TESTIMONIALS

I needed to build my core strength after having two major surgeries in seven months on my abdominal area. My daughter’s Taekwon-do instructor, Ms. Connolly, informed my that Shane Fitzgibbon was a strength & conditioning coach, so I contacted him.

I was very impressed with my first session as I was really impressed at how informative Shane was. Shane explains how to do the exercises very clearly and also does the exercise himself which is very helpful.

I’ve known Shane Fitzgibbon for a long time, probably around 15 years. Along with my two brothers, I attended his Taekwon-do classes throughout primary and secondary school. After reaching black belt status, I hung up my TKD uniform to pursue other passions.

About 18 months ago, I stumbled on to his professional Facebook page at a time I was looking to improve my fitness. I wasn’t aware if he was coaching athletes or clients outside of TKD when I younger, but it was encouraging to know he was passionate about health and fitness outside of TKD specifically.

My son is 11 years old and has been in training with Shane for a year now. I have seen him grow in confidence as an individual. His natural abilities have been uncovered. He is fitter, more health aware and genuinely proud of how far he has come.

I contacted Shane to invite him to our school to provide a strength and conditioning based workshop for our PE teachers. I had seen Shane at a PEAI Conference previously and was very impressed by his presentation. The workshop he provided us offered both theory and practical elements; it was very informative and provided us with excellent resources and activities that can be incorporated into our PE lessons. Shane tailored the workshop to suit our needs and was very thorough and helpful throughout the session. I would highly recommend Shane’s workshops and will definitely be seeking his expertise again in the future!

I have known Shane Fitzgibbon for about ten years and have been more aware of his expertise in Youth Athletic Development in the last 2 years as I have had 2 children avail of his expertise through our Craughwell GAA and Camogie clubs.

I contacted Shane as my youngest child, Saoirse, had a fractured foot and her physical therapist suspected a hip disorder as well. Saoirse went to a sports specialist with the Rothman Clinic outside of Philadelphia in the states where a knee condition was confirmed. So my ten year old in one year had a foot, knee and hip problem. Her injuries stemmed from her championship level Irish Dancing. I contacted Shane to help develop Saoirse’s core strength to help protect Saoirse from further injures – and also in hopes of strengthening and conditioning her so her injuries in the future would be minimal.

I was very impressed with Shane and his ability to tap into a ten year old girl’s way of thinking so that he could get not only a receptive response from her but also a willingness to learn and retain the information Shane relayed to her. Shane made the weekly sessions fun for my daughter while she learned important life training skills. He explained everything and demonstrated what he wanted her to do first so she always had a clear understanding of how and why of what she was shown.

Saoirse has had minimum knee swelling and has not injured herself since she had her core training sessions with Shane. We have seen a significant change in Saoirse’s dancing along with her confidence. After so many injuries, Saoirse had a fear of falling and injuring herself in competition, which really has held her back. With Shane’s S&C programme, Saoirse no longer has the fear as she now understands how to jump and land properly, without hurting herself. She feels stronger physically & mentally. This strength goes beyond her dancing – it’s felt in everyday life.

heard about Shane Fitzgibbon via Facebook. It was a piece written on youth training/fitness and it just struck a chord with me. I knew my son Jack needed some help in the training department but I didn’t have a clue where to take him.

My son, Cathal has been training in Taekwon-do for the last 6 years. He has reached his 2nd Dan black belt and competes both nationally and internationally with the IUTF Irish Team. He also enjoys playing soccer and has recently started playing with his school u17 team.

In June this year the Open World Taekwon-do Championship were held in Italy and Cathal was travelling to participate. He needed to gain 6kg in weight for his sparring weight category. This had to be done correctly and to make sure he gained muscle and not fat. As we knew Shane Fitzgibbon through Taekwon-do, I had no doubt he was to right person to help him with this task as we have invaluable experience of his knowledge in a variety of fields. He would continually share his knowledge and experiences with us in an attempt to develop our fitness, nutrition, and overall wellbeing.

Shane recommended a strength and conditioning programme starting with 3 days a week and increased to 4 days as Cathal progressed. This worked round the days Cathal attended Taekwon-do classes and team squad training at the weekends. Shane first assessed Cathal to see where his weaknesses were and gave him specific exercises to do to improve these areas. As the weeks went on, Shane assessed Cathal’s progress to make sure he was steadily improving.

Cathal reached his required weight gain by the required date and was a much stronger fighter travelling to the World Championships.

Shane was very detailed in explaining the required exercises and disciplines which Cathal needed to follow. This was backed up by an excellent on-line app which Shane uses to help further explain the workouts and to remind the person of what and when they needed to be done.

Cathal enjoyed seeing the steady progress he made in all areas of fitness, but especially in the areas that had always been weak for him. This gave him an incentive to keep working hard and improving, even if he was finding it difficult. A great lesson in life for anyone!

Without any shadow of a doubt, I would recommend Shane Fitzgibbon to anyone wishing to improve the level of fitness and strength.

