Our Personal Training Standards

Personal training should not be about simply making people tired; it should be about making people better.

There is a time and place for a bit of anything-goes hard work, a proper tank-emptying that leaves you grinning on the floor. But if that is the main event every week, you are not being coached, you are being rinsed.

Making someone feel tired and uncomfortable through exercise does not require much skill or forethought. It does not require progressive programming, individual coaching, or any real plan. All the things that should be the cornerstone of proper personal training.

At Foundry, we train with purpose. We build people who move well, get strong, improve their fitness, and feel confident doing it. Then we prove it with standards.

Standards Before Sweat

Fatigue can mask fitness, and it is a poor judge of progress.

If the only thing you measure is how knackered you feel, you will end up chasing harder sessions instead of better outcomes. You will get great at suffering, and oddly average at getting stronger, moving better, or building a body that holds up outside the gym.

That is why our programmes prioritise quality and progress. Conditioning sessions have their place, but fatigue should not be the only measure of a successful workout.

You should leave training feeling like you did work that matters. Not just work that hurts.

The Purpose Of Standards

The Foundry Standards provide clear direction for your training.

They are a mix of cardiovascular and strength exercises that we believe best support the goals most people want: a stronger body, better fitness, and the look that often comes with it.

Standards do three things brilliantly:

First, they turn training into a journey rather than a random collection of workouts. You know what you are aiming for.

Second, they create accountability. Not the shouty kind, the useful kind. If your numbers are improving and your movement looks better, the plan is working.

Third, they keep training honest. When you have a benchmark, you stop guessing. You stop changing direction every few weeks. You train, you progress, you earn it.

This is especially powerful for general fitness goals, because “getting fitter” is vague. A standard is not.

Evaluation and Screening

Every member who comes to us for personal training is evaluated and screened to assess their starting point.

This is where proper coaching starts.

We focus on the basics that matter: movement quality, control, mobility, stability, and the simple capabilities that keep training safe and effective. We establish a baseline, then we build a plan around it.

Two people can share the same goal and need completely different routes to get there. Screening helps us choose the correct path, not the most punishing one.

It also keeps you progressing at the right pace. Not held back for the sake of it, and not pushed beyond your current ability either.

The Fitness Journey

Once we have your baseline, you will be guided through our tiered training system to meet Foundry gym standards.

The standards are designed to be achievable, but they are tough. The difference is that the path to get there is clearly thought out.

Every phase has a different focus. Each phase builds on the previous one. That means progress is structured, more linear, and better suited to you.

Progression

Think of the tiers as a deliberate build.

You start with the foundations, learning to move well, owning the basics, and developing enough strength and control to train hard safely.

Then we layer on additional load, complexity, and capacity. Strength continues to lead the way, because strength is the foundation of every good fitness programme. Cardio fitness supports it; it does not replace it.

As you move through the tiers, the training becomes more demanding because you are more capable. That is the point.

Progress Checks

At the end of each phase, prerequisite capabilities must be demonstrated before proceeding.

This is where standards protect you from skipping steps.

It is very easy to jump ahead to the exciting stuff: heavier lifts, faster intervals, and more intensity. But if your movement is shaky, your mobility is limited, or your control is missing, pushing intensity is a shortcut to frustration and niggles.

We would rather you progress properly than progress quickly.

No sloppy technique. No collecting injuries as proof of effort.

The Standards That Matter

The Foundry Standards are not designed to flatter you. They are designed to build you.

They combine strength and cardiovascular demands because real-world fitness is rarely just one thing. We want you to be strong enough to lift sufficiently and fit enough to recover, repeat, and keep improving.

A significant milestone is earning your t-shirt, which means you have completed 9 of 11 standards.

That is not about being an elite athlete. It is about being the version of “fit” most people are actually chasing: healthy, lean, strong, and properly capable.

It is also a reminder that training should lead somewhere. A shirt is just a shirt, but the work it represents is the point.

Personal Training and Classes

In 2025, we made the split between personal training and classes clearer than ever.

Here is the simple version:

PT is where you build strength, mobility, and confidence.
Classes focus on cardio fitness, heart health, and endurance.

Personal training at Foundry is delivered in groups of up to six. It is coached, progressive, and designed to be your primary focus each week.

Classes are the complement. They are there to build your engine, boost your capacity to work, and add a fun, high-energy edge to your week.

This matters because the bigger picture is healthspan. Strength and VO2 max are two of the most important pillars for long-term health, so we build both, with the right tool for the job.

SWEAT

SWEAT is built around simple bodyweight movements combined with interval training on cardio equipment.

The aim is straightforward: get your heart pumping, improve endurance, and support heart health.

If you love the feeling of leaving a session buzzing, SWEAT delivers. It also keeps the movements simple enough to push the pace safely.

HYBRID

HYBRID blends functional kit like dumbbells, kettlebells, and D Balls with cardio bursts.

It is strength endurance with a side of grit, challenging your muscles, heart, and lungs in the same session.

You will still see elements of previous formats folded into HYBRID, but the purpose stays the same: to improve fitness in a way that supports your strength work.

STRONG

STRONG is still on the menu, delivered at Vauxhall every Sunday, in the way it was always intended, a conditioning session inspired by the World’s Strongest Human competition.

Vauxhall has the space and layout to do it properly, which is precisely the point.

The Standard Foundry Holds Coaches To

Standards are not just for members. They are for us too.

Personal training should include personalised, progressive programming with a clear end goal.

That means:

You are not guessing. You have a plan.
You are not copying someone else’s programme. Yours fits your body and your goals.
You are not stuck in week one forever. Progress is expected, measured, and coached.

It also means we do not use fatigue to hide poor structure. If you are constantly exhausted but nothing improves, that is not “training hard”. That is training without direction.

Questions

Do you need to be fit before starting?
No. Everyone is evaluated and screened, then progressed through the tiers based on their baseline.

Are the standards only for advanced members?
The standards are achievable, but tough. The programme is designed to build you up to them through clearly defined phases.

Can classes replace PT?
Classes are designed to supplement strength training, boosting cardio fitness and endurance. PT is where you build strength, mobility, and confidence with coaching and progression.

Is STRONG going away?
No. STRONG runs every Sunday at Vauxhall as a dedicated conditioning session.

Start With A Plan

The Foundry Standards provide the training goal. Our training system provides the roadmap. Your job is the simplest part; show up motivated and put in the work.

This is personal training the way it should be. Purpose-led. Progressive. Coached and built around quality rather than chaos.

Our mission is to help people live their best lives outside the gym by delivering the highest standards of personal fitness training.

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