Frequently Asked Questions

DM Elite has been established as a Small Group Personal Training gym provider since 2016 and has locations in Inverness, Nairn and Alness, serving communities across the Scottish Highlands.

Each location offers coach-led Small Group Personal Training, with sessions designed to help members become stronger, fitter and more confident regardless of their starting point.

Yes. DM Elite is suitable for complete beginners, including people who haven’t exercised for years or have never felt comfortable in a traditional gym.

Every Small Group Personal Training session is coach-led, and exercises, weights and intensity can be adapted to your current ability and experience.

You don’t need to know what you’re doing before you arrive. That’s what the coaches are there for.

When you first join DM Elite, the focus is on making you feel comfortable and helping you understand how everything works.

The coaching team will onboard you into the gym,  get to know you, your training experience and anything they should be aware of before you begin. You’ll then be introduced to Small Group Personal Training and supported through your first sessions.

There’s no expectation that you should already know how to train, use the equipment or keep up with anyone else. 

Yes. DM Elite offers a 28 trial option so you can experience the gym, meet the coaches and take part in 12 Small Group Personal Training sessions before deciding whether a more regular membership is right for you. They also offer complimentary trial weeks as a referral from a current member. 

It’s an opportunity to see how DM Elite works and experience the difference between coach-led Small Group Personal Training and a traditional gym or fitness class.

DM Elite keeps Personalised Group Training sessions to an average of 10-12 members to a coach – providing individual attention while retaining the energy and social side of training with other people.

Unlike a large fitness class, members aren’t simply expected to follow the same workout in exactly the same way. One size does not fit all and DM Elite do not offer generic training. Coaches adjust exercises, weights and intensity for the individual. If you have injuries or anything to work around in the session this will be pre-planned by a coach. 

Yes. Individual coaching is a fundamental part of Small Group Personal Training at DM Elite.

Although you’ll train alongside other members, DM Elite coaches can adjust exercises, weights, intensity and progressions based on your ability and experience. If you are training for a specific goal – running a 10k, a cycling event, competing in a Hyrox or simply looking to get in shape for a life event approaching. The coaches will have this in mind with everything that you do. 

The aim is to combine the personal attention of personal training with the motivation, accountability and community of training with others.

Yes. Women of different ages, fitness levels and training backgrounds train at DM Elite, from complete beginners through to more experienced gym-goers.

DM Elite’s Small Group Personal Training sessions incorporate strength, fitness and movement and can be adapted to the individual.

DM Elite also supports women who want to continue training through different stages of life, including perimenopause and menopause, pre and post natal. 

Absolutely. Many people join DM Elite with little or no previous gym experience.

Every session is planned and coach-led, so you won’t be left wondering what exercises to do, how to use the equipment or whether you’re doing something correctly.

DM Elite is designed to make structured exercise more approachable, particularly for people who haven’t previously felt comfortable in a traditional gym environment.

You don’t have to commit to a full membership before experiencing DM Elite.

Trial options are available for people who want to experience Small Group Personal Training, meet the coaching team and see whether DM Elite is right for them before choosing an ongoing membership.

DM Elite also offers different ways to train depending on availability and individual circumstances.

DM Elite specialises in coach-led Small Group Personal Training designed to develop strength, fitness, movement and overall physical capacity.

Training varies throughout the week and over time, giving members exposure to different exercises, equipment, intensities and styles of training rather than repeating the same workout every session.

The focus is on building a stronger, fitter and more capable body that supports everyday life.

DM Elite combines elements of both.

DM Elite has dedicated training facilities in Inverness, Nairn and Alness, but the experience is different from a traditional gym membership where you’re given access to equipment and expected to train independently.

DM Elite members book into structured, coach-led Small Group Personal Training sessions. This provides much of the support, guidance and personalisation associated with personal training, while allowing members to train alongside a small group of other people.

DM Elite was created for people who want to become fitter and stronger but don’t necessarily enjoy the traditional gym experience.

