TL;DR: Worth it, highly recommended, ESPECIALLY if you feel like you're too out of shape to set…read morefoot in a gym
Who: A couple in our 50s, who were feeling hopelessly weak. Too shy to go to a gym/wouldn't even know what to do. Both WFH, I have ADHD.
Where: Exercise room (with a few weights/ancient machines) in our condo building
When: Twice a week couple training (we do separate, customized exercises)
My husband had a bad case of covid in April 2023, and he was bedridden for a few weeks--as a result, he lost much of his muscle mass. I sought out Stew for him but ended up working out together.
Previous background: My husband never worked out or played sports until about 10 years ago. He had sedentary work at the computer all his life. He worked with another trainer once a week for several years and eventually was able to do a few pullups etc. His trainer changed jobs, then the pandemic hit, so went back to his old ways. After which he got the covid & felt very weak.
I've had multiple health problems since childhood, and while I'm mostly good now, still have fibromyalgia, Addison's disease, and chronic fatigue syndrome. Hadn't exercised in over 20 years.
Together, we felt threatened we might become extinct soon if we didn't do something. So I looked around for a new trainer who could come to our home, at first for my husband only. A lot of them were upstarts (e.g. app-based) and sales-pitchy; they also seemed young, and we weren't sure if a 25-year-old (sorry I don't mean to be agist!) would truly understand how creaky our over-the-hill, underused bodies felt.
Then I found Stew. He seemed very professional and experienced; he was older than us and in incredible shape. More than anything, what convinced me was the fact he'd worked with clients with various health and mobility challenges.
He was easy to get in touch and communicate with, friendly, and not at all scary. After chatting with him and finding out he could work with both of us in the same hour, I decided to sign up for couple training sessions instead. This doesn't mean we do the same workouts; Stew can customize each person's workouts, and supervise/help us at the same time.
This worked well, kind of like a buddy system. We feel more accountable about our sessions and are less likely to miss them. We travel off and on so overall we probably worked out with Stew for 8 months or so. From both being totally wimpy and almost muscle-less, now we can see our muscles and feel much stronger.
My favorite part about working with Stew is that our workouts are rarely the same. This really helps with my ADHD brain, which *hates* routines. He brings his magic duffle with different tools, but even with the same pieces of equipment we have in our home gym, he's always coming up with different ways to best help us. He has so many tips and tricks in his workout rolodex, if we feel uncomfortable with something, he can switch it up to what works better in seconds.
As another reviewer noted, the service may not be the cheapest, but we can unequivocally say this is the best investment we've made in the past year. (I recommend doing it as a couple! Cheaper than 2 individual sessions!) I used to get tired after walking for 15-30 minutes; now I can hike or play pickleball for multiple hours. My husband can do pushups again, and he's feeling stronger.His shoulders are broader too ;)
Perhaps the best testament: We recently bought a new house, and one of my criteria was "in an area where Stew can still come see us." I hope he never retires!!