Ken M

Three months ago, Ken Miller walked into Timber & Steel to work on muscle tone and learn proper form. He'd been lifting at home for years, but he wasn't sure he was doing it right.

"I kind of wanted to work my muscle tone, improve that, and also taking into account the proper form on the way to do things," Ken says. "With Bertha working with me, I can see how I'm going like 80% at home, I think, when you really need to do the 100%. That extra little bit, it's amazing how much that really, at least for me, it affects your form."

That gap between 80% and 100% became the theme of his first 90 days. He'd been bench pressing at home for years, never bringing the bar all the way to his chest. When Bertha had him do it properly, he had to strip the weight off and start with almost nothing.

"I had to lessen the weight and do a few, like two sets of like only 10 pounds on each side just to get my muscle loose enough to do that," he says. "I wouldn't have done that before. I wouldn't have thought. I would have just thought this is good."

On day one, Ken couldn't pass a PVC pipe behind his back. A basic shoulder mobility test. He was shocked.

"I couldn't even bend that behind my back," he says. "That was really revealing how limited I had become."

Three months later, he's working on it every week. The mobility is coming back. Not all at once. But it's moving.

The coaching is what surprised him most. He'd been in bigger gyms before, but this felt different.

"It just seems you guys have a very personable approach," Ken says. "It's like a closer-knit group here, and the coaching is very personalized. That impressed me."

He trains with Bertha on Monday mornings. Sometimes Lori is in the same semi-private session, and Bertha manages both of them independently. Ken never feels overlooked.

"She seems to spend the time she needs to with me, so I'm very satisfied, honestly," he says.

There was a moment in a group class with Nate that stuck with him. The Turkish getup. A kettlebell pressed overhead while you stand up from the floor.

"That was so hard," Ken says. "I couldn't believe it. Could be very humbling."

Nate had him do a modified version. Ken couldn't do the full movement from the start. But that's how it works at T&S. You meet the movement where you are and build toward it.

Three months in, Ken's goals haven't changed much. Still muscle tone, still proper form. But his understanding of what that actually means has deepened. And he's looking forward to what comes next.

"It's exciting to know what are we doing this time?" he says. "So I'm looking forward to it. To challenge myself."

If you're where Ken was three months ago, working out at home but not sure if you're doing it right, book a Free Intro Call. We'll figure out what fits your life.