The focus here is on getting you results you can achieve. This means I’ll never suggest you do anything restrictive to reach your goals and always keep your long-term health in mind. Putting in effort is an essential part of fitness, but a workout program is only as effective as your ability to recover from it. I’ll encourage you to work at the threshold between what you’re currently capable of and where you’d like to be. Meaning every well-calibrated workout is a step toward the best version of yourself.
You've heard it all before
You’re probably used to being told how personalised your workout program will be, how impressive your results will be and how much accountability and support you’ll receive. I get it.
In fact, an internal customer survey of mine revealed that 87% of my clients had worked with a fitness coach or online workout program before, with 71% having tried multiple options and hadn’t achieved their desired outcome. Don’t get me wrong, there are many great coaches out there, I know some personally, and others have been on my podcast.
I’m happy to showcase on how I get my results and show you the methodology before you sign up, so I won’t make the same old promises about customisation, you can see the difference for yourself: My 28-step personalisation process.Β
The fitness industry norm
- Cookie-cutter programs: You are sold a one-size-fits-all solution as the "magic bullet" for your fitness goals
- The "do as i do" paradigm: If it's worked for them, it should work for you too right? Without acknowledging the intricacies of your unique lifestyle and constraints
- Energy drainers: Promotion of ridiculous restrictive diets that sap your energy and cripple performance in every other aspect of your life. Knowing they could never be maintained
- Macro misguidance: They say, "If it fits your macros" go for it, dumbing down nutrition and co-signing unhealthy food choices because they work on paper
- The influencer trap: Coaches who focus more on social media fame than client success, great promotion but ghosts in the machine once you've signed up
- App confusion: Cheap app memberships offer hundreds of workout choices but little cohesion between workouts meaning you cannot predict results or measure progression
- Photo finish: They prepare you for a photo-shoot, not a healthy lifestyle
My coaching methodology
- Bridge the gap between mind & body: A great workout plan isn't enough if you struggle with consistency or motivation. You'll need accountability and support
- Programs that meet you where you are: Our fitness plans are built around your schedule, your health, and your goals
- Efficient workouts: I'll optimise every minute you spend training. Because not everyone wants or has time to live in the gym
- Life-stage adaptability: Different training methods suit different life stages. I'll adapt your workout program accordingly
- Educational focus: We won't just show you how to get results, I'll teach you how to sustain them
- The long game: Life isnβt a photoshoot. So my coaching aims for sustainable performance, not temporary perfection
- Better relationship with food: We focus on more than just aesthetics which means what you eat must be seen as the building blocks of health, and eating well as an act of self-care. Not just calories in an out to manipulate what you see on the scales
Who benefits from the status quo?
- Fitness trend followers
- Aspiring influencers
- Those looking for a quick fix
- Those that seek entertaining workouts at the cost of efficacy
- Holiday goers looking to get in shape 2 weeks before the beach
- Those always seeking the 'new thing'
- Seasonal gym goers
Who benefits from choosing us?
- Those ready for lasting lifestyle change
- Individuals wanting to understand the 'why' of health & fitness
- Busy professionals juggling life's complexities
- People looking for health-oriented, not trend-oriented, solutions
- Those that simply want to feel confident when they go clothes shopping
- Anyone who wants a roadmap to sustainable well-being, without sacrificing other life priorities
Work hard, rest hard - balance is key
Workout intensity is nuanced. Some coaches are going to tell you “No pain, no gains” and others will suggest you take a gentle approach and only push as far as you’re comfortable. Often the best progress is made somewhere in between. It’s true that you’re not going to get very far in fitness unless you’re willing to put the work in and push yourself.
But that also shouldn’t be taken to the extreme. If you over-exercise and your lifestyle can’t support it due to stress, poor nutrition, too few calories or lack of sleep that’s a recipe for burnout, and you’ll eventually be side-lined.
There isn’t a ‘fast’ or ‘slow’ way to get results as such, just variations on optimal vs sub-optimal. So the duration of your workout, how frequently you exercise and how hard you push aren’t going to be the defining factors in your success, it just doesn’t work that way.
Fitness is all about well-calibrated, incremental progress. Because your workout always has to be kept relative to your ability to recover from it, if you learn to tow that line, you’ll always be making forward progress, but don’t fall victim to hustle culture.
Mindset first: The key to lasting fitness success
In fitness, debates often focus on the best exercises, supplements and routines we should incorporate to achieve our goals. However focusing on the minutia of working out too soon can overlook a key component of one’s ability to achieve results, which is developing the right mindset.
