The Body Planner
Combining Work With Wellness...
Like the rest of the universe, the majority of Didsbury’s health and fitness objectives are ironically born around January 31st: a time of almost farcical ill health. Often wildly optimistic, inevitably drunken, many of these good intentions quickly lie in breathless, whimpering, sweaty tatters.
Yet all is never lost……
Based in South Manchester, and with a client base ranging from 21 to 55, Mike Bach is The Body Planner. Knowledgeable, passionate and almost the archetypal ‘nice young man’ (as opposed to jackbooted gym teacher) his approach to personal training is far removed from any preconceived notions of treadmill drudgery or drill sergeant tyranny. Therefore through removing much of the fear and intimidation surrounding organised exercise dreams of flat tums and pert bums are not necessarily the unattainable visions of deepest Winter.
From IT to PE – Mike’s ‘Short and Sharp’ Philosophy
Mike jogged away from a desk-bound career in IT and Marketing in order to pursue his passion for fitness. Due to this caged-bird background, not only does he approach his work with a distinct spring in his plimsolls but he also understands the constraints that modern living, especially work, can impose on a fitness regime.
Consequently Mike places great importance on creating exercise programs that can exist within his clients’ busy career and family orientated schedules. To this end, “rather than long, slow cardio activities that can often be unproductive and boring, I prefer to recommend short and sharp sessions of high intensity”. Mike in turn oversees such programs in clients’ homes, local parks or, increasingly, places of work. In fact the latter indicates a belief that office based ‘corporate fitness’ is to become more commonplace – a venture that Mike certainly seeks to explore in the future.
Functional Movements
However beyond assisting with clients’ understandably conventional general health and appearance objectives, The Body Planner also implements a more holistic approach to rehabilitative and corrective exercise (“basically strengthening weak areas, loosening tight areas, addressing strength imbalance, postural and movement discomfort…..”), whilst placing great emphasis on person-specific ‘functional movements’. For example, the daily physical demands of a quarterback or lumberjack will often differ to those of a cherry picker or a vicar. So by analysing the components of a person’s lifestyle (namely their job and hobbies) and using techniques including KCA (Kinetic Chain Assessment, technical fans) each client’s training program is tailored to suit the individual requirements of their life.
Essentially the same principles are applied, but not necessarily the same methods.
Just Add Will-Power
Alas Mike doesn’t offer any brand of wobble/muscle alchemy, and any benefits cannot be achieved without a basic commitment on the part of the individual. “I don’t set goals, I like clients to challenge themselves”. In turn Mike aims to harness this commitment into a co-operative process of consistent action, offering advice on goal achievement, diet (Mike is also a qualified nutritionist) and attitude towards health, all of which can then be applied to the client’s life as a whole. Thus the intended result goes beyond the palliative issues of health and fitness to potentially a lifestyle and outlook that is conducive to both.
Put simply, people like Mike are a tireless, tracksuited tippex to an ever decreasing list of reasons not to exercise. Furthermore his enthusiastic and friendly approach to an often profoundly miserable process means that maybe, possibly, potentially, clients could occasionally experience something that might equate to enjoyment before emerging from a program with the confidence and exuberance of a newly released whippet.
In fact so convinced, optimistic and positive is Mike in planning you a better body his service comes with a double-your-money-back guarantee!
Please visit www.thebodyplanner.com for a more detailed description of Mike’s services in addition to examples of previous client satisfaction.
Words by Thomas Smith
