INTRODUCTION:
A former sprint hurdler, Lisa Revitt trained with CMS after completing a degree in Sports Coaching. She now works as a Personal Trainer at Pure Gym in Bramley.
BACKGROUND:
Lisa was born and bred in Doncaster and later moved to Bramley; she now lives in Leeds. At the age of eight, she followed her sister into competing as a 100m sprint hurdler, training at Doncaster Athletics Club.
Lisa was number one in her field in Yorkshire for two years when she was aged 16-17 and reached a top UK ranking of number 16, representing Yorkshire and finalling at the English School Championships on two occasions.
PREVIOUS JOBS:
Waitressing part time, and sports coaching jobs during her degree.
ROUTE INTO A CAREER IN FITNESS:
Having achieved success as a sprint hurdler, Lisa went to University to study Sports Coaching in Leeds, working as a waitress in her spare time. A former fellow competitor who had trained with CMS, recommended the company to her.
TRAINING WITH CMS:
Lisa began as a full-time learner in 2015. She completed a Level 2 Gym Instructor course, followed by Level 3 Personal Trainer, finishing in October 2015. She then took her Level 3 Sports Massage course in October 2016, in order to improve her knowledge as a personal trainer and allow her another income stream.
While studying for her PT course, she sent her CV out to several companies, including a new Pure Gym that was opening up in Bramley. They called her in for interview and offered her the job on the spot.
TYPICAL DAY:
On a typical day, Lisa walks her border collie and carries out admin work, before arriving at the gym around 4pm, where she trains clients until around 9pm. A couple of times a week she will do a split day, where she trains clients at the gym from 6.30am to 11am and again in the evening. At the same time, she tries to fit in her own training sessions and continues to train on the track when she is able.
When she first started working for Pure Gym, she chose the option of working for the gym for 15 hours a week for free rent for her PT business. However, in June 2016 as her client base built up, she moved on to paying rent and running her own PT business full time.
“I train both women and men of a range of abilities and ages, from 20-64,” she says, “including a few younger women who are getting married and have that as a goal. Around eight of my clients have stayed with me for a year now.”
Twice a month, she runs a free outdoors session for her clients, which includes interval training and hills. “Even though it’s usually very cold, it provides them with an extra session,” she explains, “and because there are quite a few of them who come, there’s an encouraging group atmosphere.”
THE LEARNING PROCESS:
Lisa was very impressed with the teaching and the resources at CMS and found it helpful to sign up for the Sports Massage course in advance so that she had more time to prepare, using the online support.
“My tutors on the PT and Sports Massage courses were fantastic; we really saw eye to eye on training values and methods. I also found the website a really useful resource, especially the videos.”
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:
In 2012, Lisa competed in the sprint hurdles relay at a British Universities and Colleges Sport (BUCS) event at the Olympic Stadium in London.
“It was a warm up for the Olympics, to test the track,” she explains, “so we did the final in front of 40,000 people, which was a highlight for me, and Kadeena Cox was on our team [Kadeena later became a Paralympian and won a cycling gold at the Rio Olympics]. It was also my last year of university so it was good to go out with a bang.”
KEY CHALLENGES:
“The biggest challenge for me was embarking on the Personal Training course,” says Lisa. “Because I suffer from anxiety, I was afraid I wouldn’t be good enough. Going there and doing it and giving myself the confidence that I could do it was a big achievement.”
BENEFITS OF TAKING A CMS FITNESS COURSE:
One major benefit for Lisa was having her funding covered with a 24+ loan. She also found it helpful that the course was local. “I’d been put off by other training companies, that were expensive and didn’t have a good reputation, whereas CMS came highly recommended and highly rated.”
Another big help, she says, was the online resources provided by CMS. “I liked the website, it’s very professional and the resources were really useful. I’d definitely recommend others to train with CMS.”
