Meet the Team | Gareth ABS | Personal Trainer

Welcome to the start of a new series in which we are going to go behind the scenes at ABS and get to know our personal trainers in Liverpool, South Liverpool and Manchester that bit better.

At ABS we have a fantastic team of PTs who are the absolute best in their field. They are friendly, knowledgeable, professional, supportive and non-judgmental. They educate themselves weekly to learn and practice their service in order to deliver the very best personal training for their clients.

The first trainer we are going to speak to leads those education sessions as the manager of our Liverpool city centre gym. Gareth Burke joined the company when we opened the Liverpool gym in 2017.

This week he sat down with one of our team to talk through his journey as a personal trainer, why he thinks ABS is the best place and some of his favourite exercises.

So Gareth, tell us a bit about yourself…

I went to university in Southampton, where I studied Football with the idea of going to America and coach overseas, so I got my FA Level 1 and 2 at uni. Ultimately, I didn’t make it there as I was expecting a daughter and therefore moved back to Liverpool.

Once back home, I was working different jobs such as at Jaguar to pay the bills. I then found a coaching company that worked closely with schools, called Premier Sport. Following that, I was given an opportunity to join a special educational needs school to coach those in need. After 9 years, I learned so much in terms of coaching development.

During that time, I met Connor (ABS Owner), who delivered boxing lessons to some of the students. After speaking with him and learning more about what he did, I went to give personal training a go. At first, it was hard, but I also fell in love with it. I loved learning about the body and being active and this put it all together for me and I started my career form there.

What made you become a personal trainer?

I love helping people. I wanted the opportunity to become self-employed after I had reached a ceiling of where I could get to in my previous role where I was working as the region’s disability sports development officer. I like people and working in a 1-to-1 or small group capacity is perfect for me.

What is the best part about your job?

The people who I work with every day, whether it’s my clients, or my staff team or even people outside the gym. I’m nosey, I like finding out what everyone has been up to and what their intentions are, but in terms of my clients I want to help them get somewhere and achieve results. I want them to feel better and healthier. In regards to my team I also want them to know more and continue their educational development. I don’t know it all, or claim to know it all, but I’ve gained enough knowledge and experience to be able to share it with the team and help them develop.

What’s your role like as gym manager of Liverpool City Centre?

Being a personal trainer is the best part. As the gym manager I have been very fortunate to have worked with some really good trainers. It’s a pleasure to work with them and to see them develop.

What do clients need to do to achieve a good transformation?

A client just needs to come in and have a go, dedicate themselves and be consistent.

Sometimes clients come in for a different kind of transformation. Maybe they come into the gym unhappy and they go out smiling. Maybe that’s what they are coming in for, more of a focus on their wellbeing.

You try your best to make everyone your perfect client, and go above and beyond to help them get the very best set of results.

What’s your favourite exercise?

For me it’s squats. A lot people don’t like training legs but for me its my favourite gym day.

What is your least favourite exercise?

Anything that involves my heart and lungs beating out of my chest. Take the Assault Bike. I hate it… I absolutely detest it!

What is the best fitness tip you can give to someone?

Try. Don’t give up. If you don’t walk and you start walking, just keep going. If you don’t eat well and you start to eat well, keep going. Just try and do it.

What is the best thing about working at ABS?

The people I work with, both clients and trainers. They just make this the best personal training gym to work with.

What is the client base like at ABS?

We have a diverse client base. Whether it’s students at university, professionals running national and international businesses, to paramedics and doctors, I believe we (ABS) tick all boxes. At ABS, there isn’t really a set client base at all, we don’t target anyone specifically, it’s for whomever comes through our doors looking for our help.

What’s the atmosphere like on the gym floor in the Liverpool City Centre gym?

It varies. It depends on the time of day, or the type of client who is in the gym, or who is on the gym floor. There are so many factors that go into creating the atmosphere. I can’t tell you it’s booming all the time, if there is one trainer and they have a client who is quiet, it’s not going to be booming it will be suited to that client. If it’s Friday morning and everyone knows the weekend is approaching and everyone is going to have a go and the music is pumping, then the atmosphere is bouncing in the gym and people feed off that. The atmosphere is catered to whomever is at the gym at the time, we want everyone to have fun and enjoy themselves obviously but if people aren’t that way inclined, we will respect that and not make it uncomfortable for them.

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