Zoe Hunter is so typical of many of the clients at New Level Personal Training in Newtown. In the short time she has been a personal training client at our studio, she has achieved so many things.

The mad keen Geelong AFL supporter and loyal Amateurs (a local footy/netball club) clubperson has already lost close to 10kgs and more than 25cms off her total body measurements since first joining New Level Newtown last year. At the time, she could never imagine running a decent distance on a treadmill – let alone taking part in a fun run.

Towards the end of last year, however, the self confessed ‘running hater’ decided to set a personal goal of running 3kms in 20 minutes on the studio treadmills. Not only did Zoe manage to achieve her desired target, but she absolutely smashed her time.

When asked how she felt after achieving her goal, the humble ‘Zo-Zo’ as she is affectionately known, replied, “Just please don’t make me do it again!” 

This was the exact same reply to the exact same question she uttered following the recent Great Ocean Road fun run in Apollo Bay, when she ran the 6km event in just over 49 minutes!

Following the Apollo Bay run, Zoe received many congratulatory messages, especially via Facebook after many friends, family and fellow New Level clients found out about her amazing achievement on the social media network.

In the days following the Great Ocean Road marathon weekend, a proud Zoe even updated her profile pic to the one taken immediately after the completion of the 6km run.

In acknowledging her amazing feat and the tremendous endeavour Zoe has shown in changing her lifestyle and relentlessly chasing her health and fitness goals, the extremely friendly and loveable 24-year-old was awarded the New Level Newtown ‘Client of the Month’ for the month of May!

From all of us here at New Level Personal Training in Newtown, a huge congratulations Zo-Zo! Well done!  

(Work Experience student)

On a typical Monday afternoon, the day I come in to do my Work Experience shift, the New Level Personal Training studio in Newtown is always quiet at around 4:00pm. Then from about 4:30pm onwards it starts to really become busy right up until closing time, which can be around 8 o’clock or thereabouts, depending on the scheduled bookings.

During the quiet period, the gym is cleaned and maintained, making it more presentable and appealing which makes the client want to use the equipment and actually want to work out. As soon as a client arrives, they jump onto the bikes, the treadmill or any other available piece of cardio equipment and get their warm up completed, while they wait for their trainer to come take them for the session.

The client’s body language always shows that they are ready to train, even if they have had a bad day and couldn’t be bothered. They always give it their all and leave the studio with bright red faces and sweaty t-shirts. A sign they have pushed themselves to the limit. In some cases, well past their limit! You can also see that the clients are eager to work out as they always come, even if they are only able to train for a shortened session of just 15-20 minutes.

The trainers are always listened to and respect the client in question, it’s plain to see the clients are grateful for the time they have with them. The trainers are always working, whether it’s with a client or in the office preparing for a seminar, getting fees fixed up or contacting clients about their sessions etc. They care if the client is struggling or has an injury and change the exercise or session, accordingly, if it is way too hard for the client in their weakened condition.

For example one of Tonci’s clients (Tonci is the owner and the head trainer of the Newtown studio) had a back injury and Tonci changed what he had planned to suit his client.

The environment in general is always friendly and happy. Everyone is welcoming and the trainers treat even their newest clients not like newcomers but rather as though they have been lifetime members.

At a typical gym, the members work out on their own and need to find their own way to motivate themselves. Yes, there are trainers on the floor but they don’t personally know the members in the same way as a boutique, personal training studio such as New Level.

I found that if the trainer knows the member/client personally there is more motivation, more work gets completed and knowing a client on a personal level you get to know how they work, where their highest points are and you can look after the client more knowing their strengths and weaknesses.

pictured – New Level manager Tonci and Personal Trainer Tim with a jubilant Diana Skratulja

It’s always a nice feeling when family, friends and work colleagues start to notice a change in one’s body shape. Especially when that comes from people you haven’t seen for awhile. That usually occurs around one of the two festive seasons in the year – Christmas or Easter.

At a recent Easter function, Diana Skratulja couldn’t believe the comments she was getting from several long time friends and acqaintances she had not seen for ages.

“Wow, you look fantastic!”, “Have you been working out?” and “What have you done to yourself?” are just some of the comments that were thrown Diana’s way.

Needless to say, the hard work, dedication and a new found appreciation of the importance of good nutrition has certainly paid of for Diana, who was this week awarded the prestigious New Level Newtown “Client of the Month” award.

Having been one of the Geelong studio’s original Foundation members, Diana’s results speak for themselves. Since her last Results Week weigh-in, Diana has lost a further three kilos to add to her previous impressive achievements.

She lost a staggering 6cms off her chest, 3.5cm off her already tiny waist and a further 2cm off her hips. Added to that, Diana has always identified her arms – and most notably her triceps – as something she would like to address. Well, in the past two months, she certainly has done that, losing a whopping 2cm off her arms!

What’s more, she blitzed her physical challenges like no other month, shaving 44 seconds off her best time for a 2km bike ride and improving her 1km treadmill run by just over a minute. Amazing!

