News/Media
May 2009
Four more personal-best times puts Tracey in UK ‘Top-Ten’ rankings for Senior Veterans for the first-time! more>
Feb 2009
First major international call-up for Helen Pryer at world-televised British Indoor Grand Prix! more>
July 2008
John Shirley joins world-elite in completing renowned CHEK Endurance Training internship. more>
Sept 2007
John Shirley begins exciting collaboration with leading CHEK Institute faculty consultant Matthew Wallden. more>
Sept 2007
It’s official - Helen Pryer is one of the ‘Most-Improved’ Track and Field Athletes in the UK after landmark season! more>
May 2007
Helen Pryer achieves amazing comeback under John Shirley's training...with her BEST EVER start to an athletics season! more>
New Personal-Best time as Helen Pryer achieves World Champs qualifying standard!
A
stunning run against a world-class field in the Internationales Leichtathletik-Sportfest in Cuxhaven, Germany on July 22nd earned John Shirley's elite sprinting client Helen
Pryer her third personal-best time of the year and produced her first-ever qualifying time for the World Athletics
Championship B standard criteria.
Indeed, Helen’s impressive performance of 23.20s came as she defeated USA elite 200m star ChaRonda Williams – selected to represent the elite USA team in the forthcoming World Athletics Champs!
Helen now ranks as the 4th fastest 200m runner in the UK – a career-high national ranking for Helen – and she currently stands as the only athlete in the current 2009 UK 200m Top-Ten rankings yet to be selected by UK Athletics to represent the UK in a major championships to date.
England Call-up for Elite Sprinter Helen Pryer!
In-form
elite sprinter Helen Pryer earned her second major international call-up of the year – this time to represent England
in the International Loughborough Athletics meeting on May 17th.
Helen’s call-up follows a very successful winter season in which she performed in her first world-televised event at the international British Indoor Grand Prix following a silver-medal winning performance in the 200m European trials in February.
Helen - who is mentored by Olympic legend Linford Christie - is delighted with her excellent run of form and hailed her strength and conditioning coach John Shirley from Kinetic Personal Training:
“I’m so pleased to have earned my England call-up at the start of the outdoor season this year and it’s all thanks to the hard work I’ve put in over the winter with my expert specialist team including my strength and conditioning coach John Shirley – my winter training has been my best ever!”
Four more personal-best times puts Tracey in UK ‘Top-Ten’ rankings for Senior Veterans for the first-time!
Rapidly ascending Senior-Veteran runner Tracey Lasan brought her astonishing racing season to a winning close with four more personal-best times in the 10K and 5K events throughout April and May 2009.
Tracey posted a series of winning performances in the Windsor Asthma 10K, Dorney Lake Charity 5K, Cardiff Blackweir 5K and the ‘Battle of Tri-Nations vs UK’ Windsor 10K – claiming the fastest senior-veteran female’s time and placing in the top-three females across all age categories in each race!
Indeed Tracey smashed the veteran’s course record at the Cardiff 5K with a swift performance of 19 minutes and 23 seconds!
Tracey also dipped under the elusive 40-minute mark for her first time ever at the ‘Battle of Tri-Nations vs UK’
10K on May 2nd - with a well-earned time of 39 minutes and 59 seconds.
Her fast performances now place her in the UK-Elite ‘Top’Ten’ rankings for senior-veteran (50+) 10K and 5K runners for the first time ever - signaling a jump of more than 100 ranking places since she began training with Kinetic Personal Training!
Tracey is now looking forward to some well-earned ‘off-season’ rest before the next exciting phase of her training begins!
Watch this space.....!!!
Tracey Lasan wins Senior-Veteran’s title at Reading Half-Marathon!
51-year-old Senior Veteran distance runner Tracey Lasan left her rivals in her wake at the Reading Half-Marathon on March 29th
with a stunning win in the women’s Senior-Veteran (50+) category!
Tracey romped home in a new personal best time of 1 hour 31 minutes and 33 seconds to win the coveted Senior-Veteran’s title a whole four minutes ahead of her nearest rival - in the field of 17,000 runners!
Tracey’s success comes in just her second Half-Marathon to date, beating her previous personal best by an
enormous 17 minutes and signaling an astonishing progression under the expert guidance of Kinetic
Personal Training’s endurance specialist John Shirley!
The rapidity of Tracey’s performance now places her in the elite-ranks of UK Senior-Veteran distance running - a feat Tracey is astonished by given the relatively brief time frame she has trained with Kinetic Personal Training:
“I’m absolutely elated to win the Senior-Veteran’s title in such a major event as the Reading Half-Marathon and can’t believe just how far I’ve come in just over a year of training with Kinetic Personal Training - John has been such an inspiration!”
