aps Coaching

02/04/2026

“How do you get out of pain and back to your active lifestyle, if you keep second guessing yourself?” 🤔

When you’ve been in pain for a while, it’s easy to not only stop trusting your body, but also EVERYTHING you’re about to do.

You try moving or training again, but it causes yet another backlash.

❌ More Pain.
❌More Missing Out.
❌ More Confusion.

The KICKER? The more active you used to be, the easier it is to fall into this loop.

Old expectations, old PB’s, and old routines can cloud where you actually need to start.

This is one of the first things we help people with:

Finding a Start Point.

Then making steady, gradual progress from there.

Do you find yourself SECOND GUESSING your body?

I’d love to hear your story in the comments or comment “START” and I’ll reach out to you.

31/03/2026

Hand ups - who’s hurt their back before? 🙋

This guy certainly has. And at its worst I couldn’t trust my body to walk even the smallest of distances.

Have you ever gone through phases of not trusting your own body?

30/03/2026

“I just don’t trust my body anymore.” 🥺

“It feels fine… until suddenly it isn’t.” 😧

“I’m worried my back will go at any moment.” 😓

I hear these ALL THE TIME from clients and people who reach out to us.

It’s a specific kind of frustration. A mix of confusion and genuine panic at how small life is starting to feel.

They used to play and get out on adventures, “seize the day”, now they avoid these things, more concerned with “SURVIVING the day”.

Constantly on edge, wondering when pain will strike again.

Always weighing up the "risk" of the most basic things.

Lifting the kids up.
Taking the dog for a walk.
Even just leaning over to tie their laces.

And I’ve been there too.

I’ve stood in front of clients not knowing if I can demonstrate exercises. I’ve skipped jiu-jitsu because I feared a flare-up and would have to quit if things kept getting worse.

Worst of all? I’ve felt that instant flash of regret when playing with my son is cut short by back pain I thought I was finally done with.

It can be an absolute NIGHTMARE.

Second-guessing your ability to physically cope with life is exhausting.

So, you start avoiding things. No more cycling on the weekends.

Relationships get strained - how many times can you say "no" before friends stop inviting you to things?

And life can get pretty stressful. Work, hobbies, family… everything gets scaled back because you’re terrified of making things worse.

It’s a CRAPPY place to be.

So, what can you do about it?

Over the years, I’ve found that even the most "broken" bodies can find their way back. There are many ways to do it, but two key concepts come up time and time again.:

Find a START POINT - Not where you think you should be, but where your body actually is today. Through trial and error, and maybe some assessments, you need to find a place your body will allow you to start from.

Now aim for GRADUAL PROGRESSION - Slowly but surely increase the challenge. A bit more weight, a few more reps, an increase in speed or a change to the movement. Something to keep moving things forward.

There will be hiccups. There always are.

But with tweaks and persistence, I’ve seen people regain a confidence they’d long thought was behind them. 💪

What’s one thing you’ve stopped doing because you don’t trust your body right now?

27/03/2026

🐕 How training HENdog helped me minimise my strength training

Taking on a high-drive, super smart rescue for the first time nearly broke me.

In all honesty I didn’t really grasp what I was signing up for.

I’d had two amazing shepherds from puppies before
(rest their souls)
…so I thought I knew what I was doing.

Turns out… I had a lot to learn, especially about what matters most.

Over the years we’ve done plenty:
🎾 Tricks
🧠 Scent work
🐾 All sorts of cool stuff

It’s fun, frustrating 😅 at times, and incredibly satisfying building that bond.

But when it really comes down to it, one thing matters far more than the rest:

📣 A solid recall

If he comes back when it counts…
I’m relaxed.
He gets more freedom.
We really enjoy being out together.

Everything else is a bonus.

Funny how often the same idea shows up in training.

When time and energy are limited, it’s usually NOT about doing MORE.

It’s maybe more about figuring out the small number of things that actually make the biggest difference…

and getting really consistent with them.

💡 Most people try to train everything.

But often one or two things done well move things forward, MORE IMPACT & FASTER.

If you only had time to train one or two things,
what would you focus on?

25/03/2026

📍 Asha getting strong with minimal training for a climbing trip to Spain this year with.

The goal?
Climb well.
Feel strong.
Enjoy the trip with friends.

Most weeks we only had TWO spare training sessions to work with.
Sometimes… ONE.

Time. Energy. Life. Climbing.

And while she knows training helps… she doesn’t exactly love love the gym.

So we didn’t try to do everything!

No big, complicated plan

We just made those sessions really count.
👉 Easy enough, with a bit of direction, a plan that fits, and regular check-ins along the way

Over the last couple months the progress is already obvious:
💪 Big improvements in deadlifts, much hated push-ups starting to click, and single-leg strength developing
⚡ More pulling power
🧠 Better shoulder control + a solid one-arm hang
+ the odd deload session when needed.

Best part?
❌ No shoulder NIGGLES along the way.

All built gradually around a normal life at 51, navigating peri/menopause.

Nothing extreme.
Just consistent work stacking up week by week.

That’s usually how this works for sporty adults.

You don’t need endless sessions
or a plan you can’t keep up with.

Just a couple of well-directed ones each week,
that build over time.

How do you balance gym work and sport?

23/03/2026

Another strength training plan… and you’re left knackered, with niggles, … and no better at your sport?

You signed up
Gave the workouts a proper go.
Tried to stick with the full plan.
Did the ‘right’ things (apparently).

But now…
👉 You feel worn down
👉 Something’s niggling again
👉 Your sport hasn’t really improved
👉 And you’re drifting back to winging it or quitting.

You’re left sitting there thinking…
“Looks great on paper… but it’s asking for 4 workouts a week and I’m barely fitting in TWO… and bodies feeling beaten up?”

