Wojtek Wasag is a PT for YOUR Personal Training, based at Hadleigh Pool and Leisure in Suffolk. YOUR Personal Training supports both PT’s and operator deliver world class personal training. The 24-year-old, originally from Poland, has built and grown a successful PT business – he loves his job and has many happy clients.
Wojtek came to the UK in 2016 to live with sister when he dropped out of his university in Poland. He started working in a care home and in his free time was using the gym where he is now based. It was here he was taken under the wing of one of the PT’s, who inspired him to get his personal training qualifications. Wojtek, who now has his Level Three Personal Training and his Level Two Fitness Instructor qualifications, says: “I’d always wanted to be a PT and I couldn’t be happier doing a job that I absolutely love. No two days are the same, and no two clients are the same either.”
Wojtek first got into fitness as a teenager, after he struggled with his weight as a child. He says: “My brothers teased me because I was fat. I was embarrassed, and I remember crying myself to sleep. I was lazy and spent too much time playing video games accompanied with a diet of junk food. I lacked self-esteem and confidence. I was 16 when I decided to do something about it, and I headed to my local gym.
“I often draw on my own personal experience, remembering how I felt when I first started going to the gym, how awkward I was, that awful feeling that everyone was judging me. I also remember being overwhelmed and not knowing what equipment to use. I recall on these memories to help me to connect with my clients.”
Wojtek currently has approximately 36 ‘in person’ clients, as well as online clients too. He’s fully booked, training clients for around 55 hours a week. During the lockdown he grew an online community, offering exercises, support and challenges, and had approximately 500 people engaging in his Facebook group as well as 30 people joining him for each of his Live virtual classes. He says: “I built a really welcoming community online. We all talked and chatted and made sure everyone was OK. It was amazing to connect with so many people and to help others to keep motivated. I’m fortunate that many people I communicated with virtually during lockdown have now joined me for ‘in person’ training. I even have one client who now travels two hours just to train with me.”
Wojtek says the pandemic has forced him and other trainers to look at Personal Training in a virtual capacity: “Being available both online and ‘in person’ gives clients an opportunity to work with me more. I’m finding that, for some clients, one or two ‘in person’ sessions a week isn’t enough, and they would lack motivation on the days they weren’t with me. Now, YOUR Personal Training’s YOUR Wellness app helps me to keep both my clients and my business on track.
“The YOUR Wellness app really does everything a trainer needs, from allowing my clients to book sessions and make payments, to me being able to set them fitness challenges, training sessions and even log their calories. I can work from anywhere, at any time. It really has enabled my PT business to go from strength to strength.
“Overall, the team at YOUR Personal Training are a great bunch of people to have supporting you. They are on your side, and are always there to help you build a business and offer any advice and guidance. They strive to support PT’s whilst professionalising the role.”
Find out more about Wojtek by visiting his profile