Is it any coincidence, therefore, that Diana attended our studio’s first monthly seminar in March, entitled “Real food for real people for real results”. She has since signed up for the Nutrition Complete online nutrition service, which is obviously reaping great results for Diana.

A proud mum of three gorgeous but energetic children, she needs to be in shape to keep up with her busy lifestyle and this ‘Yummy Mummy’ is now setting an excellent example, not just for her family but for all the other New Level clients as well, which has certainly not gone unnoticed!

Well done, Diana. Keep up the good work!

As time heals most things, eventually Janine moves on with her life and soon she returns to her normal caloric intake. And that was that.

But what she can’t understand: even though she’s back to eating the same way she used to, she still weighs over 75 kilos. In fact, she eats no more than her lean friends. And so, like most people, Janine blames her over-weight on a slow metabolism.

She starts an exercise routine but lost a mere 1 kilo. Life is unjust. An ageing metabolism sucks!

She sees a sports nutritionist (with a PhD, never the less) who tells her she needs to eat more to lose weight. She follows his dietary plan and eats more, but she gains weight. The expensive nutritionist, with politely chosen words, blames this weight gain on her failure to follow his plan.

Frustrated and feeling bad, Janine stops exercising and dieting altogether, and remains overweight.

Keeping it Simple

Then finally she sees a Personal Trainer who, keeping things simple, tells her to stop eating so much. The recommendation was simple and straight forward:

1) The “S” diet.

No snacks, no seconds, and no sweets, except on days that begin with the letter “s.”

In 3 and a half months she lost 15 kilos. Back to where she was before her divorce in 2002, feeling great and looking fabulous.

Janine happens to be a past client of mine. Last week she called me to say she’s engaged to a wonderful guy, and to thanked me profusely for the simple dietary coaching.

Harley joined New Level Personal Training Newtown in early December of last year and two and a half months later, during the last RESULTS WEEK held in early February, he had recorded some amazing results.

Since his last assessment, Harley had lost almost a full 5 kilograms of body weight, as well as a staggering 29cm in total measurements.

His waist and hips were the undoubted star performers, having lost 8.5cms and 11.5 cms respectively, but his chest (loss of 3cms) and thighs (loss of 4.5cms) were not far behind.

Harleyís secret is simple – he has applied himself fully to every Personal Training session he has attended. And he has managed a 100% attendance rate so far! Not bad for someone who is not normally a morning person, yet has scheduled his two weekly sessions on a Wednesday and Friday at 6.30am respectively.

Adding proof to the observation that if you put in that extra effort you will be rewarded, Harley recently started regularly attending the Monday night group boxing class, in order to ensure he was exercising at the studio on at least three occasions per week – the absolute bare minimum that New Level personal trainers recommend to their clients.

No doubt Harley, along with New Level Newtown’s other personal training clients, will be eagerly looking forward to the next RESULTS WEEK in early April, hoping to emulate the great results they recently achieved.

Dani had been a member of New Level Personal Training Newtown for about six months and by her own admission, when she first started she wasn’t too sure about having a personal trainer. She decided she was going to give it a go because she had heard about some of her acquaintances getting some amazing results.
Well, what was the end result, we may well ask young Dani?

“Now, I am the biggest advocate for it. I never thought I could achieve some of the results I have achieved. Today, for example, I just did 100 kilos on the 45 angle weights with the thighs…..”
Stop there, Dani! I think you meant the 45 degree Leg Press machine, but we know what you meant! Anyway, back to you…
“So I would say give it a go. Come in, have a look, talk to the trainers. They are amazing – they will give you a good deal and they will get you the results you want to achieve,” concluded a cheery Dani.

UPDATE: Not only will personal training get you the results you want, but your confidence and self esteem will improve dramatically, which will have a positive impact on your private lives.
Just ask Dani. When she first came to us she was still a uni student and only had a part time job. In the time since this interview was recorded, Dani has – unfortunately – left New Level Newtown, because she got the job of her dreams working in the marketing department of a major international cosmetics company and has, as a result, had to move to Melbourne.
Well done Dani and good luck with your future endeavours – and never give up working and exercising hard!

Ivan had one goal and one goal only, when he first started at the New Level Personal Training Newtown studio in Geelong. Just like many other guys, he wanted to be able to bench press his own body weight.

When he first started, Ivan could barely lift 30kgs in the bench press. His technique was somewhat flawed, his stamina was severely lacking and his overall upper body strength was nowehere near where it should have been.

“I’ve done really well over the past six months. When I first started I set myself a goal to increase my strength and bodyweight and I have managed to do that thanks to the staff here at New Level Newtown”, said Ivan.

Possessing a slender, ectomorphic body structure, his trainer Tonci knew it would be a hard slog to initially pack lean muscle onto his slight frame, so he instructed Ivan to increase his protein intake, right from the start.

In conjunction with a supervised resistance training program, an accompanying intense cardio program and being provided with continuing nutrition advice, Ivan was soon able to reap the full rewards of his newfound improvements in strength, flexibility and overall fitness.

