In Westport and Weston, there are almost as many places to get ripped as there are cars crashing into storefronts on Post Road. You can choose from dozens of fitness studios, gyms, home-gyms and friends with home-gyms. Or you can leave the car in the garage and enjoy a work-out in the privacy of your very own home.
There are many compelling reasons to train in your house. Maybe you have difficulty getting to a gym, maybe you can’t stand being surrounded by sweaty strangers or smelling people with suffocating body odor. Andrea Robinson, a client of trainer Mo Prester, explains, “Being in the comfort of my own home allows me to let loose a little more and not worry about others watching me. No signing up for spots, dealing with traffic, etc. I can literally be working at home and in an instant be ready for my workout.”
Best of all, these training are customized for each individual so they can whip you into the best shape of your life.
So, how does an in-home workout play out?
First, you find the right trainer. “When selecting an in-home trainer word of mouth is usually the best and safest way to go,” asserts Andy Berman of Mental Grit Fitness, “A person on paper can have the best credentials but they might not be the exact person you want coming to your house, not to mention they could have the personality of a tree.” Having a trainer with an aspirational body helps, too.
Andy suggests asking friends, family and acquaintances about trainers. Based on personal experience, he says, “I usually start with one person and before I know it I’m training the mother, father and uncle.”
Once you hire a trainer, you tell them a bit about yourself so they can mull over exercise options for you. Then the party begins.
The doorbell rings. You roll out of bed and spill downstairs to welcome the trainer into the convenience of your living room. They bring no weights. No kettle bells. No enormous machines resembling Matrix birthing pods. Your mind wanders from the impending exercise routine as you chat about dried floral arrangements and your plans to make a nice broth from the Thanksgiving turkey carcass in your freezer.
Then your personal work-out begins. Work-outs can include mountain-climbers, squats, push-ups, burpees and any other “full-body functional exercises. So easy! However…
A good trainer isn’t easy. A good trainer is a persuasive, charming, borderline-masochistic cheerleader who’ll ply you with squats until you until you scream, cry, blurt out secrets*, or unwittingly recall the documentary on hit-men and where to find them.
But deep down you love the victory.
Andy trains kids and teens, too, to sharpen athletic skills and increase self-esteem. Irene Penny took it one step further and asked Andy to exercise the entire family, “All four of us did HIIT exercises together in the backyard, it was a really fun way for the whole family to spend time together with an added bonus of getting stronger!”
Curiosity: piqued. I asked Andy to do a training session for my two younger kids, ages 11 and 13 (I would have joined them but I had to drink coffee.) Despite my one over-arching caveat, “They’re impossible,” Andy somehow agreed to do it.
Upon meeting him, my kids shared a single thought: “He’s strong.” Strong enough to convince them they should do what he told them to. For 45 minutes they tried to monkey around while he patiently corrected their form, talking them through push-ups and toe-ups. In the end they got a work-out and decided he was also “fun” - rarely a term one associates with burpees.
When your work-out is over and you wave your trainer good-bye, you can immediately go back to what it is you were doing. Or, you can treat yourself to a bowl of ice cream and peruse the internet for a pair of star-print leggings. A little reward for a great work-out.
*Yes, this happens.
A few of our favorite in-home trainers:
Andy Berman, Youth, Teen and Adults, andy@mentalgritfitness.com
Mo Prester, Kids, Teens, Adults, and Seniors, moeprester@aol.com
Blake Schnirring, Adults and Seniors, BlakeLeighTraining.com
Christina Stuttard, All ages, ChristinaStuttardFitness.com
Irene's hair and makeup: Rachel Toussaint, Makeup Artist, RachelToussaintMakeup.com
Irene's clothes: Athleta
“A person on paper can have the best credentials but they might not be the exact person you want coming to your house, not to mention they could have the personality of a tree.”