The enquiry form is sent, the short assessment is done, and a coach is coming on Saturday morning. Now you are looking at the living room, wondering where the sofa should go, whether you were supposed to buy dumbbells, and what actually happens once they ring the bell.
Most of the first hour is talking and moving slowly. Nobody gets left on the floor gasping. Here is how it usually goes, so that the only surprise is how ordinary it feels.
Before the coach arrives
Clear a patch of floor about two metres by two metres. Beside the bed in a studio, the gap between the sofa and the television, or the sala if there is one. Put down a mat or a thick towel. If you are using the condo gym downstairs or the village clubhouse, check the booking rules, since some buildings ask for a guest to be signed in.
Wear something you can bend and reach in. Shorts and a t-shirt are fine, and rubber shoes are better than slippers for the standing work. Have water ready. Turn the fan on before the coach arrives so the room is cool to begin with.
Eat something small an hour or two before, and skip the full plate of rice. A banana or a piece of bread is enough. If you take regular medication or have a doctor’s note about exercise, keep it to hand.
The coach brings whatever was agreed: usually resistance bands, sometimes a pair of dumbbells or a kettlebell. You do not need to buy anything for the first session.
The consultation at the table
The first twenty minutes or so is a conversation, usually at the dining table. The coach asks about your health history, old injuries, any pain that shows up in daily life, how you sleep, what your work day looks like and how much of it is spent sitting or standing. They will ask what you eat on an ordinary day, including merienda, and what time you usually get home.
Answer plainly. A knee that clicks on stairs, a back that aches after the drive in from Clark, a shoulder from an old volleyball injury: all of it changes what the coach will ask you to do. Nothing you say here is judged. It is the raw material for the plan.
Expect a few questions that seem unrelated to exercise. Who else lives in the house, who cooks, whether the household eats together. A programme that ignores the fact that dinner is a shared pot of sinigang and rice for six people will fall apart by the second week, and a good coach knows that.
The movement screen
Next comes the movement screen, which is a short set of basic movements the coach watches to see how your body moves. There is no way to fail it.
Typically you will be asked to squat a few times, to bend at the hips as if picking something up, to reach overhead, to balance on one leg for a few seconds, to do a push-up against the wall or the table, and to lie on your back and lift your hips. The coach watches from the side and the front, and may ask you to repeat something or hold a position.
What they are looking for is simple: which joints move freely, which are stiff, whether one side is stronger than the other, and whether anything hurts. Most people find they are stiffer somewhere than they expected and stronger somewhere else, and both are useful to know.
If something hurts sharply, say so and stop. That is information, and a sensible coach will work around it.
Talking about goals
With the screen done, the conversation turns to what you want. This is often harder than it sounds, because “get fit” covers a great deal. The coach will help you narrow it to something you can picture. Climbing the four floors to the unit without stopping, keeping up with a basketball league on Sunday, fitting into clothes that fit two years ago, getting strong enough to carry a grandchild, or preparing for a pregnancy with a doctor’s clearance in hand.
Then comes the honest part. A coach worth having will tell you roughly what is realistic in the time you have, and will not promise a date. How quickly a goal arrives depends on the person, on sleep, on food, and on how many sessions survive the busy weeks.
You will also agree on how often to train. For most beginners two or three sessions a week is a sensible start, with something small to do on the days between.
The written plan and the first moves
Before leaving, the coach writes the plan down. It is usually a page or two: the goal, the schedule, the exercises for the first few weeks with sets and reps (which just means how many times you repeat each movement and how many rounds), and a few notes about food and sleep.
In most first sessions there is time to try the first handful of exercises properly. This part is slow and deliberate. The coach shows a squat, watches you do five, adjusts your feet, watches five more. A band gets looped around a table leg for a rowing movement. A push-up is set at whatever height you can manage with a straight body.
You should finish a little warm and a little tired, and able to walk to the fridge without wincing. If a first session leaves you unable to sit down the next day, something went wrong.
Things that will not happen
Nobody will weigh you in front of the family unless you ask. Nobody will shout. There is no sales pitch for supplements, because a coach who trains people at home is paid for the coaching. The written plan is yours to keep whether or not you book again.
The coach will not diagnose a medical condition or put you on a diet. Nutrition guidance from Fit Bud coaches is about habits, such as what to do about the second cup of rice or the mid afternoon pandesal, and anything medical goes back to your doctor.
After the coach leaves
Drink water and eat a normal meal. Some soreness a day or two later is expected the first time, and it fades. Read through the plan while the session is fresh and write down anything you did not understand, so it can be asked at the next one.
Then keep the mat where it is. A cleared patch of floor that stays cleared is, in our experience, the most reliable sign that the second session will lead to a tenth.