So much so that after six months of dedicated training with his trainers Tonci and Renato, Ivan can safely say that he is in the very best physical condition that he has ever been.

“This training has given me a lot more strength and confidence. I had quite  bad posture when I first started and that was one of the things  I really wanted to target. Today I have pretty much sorted that out and I feel so much better as a result!” concluded a proud Ivan.

Ivan will now take a short break as his wife is due to give birth to their second child in a few week’s time, but he has vowed he will be back to tackle his new goal.

Whatever that may be, we are certain that it will be a case of WHEN and not if Ivan does it. Congrats and all the best with Bub No. 2!

NOTE: Apologies for the poor sound quality, after all we are professional personal trainers, not professional film makers, lol!

In her own famous words, Heather comes to each personal training session at New Level Personal Training Newtown with the intention of not getting broken, but getting fixed! Heather is another astounding success story generated from the Newtown studio’s young but ever growing archives of ordinary people achieving extraordinary personal results.

When she came to us, Heather was extremely unfit, rather overweight and certainly did not have the confidence to push herself to beyond her own personal boundaries. That’s before she met “Ray” and “Michelle” (her affectionate names for her trainers at New Level Newtown!), who have not only managed to “break” her on many occasions, but have also succeeded in “fixing” our girl.

Heather recently decided to up her training to three PT sessions per week, as well as combine a regular Monday night Group Boxing Session at the studio. The results have been nothing short of spectacular.

In a period of just eight weeks, Heather lost an incredible 4.1 kilograms. In the same period she shaved a total of 5.5 cms off her waist and a further 5 cms off her hips!

Most of all, though, Heather’s attitude and outlook on life is far more positive, than it was before, despite having an extremely stressful job in a Podiatry Clinic that leaves her drained both physically and emotionally. “I feel really happy, because all this work is paying off.” said a beaming Heather, just after completing a gruelling Results Week Challenge on the treadmill, where she shaved more than a minute off her personal best time!

“The only problem I have now is that my clothes don’t fit me anymore. I had this shirt I used to wear for job interviews and formal occasions. I went to put it on, the other day, and it was way too big!”

Heather is a real credit to herself and a firm believer of the old saying, where there is no pain, there is no gain! Congratulations Heather and I guess that means you have no option now but to go out and shop for a whole new wardrobe – every girl’s dream come true!!!

Sally is a proud mother of seven beautiful grown up children, but you would never believe it if you saw her! When Sally first came to New Level Personal Training Newtown, she recalls vividly that she suffered from a lack of energy, she struggled to sleep well and even admitted to suffering a mild case of depression.

Not for long though! After completing a 12 week program with her trainers Renato and Tonci, she has not only astounded both herself and her trainers with her incredible progress, but everyone around her is commenting what an amazing transformation she has undergone in the past three months.

“I feel absolutely great, I have got a lot more energy now, I sleep well and on top of that I have lost something like 4 kilos in the past 12 weeks. I really, really feel fabulous!” Sally said upon completion of her final personal training session.

Sally has, in fact, lost a total of 4.3 kilograms since she started the 12 week program but its her body measurements that speak for themselves. Having lost a staggering 11cm off her chest, 9.5cm off her waist and a further 11cm off her hips has put her in good stead to really enjoy the next two months, she will be spending with her family during the northern summer in Croatia.

“I cannot fit into any of my jeans or pants, I cannot believe it, it has been just great, I absolutely love it and would recommend that everybody should join up and at least give it a try!” concluded a proud Sally.

As for how old she is, let that remain a secret. But as was stated at the start of this article, if you knew, you simply would not believe it!

Sally, we look forward to seeing you when you get back from Europe!

We thought we’d share 4 very real, life-changing client stories with you.
Read what Andrew, Tanya, Julie & Aivars said about the team down at Albert Park.

“To sum up: My fitness and mental stamina are transformed. I’ve lost 4 ½ kilos
in 6 weeks, my blood pressure is down, my fitness levels are measurably stronger
and I’m more mentally determined, creative and sharp-witted. To say New Level
has transformed my life is no understatement – thanks guys.”

Andrew
New Level Personal Training (Albert Park)

“I have been training with New Level for nearly a year now. In that time I have
quit smoking, lost weight and changed both my attitude and lifestyle. This
can all be attributed to the fantastic team at New Level who continual motivation
and support has kept me going and allowed me to achieve what I have. They
have ultimately become my conscience.”

Tanya
New Level Personal Training (Albert Park)

“I have been attending New Level for nearly a year now and I am addicted. My weekly
session works for me because it is an appointment in my diary, paid for and locked in.
My husband’s session follows mine and then we have a rare week night home together!”

Julie
New Level Personal Training (Albert Park)

“As a lifelong gym-junkie, trying personal training was a new thing to me.
Absolutely fantastic….more focus, better results and great for time management.
The team at New level really know how to apply ‘tough love’ to get fast results.
I’ll be back for more.”

Aivars
New Level Personal Training (Albert Park)

We’ve got heaps of these. Stay tuned for some more real stories…