First major international call-up for Helen Pryer at world-televised British Indoor Grand Prix!
A
personal-best silver-medal winning performance at the European Indoor Trials earned John Shirley’s elite sprinting
client Helen Pryer her first major international call-up of her career to the world-televised British Indoor Grand
Prix a week later.
Helen was in scintillating form in the European trials on February 15th – producing a new personal-best indoor time of 23.62 secs in the 200m final and taking home the silver medal after a closely fought finish with former Olympic finalist Donna Fraser.
UK Athletics bosses then duly rewarded Helen for her swift performance from one of the tighter inside lanes with her first-ever call up to a world-televised event in the international British Indoor Grand Prix on February 21st.
Indeed the magnitude of Helen’s silver-medal trial’s winning performance was all the more impressive as the 200m indoor race has been scrapped at both the European and World championships due to the unfair disadvantage athletes in the extremely tight inside lanes receive!
New Personal-Best time for Senior Veteran Tracey Lasan at Woodcote 10K!
51-year-old senior-veteran distance runner Tracey Lasan continued her phenomenal progress under Kinetic Personal Training’s
endurance expert John Shirley with a swift personal best time at the Woodcote 10K on January 11th.
The Woodcote 10K is recognized as one of the most difficult 10K road courses in the South-East of England with a grueling 5K-hill climb in the later part of the race.
Tracey had completed this event a year earlier in 2008 in 48 mins and 58 seconds. She demolished this time in 2009 setting a new personal best time of 43 minutes and 23 seconds, taking more than five and a half minutes from her previous course-best time!
She also finished in the top five female finishers – across all age categories in the field of 700 runners!
Tracey attributes her progression to the elite ‘Lactate Testing’ scheme for endurance fitness that she has pursued with Kinetic Personal Training since September 2008:
“I’m amazed how effective Kinetic Personal Training’s ‘Lactate Testing’ has been in enabling me to demolish my personal-best 10K times. It has given me such a precise focus to my training and has been so effective in allowing me to reach goals that I had previously thought were unattainable! I now can’t wait for the Reading Half-Marathon!”
Helen Pryer set for international-stage after record-breaking season
John Shirley’s elite sprinting client Helen Pryer is set to complete a deserved move next year to international competition abroad after a breakthrough 2008 season of record-breaking 200m performances.
Helen, whose recent results inspired Linford Christie to offer his mentorship, claimed the biggest prize in the UK domestic athletics league recently winning the season-ending 2008 ‘£5K UK Golden Challenge’ prize – awarded to the most consistently successful British-League based athlete of the year.
The prize follows the sprinter’s most successful domestic season to date. Her success includes the national 200m titles in the UK Challenge and Inter-County Championships, a Championship record at the Surrey County Championships and a scorching personal-best time of 23.29s in the BAL Cup Semi-Final in July, where she took more than a quarter of a second from the longstanding Windsor Stadium 200m record.
Helen’s performance means she needs to run just 0.09s faster to reach Olympic or World Championship qualifying times. Her recent selection by UK Athletics bosses to perform abroad next season against world-class opposition thus gives her an excellent chance to step-up beyond this level on the international stage.
Helen attributes her progression to the help of her support team, which includes expert fitness trainer John Shirley from Kinetic Personal Training:
“My progress over the past two seasons has been fantastic and it’s thanks to the hard work I’ve put in with John and our specialist team. But now I need to perform regularly abroad against the world-elite as I’m just a fraction of a second away from Olympic and World Championship qualification standards; the international experience I can gain next season will help me to step-up beyond that level. It’s exciting as representing my country in the World Championships next year and beyond would be my ultimate dream”.
Indeed Helen, who at 29 appears to be a late-developer, is adamant her best is still to come: “We’re all absolutely certain I’ll be faster again next season as I’m gaining strength and speed at a faster rate than I ever have – just look at Linford for someone who peaked well beyond my age – he won Olympic gold at 32 and that’ll be near 2012 for me!”
John Shirley joins world-elite in completing renowned CHEK Endurance Training internship
Expert fitness trainer John Shirley became one of the first 50 CHEK practitioners in the world to complete the renowned CHEK internship of ‘Training for Endurance Sports’.
The internship, performed recently at the CHEK Studio in San Diego USA, enhances John’s expertise in endurance training by applying the unique and holistic CHEK approach to a diverse range of disciplines from the 5Km run to the marathon and triathlon. It also allows John to become one of a select-group of trainers in the world, outside of fitness research-based establishments, to offer the gold-standard endurance fitness testing scheme of ‘Lactate Testing’.
