Weight Loss
Personal Trainer

To reduce body weight, your body needs to use more energy than it receives over time. This is known as a calorie or energy deficit.

That does not mean you need to count every calorie or dramatically reduce how much you eat. A deficit can come from changes to food intake, increased activity or a combination of both. We focus on finding an approach that supports your training and keeps you functioning well while still creating the conditions needed for weight loss.

There is no single rate that is right for everybody. Starting weight, body composition, training experience, nutrition and individual circumstances can all affect how quickly weight changes.

A commonly used general target is around 0.5% to 1% of body weight per week, although some people may progress more slowly and still be doing very well. We are interested in the quality of the progress too. Rapid scale loss is far less useful if you are becoming weaker, losing significant muscle or struggling to maintain the routine.

There is no fixed number of sessions that works for everyone. Your training frequency needs to suit your fitness level, recovery, experience and weekly schedule.

For many people, several well-structured sessions each week can provide enough stimulus to improve strength and fitness while still allowing adequate recovery. We would rather build a schedule you can follow consistently than prescribe an unrealistic training frequency that falls apart after a few weeks.

There is no fixed number of sessions that works for everyone. Your training frequency needs to suit your fitness level, recovery, experience and weekly schedule.

For many people, several well-structured sessions each week can provide enough stimulus to improve strength and fitness while still allowing adequate recovery. We would rather build a schedule you can follow consistently than prescribe an unrealistic training frequency that falls apart after a few weeks.

Yes. Long cardio sessions are not a requirement for weight loss.

Cardiovascular exercise can increase energy expenditure and improve fitness, so it can certainly have a place in your programme. Resistance training is also valuable because it helps maintain or build muscle while you lose weight. We usually look at your whole activity level and build an appropriate mix rather than simply adding increasing amounts of cardio.

Resistance training is one of the main tools we use to protect muscle during weight loss. Your muscles need a reason to stay, and appropriately challenging strength training provides that stimulus.

Nutrition also matters. Adequate protein and a sensible rate of weight loss can help preserve lean tissue. Very aggressive dieting, poor recovery and a lack of resistance training can increase the likelihood that some of the weight you lose comes from muscle.

This is one reason we look beyond scale weight when assessing progress.

There is no single exercise that produces the best fat-loss result for everybody.

We place a strong emphasis on resistance training because it develops strength, supports muscle retention and allows us to progressively challenge your body. Cardio, walking and other forms of movement can then complement your training and increase your overall activity.

The most effective programme is built from exercises you can perform safely, progress over time and continue doing consistently.

You cannot choose where your body removes fat first. Abdominal exercises can strengthen the muscles around your midsection, but they do not selectively remove the fat covering them.

Belly fat generally decreases as overall body fat decreases. Genetics, sex, age and individual fat distribution influence where you tend to store fat and where you notice changes first.

We therefore focus on improving overall body composition rather than trying to target one area with specific exercises.

Some changes can appear fairly quickly, while others take longer to become obvious. Scale weight can also move up and down from day to day because of water retention, digestion, carbohydrate intake and other normal fluctuations.

Over several weeks, a clearer trend usually begins to emerge if the programme is producing the intended result. You may also notice changes in measurements, clothing, strength and fitness before a dramatic difference appears on the scale.

We prefer to assess progress over meaningful periods of time rather than judging the programme from a few individual weigh-ins.

A plateau does not automatically mean your programme has stopped working. Your body weight naturally fluctuates, and short periods without scale movement can happen even while body composition is changing.

Longer plateaus may occur because your energy needs have changed as you lose weight, your activity has decreased without you noticing, your nutrition has gradually shifted or your current training no longer provides the same challenge.

This is where proper monitoring becomes useful. We can review what has actually changed before deciding that you need to eat less or train harder.

Regain often happens when the method used to lose weight cannot realistically continue once the diet ends. Very restrictive eating, dramatic increases in exercise and short-term challenges can produce results, but they may leave you without a workable routine for maintaining them.

We want the habits you develop during weight loss to resemble something you could realistically continue afterwards. Maintenance still requires attention, but it should not feel like returning permanently to an extreme diet.

For many people, body composition gives us a better picture of what is happening than body weight alone.

Two people can weigh the same and have very different amounts of muscle and body fat. You can also lose fat while maintaining or gaining some muscle, which may mean the scale changes more slowly even though your physique and fitness are improving.

We therefore consider scale weight alongside measurements, strength, fitness and other useful indicators rather than allowing one number to define your progress.

We look for trends rather than relying on a single measurement. Depending on your programme and goals, we may monitor body weight, measurements, strength, fitness performance and body composition where appropriate.

Your training gives us useful information too. Improvements in exercise technique, resistance, repetitions, work capacity and recovery can show that your body is adapting even during periods when scale weight is relatively stable.

We use those results to make informed adjustments rather than changing your programme simply because of one disappointing weigh-in.

Yes. You do not need to get fit before you start personal training with us.

We begin from your current ability and select exercises, loads and session demands that are appropriate for you. Technique and confidence come first, and we increase the challenge gradually as your body becomes better prepared for it.

If you have an injury, medical condition or symptoms that may affect exercise, we may ask you to speak with your doctor or another healthcare professional before starting or before certain types of training.

Your programme is built around your own starting point rather than taken from a standard weight-loss template.

We consider your current fitness, training history, movement, goals, ability and practical routine before deciding how you should train. Your programme can then develop as your strength and fitness change.

That personalisation continues after the first programme is written. We review your progress and adjust the training when the evidence tells us something needs to change.

Your first session gives us the chance to understand where you are starting and what you want to achieve. We discuss your goals, previous training experience, current activity and anything that may affect your ability to exercise comfortably.

We can then assess your current fitness and movement at an appropriate level and begin identifying the type of training that suits you. You do not need to prepare for it or prove how fit you are. The purpose is to establish a useful starting point for the work ahead.

Yes. You can start with a free trial workout before deciding if Austin Fitness is the right fit for you.

It gives you the opportunity to experience our training environment, meet us and get a better sense of how we coach. We can also learn more about what you want to achieve and discuss what an appropriate next step could look like for you.