I only started Personal Training to overcome the side effects of long hours at my desk which had left me with no stamina when it came to my hobby of motorcycle racing. However nerve damage to my shoulder in a road accident when I was 17 has left me with problems of weakness and lack of function in that arm ever since, but I had long accepted that I must live with this. However, nearly 30 years after the accident I started training with Ben; he put a lot of time into studying the detail of the damage and devised a programme to develop strength and co-ordination from those muscles which still had some remaining nerve connections. His understanding of the different muscles and their roles is fantastic and he makes a terrific effort to explain clearly what is going on which has encouraged me and helped me to stay focused. Since then, Ben has continuously come up with new ideas and exercises to improve strength and function in my arm and shoulder. He has never been daunted by the severity of my condition and has helped me to improve my arm function already well beyond what I had expected or hoped for.

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Having made a visit early in the process to one of the country’s top physios for some input, I returned to him recently so he could look at how we had got on. He was immediately fascinated and advised that the arm/shoulder function I had was theoretically impossible given the muscles I could no longer control. Between Ben and myself we have managed to develop and educate others to fulfil some of the missing roles. When I asked if he had any further suggestions on any new approaches, his reply was to ‘keep doing exactly what you are’ which I think tells its own story. My new targets are now far beyond what I would have dreamed of a year ago.

Martin Landmann