John is delighted to have completed the internship under the expert tutelage of Chris Maund, one the world’s most renowned endurance training coaches and leading faculty member from the CHEK Institute, and anticipates an exciting time ahead for his endurance clients with his newly acquired elite testing skills:
“The ‘CHEK Training for Endurance Sports’ internship is one of the best coaching courses in the world for providing conditioning coaches with the best holistic skills possible. The assessment of Lactate-testing data also provides an extremely valuable tool in objectively measuring fitness for endurance and its scientific application is invaluable in designing programs that achieve phenomenal results, without any guesswork whatsoever! My endurance clients are sure to benefit massively!”
Tracey is a ‘Super-Veteran’ after thrashing rivals in 10K race
Budding amateur distance runner Tracey Lasan, who has trained with John Shirley over the past 5 months, destroyed her competition in the recent Goring 10K race on Feb 25th with an impressive win in the ladies Superveteran category. Tracey, who recently turned 50 years old, left her rivals in her wake by a whole four minutes on the hilly course to take home the coveted over-50’s title in style in an impressive time of 45 minutes and 37 seconds.
Tracey’s success follows hot on the heels of her successful showing in last month’s Woodcote 10K, infamous for its notoriously difficult 3km hill climb section, where she narrowly missed out on the title with a hard fought second place in the Superveteran’s category.
Tracey’s success comes in just her 3rd and 4th races to date - her first events in two years - and signaled a phenomenal rate of progress after 5 months of specialised training under Kinetic Personal Training’s endurance expert John Shirley. Indeed, such was the caliber of her win in the Goring race that she finished as the 10th fastest female overall across all age categories in a field of 853 runners!
Tracey is delighted with her recent successes:
“I’m so pleased…. John is fantastic to work with and has been inspirational in getting me to this level of fitness”
Kinetic Personal Training endorsed in national UK Snowboarding magazine
Leading conditioning expert John Shirley received a further endorsement in the national media recently in a magazine interview in national Snowboarding magazine ‘Snowboard UK’.
John’s elite Snowboarding client Sam Culllum, a British Olympic Snowboarding squad member at just 19 years-of-age, featured in a four-page spread in the sporting magazine where he spoke about his successes and tribulations as an elite snowboarder on the professional world-circuit and his successful training with John whom he described as “a massive help” in helping him beat injury during his summer off-season.
Magazine scan coming soon!
Kinetic Personal Training endorsed on live TV!
Kinetic Personal Training’s expert fitness trainer John Shirley was endorsed in a live television interview recently with British Olympic Snowboarding team member Sam Cullum.19 year-old Sam, one of Britain’s hottest prospects for the Winter Olympics and snowboarding world circuit, has been trained by John Shirley in recent months as part of his successful rehabilitation back from a broken leg acquired in a snowboarding fall on the world circuit in September.
Sam discussed his successful training with John on the national digital television channel interview which also featured video footage of Sam demonstrating his world-class skills on the competitive world Snowboarding-circuit.
John Shirley begins exciting collaboration with leading CHEK Institute faculty consultant Matthew Wallden
Strength and conditioning specialist John Shirley has begun an exciting collaboration with leading faculty member Matthew Wallden from the international CHEK institute. Wallden, a world-renowned Osteopath who has consulted for Chelsea football club and is one of just three medically qualified CHEK level IV practitioners in the world, is set to assist John throughout 2008 in the corrective strength and conditioning program of John’s elite sprinting client Helen Pryer.
John is extremely excited by the venture and believes the collaboration will give sprinter Helen an excellent chance of fulfilling her considerable potential on the international stage over the next few years:
“I’m delighted to work alongside Matthew in implementing Helen’s strength and conditioning training; Helen has shown she possesses considerable untapped potential from the fantastic progress she has made from her training with me and I’m certain she will have a great future ahead with this teamwork.”
Indeed, the venture already has begun in earnest with Helen recently completing an intensive 20-hour CHEK Level IV physical assessment with the CHEK specialist - an integral part of her preparation for the demanding training ahead. A promising future awaits her….
It’s official - Helen Pryer is one of the ‘Most-Improved’ Track and Field Athletes in the UK after landmark season!
Sprinter Helen Pryer capped her successful comeback season after two years of injury-misery and personal bereavement with an official national award from UK Athletics. The 28 year-old elite sprinting client of John Shirley was officially recognised as one of the ‘Most Improved’ track and field athletes in the UK after a groundbreaking season in 2007.
The award comes after an exciting few months of competition in which Helen has climbed over 30 ranking places to enter the UK 200m sprinting elite. Helen achievements have included a season’s best performance at the Bedford International Games where she beat former Olympic finalist Donna Fraser, a debut showing at the London Grand Prix in the UK Athletics world-class development race and a subsequent season-ending win in the UK Challenge final on her debut appearance. She has now set her sights on further improvements next season after eradicating her injury-blues under John’s expert guidance:
“I’m delighted to receive the national ‘Most Improved’ award as it shows just how far I’ve come in the past season; it’s all thanks to the expert help from John and his referral team. Now I can’t wait for the winter training season as I know there are huge progressions to come!”
