I found Method on Yelp and decided to use them for a very specific purpose. I've never really been 'fit / in shape' or belonged to a gym so I decided to see what a personal trainer could do with me within a fixed period of time. I was hoping that I'd be so impressed with the results that it would incent me to continue the exercises on my own. I specifically told them that I wanted them to come up with an exercise regimen using readily-available items (small free weights, jump rope, floor exercises where you use natural body resistance/weight, etc.) so that I could easily duplicate it at home.
First off, it's a bit confusing when you first contact them, as they currently work out of a gym located in a hotel. There's no sign however in the gym mentioning Method Fitness and even when I asked someone who worked in the hotel where Method Fitness was, they had no idea what I was talking about. I was afraid there might be some kind of scam or a little something on the side going on and that I might not get exactly what I was paying for but thankfully that was not the case. The trainers really came through and gave me a good workout.
Now to the specifics: I worked with two different trainers due to scheduling issues. Both were very dependable regarding showing up and spending the allotted time with me and one trainer in particular was very diligent about working me to my maximum. However, I couldn't help but feel like their focus was more on quantity versus quality. What I mean by that is....I didn't get the sense there was as much concern over making sure I wasn't overdoing it, or that I was doing things properly. There was one type of exercise where I was to hold small free weights and lift my arms in certain ways while pressing back on my shoulderblades. I sometimes have issues with my upper back and neck, and as I did some of these exercises sometimes it just didn't feel right to me...I felt like I might be pinching some nerves. So at those times I'd stop doing the exercise and shake my neck out a bit and not once did they ever say 'hey, I see you're shaking your neck out...that you do this alot...is everything feeling ok with your neck?' So my point is, I think anyone going to them needs to be very cogniscent of the fact that they may not stop you from overdoing it....until it's too late... and that at least from what I saw there, it's important that you have good body awareness,know when something doesn't feel right, and that you aren't so concerned about ego that you won't just stop and say you can't do the exercise anymore.
The trainers seems to work off a pre-determined set of exercises, as they work off a chart and tick things off as you do them. Naturally in my instance (because of the specifications I gave them regarding my workout) there were likely some exercises on the chart that I never did (cuz they were done with a nautilus machine or something) and there were likely other exercises NOT on their charts (but that they knew from their heads or elsewhere) that they DID have me do.
I also got the sense that they all subscribe there to a very specific diet regimen. Not saying that's necessarily a bad thing, but I got the sense that they are almost told exactly what type of diet to suggest to you, including recommendations for a certain book to read, and even a meal-delivery option available from this same book author (who's also from the NYC area). On the surface it seemed like a sales-pitch to me....someone who's a friend of a friend perhaps at Method...so my instinct was to brush it off. But then I did my own research, and it seemed many people DID have very good things to say about the food-delivery service and the quality of the food. So maybe they are on to something there.
I've never been a personal trainer before but I thought it was pretty pricey but then...I think that's the norm with personal trainers.
Anyway, all in all for my purposes, they fit the bill. I learned some at-home exercises that I didn't know before, and I did see a change in my physique which I'm hoping will incent me to continue the program at home. (I have already been doing some of the exercises in my apartment, so that's a good sign!) And I DO intend to read the book they'd recommended to me. I figure it can't hurt.... read more