30/08/2026
I received this message from one of my Personal Training clients this week, and I thought it was really interesting.
He came to see me for his session at 2pm.
Later that day, he looked back at the stress data recorded by his watch and noticed that his lowest stress reading of the entire day was at 2:10pm — just ten minutes into our time together.
He sent it to me saying it was “proof of the effect seeing you at 2 o'clock had on my nervous system.”
I thought that was pretty cool too!
What made it even more interesting was that afterwards, he went back through some of his previous data and told me he'd noticed a similar pattern around other sessions we'd had together.
And it got me thinking about something that I talk about a lot.
Personal Training — and health more generally — is about so much more than exercise or changing how we look.
Of course, people come to Personal Training wanting to become stronger, fitter, healthier, lose body fat, build muscle or simply feel more confident in the gym.
But there are benefits that aren't always as easy to see or measure.
Every client is different, and therefore every session doesn't have to look the same.
Sometimes we train hard. Sometimes we take things a little easier. Sometimes we talk more. Sometimes we laugh.
And sometimes simply having an hour away from the pressures of everyday life, moving your body, talking things through and spending time with somebody you feel comfortable around can be every bit as valuable.
For me, good Personal Training has always been about working with the person in front of me, rather than simply delivering a workout.
A smartwatch can't perfectly measure our nervous system or tell us everything that's happening inside our body, so I wouldn't pretend that these readings prove anything scientifically.
But I still think it's a fascinating little piece of data — especially now that he's looked back and noticed a similar pattern around more than one of our sessions.
Perhaps it's also a nice reminder that our health is influenced by far more than sets, reps, calories and what we see in the mirror.
Movement matters. Exercise matters. But so do conversation, connection, support an