Nessy shows John’s training car is a real work of art at local exhibition!
Retired civil servant and longtime core training devotee Nessy Wallace added canvas artwork to her immeasurable lists of talents with a recent display in the Binfield club art group exhibition of her amusing painting of John’s kinetic driving skills!
Nessy, who has trained with John Shirley over the past three years and is a super-active 73 years of age, immortalised John’s legendary ‘Kinetic-mobile’ in her dynamic interpretation of John’s renowned car-parking moves.
The remarkable painting proved a real hit with viewers at the recent Binfield exhibition and provided a source of endless amusement to its protagonist. Indeed John was particularly impressed by the painting’s lifelike accuracy:
“I’m touched that Nessy has chosen to paint such a fine drawing of my treasured Kinetic car for her exhibition contribution and I’m astounded at how well she has captured the gracefulness of my parking manoevures. Her talents clearly extend well beyond the impressive balance and core skills she demonstrates with me in her training sessions!”
Sprinter Helen Pryer puts Olympic finalist in the Shade
Elite sprinter Helen Pryer, who trains under strength coach John Shirley from Kinetic Personal Training, continued her phenomenal comeback from injury and personal bereavement with success in the 200m at the Crystal Palace and Bedford International Athletic Games on June 17th and 10th respectively.
28-year-old Helen jostled with former Olympic finalist Donna Fraser and last year’s Commonwealth games finalist Laura Turner for her place in the medal positions in both competitions. Helen finished in a hard-fought 3rd position at Crystal Palace and left seasoned international Fraser in her wake at the Bedford International Games to finish in a hugely impressive second place behind the in-form Turner.
Helen’s quickest time of 23.72s, ran at the Bedford games, represents another landmark performance, marking the fastest time in her career so far she has run into a head-wind, and is her second fastest time ever.
The sprinter’s recent success firmly establishes her amongst the top-ten UK sprinting elite and continues her phenomenal rise to the top following two injury-plagued years and the sad loss of her mother to cancer in 2005.
Helen (left) has jostled for her place in the medal positions in the past 2 elite competitions with former Olympic finalist Donna Fraser (middle) and Commonwealth finalist Laura Turner (right)
Click here – to read the full article as featured in the “'Wokingham Times' Group Newspapers.
Helen Pryer achieves amazing comeback under John Shirley’s training….
….With her BEST EVER start to an athletics season!
Helen Pryer, a talented athlete and client of John Shirley, who once represented Great Britain on the international sprinting circuit, recently banished her injury-plagued past two years with her most impressive start to a season yet. Helen, 28, rolled back the years on Sunday 27th May at the National Inter-County Athletics Championships in Bedford with a well-earned 2nd place in the 200m sprint event. Helen’s quickest time of 23.99s, ran in the semi-final in miserable wintry conditions, marks the first time in her career that she has run under 24 seconds into a head-wind and heralded the start of her impressive return to form.
Helen’s success comes hot on the heels of her best-ever performance at the recent Surrey County Championships with her impressive wins in both the 100 and 200m sprints. Helen’s times of 11.94s (100m) and 24.00s (200m) were the fastest times run by any athlete at any of the recent county championships in England and are narrowly short of her personal bests set against international competition nearly 3 years ago.
Helen’s recent incredible return to form has thus meant she has shot up 30 places through the rankings overnight to re-enter the top-ten in UK sprinting for the first time in almost three years!
Helen attributes much of her recent success to the hard work she has put in over the winter months with her new strength and conditioning coach John Shirley from Kinetic Personal Training:
“When I came to John I was immensely upset by the lack of success my injuries had brought me over the previous two years. One injury just seemed to lead to another and I had begun to feel absolutely helpless. John performed an intensive assessment and we started a very specific program of corrective exercise and strength training that has culminated in me enjoying my best ever start to a season…
… John’s training has been so instrumental in getting me to the top that he hasn’t just enabled me to fully recover from my injuries (I now never experience back pain); he has also given me a strength and power base that’s better than I’ve ever had! Now I can’t wait for the rest of the season as I feel the best is still to come!”
Elite British Olympic team snowboarder Sam Cullum begins training with John Shirley
Elite snowboarder Sam Cullum, currently ranked as the British no. 1 and world no. 39, recently commenced high-performance training with Kinetic Personal Training’s lead personal trainer John Shirley. 19-year-old Sam is a phenomenal young talent and is one of our brightest prospects for the 2010 Winter Olympics.