ZoyaQureshi

Zoya is the most recent addition and came in from adaptive coaching, where the default assumption is that the movement gets changed to fit the person rather than the other way round. That is a useful default in a normal gym too, and it is used here far less often than it should be.

Roughly a third of adults cannot perform a textbook back squat comfortably, for reasons of hip shape that no amount of stretching will alter. The usual response is to tell them to keep working on it. Hers is to hand them a safety squat bar and get on with the session.

How she coaches

By changing the tool. Shoulder will not take a straight bar overhead? Landmine press. Hips do not like a back squat? Front squat, or a box, or a wider stance. None of these are the easy version — they are the version that works for the body doing them.

She is the person to talk to if a movement has always felt wrong and you have assumed that was your fault.

What she is less good at

Speed of judgement. She takes longer than the other coaches to settle on a plan because she wants to watch you move first. On a busy Friday evening that can mean waiting a couple of minutes.