Jonathan moved to Hobart in 2015 with his family. He was working 70-80 hrs per week. He was overworked and exhausted. He picked up some poor habits, he was smoking and drinking which contributed to his anxiety. Jonathan had allowed work to become his primary motivator, everything else was secondary. In 2020 his wife dragged him to the gym. That is where he met Michael, and everything changed. He was able to turn his life around and finally put himself first. 

Jonathan first met Michael during a group training session. They got along well and enjoyed training together. When Jonathan found out that Michael was offering personal training sessions, he thought to himself, “I trust you, I love training with you, so why not give it a crack”. Two years later Jonathan is still training with Michael. Like most of Michael’s clients, Jonathan finds great enjoyment in his training, but a sincere appreciation for his balance between camaraderie and professionalism.

Jonathan says,

“The biggest issue with Michael is how to clone him to increase his ability to provide services to more people.”

When Jonathan began training with Michael there were areas of improvement he wanted to achieve. “Finding someone to work with one-on-one in the areas that you least like is important because they are the areas of most resistance, you need someone to help you go places on your fitness journey that you are naturally avoiding. It can leave you feeling quite vulnerable,” said Jonathan. 

At the beginning of the year, Jonathan was participating in group training. Bench press had always been his weakest exercise. 

“My technique was not great – weak and floppy. There was no time in group training to focus on improving my technique. I struggled a lot with bench press, and it became my least enjoyable exercise. I spoke to Michael. I told him how I didn’t feel positive about doing the exercise and that I was uncomfortable,”

“Michael said to me, ‘Let’s focus on your technique for three months’. Three months turned into a year. The satisfaction I now feel when bench pressing is great – incremental improvements of 20-30% in weight and 50% improvement in technique. The endorphin rush is excellent mentally and physically” says Jonathan.  

Michael’s support travels far beyond the gym. If Jonathan ever has self-doubt he feels comfortable enough to pick up the phone or sit down with Michael and talk to him. As Michael will always provide him with a sense of assurance. 

“It comes down to his sincerity. Natural trust. Skills and wisdom that he is able to impart. That’s the magic recipe,” says Jonathan.

Jonathan’s goal now is to continue progressing with bench press. “Eight months ago, the weight I could do one rep on, I am now doing a full set of that same weight. I am not interested in competing. I have a natural desire to continue to improve. As a middle-aged man, I want to stay fit enough for a healthy happy life” says Jonathan. 

Training with Michael has significantly improved Jonathan’s health. His knowledge of fitness has improved. He now has an understanding of what good technique looks like. And that incremental improvements are how you build strength and progress in the gym.

Jonathan describes Michael as a “trusted voice, a friend who can provide that priceless advice”.

Strength training has now become a huge part of who Jonathan is. He says, “I want to live as long as I can, whilst being healthy and active.”