ALI

Ali joined last june after breaking his shoulder and having surgery earlier in the year

Ali contacted us in June 2024 after having his shoulder surgery, but he had been chatting to us for a while before. The surgery gave him that little push.

WHY I CONTACTED DMF…

I have long wanted to go to “a gym” (30 years!!) but was always too put off by the thought of having to work out what to do with what machines and how many reps and sets etc. That narrowed it down to personal training but the cost of doing enough sessions per month made it prohibitively expensive with 1:1 PT. Dan came along with his model and it appealed straight away but my head wasn’t really in the right place to start until I broke my shoudler in Feb 2024, skiing. 

After having it fixed it became weak and stiff but I knew it would take a long time to get it back to normal as I am in the medical profession myself. 

I wanted to get into a routine so I had no excuses! It just needed to be done and Dan had quietly been staying in touch for over a year since I first contacted him about the gym so he was my first thought when I knew I had to commit to doing something about it!

RESULTS…

I am losing the Dad Bod, getting significantly stronger and have lost 5% body fat with minimal effort in the last 7 weeks! The amazing thing is once you commit, you see the gains. 

I am healthier, happier and less worried about putting my back out doing something simple like filling the dishwasher! Oh and I now have a 98% normal range of motion of my shoulder and am way stronger than I thought would have been possible post-operatively.

 I’ve worked with Dan very closely to progress my shoulder training to the point where I am doing “normal” exercises and training. This would not have happened as quickly or as well in a gym by myself or with a personal trainer who was not thinking about the whole person. 

Everything at DMF is bespoke.

WHY DMF?

The camaraderie in the gym is VERY special. Every time my wife asks “how was the gym” I beam and say “awesome…hard but awesome”! Equally it can be as hard as you want it to be.

The awesomeness comes from Dan, Ben, Summer and James as well as the other members who are quickly becoming friends as well.

NEXT…

I want (and am) losing body fat. I’ve gained so much muscle that my weight has not dropped but it will go and that is the other thing about the team at DMF, they really know their stuff and are incredibly knowedgable about each and every member coming to the gym. 

I don’t just mean remembering their names although how the heck they remember everyone I do not know (!), but all the little things that we have wrong with us they seem to know, remember and adjust the exercises to suit, even in the middle of a full session! The individual is the most important thing to them and they make you feel like they care and I believe they genuinely do. That is a very rare thing these days!

ADVICE…

The timing has to be right for you but we can all make excuses as to why we can’t or don’t do stuff! If you are genuinely able to prioritise your own wellbeing and commit time in your week to the sessions, your life will be transformed. It just means you need to be in the right place to be able to listen, prioritise yourself (which may be a first!) and do the things Dan suggests. Changing your whole lifestyle, diet and exercise plan is not what it’s all about. 

I didn’t change my diet for months and concentrated on the strength and mobility in my shoulder. Now I’m in a position to change more, they are helping me do that and it’s working. Then I’m going to work towards a double digit body fat then lower. I’m fully betting on that all taking 2-3 years! Baby steps and plenty of time.