Kelly

Personal training was never something that I had envisioned myself doing after I left school and went onto college; I had always been quite an active person though. Dancing was what I loved and what I had imagined myself doing as I was growing up, I attended a school of dance for 14 years and then as I entered my final year of school I landed myself a job as a Saturday girl in a hair salon to earn a little pocket money. That was the path that the next 15 years had in store for me. I finished dancing and went onto to become a senior stylist in two different salons. I loved my job but I knew that it wouldn’t be my forever career.

After having my first little boy at the age of 22 I found the gym, as all mums know, your body isn’t quite your own during pregnancy and I wanted to get back a little bit of me, keep myself in good health and good shape, not only for me but for my son as well. I attended a small gym just around the corner from where I lived and that is where my love for exercise came from. Fast forward a few years and I had ventured into a larger gym, with more equipment, a timetable of classes and many more members, all people interested in the same kind of things as me. My regular nights at the gym didn’t just become ‘my gym time’, it became a passion. I found myself reading up on nutrition, googling what benefits of different exercises had, you tubing workouts and watching informative videos etc, and I started to wonder if this was something I could have a career in. I didn’t quite have the confidence to make the step towards it, or the time as I thought, I had a full time job and a 5 year old!

Amongst all of the happenings I was attending a few of the classes at the new gym of which were taken by Kev…we still argue to this day of who was interested in who first.. it was him by the way…but nevertheless we ended up married. I like to think it was fate if I’m very honest, because deciding the branding for KM Fitness would have been a lot harder had we had different initials once married! Anyhow, previous to the I do’s we had another small child join the family which meant I had 9 months maternity leave from the hairdressers. After much thought and even more encouragement from Kev I decided to go ahead and do a level 2 and 3 qualification in health and fitness/personal training. The gym had become my second home, I had gotten myself back into shape quickly after having our baby and it was now more than ever a really strong passion of mine. What did I have to lose? I had the time while I was on mat leave…and little did I know I would never return to the hairdressers and instead pursue a full-time career in personal training.

I did a little bit of voluntary work at True Grit Training (where I am based), mainly setting up classes and taking part in teaching them whilst I did my qualification, work experience if you like, and once I had completed my level 3 I stayed there to start my own business, build up a client base and merge with Kevin. It is the best decision I have ever made.

Since then I have gone on to build a successful client base with some amazing results. Mentoring and coaching each individual person, watching them grow, watching them achieve amazing things and seeing how happy and confident they become in their own skin is an amazing feeling. The feeling of achievement for my clients is something that I strive for.

Which then brings us around to my bootcamps. Bootcamps are a great way of getting into a gym if you aren’t confident in going by yourself, are new to exercise and nutrition changes and just want a push alongside likeminded folk. For me its about catering for different people. Getting to mentor a larger group is always fun because they are all in it together, they push one and other, nobody has the same goal and you get a big bunch of different personalities. It is great seeing so many people at one time do something amazing each in their own way.

Alongside personal training and bootcamps I also take circuit classes within the gym timetable. This is where I built my confidence in the run up to becoming full time, got to know the people that I work with and got to know the members of the gym as well. A big part of my heart will always lie with classes as it’s where I started out. Especially my ladies Ass and Abs class…it speaks for itself, a lot of ass and a lot of abs, with a whole load of dancing in between me blowing the whistle every minute! Still getting the dancing in wherever I can!

As a personal trainer I like to think that my reputation says a lot about me as a person as well. I am sincere, considerate, a happy bubbly kind of girl, always up for a laugh, I’m also HILARIOUS even if I do say so myself…definitely the funnier Mountford! I am encouraging, on hand, always available to help and most importantly, to the point. I have a no nonsense attitude and aren’t afraid to push past someone’s comfort zone…that’s where the best abilities lie. I am focused and focused 100% on my clients.

I am also a big believer in ‘practicing what you preach’. I believe that by doing something yourself it is the best way to experience and learn. So I did just that. Christmas 2017 I went head first into a 12 week hypertrophy transformation, to experience and to also gain the knowledge from my coach as to apply it to my own clients. It is by far the hardest thing I have ever ever done. At the time I would happily have given birth all over again! Totally kidding but you get the picture! It was also very rewarding. It was an amazing achievement and I was amazed at what my body could do, but it didn’t come without sacrifice. And with sacrificing a lot and coming out with an achievement I got an insight into the process a client goes through. It has allowed me to empathise with the client but also know that there is an achievement that is possible, you just have to work for it. I gained a lot of knowledge that I have since applied and achieved some amazing transformations for clients by using. Practicing what you preach is a good example to set I think, its not one rule for the trainer and another rule for the client. It’s a team effort.  

Overall, my job for me isn’t just a job, its being around like minded people, its helping others feel good about themselves, its bringing out a confidence they didn’t know they had, pushing them to limits they didn’t think they had in them, changing their outlook on their health, changing their physique, helping them reach their goals.

It’s also teaching, its learning, its learning every single day, whether that be from a book, another human, a podcast, a client, myself, its applying that knowledge to be the best personal trainer that I can be, you only get out what you put in….in anything in life. And if I can help someone dig deep, put in the graft and be the best version of themselves that they can possibly be, whilst delivering a fun but thorough service…. then my job is done.

Anything is possible….you just have to take the first step.…just like I did.