Reply With QuoteI'd like to see Carl but the email address I have for him doesn't work. How did you contact him?Originally Posted by seti
✓ Member
Carl Raghavan testimonial
I had a coaching session with Carl just yesterday in London. He gave me some very good pointers to improve my form and as he coached me through all 5 lifts. Practicing press 2.0 under his guidance was awesome too, as I normally use a 1.0 form.
His observation and advice on all my lifts feels like gold, and I will aim to implement those in my training. As I'm battling with some SI joint issues he also gave me an activity that I'll try out if it aids in the healing process.
If you can get to London and interested in a coaching session, go see the guy, as he's the real deal.
Member
I'd like to see Carl but the email address I have for him doesn't work. How did you contact him?
Member
Try carl.raghavan@yahoo.co.uk
I also had a session with him and he made a real difference. Highly recommended.
Member
Session with Carl Raghavan
Attended Crossfit Evolving in London with Carl Raghavan yesterday. Despite having trained for two years and thinking my form was okay, Carl picked up on the slightest details which most people would miss and instantly made all of my lifts stronger; wider squat stance, cues for tighter deadlifts, power clean assistance and breaking down the press 2.0. The information Carl has provided me with was absolutely invaluable and serves as a huge credit the starting strength team. This was my first coaching experience and my expectations were exceeded in every way. I hope anybody in europe who thinks about getting advice from Carl takes it up because it has already helped me tremendously. Within the first five minutes my squat was already improved.
Thanks for your help Carl! Hopefully next time I attend it won't be on FA cup final day. The traffic in London is ridiculous!
Member
Can't say enough good things about how much Carl has helped me with my squat and deadlift. Anyone needed help in the UK should make the effort to get down to London to see him.
Member
Carl Raghvan - great UK strength coach - try him out!
Recently arranged a one-off training session with Carl Raghvan in London, just to ensure my son (15 years old) and myself (early 40s and not getting any younger) are doing our strength exercises correctly. We're both new to lifting weights and have read the Starting Strength book, but wanted to have someone with experience and knowledge help us out in person.
Carl was excellent - knowledgeable, safe, funny, encouraging - able to show us on others what "correct" looked like, and able to tell us when we were holding the bar when we were doing it right so that we also learnt what "correct" felt like.
We covered squats, press, power clean (which we'd never done before), dead lift and bench press - Carl spent nearly 3.5 hours in total getting us lifting and explaining why different aspects of the techniques were safe, effective, and the best way to perform each exercise.
Carl was great at motivating us too - if we started talking more than lifting, he let us know that wasn't the aim of the session - he got us working! And if we said that things were getting a bit heavy, he pushed us to put on additional weight when he thought we were able to do more (and he was right, too)!
As a beginner, having a session like this with someone of Carl's knowledge, experience and ability was invaluable. Highly recommended.
Member
Have to agree with everything said here. I had my session with Carl yesterday and he definitely is the real deal. He taught me proper form on all of the main lifts (squats, deadlifts, bench, pendlay rows) and also taught me press 2.0 and cleans (which I had never done before). He gave each lift the time and attention it deserved - we probably ended up spending about 3.5 hours in total! If any of you are deterred by the cost, don't be because it is 100% worth it, especially considering you are learning skills that will last you a lifetime.
Honestly, my only regret is that I didn't get this training a couple years ago, when I first started with barbell training. Over the years, I've gotten injuries here and there because I had essentially tried to each myself the lifts. I am tall (6'5") so I had started wondering if my biomechanics were simply not conducive to doing these lifts without injury. The truth is, you need someone to tell you what you're doing wrong, and to give the micro-corrections you need that are tailored to your physique. And once you execute them correctly, you notice the difference almost instantly.
Also, even though I'm returning to the US soon, Carl welcomes later form checks via video etc. So it's good to know I will have someone to help monitor my progress going forward.
Finally, thanks to Carl for making me realize I needed to buy weightlifting shoes. For any of you who are just starting out, definitely get some sooner rather than later. The heel lift makes a huge difference in being able to hit depth with your hips back but without getting your knees too far forward. I noticed less knee pain today already.
Member
I can only agree with every positive thing thats been said about Carl Raghavan. Me (63yo) and my son (19) went from Stockholm to London for The Rugby WorldCup and at the same time took a saturday evening class with Carl. We did around 5 hour of lifting and talking, it was a rich experience, lots of lifting doing all the lifts. I think we had planned for about two hours, so Carl surprised us with giving us so much of his time and knowledge. I was totaly beat up afterwards, but thats because Im an old fart. My son loved every minute of it, he did a PR on squat under Carls eminent supervision. I really learned the correct press 2,0, and some adjustment on my deadlift and bench. I have been lifting SS LP for 2,5 years without a coach so there was plenty to learn and correct on our form. Also we did a bunch of assistant exercises and stretching for my old shoulders (cant do low bar squat), instead I learned High Bar Squat and a lot more, really good to know things. Back home we continue lifting and Marcus my son is really moving some weights now. Thanks Carl! For your warm personality and being a total "Starting Strength Freak" we love you.// Lars & Marcus Bergstrom
Member
I trained with Carl to improve my lifting for my own personal training business. I came in fairly confident, having a couple of years of on-off lifting experience under a couple of coaches, and having spent some good time reading over Starting Strength. The training sessions make it clear as day that having eyes on you is completely necessary for everyone, regardless of experience level. Not only did Carl help tighten up my lifts substantially, but for me as a trainer myself it was hugely beneficial see his cues and coaching style. Naturally, I relentlessly question him with all the "how would you..." and "what do you think of..." type questions that came up through my own training business that I'd not been able to answer, being much less experienced.
Carl himself is a top bloke, a good laugh despite being a ball-buster under the barbell! I really benefited from doing a session a week for a couple of weeks, then going away and practicing, returning fortnightly. That meant that he fixed me up really well in that first session, and then I had a chance to practice, before getting further refined. Being able to go away and read the book between sessions was also really helpful, going over the little details that had been pointed out.
In short - if you're interested in Starting Strength and able to get to London, be sure to get in touch with Carl!
While many will come to call to fix up their own lifts, I can safely say that based on what I see out there in the PT industry, there are a lot of people that could well do with getting some coaching themselves before attempting to sell their services.
Member
Anyone fancy getting a small group together (2-4 people) to go through the five lifts? I could really do with it!
Posting Permissions