There is no need to walk into a busy gym and work out what to do on your own. DM Elite sessions are booked in advance, planned and led by coaches, with exercises adapted where necessary. As long as you book in and arrive at your planned time, you will get a workout in that gives you everything that you need.

Members train alongside familiar faces in a supportive environment where the focus is on coaching, consistency and enjoying the process.

It’s why DM Elite describes itself as “the gym for people who don’t like gyms.”

No. You don’t need any previous experience using gym equipment before joining DM Elite.

Every Small Group Personal Training session is led by a coach who will explain the exercises and equipment being used and help you with technique.

As you train more regularly, you’ll naturally become more confident with different exercises and equipment.

A DM Elite session lasts 50 minutes and is planned and led by a coach.

Sessions will start with a demonstration and explanation of the purpose and intent behind the day’s workout – the session can include a combination of strength training, cardiovascular fitness, mobility, movement and other forms of physical training depending on the focus of that session.

You’ll train alongside a small group, but exercises and intensity can be adjusted where appropriate to suit your ability and experience.

You simply book your session, turn up and the coaching team takes care of the training.

No. Small Group Personal Training and traditional fitness classes are different.

In a typical fitness class, a larger group often follows the same workout together. Or can be circuits based without much modifications or variety in equipment. At DM Elite, Small Group Personal Training allows coaches to provide more individual attention and adapt exercises, weights and intensity for different members within the session.

It provides the atmosphere and motivation of training with other people while retaining much more of the individual coaching associated with personal training.

The easiest way to get started at DM Elite is through a trial.

You’ll have the opportunity to visit your local DM Elite gym, meet the team and experience coach-led Small Group Personal Training before deciding on the right ongoing option for you.

DM Elite has locations in Inverness, Nairn and Alness, and you don’t need previous gym experience or a particular level of fitness before getting started. Simply click any of the ‘get started’ buttons on the website or contact the team at support@dmelite.co.uk to find out more.

Progress at DM Elite isn’t measured by the number on the scales alone.

People will often start with a goal such as “lose weight” or “tone up”, but those goals don’t always tell the full story. Two people can lose the same amount of weight while experiencing very different changes in body fat, muscle mass, strength and overall health.

That’s why every DM Elite gym has an InBody 270 body composition analyser. An InBody assessment allows members to look beyond total body weight and measure things including body fat mass, body fat percentage, skeletal muscle mass, lean mass and visceral fat. It can also analyse muscle and fat distribution across different areas of the body and track changes over time. 

For many DM Elite members, body fat and skeletal muscle mass are two of the most useful measurements. Someone’s weight may not change dramatically, for example, while they reduce body fat and increase or maintain muscle mass — potentially representing meaningful progress that ordinary scales wouldn’t show. Body-composition analysis is specifically useful because weight and BMI alone cannot distinguish between fat and muscle. 

Numbers are only one part of the picture, though.

Each DM Elite gym has a Head of Member Experience who can provide check-ins and goal reviews at agreed points. These conversations look at how the member feels about their progress as well as what the coaching team is seeing — from strength and fitness to consistency, confidence, movement and general wellbeing.

DM Elite can also provide guidance around lifestyle and nutrition where appropriate. Ultimately, members are responsible for the choices they make away from the gym, but the team takes a genuine interest in what happens outside the 50-minute training session too.

The aim is to build a much broader picture of progress: How do you feel? Are you getting stronger? Are you moving better? Is your fitness improving? Has your body composition changed? And is training having a positive impact on your life?

Yes. People taking medications such as Mounjaro (tirzepatide), Ozempic (semaglutide) or other GLP-1-based medications can train at DM Elite, provided exercise is appropriate for them and consistent with the advice of their healthcare professional.

DM Elite does ask members to tell the coaching team if they are taking these medications. This is important so coaches have the relevant information and can adjust training intensity where necessary, particularly if a member is experiencing side effects or significant changes in body weight, appetite or energy levels.

One of DM Elite’s priorities for members experiencing significant weight loss is maintaining strength and muscle mass rather than focusing solely on losing weight.

