££££ 4 figures out of pocket- no results.
Been customer of coach Sam a total of 1 year. Used to be high performance coaching and while I was with him he changed to ‘optimised male’ - changed whole business from focussing on women and coaching to be for men instead. Changing his whole personality from being nice and supportive to saying things on his social media like ‘don’t be a little *****’- it became very gross. Up until then his whole page was focussed on women.
Currently focussed on business owners - however I am a business director and struggled to find the time. He was unable to overcome this challenge for me, as I truly struggled for time due to demands of work.
I used coach Sam 2 years ago for 3 months - no results. Returned this year and used for 9 months to see if I gave up too easy - I ended up spending a huge amount of money on him and still no results.
If you’re a body builder or a personal trainer I think he’s really good and genuinely recommend him. If you’re someone who is struggling because you’re overweight and you need motivation and discipline I don’t recommend him.
PT’s / body builders - if you’re someone who enjoys working out / eating clean and you’re already motivated he can provide a great service to hone your skills, educate on the science and help take you to the next level- I’ve seen peers make some great progress under these circumstances.
Are you Overweight/ do you need lifestyle change? - this was me. He told me he could help me and he would work with me to help me lose weight. He was someone who was a pal and he genuinely cared and we built a great bond. Unfortunately (and I take responsibility for this too) he just couldn’t quite create the motivation for me and I ended up being unsuccessful. He provided weekly calls and genuinely tried but I just don’t think his skills lie in weight loss / lifestyle changes and it showed. I came with a positive attitude. In the end the goals set were just unrealistic and despite his efforts and mine, it just didn’t work. I’ve ended up at square one but a significant (4 figures) amount of money out of pocket.
He is a great person though and recommend as a mate. But sadly I don’t recommend him as a coach if you’re in this situation.
Once you’re locked in with him it becomes very difficult to offboard. He asks for a 1 month notice to leave, I’ve actaully been a customer of his twice, and both times I found offboarding to be extremely unpleasant. He has very aggressive retention techniques. He makes it difficult to just say ‘this isn’t working I need to try something new’ and he manipulates you. Then you end up having to pay a very large ‘last month’ fee for no service as by the time he actually agrees to letting you go, you can no longer work together amicably or in a positive way to get the last months worth of value, but he will still charge you for the last month. He just keeps your login open for the diet plan and exercise plan. No more calls and he even blocked me off social media 😞 Overall it’s extremely unpleasant and it ended up with an argument - all because I only lost 5 kilos in 9 months and I needed to spend the money (££££ - 4 figures in the end!) on alternative ways which I hope would get me the results I needed. He did offer me the chance to bank the 1 month for the future but due to the lack of results, and just how he treated me when all I wanted to do was stop paying him, we agreed I would lose the bank option which was a mutual decision. It’s awfully difficult to be vulnerable around him after you have this sort of exchange. Before that point we had worked together very well (personality wise).
I take full responsibility for my lack of success but I just didn’t want to pay the extremely high monthly cost for very very little results- it feels like a ‘fat tax’ - I’m paying a monthly fee for being fat. To successfully let him allow you to leave his service he forces you to say things like ‘I don’t believe I will ever get there’ and ‘there is no way I can see myself succeeding’ before he lets you leave.
Despite me asking for an amicable split, to work together until my contract was up, but because of the negative nature of the conversation and the attempt to manipulate me to stay with him, I couldn’t then continue to be vulnerable to him.
So overall, as a person I think he’s great and he is motivated. I just don’t think he has the skills for overweight people. I think you will do very well with him if you’re already fit and healthy and want to level up to the next level.
But beware, it’s the contract that’s very difficult to get out of. So think very carefully.
I’m off to the gym - after losing a lot of money on Sam, to find a personal trainer and see if that works instead….
Best of luck to you on your journey whoever you are!