I first heard about Shane from Lisa Connolly who trains the Gort Taekwon-do. The reason I sought Shane’s service is because my daughter Sarah’s feet were turned. She loves camogie but lacks speed and trips herself due to her feet being turned. Sarah’s goal was to get her feet correctly aligned. After seven weeks, both her feet have turned almost completely forward. She now stands correctly without realising and her speed has improved when running.

I am very happy with Sarah’s results. It is more than I expected. Shane has worked so hard with her starting from her core, back, shoulders, legs – inner and outer, hips and her breathing. What Sarah likes about Shane is, he sets a goal for her each week and he gives her great praise and is so dedicated. She looks forward to her class every week.

I had a personal training session with Shane Fitzgibbon in December 2013, I didn’t know what to expect from this as I had only ever had one done in a Gym. We started with a basic warm and from this he was able to quickly spot that I had flexibility issues with my hips and ankles. From here Shane came up with 10 exercise that I could do on a daily basis in order to fix this.

From the start, the training session was focused on making sure I knew what to do. He got me to record the exercises as he was showing them to me (videos I go back to every few weeks to make sure I am not falling into bad habits on my posture in the exercises). Once he had shown me the exercises he got me to perform them to make sure I fully understood what he was explaining to me. As well as these mobility exercises, Shane also gave me exercises for building strength in my core and upper body. As with the mobility exercises, he spent a good bit of time making sure I was using the correct technique and not just going through the motions. Not only did I find the exercises extremely easy to perform at home without the aid of any additional equipment, but within a few weeks I noticed a very marked improvement in my kicks in Taekwon-do. These have just improved and improved and I am now kicking better and with more ease than I taught I would. I would gladly recommend Mr Shane Fitzgibbon to anyone as he has a very good teaching manner and is extremely knowledgeable. Also, from personal experience I know that the tailored training routine he puts together for you actually works.

When I brought my son Colin to Shane, back in March, I explained to Shane I was tired of my son being left on the sideline in matches. He plays hurling andI wanted to see if Shane could help him out. Shane knew where i was coming from and could see that it meant a lot to me to get some help for him.

I thought it was only his speed and agility he needed help with, but after assessing him Shane saw there was a lot more work needed to be done, and Shane took Colin under his wing. Shane put Colin on the right road with diet and nutrition and has been working with him on stretching and flexibility, core strength, and various other exercises. In the months since starting with Shane he’s a changed lad. He’s more confident, physically stronger and flexible, and is getting on for matches. Shane –Colin looks forward going to your class every week and ye have become great friends. I really appreciate it, and thank you so much for all you have done for Colin and for me. 

When I took over as coaching officer for the 2014 season, one of the first items on the list was to get our older juveniles and youths exposure to fundamentals of core, agility and speed training.

I met Shane in November and was immediately impressed with his knowledge but also what we require for hurling. Hurling is all about sprint bursts and Shane understood this.

Once we worked out a schedule Shane devised a 10 week plan. Our U-12’s and U-14’s have bought into this, and more importantly the managers bought into it. With 41 taking part in the sessions each Thursday it has been one of the success stories for the club in 2014. Shane has tailored the sessions to suit each age group and has brought an element of fun to the proceedings. The players have been very enthusiastic and the improvement has been quantifiable week on week. I have no hesitation recommending Shane and we hope to work with Shane in the future as this is a long term plan.

For the 1st time ever our Club qualified for the u14A & U16A Hurling C.Ship Finals in Galway in addition to our minor team qualifying for the upcoming minor A Hurling C.Ship semi-final.The addition of Shane Fitzgibbon as our strength & conditioning coach has in my opinion being the single biggest reason we have enjoyed such success this year.

Due to the fact that the majority of our players were involved in at least 3 different set-ups with either club, school or co-development squads, the ability of Shane to identify that on numerous occasions less was more beneficial, reduced the level of injury of our players significantly.

Shane`s expert knowledge in designing individual and group sessions on warm-up, stretching & flexibility, endurance, sports-specific core strength and cool down stretching was invaluable in our success this year. Finally his education of the lads on the correct diet & nutrition required to compete at the highest level elevates Shane to the highest quality coach that has ever worked with our Club.

Having come from a GAA background, hurling and football, I would have played right up to my early 30s before, prematurely, hanging up the boots. In any event, now at the age of 37, I wanted to get moving again. So, in April of this year (2013), I put myself in the hands of Shane Fitzgibbon to attain some measure of fitness – and balance – in my life.

I had met Shane many years ago but with the publication of his book – ‘Training and Optimal Health for Sport’ – in the Spring, our paths crossed once more and I was impressed with the way he translated the mechanics and dynamics of personal training into easy to follow instruction.

Shane’s assessment of where I was at and where I needed to go got the ball rolling and over the ensuing weeks I slowly began to work towards my goals of a greater degree of fitness, more flexibility, more energy and less weight!!! This was done with a HIT warm-up followed by squat thrust, elevated press ups, assisted squats, upright rolls, squat bridge and, my personal favourite, crunches (not!!!). What I really found effective were the various flexibility exercises and, to some degree, these were vital in enabling my body to progress from week to week.

