It’s been a month since we started training with Tim and Leon of Tim Gold Fitness and already we feel the difference. The variety of training as much as the personal approach with the guys is probably what has struck us the most. The training tales place at their stunning villa, where everything they need to put us through our paces is there. The one thing that has struck me about our sessions is how fast they go, the guys make it interesting and with the odd bit of banter flying back and forward throughout the workout, they are also fun.
Week one saw us enjoying resistance training for the first time. After a proper stretch, which starts every session, we get to work. Using towels and their own strength, they put us through a variety of exercises. The bicep curl for example sees us grip the towel and work against their resistance to complete the curl and on the way down, provide out own resistance to stop them returning to the starting position easily, hence the name of the training I guess. We adopt the same routine with every exercise, meaning we are working twice as hard as we would be just lifting weights in the gym. As well as the resistance aspect of the work out, there is also an emphasis put on improving balance and when the workout is completed we stretch for a good 15 mins, another discipline that is important at Tim Gold fitness. It’s an enjoyable workout, one that flies by but also one where you know you are working hard.
Week two and we are up on the roof of the stunning Gold villa and the view is spectacular. We can see right across the countryside and over to Dalt Villa. This session we will be working mainly on Body Balance and stretching. Tim takes the first session and runs us through some tricky balance enhancing exercises. This is another example of what sets Tim Gold fitness apart from other training regimes, the variety of the training is important, we are only in our second week and we are covering a discipline that I have never tried before in all the years I have been flitting in and out of gyms. The personal interaction is clearly an important one and it adds motivation to get the work out done properly. Leon takes over for the second part of the session and gives us several great stretching exercises. It’s clear we have to work on our balance and stretching techniques but, even at our level, we feel the benefit immediately.
Week three and we move from the main gym area around the pool to the tennis court below, where Tim has laid out a circuits course. Eight different exercises in the rotation to be done twice. Luckily it’s not the hottest day in Ibiza and there is a good bit of cloud cover, Tim informs us that he likes using the circuits but the weather in the height of the season restricts the use of them. Circuits’ works everything, obviously the core takes the brunt of the exercise but using the TRX we also work chest and back and with the ropes, we are challenged to pull Tim towards us, not the easiest thing as he is pulling away from us at the same time! Some sprints in between the cones break up the pain slightly, although they do leave is out of breath and finishing up with abdominal stretching sit ups as Tim throws the medicine ball at us just about finishes us off! This session is a much tougher cardio work out that the others and, once again, provides more variety.
Week four sees us return to the tennis court for a slight variation on the circuits for the first half of the session before Leon takes over for some kick boxing. The circuits incorporate some of the exercises from the previous session so we have a good idea what we are doing, although there are a few abdominal exercises thrown into to the mix. The scissors, using then TRX and stretching our abs is a personal favourite, he says sarcastically. The interaction between us and Tim and Leon while we are training really adds to the experience, we work hard throughout but enjoy a bit of banter along the way. It adds a competitive edge to the training and makes us work that bit harder. They do get involved in the exercises too, so they are not just standing around barking orders at us for an hour. Next up, after a not so gentle circuit warm up, we head upstairs to the side of the pool for some basic kickboxing. But not before we do some preparatory stretching first. We work on some punches before adding them together to make a combination, then the same with kicks, before having a full range of movements. Leo holds the pads and doesn’t look too worried when I am attacking. It’s fair to say that he braces himself much more when he’s on the end of some punches and kicks from Charlie!
Our first month of training has flown in, a combination of a great variety of sessions and the craziness of closing party season, where time disappears. As Ibiza settles down to post summer calm, Tim and Leon are preparing diet plans and looking to step our training up to three sessions a week. Their personal approach to training is refreshing, they have a vested interest in making sure that we perform well every time we train, and the programme that they construct will deliver the results that we are looking for, if we stick to the regime. When you see the amount of effort that they put in on our behalf, there is extra motivation to make sure we live up to their expectations, for me, this is the sign of a great training relationship. Watch this space…