When substantial weight is lost, some lean mass can be lost alongside body fat. Current research supports resistance training, appropriate nutrition and adequate protein intake as important strategies for helping preserve muscle during significant weight loss, including during GLP-1-based treatment. 

This makes DM Elite’s predominantly strength-based Small Group Personal Training particularly relevant. Depending on the individual, the emphasis may be placed more heavily on progressive strength training and muscle retention, with cardiovascular intensity adjusted where appropriate.

The goal isn’t simply to make the number on the scales as low as possible. It’s to support members in becoming stronger, healthier and more capable while improving body composition.

DM Elite can also use its InBody 270 to monitor changes in skeletal muscle mass, body fat mass and body fat percentage over time, helping provide a more complete picture than body weight alone. 

Medication and dosage decisions remain between the member and their prescribing healthcare professional; DM Elite’s role is to provide appropriate exercise coaching and support alongside that medical care.

Yes. DM Elite has its own fully qualified nutritionist, Erin, who works across all three DM Elite gyms in Inverness, Nairn and Alness.

All DM Elite coaches can support members with general healthy lifestyle habits, but Erin is available when a member would benefit from more specific nutrition coaching and guidance.

Nutrition support can complement a member’s training and individual goals, whether that’s improving body composition, supporting strength and muscle development, managing nutrition alongside weight loss, or simply building better and more sustainable eating habits.

DM Elite doesn’t believe that progress should rely on extreme diets or short-term fixes. The aim is to help members understand how their nutrition can support their training, health and lifestyle in a way that is realistic and sustainable.

Where a member’s needs fall outside the scope of nutrition coaching or require medical nutrition advice, DM Elite will recommend speaking with an appropriately qualified healthcare professional.

Yes. Many people join DM Elite in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond after a long period away from regular exercise.

You don’t need to get fit before you start. DM Elite’s Small Group Personal Training sessions are coached, and exercises, weights and intensity can be adapted to your current ability and experience.

For many members at this stage of life, the goal isn’t simply weight loss. It’s about becoming stronger, improving fitness and mobility, maintaining muscle, having more energy and continuing to feel physically capable as they get older.

If you haven’t exercised for years, that’s absolutely fine. DM Elite meets you where you are now and helps you build from there.

Strength training can become increasingly important as we get older, particularly for maintaining muscle, strength and our ability to perform everyday activities.

At DM Elite, strength training forms a major part of Small Group Personal Training. That doesn’t mean everyone needs to lift extremely heavy weights. The resistance, exercises and progression can be appropriate to the individual.

For someone in their 40s, 50s, 60s and beyond, getting stronger can support everything from carrying shopping and climbing stairs to playing golf, travelling, gardening, playing with grandchildren and simply continuing to do the things they enjoy.

DM Elite’s aim isn’t just to help people exercise today. It’s to help members build a stronger and more capable body for the years ahead.

Yes. You don’t need any previous strength-training experience to join DM Elite.

Every Small Group Personal Training session is coach-led. DM Elite coaches will explain exercises, help with technique and select appropriate variations and resistance based on your current ability.

You won’t be expected to know which weights to choose or how to use unfamiliar equipment before you arrive.

As your confidence, technique and strength improve, training can gradually progress with you.

Yes. Being in your 50s, 60s or beyond doesn’t mean you’ve missed your opportunity to become stronger.

DM Elite works with adults of different ages and starting points, including people beginning structured strength training later in life.

Training can be progressively adapted as your strength, confidence and ability improve. The objective isn’t to compare yourself with younger members or anyone else in the gym — it’s to make meaningful progress from your own starting point.

Yes. Strength and mobility often work together, and DM Elite training is designed to help members become stronger and move better.

Rather than treating mobility as simply stretching, coaches can use appropriate strength exercises, ranges of movement and movement-based training to help members become more confident and capable. We also offer a weekly complimentary ‘Move’ session at our Gyms to aid recovery and mobility.

Everyone starts from a different point, so exercises can be adapted around current ability, previous injuries or movement limitations where appropriate.

