Ailsa and Rory
Personal trainers near the Shore in Leith, since 2019
We kept meeting people who would have trained for years if someone had just given them a quiet room and a bit of patience. So we got the room.
Ailsa and RoryShore Street Strength
We'd both coached in busy gyms long enough to notice who left after a fortnight: the people who had walked in already nervous. The ones who most needed someone beside a bar were the ones a big room put off.
In 2019 we took on an old warehouse unit near the Shore and set it up for one person at a time. No members, so there is never anyone else in the room. No mirrors, because nobody nervous has ever needed one. Two of us, so you can pick who you'd rather train with.
Ailsa Grantpersonal trainer
I mostly train women over forty who've never lifted, and mothers coming back after a baby.
Rory MacLeodpersonal trainer
I mostly train people coming back after an injury, and people in their fifties and sixties getting strong for the first time.
Ailsa Grant
Personal trainer, Level 3 qualified
I'd rather spend your first session finding out how you sleep and what your week looks like than finding out how much you can lift.
Most of the people I train are women over forty who've never lifted, and mothers coming back after a baby. Nearly all of them tell me within five minutes that they're not a gym person. I've stopped arguing with that. This isn't a gym.
My coaching is slow at the start, on purpose. We find a weight you can move well, we move it well, and we talk. I'll show you where to put your feet and your hands and let you get it wrong a few times without making anything of it. Strength comes along behind that whether you're watching for it or not.
If you're walking in nervous, here is what I'll say. You don't have to know anything. You don't have to be fit to start. The room is yours for the hour and there's nobody in it but us.
Ailsa never once made me feel I should already know how to do it. That's the whole reason I kept coming.
Rory MacLeod
Personal trainer, Level 3 qualified
A sore knee or a long lay-off isn't a reason not to train. It's the reason to train with someone standing next to you.
I mostly work with people coming back after an injury, and with men and women in their fifties and sixties who've decided it's time to get strong. A fair few have been told to be careful for so long that they've stopped doing anything at all.
Before you touch a bar I want to know exactly what the injury will and won't let you do today, and what you've been told about it. Then we start under that line and work up from there. Nothing in a session should hurt. If something does, we change it, there and then.
I'll stand beside you for every set until you don't need me there. Most people are surprised how soon that is.
He watched the knee more closely than I did. After a few weeks I stopped watching it at all.
How we coach
The same way, whichever of us you train with. These are the things we agreed on before we opened the door.
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Quietly
Nobody shouts here and nobody counts you down. If you want music on, say so. If you'd rather talk, we'll talk.
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Nothing hurts
Being a bit stiff the next day is normal. Pain in a session is a sign to change something, and we change it straight away. We don't believe effort has to hurt to count.
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Nothing you can't do yet
Every session starts from what you can already move well and adds to it slowly. You will never be handed something to prove a point.
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One person at a time, or two
You, or you and the person you'd like to train with. There is never a third person in the room, and there are no members passing through.
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You choose who
Say when you book whether you'd rather train with Ailsa or with Rory. If you're not sure, say that, and we'll suggest whoever seems the better fit. You can change your mind.
Both of us hold Level 3 personal training qualifications. If you'd like to know what the hour itself is like, read what a session is actually like.
Come and meet us, free
You've read what we'd say to you. Come and let us say it in the room. The first session is free, and you pick which of us you'd rather meet.
It takes about an hour. We talk first, then you lift a few things that feel manageable, and you see how the room suits you. There is nothing to sign and nothing to pay.
Claire's first session was free. So was Donnie's. If you leave and never come back, that's fine, and nobody will ring you. If you'd like to carry on, this is what it costs.
5.0 from 74 reviews. If you'd rather ask something first, ring 01632 960 093 or email hello@example.com.
- First session
- Free, no commitment
- One-to-one
- £50 a session, or 10 for £450
- Training in pairs
- £35 each per session
£50 a session after that, or 10 for £450.