Dean Leak - Biography

In 2005 I began my degree in Sport Psychology at Bournemouth University. I have always been one of those people who are hugely ambitious and want to be the best they can be. Fortunately on degree course we had a full year's placement which allowed us to go into industry to get a feel for work life and gain some work experience. I was not entirely sure of which career route I wanted to pursue but personal training had always been an area interest, mainly for the altruistic nature of working with and helping people achieve their goal. I was lucky to come across "the training room" which at the time had a centre in Bournemouth. The opportunity to come onto the course was intriguing since it gave us the opportunity to gain applied qualifications and PT experience whilst facilitating you to find a job after the course had finished.

My experience with TTR PT was a great experience. Whilst it gave you the obvious social benefits of meeting new people (friends we still meet up with) it gave you an opportunity to jump into a career very quickly without feeling exposed. The course covered a variety of exercise disciplines which equips you well for life as a personal trainer. The daunting aspect of the course for me was the "I am going to get a job after the course". However, as I gradually made my way through the course my confidence grew and this gave me the belief I was able to be employed because of my experience, knowledge and qualifications. Within 14 days of leaving the course I was offered a job in Exeter (my home city) working as a gym supervisor and PT. It was a really great opportunity as the role required a lot of responsibility and self-drive.

Once the year in industry had finished I had to immerse myself back into my final year of study which was a challenge after a year of earning and work life.

During my final year of study I was very fortunate to meet the psychiatrist from British Cycling - Dr Steve Peters. It had also been my dream to work in Sport Psychology and if lucky enough with a Great Britain Team. After my degree had finished I was offered a job working with Great Britain Taekwondo building a talent transfer initiative called fighting chance whilst providing psychological support to these athletes. I was then employed by Great Britain Canoe Slalom as a mental skills coach working with the World Class Development Squad. I was also able to combine this with private one to ones working across several Olympic disciplines and continue to do so. My full time role now (whilst working with athletes in my spare time) is a National Development Manager for GB Taekwondo. My job as part of a team is to ensure we have the best systems in place to ensure we are continually producing the next generation of talent. The job is massively rewarding. There are many factors to why I got myself into this position. Hard work, commitment and luck have definitely played a part. But I think the experience and confidence I gained in the year in industry and development through the training room course set me up in the right direction. Thanks you the training room team!

For more information follow me on twitter @djlpsych and feel free to then contact me for any queries.