Castle Gym Windsor

Training at Castle gym

Christmas came early for me today. I was invited to go and train at an independent gym run by bodybuilders and, when I got there, they offered me free membership. You realise what this means. I can now train at a gym which has things like a squat rack, and more than one Olympic bar. :-O

Today was the best training session I’ve had in a long time, and I am very grateful to the guys at Castle for offering me membership. To say that it will benefit my bodybuilding training is an understatement. Training in that environment, with other bodybuilders and competitors, and with all that kit and equipment, will transform things for me. I’ll be able to do more, I’ll always have someone to spot me, and the atmosphere will be hugely motivating.

Look, there’s a squat rack! And a hack squat machine! And a vertical leg press machine! And… and…😀 I was like a kid in a sweet shop, just looking round and beaming (and wondering what half of the stuff was).

As if free training at a proper bodybuilding gym wasn’t enough for one day, I ended up being coached by the guy who coaches one of the women who inspires me most in this sport (in fact, her picture is on my kitchen wall this year). As Castle’s owner Jason Joyce (no relation, but a fun co-incidence!) showed me round, he introduced me to Jerry. I recognised Jerry immediately as powerlifter Jerry Fox, the partner and coach of Helen Stack, former NPA overall women’s Champion, INBF World Champion and now WNBF Pro.

Jerry kindly ended up giving me some coaching points and helping me through a few sets of squats (in an actual squat rack!😉 ) and his advice was so helpful (and his encouragement greatly appreciated).

I ended up doing a fantastic leg session, and could have stayed there all day – but there’s this thing called Christmas Day coming up soon, and we have a fair few things left to do.

You may thinks it’s a bit sad that I’m so excited about training at an independent bodybuilding gym, but you have to understand that my regular gym is not equipped for (nor populated by) bodybuilders. It’s a great gym, I love it there, and will continue to train there too, but I often wish I had access to various bits of kit, a spotter, or the company of other bodybuilders. I now have all of those things.

Jason, thank you so much for inviting me to your facility, and for your kind offer of membership. It was a fantastic surprise and an amazing opportunity which I’m delighted to take up!