FIGHTING FIT
BROKEN BY BACK PAIN BUT DESPERATE TO GET BACK ON HIS FEET,
PAUL BABAI UNDERWENT AN INTENSE TRAINING AND NUTRITIONAL
PLAN THAT CUT FAT, ADDED MUSCLE AND FREED HIM FROM PAINP
aul Babai, 35, was left
with nowhere to turn
after a severe slipped
disc left him unable to
sit at the dinner table or
put on his shoes, despite emergency
surgery and weeks of intensive
physiotherapy. The entrepreneur
from Camden, north London, was
almost out of options until a mobile
personal training service, PGPT,
came to his aid.
“I had a slipped disc in my lower
back and had to go for emergency
surgery because of the extent to
which the disc was trapping my
nerve. Whenever you hear the
phrase ‘back surgery’ you panic,
thinking that you’ll never do sport
again. Mentally that was a huge
blow.” While the surgery was initially
successful, Babai began suffering
from chronic back pain, despite
weeks of intensive physiotherapy.
His injury soon became debilitating,
affecting his everyday life.
“There were times I’d want to
play with my niece, hug her, pick her
up, but I couldn’t. Thinking about
having my own family one day and
not being able to do those things felt
like a tragedy.” Babai remembers
wellthemomentherealisedhehad
totryonemoreway,asidefrom
physiotherapy,tofixhisbackpain.
“Thefinalstrawwasabigfamily
dinner,andIjustcouldn’tsitatthe
tableanylonger.Ihadtogointothe
livingroomwhileeveryonewasstill
eatingandliedownonahardfloor,
thinking,Ican’tlivelikethis.”ON THE SCALES
Before
73.9kg body weight
12.4% body fatAfter
74.2kg body weight
7.8% body fatSTRENGTH SESSIONS
Babai’s osteopath recommended a
personal training service that offered
tailor-made programmes designed to
achieve specific goals. “My aim was
simple: to live my life pain-free,” says
Babai, who chose PGPT because
they had five expert trainers, each
specialising in different areas, who
formed part of his rehabilitation team.
“Paul was a broken man when
I met him, but he had the work rate
and willingness of someone that sits
in the top one per cent,” explains
the service's founder Peter Gaffney.
“There was no question he would get
results, as he was hungry from the
first day.”
Gaffney provided Babai with
a detailed personal trainingTailor-made PT sessions
cured Babai's back pain
and helped him reach
single-digit body fatSHAPE SHIFTER