By the end of July, I had moved up to sprints and more difficult degrees of squats (including the goblet squat), push-ups and supine pull-ups, in addition to core work centring on such exercises as the plank and side plank.

In the three months, I also lost over a stone in weight and that, to me, underlined the value of following such a well-thought out programme that catered for the requirements of the individual. It was specific to my needs.

Meanwhile, seeing the benefits of the programme, I also decided, as Craughwell manager, to send one of my senior hurlers who was constantly injured to Shane for some help. In all, they did eight sessions over a number of weeks and the results were remarkable. Not only did this hurler improve significantly on his core work – and, consequently, reduce the threat of related injuries – he also became more confident in his own ability and played with renewed vigour. Indeed, the day after finishing his last session with Shane, this hurler scored 1-7 – all from play – from midfield in a senior challenge game. No matter what the quality of opposition, it was an amazing feat.

As a result, the club will be employing the services of Shane over the Winter months to work with both our senior and U-21 hurlers. If nothing else, it should ensure a solid foundation will be laid for our 2014 campaign . . . even if they are not all scoring 1-7 from play at the end of it!

This describes my experiences working with Shane Fitzgibbon over an 8-session/twice weekly course. I was referred by my club coach who was aware of Shane’s approach to injury prevention:

Shane broke each session down into to three areas:

1. warm-ups: e.g. foam rolling, half kneeling rotations, leg lowering for hamstrings and bridges for glute activation)
2. Correctives (eg is Y’s/T’s/I’s, Rev lunges and rev flies)
3. Core (eg Bird dogs, planks and side planks)

I have done 8 sessions with Shane to help injury-prevention in my body as I have been injured a lot since 16 years of age. I had injuries like a torn hamstring, a torn quad and also had problems with my glutes. Shane always gave me new warmups everyday and correctives to target different areas, e.g. my hip flexors: 90/90 hip flexor stretch, or for my shoulders: floor slide, keeping three points-of-contact: elbows, wrists, and shoulders touching the ground. I was very poor at this in the first week, but noticed a big difference in the second session.

As the weeks went on, I was feeling much stronger outside of the gym and on the hurling field. I was moving better and my legs felt much stronger and my hamstrings were not sore at all. I finally felt as if I could go 100 percent. In Shane’s training he always showed me the importance of good form and doing each exercise the right way or it would not work. A lot of people don’t use the right form and this could damage your body.

I had come on so much through Shane’s training that I didn’t worry about going out to play a game, having that doubt in my head that I would be injured. I felt in great shape, but, as Shane told me, the importance of keeping the work going and getting better and better as you can’t work for 5 weeks and take two weeks off. You have to always be working. I am in the best shape I have been in a long time, all thanks to Shane’s help and guidance. Overall, it was great and I would recommend it to a lot of people.

I am now finished with Shane and am continuing the training myself and it is working well. I know that I can always go back to Shane for advice as he is very helpful and willing to offer advice. It has opened my mind into the importance of training consistently and properly.

Hi Mr Fitzgibbon

I just wanted to convey my thanks and appreciation for the work you have done and continue to do with Joe (not his real name), even today driving home it is almost like having a different boy who is now full of confidence, self awareness and esteem, a far cry to what he was back in May when we first got in touch with you.

It really is a great credit to you all to see what a difference your classes make.

May we wish you both a very Merry Christmas and a Healthy, Prosperous and Happy New Year

My husband and I want to thank you most sincerely for the positive influence you have had on our children.  When they took your classes it was primarily for exercise and we never imagined that it would bring so much more into their lives. Since my husband had done Taekwon-do to 2nd degree black belt level, he instantly recognised that your skill and technique was world class.  What took a little longer for us to recognise was the other attributes that you have. It goes without saying that as a result of your classes, our boys have become physically stronger, fitter and more flexible but your classes have also played a very important role in the development of their character.  You have taught them that if they believe in themselves and work hard, anything is possible and they have brought this philosophy into other areas of their lives.  Your enthusiasm as an instructor and your teaching technique has instilled in them a love for, and dedication to sport and has helped them to strive for their ‘personal best’ in everything.   Even though they are taught as a class, you intuitively know when each of them needs a little extra time or a word of encouragement. Many times you have had a momentary one-on-one conversation with them which makes them feel very special and is a great motivator. This has been especially important to Kenneth and he is now determined and confident that despite his mild disability he will one day achieve his black belt.  They have always been very respectful children and this is a trait that you have further developed in them.  It’s interesting to us that even though they only spend a few hours per week in your company, they bring your teaching with them and apply it to many aspects of their lives, always towards a positive result.  This is testament to the fact that you are a true mentor to them.  They are now in their teenage years, therefore we know that the Taekwon-do ethics and codes of conduct are of even greater importance.  

Thank you for your dedication and enthusiasm.