I cannot recommend Bodyguards highly enough. I have been going to Bodyguards for well over 10 years and chose them because of their expertise in designing exercise programmes that rehabilitate and/or accommodate for existing injuries and impairments.
I was anxious initially about going to a gym that had, at that time, only male trainers. I was also worried that it might be too "sport" oriented for me. The friendly, relaxed atmosphere and careful attention to personal abilities and aims reassured me and I am very glad that I decided to give it a go.
There is a very healthy and pleasing mix of clients, from athletes through to rather less "sporty" people like me. It does a lot for your confidence to see the trainers treating everyone with the same care and consideration and pushing everyone in the same firm but kindly way. It is not just individual trainers who are motivating, the whole set-up is very motivating.
What has Bodyguards done for me? Apart from greatly improved and maintained strength, flexibility and fitness, the tailored exercises mean that I no longer have the postural deformities, due to longstanding injuries, that were setting me up for even more problems in the future.
Bodyguards has also seen me through bereavements and periods of severe depression. Tony Douglass's attitude and approach has undoubtedly helped greatly in recovery of my mental as well as my physical health.
A lot of people pay for a gym subscription but stop going pretty quickly. Being depressed means it is even less likely you will keep it up. Having an appointment with a trainer gets the gym off that long list of "maybe tomorrow, if I can face it" things that you know would make you feel better but would mean, perish the thought, having to leave the house!!!
Anyone who has plumbed those depths will know just how hard it can be just to leave the house. You might drag yourself along, wading through gloomy treacle, but you always walk away feeling so much better. Not just for having done it at all but for the good time you have had while you were there and because of all those magic endorphin things now racing around your brain and boosting your mood!
I have been going to Bodyguards for so long that I need to thank some trainers who have now moved on, like Luke and Jesper. Nick as well, who I started off with, and all those kind souls (too many to mention) who have cheerfully put up with my bumbling ways when my "regular" has been on holiday. Which brings me back to praising Tony again, both for his support and for making going to the gym so much fun.
Bodyguards is the place to go if you are serious about wanting to get fit and in shape and/or are worried about hurting yourself due to doing the wrong things the wrong way. It is also a fun and very friendly place to be, with trainers who are genuinely dedicated to providing a good service - and there are women trainers there now as well.
It is entirely the wrong place if you are expecting a glitterball-palace with a jacuzzi, where you can get away with lounging around in twinkly leotard, people-watching and pretending that it would somehow count as "going to the gym"! Bodyguards is much more fun and rewarding than that!