My Experience With ECPT
My recommendation of ECPT comes from 6 years (and counting!) of consistent and constantly evolving training, guidance and programming. It has by no means been consistently easy but it has always been enjoyable, motivating and progressive. Emma has trained me through some of the biggest changes and goals in my life and has continually adapted to suit my needs.
I can’t recommend ECPT highly enough and can honestly say that my life would have taken a very different path (and shape!) had she not taken the time to make sure I was comfortable in a gym surrounding with her and taken me through my first steps with a friendly, encouraging attitude and a genuine interest in her clients health, wellbeing and achievements.
Vicky McDonald
Weight Loss
I was first introduced to Emma by a mutual friend in 2011, 4 months after having my first baby. I was morbidly obese and, unsurprisingly, suffered from sciatica in my lower back. I was terrified of working with a personal trainer and very wary of training in a gym full of people who were way more advanced than I was. However, I desperately didn’t want my son to grow up with an unhealthy mother so bit the bullet and signed up for the body change challenge. From day one Emma has encouraged and motivated me to achieve my goals, using her incredible depth of knowledge, challenging workouts and positive, motivational attitude to push me from strength to strength.
Within the first 18 months of training with Emma I had lost a total of 6.5 stone, completely changed my eating habits, eradicated any back pain and continue to strive to become fitter and stronger.
PCOS
In addition to all of these health benefits that I was already enjoying, I was unaware of another benefit that manifested after 18 months… Prior to falling pregnant with my son I had been diagnosed with acute PCOS, making it extremely difficult to fall pregnant. I had always suffered from the two most common and unpleasant symptoms of the condition – fertility issues and insulin resistance leading to more difficulty than most in maintaining or losing weight. I couldn’t believe my ‘luck’ when, through following Emma’s guidance, I was regularly losing 3-5lbs a week and my cysts eventually decreased and disappeared, resulting in me falling pregnant with my daughter without any medical intervention.
Pregnancy
I wanted to continue to train and pay attention to my health throughout my second pregnancy and Emma was not only willing to continue my training programme, but did her own extensive research into the effects of pregnancy on the body and the safest possible methods and exercises to perform whilst pregnant. I continued to work at an effort level that was appropriate, maintainable and suitable for my needs, which kept me strong and helped my energy levels throughout all three trimesters. Emma fully supported, encouraged and listened to me (even on the super hormonal days!) and I continued to exercise safely and happily right up until the day before my perfectly healthy daughter was born. The benefits of training whilst pregnant became even more apparent when I had a very smooth second delivery and an incredibly quick recovery post-partum.
Sport
Working with Emma has introduced me to the benefits of strength training and challenges that I never would have thought possible for me. These challenges started as just fun and evolved into a passion. She recognised very quickly that I’m very competitive and love a goal and persuaded me to enter a powerlifting competition. Within 3 years of competing Emma has trained me to compete at international level, being selected for both Welsh and GB teams, and even achieving a medal at the powerlifting Commonwealth games in 2015. In addition to powerlifting, Emma also encouraged me to try my hand at a different discipline by entering a rowing competition. She adapted my training specifically to follow a rowing program and again her knowledge and fine detailing helped me to achieve silver medals in my first ever rowing competition at the Welsh champs, and a bronze medal at the British champs! Her thorough knowledge of my capabilities and limits has made her invaluable as a coach and mentor.