Testimonial of PTS member and unlikely badass Pj Gentle!

Posted on 8th August 2015 by PTS

Here is a testimonial from one of the regular members at PTS, the wonderful Pj! I call her an unlikely badass, because, well, she’s so nice! Have a read!

“Well, where do I start. Sorry, this might be quite long, but Faye & Ali (PTS) have changed me in many ways!

I started going to PTS in July 2012, just to do the half hour circuit class. I was 41 years old, with no previous experience of gyms. I had already lost 2 stone and wanted to lose another stone or two and improve my fitness and tone up a bit.

I liked the atmosphere at PTS, no mirrors (no posers!), very women and family friendly.

I soon noticed the kettlebell class – it looked ‘easy’, so I asked to have ago. It was a lot harder than I expected, but I got hooked from day one. Ali and Faye have different teaching styles, but they don’t clash, their styles complement each other very well. They show you how to lift in a way that protects your joints and improves your muscle strength. How to use leg drive and position your body to get the best results.

So, I just did an hour session of kettlebells and circuits once a week, for about a year. My weight slowly went down and my body tone and fitness improved completely – result. Job done! There was no pressure from Faye & Ali, just encouragement and support.

Then the fun really started, I enjoyed the kettlebells and circuits, so increased to twice a week.

Then Faye set up a weight workshop to teach powerlifting techniques, initially just for women as we are often more intimidated by walking into gyms and weight lifting. I went to 3 of these in 2013 (Sept to Nov) and enjoyed the whole thing – Faye has an excellent & patient teaching style. Faye gave us all DVD’s and worksheets of her workshops (including info on training programmes and high protein food recipes) so that we could remember and study what she had taught us. From Dec 2013 I added 2 sessions a week of powerlifting training to my weekly gym schedule.

PTS hold strongman/woman events from time to time and I came to watch one of the ladies events – looked like fun! I found out that they did strongman classes at the weekend, so I started doing the classes in March 2014. I wasn’t disappointed! Faye and Ali teach techniques that help keep you as safe as possible but also lift/push/drag the most weight. It is still very satisfying when I surprise the ‘big’ strong lads by being able to lift a 180kg yoke off the ground – I now weigh 65kg.

As I was enjoying all of the different training regimes (circuits, kettlebells, strongman & powerlifting), Ali encouraged me to start entering some competitions. Since June 2014 when I did my first (novice) powerlifting comp, I have entered 7 powerlifting comps and 5 strongman (and related) comps with more to follow this year.

Faye also teaches a class called Body blasters (women only) that I try to do whenever I have time. An hour of this and my abs feel awesome.

I have recently added the Tough Runner class that Ali teaches to my busy schedule. I want to improve my stamina. I hate running, but this class breaks the running up with different tasks and obstacles in the gym. I can now climb a gym rope and have very recently conquered swinging from suspended rings. Ali and Faye have to be very patient with me sometimes! It can take me quite a few attempts to get a new techniques right.

So, basically, Faye and Ali are awesome! They have taught and encouraged me to try many different things and supported when I(and other PTS members) have competed at other gyms. I am a very different women from the lady that entered their gym in July 2012.

(They teach and host a lot more classes, but I just don’t have enough hours in the day to do much more!).

Best Regards

Paula (P-J) Gentle”

So, as you can see Pj is very happy with what she has discovered at PTS! Thank you for the kind words Pj! Now some thoughts from the coaches…

Ali’s thoughts on Pj:

“Pj is quiet, shy, never rude, almost to the point of timid. I think she only discovered her competitive streak once she started training at PTS and started to quietly race (and beat!) people on the prowlers. I think she got a real kick out lifting heavier kettlebells than some (or all!) of the men in a session, but she would never boast or brag, it was up to us as coaches to recognize this badass quietly developing before us! Pj is a WONDERFUL member of the gym, she is conscientious, considerate, always tidies up, always helps others, in fact quite a few people could do with taking a page out of Pj’s book on how to be a good gym goer! From a coach’s point of view funnily enough Pj is actually quite hard work (sorry Pj!) because she still carries a lot of doubt about herself, which is frustrating when you know they are so capable! But the flip side of that, is that Pj works her ass off consistently and even when it’s something she is very uncomfortable with she still sticks with it to conquer it. And that is a wonderful quality, and well worth getting through the arguments we have when she doubts herself! And the AMAZING transformation of her physique over the years she has been at PTS is proof of her work ethic and attitude. Love ya Pj!”

Faye’s thoughts on Pj:

“As Ali has said Pj is a perfect member of PTS, she loves to help out at our competitions, she trains hard and is always respectful to other members and the gym. I personally haven’t had too many battles of will with Pj like Ali has, but I do find them quite amusing to watch from the sidelines! I am very proud of Pj’s achievements, not just her body transformation and massive increase in confidence, but also her journey into Powerlifting and Strongwoman, it as always a good laugh as well as being supportive to compete with her, a great lifting partner to me and the other PTS ladies.”

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