About
Decades of learning
I am Lindsay Pickton – most people call me Linz. I am a qualified personal trainer based in Kingston upon Thames. I have been training consistently since 1983.
I was born in the summer of 1969 and started working out in 1983, which puts consistent training at well over forty years now. Not forty years of the same thing: I’ve evolved and learnt, followed passions as well as a few fads, and I have learnt from all of it.
I trained in a variety of gyms and home-set-ups for thirty years, alongside spells dedicated to swimming, road cycling, mountain biking and running. I still run a little, though the version of me who thought a fast time was the point has quietly retired.
Since 2012 I have focussed on and studied bodyweight exercise, often referred to as callisthenics. Moving myself has taught me about balance and mobility, and how these are symbiotic with strength and cardiovascular fitness. Bodyweight exercise can be done indoors or out, it costs nothing, and it scales from not being able to do a single press up, or free squat, to movements that I have still to master. Everyone who has a body already has everything they need in order to workout.
The other side
Thirty years in education
I have worked in education for over thirty years, and for twenty-five of those I have been teaching, coaching and mentoring adults. This informs and inspires my work as a PT: if you are dependent on me in order to continue exercising, I have failed as a teacher.
Teaching adults, rather than simply instructing them, is something I find fascinating. Adults arrive with a history: good and bad experiences that lead to specific self-beliefs, injuries big and small that have to be factored in, and the general aches and pains we didn’t have when we were young! None of these are limiting factors; everyone can make progress and achieve a well-balanced, physically fit and strong body, for the long haul.
When we train, I will be teaching you to get the movements right, to understand what each is doing and how the workout as a whole is contributing to your health goals. The knowledge is then yours to keep.
What makes me different
My goal is your independence
The personal training industry has an incentive to make you feel dependent, so that you keep coming back. Some people want the kind of PT that is in their ear, providing motivation forever, and that’s great if that’s what you want and you can afford it.
I am a teacher, and I want you to learn to train and motivate yourself – that is my definition of success. I want you to have a workout you understand, exercise technique and principles that feel right, and enough knowledge that you are able to make effective adaptations when life changes.
Knowledge really is power, and once you have it, it cannot be taken away.
If you want follow-up, I will be there. You may have questions that occur over time, you may want a new challenge or help with making adaptations to suit a life-style change. You may need help coming back from an illness or other setback, or with overcoming a plateau (we all get them!). Just give me a buzz.
Where I work
Kingston, London, Surrey
I’m based in central Kingston, which gives me easy access to much of Greater London and Surrey. I can train you in the park, in your home (you would be amazed at what can be achieved with no special equipment and little space!), in your gym. I can help you make the most of exercise facilities you may have access to at your workplace, or in your apartment development. Options are always good, because you can adapt to things like available time, the weather, and mood.
Have a conversation with me before you decide anything
The first consultation is free and there is nothing to sign at the end of it.