid a very heavy, over loaded session (which she’s more than capable of doing with you!) Instead each session is completely tailored to you at that time: Carole has a sensibility to her approach that far surpasses anyone else I have encountered to date. Carole has moved me from hating personal training with the meatheads in the gyms, to profoundly valuing the time I spend there. Carole has made it more valid: I know the session won’t be painful or exhausting but it’s challenging gets results.
Carole’s approach is much more about what you NEED to get you into the very best possible shape- it’s not about “no pain no gain”; she is highly attuned to what is realistic, which is very welcome in what is generally an unthinking industry. My approach has definitely shifted: I now understand that it’s about accepting that training is a lifelong physical and mental health necessity; I have gone from sporadic visits to the gym to being a weekly visitor and welcoming the help and positive energy and results it generates; I have gone from dragging myself there when I want to be in shape for the beach, to making it part of everyday life. In the beginning I fundamentally detested the gym: Carole has been the only person who has been able to get me across that bridge! I still don’t like it, but I do it, which nobody else has managed to get me to do before!