That’s completely normal, particularly if you haven’t exercised for a long time or haven’t previously enjoyed gyms. The hardest thing is sometimes just sending that first message or making it through the door for the first time. 

DM Elite describes itself as “the gym for people who don’t like gyms” for exactly this reason.

You won’t be expected to walk into a gym, choose your own exercises and work everything out yourself. Sessions are booked in advance, planned and led by a coach. We remove the friction to getting fit. 

DM Elite aims to create a friendly, supportive environment where people of different ages, abilities and experience levels can train together without feeling judged or out of place.

It doesn’t matter.

Small Group Personal Training at DM Elite isn’t about keeping up with the person beside you. Members can perform different exercise variations, use different weights and work at different intensities within the same session.

The coaches are interested in what is appropriate for you and your current ability.

Over time, the person you should be comparing yourself with is you.

One-to-one personal training gives one client the full attention of a personal trainer, whereas DM Elite’s main service is Small Group Personal Training.

At DM Elite, you train alongside a small group while still receiving professional coaching, technique guidance and individual exercise adaptations.

This provides many of the benefits people look for from personal training alongside the motivation, accountability and community of training with other people — at a considerably lower cost per session than typical one-to-one personal training.

A traditional gym membership generally gives you access to a facility and equipment, leaving you to decide when to train and what to do.

DM Elite is different. Members book into structured 50-minute Small Group Personal Training sessions that are planned and led by professional coaches.

You don’t need to design your own programme, decide which exercises to perform or wonder whether you’re doing them correctly.

It’s a more supported and accountable approach for people who want the benefits of training without having to figure everything out themselves.

No. DM Elite members don’t have to attend at exactly the same time every week.

Sessions run across the timetable, allowing members to book training around work, family and other commitments, subject to availability.

Some members enjoy establishing regular training times each week, while others need more flexibility.

The important thing is finding a routine that allows you to train consistently without fitness having to take over your life.

Yes. DM Elite training can complement other sports and physical activities.

Strength training can form part of a wider training week alongside activities such as running, cycling, golf, walking and recreational sport.

Letting the coaching team know what else you’re doing allows them to understand your overall training demands and, where appropriate, help you manage your gym training alongside them.

You don’t have to choose between being a gym member and enjoying other activities. For many people, becoming stronger in the gym is about helping them continue doing more of what they enjoy outside it.

No. Weight loss is only one of many reasons people join DM Elite.

Members may want to become stronger, increase muscle mass, improve fitness, move better, have more energy, improve body composition, feel more confident or simply establish a consistent exercise routine.

DM Elite doesn’t believe progress should automatically be defined by making the number on the scales smaller.

For some members, maintaining or increasing muscle while reducing body fat may be more meaningful than simply losing body weight. That’s one reason DM Elite uses InBody 270 body composition analysis alongside strength, fitness, lifestyle and individual goal reviews.

Yes. Strength training remains valuable for people in their 50s, 60s and beyond.

DM Elite’s Small Group Personal Training has a strong emphasis on resistance and strength training, with exercises and loads progressed appropriately for the individual.

For older adults, maintaining and building muscle isn’t purely about appearance. Strength and muscle can contribute to remaining physically capable and continuing to enjoy an active lifestyle as you age.

There isn’t one timeframe that applies to everyone.

How quickly you notice changes depends on your starting point, goals, training consistency, nutrition, sleep, lifestyle and what you consider a “result”.

Some people initially notice that they feel more confident, have more energy or can perform exercises they previously struggled with. Strength and fitness can improve over time, while meaningful changes in body composition generally require consistency over a longer period.

DM Elite focuses on helping members create sustainable progress rather than promising a quick fix.

Yes. Couples and other people from the same household can train at DM Elite, either together or at different session times.

DM Elite also offers a 10% Dual Household Discount when two people from the same household have memberships paid together from one account.

You don’t have to have the same goals or fitness level. Small Group Personal Training allows each person to train at an appropriate level within the same environment.