Many people have a stop/start ‘all-or-nothing’ relationship with exercise and healthy eating, these are challenges of mindset that relate to consistency, motivation, emotional regulation, confidence and resilience. These aren’t issues that can be addressed at the level of exercise alone.
So lasting change simply won’t be achieved by simply choosing the fastest or most effective workout, but by developing a mindset that frames exercise as a vehicle for personal development, empowerment and general life success.
Scott Laidler discusses a performance mindset with Dame Jessica Ennis-Hill DBE, OLY on the Healthy Ambition podcast.
What 'they' want you to think confidence looks like:
What it really looks like:
Get results and keep them
Training for year round success
I’m not particularly interested in signing you up for a gaunt, dehydrated photoshoot at the end of your training program, I’m more interested in making sure the experience is transformative. Fundamentally changing your relationship to exercise and healthy eating. This means you wonβt be asked to do anything on the program that I donβt believe you could practice year-round. For this reason, many of my clients finish my exercise programs with a story to tell of permanent positive change.
This means:
- You donβt have to live in the gym
- You'll never be asked to diet
- You donβt have to give up real food
- You wonβt have to spend hundreds on supplements you donβt need
- You won't have to prep every meal if you don't want to
- You don't have to be tee total
- You don't have to workout every day
Itβs tempting to see Fitness models, Bodybuilders, influencers and Hollywood celebrities in amazing shape, and assume taking on their exercise routines would get you the same results. Indeed they have some of the best personal trainers in the world putting programs together for them, and in the case of the Hollywood crowd, they also have chefs on hand and are able to train twice per day. How do I know? because I’m one of the personal trainers training them.
But what isn’t so apparent at first glance, is that any photoshoot, bodybuilding competition or movie scene is all approached as a project, not a lifestyle. Meaning there is generally a very clear βpeakβ point or deadline and as such, a defined end-point. Therefore any short-term sacrifice made in the pursuit of this peak conditioning also inherently has an impending date of reprieve and a clear end point. A crucial distinction because emulating this type of program as your everyday lifestyle is a huge mistake and an unfair expectation to levy on yourself.Β
To be clear, there is nothing wrong with any of it, as long as you know the deal going in. After all, As I’ve mentioned Iβve been commissioned to work with Oscar-winning actors to deliver on this type of role-prep body transformation myself.
The problem presents itself when we confuse what is an inherently temporary strategy with one that is designed to be maintained long-term. Itβs a fundamental misunderstanding of effective fitness methodology and leads to repeated start/stop, all-or-nothing attempts at your fitness goals. You’d be best advised to avoid dieting or attempting a lifetime best photoshoot if you aren’t already firmly in control of weight, body composition and lifestyle habits year-round.
Not necessarily because it wouldn’t ‘work’, but because it just isn’t going to help you establish the kind of habits that would allow your progress to be maintained.Β
If you choose that path, health & fitness for you will almost certainly be a never-ending carrot to chase, filled with signing up for various fitness and running challenges, researching this supplement and the next one, attempting restrictive diets, New Year’s resolutions, 30-day challenges and rotating door of new fitness coaches. Again, all can be great, but only when positioned as an expression of an already healthy lifestyle rather than a reliable route to establishing one. Because once the challenge is over, all you will have is the short-term lifestyle scaffolding built to facilitate that specific goal or intervention, with no lasting foundations.
This means you’ll always face the βday after effectβ when your program or diet plan ends. Typically triggering a considerable rebound, in which the weight goes back on, and exercise habits wane. It’s both how a start/stop relationship with exercise begins and is perpetuated.
My general proposition is that If I can help you achieve 80% of that photoshoot conditioning we all desire, but we approach it in a way that you could maintain year-round, that’s how you’ll earn your freedom from your health & fitness challenges. Eventually, once that’s your day-to-day normal you can take a sojourn into any new fitness goal you want, and once it’s complete you can return to an excellent equilibrium. This way you’ll never face a long layoff or fall off the wagon again.
Establish a healthy lifestyle
Build lasting habits
Click through the gallery below and look at some of the long-term success of our clients proving that real habits last longer than any one training program. It’s about creating a lifestyle, a framework around which exercise, rest and eating well are as natural as brushing your teeth in the morning.
Results only count if you can maintain them
You’ve likely seen those reality TV weight-loss shows, where contestants shed astonishing amounts of weight in what seems like the blink of an eye. But what the camera doesn’t capture is the often demoralising aftermath. Which is that in the weeks and months after the show many contestants gain their weight back if not more.
