Yes, I'd need to work out travel and accommodation, but I would be interested in training with our national coach.
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I completely echo the message of previous testimonials; Carl is a rock solid coach, and a top bloke at that. His knowledge and understanding of main lifts is outstanding and he has a wealth of experience to back it up. He was able to make corrections to my squat, press (2.0) and deadlift, as well point things out that I never had, and would never have noticed myself despite thorough reading of Starting Strength basic barbell training. Carl took the time to answer any questions I had, to great satisfaction and it appears my experience has been that of many.
10/10 would recommend, there is nothing more to be desired in a coach.
I would go along with all the positive comments on this thread.
As a beginner with only a couple of months lifting behind me, I found Carl to be extremely helpful. There is a huge difference between trying to learn from books/videos and having a qualified coach on hand to correct your mistakes in real time.
Carl is friendly and relaxed, but very focussed on getting the most out of the session. If you are based near London, I would highly recommend him, I'll definitely be going back.
I trained with Carl a couple of weeks ago in London and it was time and money well spent. Responsive and helpful prior to the session and then two hours of solid coaching and feedback. It was my first time undertaking the lifts under a qualified SS coach and it made a huge difference. I highly recommend Carl.
I had a training session with Carl today, and have nothing but good things to say. We covered the 5 big lifts, and made some improvements to my form, including working past some bad habits I had previously learned. Carl was friendly and extremely knowledgeable. My round trip travel time was around 8 hours, but it was definitely worth it. For anyone in the UK looking for coaching, pull the trigger and get down to London!
What everybody else said, basically.
I saw Carl this week, as I will be in London regularly for work. I used to train with Coach Steel, but then a combination of travel (with tricky gym access), illness, and change in work patterns made it hard for me to continue. I have had a bad cough / possible walking pneumonia / various colds since Christmas, which has made it really hard to get back into a training routine.
What Carl did with me was to fix my squat (AGAIN - we found that I wasn't using my legs enough) and give me plenty of ideas for programming that are basically variations on Squat and Leave, as often as I can, with any progression on volume, not weight.
It was extremely useful, got me back on track, and I'll be back to see Carl for regular form checks.
Saw Carl for 2 hours last night and learnt a lot. Would highly recommend and will hopefully see him again. Thank you for lending me shoes, il get some soon. Cheers!
I want to add another voice of recommendation for Carl. He's the real deal.
In a two-hour session last week, we covered the squat, press, and deadlift. He's a fantastic coach with the ability to simply and clearly explain and demonstrate the mechanics of the lifts. He has a great eye for detail, and he will hold you to a high standard during the session.
I could have saved myself a lot of time and training grief by seeing Carl earlier in my novice progression, and I'll definitely be back for more coaching sessions.
Luckily, I'm local, but if I lived further away in the UK, I'd certainly make a day trip to see him again. Well worth the time and money.
Carl is great. We went through a very thorough session on squats. Can't wait to go back for more sessions on the other lifts. I'd recommend signing up for 5 sessions at once.
Carl Raghavan.Top bloke. Had a 2 hour session with him yesterday and went through squats,press,deadlifts and bench. Having his eye on me was crucial, and I finally 'felt' what a correct squat was. Everything I learnt will greatly benefit my training and I highly encourage anybody who is thinking of getting some coaching to do it, You won't regret it. My only regret is not doing it sooner.