Yes. If you are carrying a lot of extra weight, a coach is the right first move, not something to earn later, because the first block of training is exactly the kind of work that is hard to design for yourself: strength and incline walking rather than jumping, exercises chosen for your joints and your dignity, loads picked for you, and a room with no crowd in it. The one line to draw first is medical: if you have a diagnosed condition, take medication that affects your heart or blood pressure, or have been told by a physician to be careful with exercise, get cleared before you start.
The rest of this page is what that first block looks like in practice, because the fear is rarely about effort. It is about what you will be asked to do, whether it will hurt, and who will be watching.
What the first block looks like
Strength and walking, two or three sessions a week, no jumping. That is the whole shape.
Strength work comes first because muscle is what makes everything else easier: stairs, getting up from a chair, carrying groceries up from the Quay. It is also the most joint-friendly hard work available, because the loads are controlled and there is no impact. Conditioning is an incline walk on the Woodway treadmills: heart rate up, joints spared, handrails there if you want them, and a live heart-rate display so you and the coach are reading effort rather than guessing it.
Nothing in the first block asks you to jump, run, or get down onto the floor and back up in front of anyone. Those are not moral positions; they are load-management decisions, and they are the same ones a coach makes for anybody whose joints have been carrying more than they would like.
Exercises chosen for joints and for dignity
Every movement in the first block passes two tests. Is it kind to the knees, hips and back at this body weight? And can it be started and finished standing, with support within reach?
| Pattern | First-block version | Why this one |
|---|---|---|
| Squat | Squat to a comfortable depth holding the rig upright, or a goblet squat with a light dumbbell | Support removes the fear of not getting back up; depth grows as strength does |
| Hinge | Cable pull-through, then a dumbbell Romanian deadlift | Trains the back of the body without loading the spine heavily, standing throughout |
| Push | Incline push-up on the rig, or a cable chest press | The height sets the load, so it is chosen rather than imposed; no floor |
| Pull | Cable row, single-arm dumbbell row | Upper-back strength for posture; the cable stack goes up in small steps |
| Carry | Farmer carry over short distances | Standing, simple, and it makes daily life lighter within weeks |
| Conditioning | Incline walk on the treadmill | Effort without impact; handrails and a heart-rate readout |
The cable pull-through is a good example of the logic: it teaches the hinge with the load pulling from behind, so you are never bent over a bar on the floor. Floor work arrives when you want it and when getting down and up is easy, not before.
How loads are chosen
The coach picks the weight, and the starting weight is low on purpose. At a higher body weight your own body is already a meaningful load in a squat or a step, so external weight is added in small steps once the pattern is clean. Most first-block sets stop with two or three reps in reserve: heavy enough to change you, light enough that every rep looks like the first one. Loads are recorded every session, and within a few weeks the log shows numbers going up, which is a scoreboard that has nothing to do with the scale.
If you would rather the scale stayed out of it entirely, say so at the start. Strength numbers, walking grade and how the stairs at home feel are better measures of a first block anyway. Training for weight loss covers what happens when the scale does become a goal.
The room, honestly
There is no open-gym floor at Coresa. The only people in the room are the people in your session: a coach and you in 1-on-1 personal training, or a group that never exceeds eight in small group training, each person on their own program with their own loads. Low red lighting, a rig along the street windows, lockers by the entrance. Nobody is waiting for your rack, and the coach has written your session before you arrive.
The first step is a free 15-minute consult in street clothes: no workout, no card, no pressure. You describe where you are, the coach describes the first block, and you decide.
The medical line, plainly
This page is general information, not medical advice. The standard screening questionnaire that coaches use asks about heart conditions, chest pain, dizziness, blood-pressure medication, joint problems and pregnancy; a yes on any of them means a physician's clearance before the first session. Whether you need a doctor's note walks through the questions. If your physician has already said exercise is part of the plan, bring any limits they gave you to the consult and the coach programs inside them.
Common questions
Is there a weight limit on the equipment?
Commercial racks, bars, cable stacks and treadmills are built for heavy loads, and body weight is rarely the limiting factor. If you want the rating for the treadmills specifically, ask on the consult and the coach will check.
Will I have to get down on the floor?
Not in the first block unless you ask. Every pattern has a standing or supported version, and the ones in the table above are the defaults. Floor work comes when getting up from it is easy.
Will the coach put me on a diet?
No. A trainer works at the habit level: protein, regular meals, what you ate before the session. Clinical dietary advice belongs to a dietitian, and if your weight is tied to a medical condition, your physician and dietitian lead. Where the line sits is spelled out separately.
Is 1-on-1 or small group better when I have a lot of weight to lose?
Most people in this position start 1-on-1, because the assessment and the first block are individual by design. The group is a good second step once the movements are automatic, and when to make that move has its own page. Ask on the consult.
