International bodybuilding champ, ex Turkish Airforce sergeant and Dulwich PT Gokay Kurtuldum has shifted over 1,000 kilos off his collective client base and there’s no slowing him down!
A member of the Southwark Community Sports Trust, Gok uses Dulwich Sports Ground as his base; the Trust put the outdoor fitness area under his supervision so he could develop it.
The trainer and his team of five run outdoor High Intensity Interval Training (HIIT) and boxercise classes, as well as 1:1 Personal Training and a customised 3-month body transformation programme.
“I developed my own methodology for the 3-month transformation,” Gok tells the South Londoner.
“In addition to my clients’ outdoor face to face PT sessions, I also have my own training app for clients to use, so I design a workout plan they can do at home or in the gym on their non PT days, which is uploaded onto the app along with a food plan with your macros calculated where you can log your meals. It’s great for accountability.”
People looking to drop weight can lose around 10kg during the course of the 3 months.
The programme mainly attracts those between the ages of 30 and 60-years-old who want to find time to get fit amidst a busy schedule.
“I’ve noticed a pattern in the people I’ve been training for the past ten years,” Gok says.
“They were fit at school and enjoyed being active and playing sports, then they graduated, started working and wanted to be really good at their jobs so they work long hours, then they get married and have kids and lose all their fitness because all their time goes to their work and private life.”
The trainer believes the key to fitness – and avoiding injury is consistency and discipline, which he learned firsthand back in Turkey, where he attended military school before going on to work as a technical and sports sergeant for the Turkish Airforce. Outside of his Airforce duties, Gok would train on his own time.
“I also trained the pilots because they have to be very fit to be able to handle the G force,” he says.
Gok’s love for fitness started young, competing as a professional international bodybuilder and winning a gold medal for Turkey.
“I started bodybuilding at 16, which is a good age to begin. The community in the gym I went to was really supportive and everyone helped me. Within 3 years, I found myself on the stage competing for Turkey as I became a national sportsman,” he says. “I competed about 5-6 years and won Mr Turkey in 2005.”
“I don’t compete anymore,” he continues. “The diet is so strict. Basically you eat chicken breast, eggs, rice, and steamed vegetables every single day. I’m quite disciplined -you don’t want to embarrass yourself on stage – so you push yourself to the limit for 12 weeks and you lose a massive amount of body fat and you learn so much about your body by doing this. You read all these books and you apply the lessons to yourself.”
Losing both his parents at a young age had a strong influence on Gok’s attitude towards health and wellbeing.
“I think this is why I chose this career,” he says. “My mum died from a heart attack when I was 13, and when that happened my sister, who had always struggled with her weight, began looking after me and during that time her weight went up to 150kg. She had tried everything and been to the best doctors in Turkey but nothing worked. Whereas I ate whatever I wanted and was athletic and sporty and didn’t gain weight.
“When I was 22, my dad also died of a heart attack. He was really unhealthy: he drank, smoked, had a bad diet. It felt like everyone around me was unhealthy and I wanted to do something about it. I chose this profession because I wanted to make people feel good about themselves, mentally and physically.”
After moving to the UK ten years ago, Gok began his Personal Training career, working at Nuffield Health UK before launching his own business.
He has always lived and worked around Dulwich and loves being part of the local community.
Gokay Fitness is a sponsor of this year’s Dulwich Festival and is hosting an Open Day on May 21 from 11am-3pm with free 20-30 minute HIIT classes every hour.
https://southwarknews.co.uk/news/whats-on-dulwich-festival-returns-with-a-stellar-line-up/
In 2020, Gok released his own book Get Fit Stay Fit, an 8-week programme workbook specifically for men over 40, which is now available on Amazon.
Between running around with clients, the PT still manages to fit in his own workouts and says his favourite kind of training is always bodybuilding. “I just love pumping iron.”
For more information on Gok’s Fitness Hub (member of the Dulwich Community Sports Trust), SE21 7AF,
visit: www.gokayfitness.com or follow him on Instagram @GokayFitness
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