October 2005
Get Personal
Tone up with a tailor-made workout
The room smells of sweat. The person in front of you blocks your view of the aerobics instructor and keeps on jumping to the left instead of the right. What’s more, you’ve been coming to this aerobics class for months and you still don’t look like Claudia Schiffer. Gyms, or fitness studios, as they tend to be called in Munich, can help tone those pectorals, yet I can’t help but wonder what a personal trainer has to offer instead. So, I go and ring Hillary Coley’s doorbell to find out.
Hillary is a personal trainer who has just opened her own studio in Schwabing, on the edge of the English Garden. As soon as I meet her, my apprehension about working out with a stranger evaporates. She’s warm, welcoming and very enthusiastic.
First, Hillary asks me to fill out a questionnaire about my medical history. The questions are standard and inquire about blood pressure levels and whether I have undergone surgery or medical treatment during recent months. We then chat about how often I exercise. Apparently, a lot of people who employ a personal trainer are new to sports. “Most people need to start from scratch,” says Hillary.
Her clients are often people “who want to achieve something, or who are bored, and also people who are going through changes in their lives,” she says. Many want to lose weight, get fit or simply feel good. Many stressed-out executives hire a personal trainer to work out before or after a hectic day at the office. Hillary is also keen to attract housewives and young moms who “don’t take the time for themselves that they need.” Her motto is “be good to yourself and life will be good to you.”
Hillary also promises to work her clients hard and proves her point with my fitness test. We start with a cardiovascular test, which involves three minutes of intensive step aerobics. Hillary gives me a minute to recover and then checks my pulse. Luckily, I’m still alive. Then it’s on to muscular endurance to test my upper body strength with push-up exercises. “So, how many push-ups do I have to do?” I ask, hoping she’ll say something reassuring, like ten or maybe just one. “Oh until you reach the point of exhaustion,” Hillary tells me. “Exhaustion!” I shout. “Well, as many push-ups as you can do in one minute,” she adds. I’ve never liked push-ups and I’m sure the floor is moving further away from me after each one. But the torture is soon over and it is on to the next exercise—a minute of “abdominals,” or sit-ups. The next test, flexibility, isn’t quite so strenuous. I have to reach forward three times from a sitting position. Most people ignore flexibility, according to Hillary. “People just don’t stretch. They don’t realize that flexibility is just as important as cardiovascular training.”
The test is over and I’m pleased to hear that Hillary pronounces me “very fit.” Pilates is the best form of exercise for me, she decides, as it will complement my main sports of running and hiking. Apparently, Pilates stretches and strengthens your body, with an emphasis on breathing and body awareness. What’s more, everyone who tries it always leaves the studio with a smile on his or her face, she tells me. Maybe that’s more to do with Hillary’s sunny personality than the exercise itself, I think, but I’m willing to give it a go. Pilates isn’t the only exercise on offer. Hillary trains people in tae-bo, yoga, dance aerobics, body toning, weight training and spinning. She also plans to take clients Nordic walking and jogging in the English Garden. Hillary hopes the studio’s ideal location will attract people to visit her there rather than invite her to their homes. “There are so many disturbances if you go to a client’s home—the phone rings and then the baby cries,” she says.
Hiring a personal trainer isn’t cheap. A one-hour session with Hillary costs € 70, although the first session is free. In Hillary’s opinion, it is worth paying more than you might at a gym to get individual attention, learn how to do exercises properly and follow a personally tailored fitness program. “It’s about taking care of yourself. I’ve taught in gyms for 25 years and know that nobody has time for you or is willing to pay the necessary attention to you. I like to work hands-on with people and to correct them. People also benefit from the mixture of exercise that I offer,” she says.
Hillary originally comes from Jamaica, where she was a dancer and fitness professional. She then worked in New York for eight years as a personal trainer. Previous celebrity clients include Sigourney Weaver. Meeting her husband, a German, brought her to Munich. She mostly teaches in English, but can speak some German. Hillary has won a series of body-building, aerobics and fitness prizes throughout her career. But possibly her best advertising is herself. I am amazed to discover that she’s 47. Most 27-year-olds could only dream of having a body like hers. She’s toned and bursting with health and joie de vivre. If I end up looking like her when I’m 47 then maybe it is worth a few € 70 sessions, I decide.
