Personal trainers are typically quite stereotyped - buffed bodies, aggressive attitudes, take no prisoners. What happens when you find one that breaks the mould and is in fact, extraordinary?
To be extra-ordinary is to go beyond what is usual, ordinary, regular or established; to be exceptional in character; to be, as Cheryl Hoffman comments to Walter Mitty when he rescues her dog from an exploding building, noteworthy.
And noteworthy, to clarify, means worthy of notice or attention.
There is a young personal trainer among us now who is indeed “Noteworthy”; breaking new ground and finding interesting new applications for science that deliver unexpected and delightful results for clients.
Lachlan Boyd is a young man who’s life was temporarily halted by an unexpected mountain biking accident in 2008 Suffering from a subdural hematoma Lachlan found himself stuck inside 4 walls and unable to do any of the things he loved for over 6 months. An 18 year old artist at the time of his accident Lachlan was used to spending his days exploring the jungle behind his home for media and ideas for his artwork, and dragging heavy things back from the beach to work into his creative expression. Following his accident, and a total confinement period of 8 months, Lachlan was not allowed to leave home unaccompanied for fear of a brain bleed or epileptic episode, and was unable to fly thereby making him unable to return to Sydney to complete his Fine Arts Degree. Lachlan understands what it means to be ‘shut down’.
During his recovery Lachlan spent time with his mum when she left the house for her own personal training sessions; and to help out with light duties in her art gallery studio. His interest was sparked in his mums training sessions and Lachlan found out how to become a personal trainer and decided to do the course on line because it could be done from home.
Following a full recovery Lachlan returned to Sydney and completed his Fine Arts Degree, working part time in the fitness industry. It was during his final year that he became the gear officer for the university Rock Climbing Club, where he was able to integrate his love of the outdoors with his passion for empowering others to break through mental and physical obstacles to achieve climbs and have fun at the same time.
Lachlan’s journey after uni has taken him into back into big chain gyms (which he hated); into boutique training studios (which he loved) and finally back to uni, where he is currently undertaking a Bachelor of Exercise & Sports Science degree.
About 18 months ago Lachlan made a bold and daring move to Cairns to find the space to explore creative solutions for those who, like him, have been shut down.
Lachlan says “I now have different tools to make me better at what I do. I’m a better coach now. I’m not concerned with how things should look - I’m more concerned with how they feel and how they move. There is a simplicity in the training”. This functionality in training movement gets lost in amongst the big equipment style programming of machine based gyms.
When I asked Lachlan why do you do what you do his response is refreshing … “because I am able to create interesting solutions to problems that often get ignored”.
Lachlan works with numerous clients who have either post surgical pain and mobility limitations; permanent physical damage from accident and injury; mobility challenges from conditions like Cerebral Palsy and those with complete and incomplete spinal injury. It is a mixed and challenging bag.
When I ask Lachlan what he loves most about what he does he says simply “The small wins that empower the people that I work with - I like those”.
Looking forward Lachlan plans to continue to explore interesting applications for the science of movement. By taking science and making it fun, as he does with 5 year old Emma who has CP - she doesn’t realise that the proprioceptive feedback to her body is heightened and improving her balance when he spins her around the studio on a skim disk - Lachlan is creating a new option for some of the most challenging physical shutdowns an individual can experience.
Lachlan is a passionate rock climber, noteworthy for sure. Watch this space for the ‘first ascent’ of new training methodologies that will change the game.