The diet industry is also often guilty of glamorising this type of ‘quick-fix’ approach. You see it in dramatic before-and-after photos, weight loss challenges and endorsements of ‘fat-burning’ supplements. But let’s be real, starving yourself and pushing your body to its limits may lead to temporary weight loss, but is that a victory if it can’t be maintained? or it damages your health in the long term?
I’ve worked with clients who’ve followed such extreme regimes that they’ve disrupted their menstrual cycles, destroyed their gut health, and disrupted their hormones. What’s worse is that they weren’t winging it, they were under the guidance of people they had paid to look after them. Sadly, I’ve met a number of people who have had such bad experiences with fitness coaching that they now have a psychological aversion to exercise.
My answer to all of this is straightforward. The only results we count are those that you can sustain. And while that may invite a more measured approach, it ensures that your achievements, be they a slimmer waist, improved body composition, or just a sense of well-being are victories you can actually keep.
Built in the gym, fit for life
"The reason I exercise is for the quality of life I enjoy"
To me and many of my personal training clients the greatest joys in life haven’t been found in our biggest successes or life’s big milestone achievements. But in the simpler moments like walking the dog in the crisp morning air, feeling the earth beneath your feet on a short run, or connecting with nature hiking off the beaten track.Β
These moments are made more poignant when shared with others. Whether it’s a spirited game of tag with your kids or sharing an intimate moment with your partner without feeling restricted by strength or fitness. Ultimately life’s richest experiences are best savoured with a body that’s primed and a mind that’s present.Β
Health & fitness isn’t just about sculpted abs or setting personal bests. It’s your ticket to a life well lived. Don’t let inertia or inaction start to take away your energy levels or freedom of movement, we have no idea how much we’d miss the activities we currently take for granted.Β
Feel better every day
Perhaps you’re at a moment in life where self-prioritisation and a healthy lifestyle have been neglected for so long, that you can barely recall what it felt like to be at your best and feel like yourself. I’ve been there, as have the majority of my clients. But it can be won back, it’s just a case of restoring the fundamentals and implementing them consistently. You may be just a few weeks away from feeling like yourself again. Why don’t we find out?
My programs willl help you:
Drink more water
Improve digestion
Boost your energy
Feel less aches and pains
Rely less on caffeine
Get more restful sleep
Get outdoors more
Better mental clarity
Mental health matters
Amid the rising concern for mental well-being in today’s fast-paced world, exercise stands out as an under-utilised but highly effective first line of defence. Itβs a proven tool for alleviating symptoms of anxiety and depression.
Multiple studies back the profound impact that regular physical activity can have on our mood, thanks to the release of endorphinsβoften termed ‘feel-good hormones.’ But it goes beyond momentary mood boosts; consistent exercise serves as a powerful vehicle for cultivating self-esteem and confidence.
As you overcome small challenges in your workouts and witness your body’s capabilities expand, you’re not just building muscle or increasing endurance, you’re also constructing a fortified sense of self. As you start to develop resilience and stay consistent, youβll begin to trust your willpower once again and there’s no telling what youβll go on to achieve in areas of life, far removed from working out.
The βcottage industryβ advantage
In a world obsessed with scale, automation and one-size-fits-all all solutions,Β a smaller client base has its advantages. Iβve chosen not to work with everyone, and my clients like it that way.
This guarantees that youβll always have a single consistent trainer, me. There will be No A.I workouts, and no generic trend-based advice. With me, youβll find comprehensive accountability, only dedicated support tailored to your unique fitness journey.
Start today, not 'someday'
An old Zen saying reminds us:
“If you feel too busy to meditate, it’s time to meditate”
The same holds for health & fitness. My online personal training service wasn’t designed for gym devotees, but rather for busy individuals who recognise their need for change. The goal is to make it easier, with programs that boost your energy, rather than drain it. Youβd be surprised how little time is actually needed to gather momentum with an optimal program for your goals and your body.
If you’re waiting for the ‘perfect time’ with no commitments or travel obligations before you can prioritise fitness, you might be waiting until retirement. Instead, start with a plan that meets you where you are, and is capable of working no matter how chaotic life gets. Then aim to stack ‘net positive’ rather than perfect days together and you stand to make a lot of progress with a workout plan that works alongside your life rather than consumes it. It’s really the only way you’ll see results with a busy life.
Craig S.
Real Results
βScott delivers a program that is flexible and accommodating to your lifestyle and work commitments. He is always on hand to answer questions. I have more energy and feel 10 years younger!!β
Claire Louise Taylor
Confident & Happy
βItβs amazing what confidence can do to you and thanks to Scott Laidler online personal training I feel so much more confident and happy in myself, still got a lot to go but looking forward to doing another 6 weeks at it ππͺπΌ Thanks!!β