Posted on August 08, 2019 by Jenny Cromack

This month we celebrate our 8th Birthday in Leeds! Wow! I remember when we first set up the motive8 personal training studio at Marshall Court back in 2011…there were long days and nights spent decorating and kitting it out, but 8 years on the hard work we initially put in to setting up the studio and the hard work we put in now was, and still is, definitely worth it.

This morning I’m feeling a little nostalgic, so I thought I’d take a trip down memory lane and reflect on the last 8 years…..

Personal Training & Member Success Stories….

I could sit here and write about the success achieved with our personal training clients and gym & class members….those who have run marathons, completed their first ever triathlon, lost weight, dropped dress sizes, etc but I’m not going to. For me, every single motive8 customer, whether a personal training client or gym member, is a success story. Unless you’re a weirdo like me who loves exercise, it’s not always easy to motivate yourself on a regular basis to exercise and eat well. It takes dedication, hard work and commitment so if, on the whole, you’re eating well and getting in some regular exercise on a weekly basis fo me you’re winning. Yes, depending on your goals, you may need to eat a bit less, train a bit more but just generally moving more and eating better is a step in the right direction. And by the way, I’m not a robot (or Jen-bot as some of my clients call me) sometimes I even find it hard to motivate myself too……on those days I use my 10 minute rule trick and it’s always works.

Reasons Why People Exercise….

Before I opened the motive8 studio in Leeds, I worked a freelance personal trainer for around 3 years….the type of personal trainer whose car was exploding with training kit ready to put my clients through their paces in their park or at their home. Many of my personal training clients were fat or weight loss clients. Everything in the press in those days (social media wasn’t as prevalent then) was about what you looked like, conforming to the latest supermodel look, being a size 0, looking like a Men’s Health model. To be honest, many of my weight loss clients needed to lose weight for health reasons BUT there was also a lot of pressure to look a certain way. I would say that these type of pressures still existed when we opened the studio in Leeds.

Roll the clock forwards to 2019…. I’m not saying that the same pressures don’t exist now….they do (possibly more so with the influence of social media), but at the personal training studios in Leeds we’ve seen a difference in why people come to train with us. Whilst our clients may still want to lose a few pounds or look better, these days many people come to us because they know they need to move more, eat better and improve their general health. I do think there is a shift in the right direction about people just being more aware of the health benefits of exercise rather than just looking a certain way. For me this is important as these reasons will lead to exercise and healthy eating becoming part of your day to day life.

The motive8 Community….

Whilst there has been changes in the reasons why people exercise, what there hasn’t been a change in is our passion for creating an exercise community….I always think it’s sounds cheesy when I write that but can never explain it in any other way!

When we first opened motive8 in 2011 our vision was quite simple….we wanted to open a gym where everyone felt like they ‘belonged’. Regardless of experience anyone who walked through the door would be made to feel welcome and be comfortable training there. Our other vision was to educate people about what they needed to do to achieve their goals. When I first started working in the industry I remember the number of trainers who would only disclose certain information to their clients as they were so worried that if they told their clients their top secrets they would stop training with them. That’s not our approach, we want to educate and empower our clients so that when they are not with their personal trainer they can make the right choices to stay on track to achieving their goals.

The Team….

I can’t write a blog about the last 8 years without mentioning my amazing team.

Chris Baird

Chris has worked for motive8 since we opened the doors in 2011. Some of you will remember the ‘young Chris Baird’….now he’s not so young and has a lot more facial hair but what an amazing coach. What Chris does not know about training is not worth knowing. When we first started working together Chris taught me a lot about my approach to strength training with clients and boy did it pay of with some great results!

Kate Halsall

The next one into the motive8 family. Kate has been with us nearly as long as Chris. I remember the first time I met Kate she was covering a boxing class for us, wow, the amount of energy she had in that class was unbelievable…..7 or so years later……the amount of energy she has is still unbelievable! Kate has progressed so much in her career, not only does she personal trainer with motive8 and our assistant manager but she is now a sports massage therapist and works with our sister company motive8IQ as a tutor and assessor.

Emily Forbes

Emily is motive8’s little yogi and has an amazing holistic approach to her clients and life in general. Emily teaches yoga for some of our corporate partners and is a great support to her personal training clients, not only through her passion for training but also her nutritional knowledge too. Emily taught me that balance with nutrition is important, I used to be very strict with my client’s nutrition but Emily taught me that sometimes getting the balance right and being a bit more lenient will achieve more in the long term than beating your clients with a stick about their food.

We’ve seen a few other faces in the motive8 team along the way, and excitingly we have a two new faces joining the team in the next week or so…Josh Davies & Colton Roche….we’re super excited about what their experience will bring to the company and our clients.

They probably don’t know it, but I’ve learned a lot from my team….not just in the practical sense about training approaches and nutrition but also about myself. From the bottom of my heart I’d like to thank them for sharing the motive8 journey with me so far.

Our Lovely Customers

I’m lucky to have such an amazing team, but we’re also very fortunate to have such an amazing set of customers……guys, you’re an awesome bunch! The atmosphere in the gym is always buzzing and I love how many friendships have been formed over the years in the motive8 gym.

Whether you have been training with us for 1 day or for the last 8 years I want to say thank you for your loyalty, support and custom…….you guys basically come to us to sweat and get shouted at/told what to do (in a nice way!) in your classes and PT sessions and you keep coming back! Thank you x

Here’s to the next 8 years! x