INTRODUCTION:
Personal trainer Emma Taylor won the Strong Woman championships in 2015. She qualified for the British Nationals on 5 November 2016, with a total weight of 310kg (for her age and weight the qualifier was 225kg).
Emma was also a semi-finalist in Specsavers’ Spectacle of the Year competition!!!
She will turn 40 on 8 February 2016, which will allow her to go for the world deadlift record in the Master category. The current record in her age and weight category is 162.5kg, which she is hoping to smash. This will then allow her to qualify for the Commonwealth Games in 2018.
BACKGROUND:
Emma was born and bred in Huddersfield, West Yorkshire, where she still lives today with her seven-year-old son.
PREVIOUS JOBS:
Trained chef.
ROUTE INTO A CAREER IN FITNESS:
Having joined a gym to get fit, Emma decided to retrain as a fitness instructor. After completing her courses with CMS, she continued to work as a chef and as a personal trainer for around six months before taking the plunge and setting up as a full-time self-employed PT.
“I fell in love with the gym environment and the people I met there,” she says. “I never thought it would but fitness changes people’s lives. You meet people in the gym and hear their stories, like mums struggling with low confidence who regain their self-esteem from going to the gym and getting physically and mentally stronger.”
TRAINING WITH CMS:
Over the course of approximately one year, Emma completed a Level 2 Certificate in Gym Instructing, Level 3 Diploma in Personal Training, Level 3 Diploma in Exercise Referral and Level 3 Diploma in Sports Massage – all with CMS.
“I chose CMS because they were local and had a really good reputation,” she says. “Being based at a local gym made it easy to get back for the school run.”
TYPICAL DAY:
On a typical day, she will drop her son at his school’s Breakfast Club at 7.30am and train clients in the morning and evening. In the afternoon she herself trains at the Perseverance Gym in Lockwood. She also trains clients on Saturdays and takes a well-earned day off on Sunday!
THE LEARNING PROCESS:
One of the benefits of training with CMS was that the courses were pitched at the right level, Emma explains. “CMS made it easy to understand the training and if there was ever anything that I needed help with, they would give the support when asked.”
KEY ACHIEVEMENTS:
“Getting the courage to set up on my own. There are so many personal trainers competing for work and you hear stories that it’s hard to make a living. It’s all about taking a leap of faith that you can make a career out of it.”
KEY CHALLENGES:
The idea of setting up as self-employed, organising everything from tax returns to insurance, was daunting at first, but by documenting work and keeping receipts Emma found it easier to be organised. “I was scared of doing things like tax returns, then when I did them I thought, was that it?”
BENEFITS OF TAKING A CMS FITNESS COURSE:
“Completing my training with CMS has been life changing. It has given me a career I enjoy more than anything but it has also helped me with my personal development and given me the confidence to do things I was previously unsure about doing.”
“My experience with CMS has been really good. It is an amazing training centre and has supported me so much. I still use the CMS online resources regularly and I have gone back to the blog many times – it’s a lifesaver. Also, I met lots of new people on the training course and we now keep in touch for advice and support.”
“I would definitely recommend training with CMS. Whenever anyone asks me about personal training, I always send them in the direction of CMS.”