And somehow… a few months later…
You’re back trying the next program that won’t stick… again!

The bit that really stings…
It’s not money.
It’s that feeling, STRONG years quietly SLIPPING through fingers

I hear this all the time.

Not from athletes.

From sporty grown ups trying to make it all work in the real world
Works consuming.
Family life is full.
Energy’s limited
Other hobbies matter too.

Some weeks it’s hard enough just fitting in tennis… or golf… or climbing.

You’re not looking to build your life around training.

But you’re also not ready to just participate or FADE away either,

You still want to be good at your sport.
Now… and for a good few years yet.

You know a bit of training would help 👉
💪 Stronger
🔧 Less niggles.
🛡️ More resilient… less beaten up

But it has to fit your life.

And honestly?
Most training plans and advice just don’t. Either…

🏋️ TOO MUCH… built for people who can (and want to) train like athletes,
🏃 TOO GENERIC generic… built for people who just want to “exercise”
🪞ALL AESTHETICS… built for those working on body shape or getting BIG, over athleticism

The reality for most sporty adults I work with?

They’ve got 1–2 spare sessions a week.
Most weeks… at best.

So those sessions need to count and carryover - to the court.. the climbing wall… the pitch… the mat... .. wherever you find your escape and physical challenge

Despite less time and full lives,

That’s the shift.

How to make less actually do work.

1-2 sessions that:
✅ Focus on what matters
✅ Quietly stack up over time
✅ Actually make you better at your sport

What’s been your experience with training plans?
Felt better… or just beaten up?

20/03/2026

No more sport or gym at the age of 21? 😖 Join me for post sprints story time.

Is there a pain or injury you're not making any progress with?

I'd love to hear about it. Start a chat in the comments or type SUPPORT and I'll reach out to you.

18/03/2026

“I’m doing better than I ever hoped”

When I first met Emma, the situation was tough.

She’s a professional gardener—someone used to being active. But the pain had become so bad she couldn't even sit to watch TV or walk the dog, let alone work.

She was confused. She had pain in her knee and sciatic pain in her back.

And SHE HAD TRIED A LOT OF THINGS to try and resolve it.

None of it had worked. ☹️

Emma was stuck in a cycle of:

📍 Short appointments where she felt rushed out the door.

📍 Advice for her knee that actually made her back worse. Or vice-versa.

📍 Being "pigeonholed" because of her age, rather than being seen as the fit, active person she is.

📍 Not having anyone address the mental block being created by her pain.

THE WORST PART? Every time a treatment failed, she ended up in a darker place.

We had a lot of work to do. And LETS BE HONEST – it wasn’t a quick fix.

But we made a start.

We collaborated. As a team.

Emma’s feelings, feedback (her intuition proved invaluable!) and experience, paired with my experience, curiosity and willingness to soundboard so she could get past the mental blocks and build confidence in herself and her ability to recover.

We found her a start point and aimed to make gradual progress to where she wanted to be.

It wasn’t a straight line.

There were hiccups. There were speed bumps. There were days where we took a step backward. 🚧

But we stayed curious. We experimented. We stayed resilient.

Emma never shied away from the hard work, and I couldn't be prouder of where she is today. 😊

Back gardening. Back walking the dog. And now…

Embarking on a new journey of performing in musicals! 💃

Because that’s what life should be. Being able to do the things you love and take on new fun adventures whenever your heart desires.

It can be done.

It isn’t always easy. But with hard work and the right support, you can shake off the restrictions of pain and injury and get back to the life you were hoping to live.

Are you in a similar place to where Emma began?

If you want to chat about it, I’d love to hear from you. Please feel free to drop a comment below or just type “SUPPORT” and I’ll reach out to you.

16/03/2026

“I’ve been to physios, chiros, massage. You name it, I’ve tried it, and I’m just not making progress”

“It improves for a while but then flares up again. I’m just stuck in a loop”

There is nothing more frustrating than putting effort into your rehab and then feeling like you’re back at square one.

Long-term pain is exhausting.

Not just the physical side, but the mental toll of the worry and frustration that occurs when your life feels taken away from you…

🥺Unable to play with the kids
😕No weekend runs with friends
😡Missed days of work

When people finally walk through our gym doors, the majority have already been round the houses trying to solve the pain that’s holding them back.

They’re confused, frustrated and tired of being told “what’s wrong” without making any progress back to the life they want.

So why does this happen? 🤔

It’s rarely because the other treatments were "bad." We work alongside some incredible Physios, Chiros, Osteopaths and Massage Therapists, who do amazing work.

But sometimes, traditional rehab has a ceiling.

And it can often fall short when:

🔴 There’s more going on than just a site-specific problem - Sometimes back pain isn’t just about your back.

🔴 You’re low on confidence and exercising on your own feels scary, confusing or just a waste of time.

🔴 You want to get back to an awesome active life – not just be pain free at rest.

Rehab exercises can do a great job initially but can fall short of getting people strong and confident enough to get back to running around wild and free with the kids or playing a strenuous game of tennis with friends.

This is where we like to position ourselves. As a bridge between initial rehab and living the life you want. We believe in the importance of:

🟢 Working with you holistically and focusing on things such as
recovery, nutrition, mindset and an overall approach to training, not just site-specific exercises.

🟢 Having long enough sessions (usually 60 minutes) to listen to you, communicate with you and guide you through the exercises. Building your confidence to allow you to do things by yourself.

🟢 Combining our knowledge of pain and early rehab with that of strength and conditioning so we can map out and execute a plan to take you from the treatment table to the active, unrestricted life you want.

How is your rehab going right now?

Are you making the progress you expected, or do you feel like you’re spinning your wheels?

I’d love to hear where you’re at.

12/09/2025

Stiff Back? Join Matt in our latest Free to Watch Patreon video, for a 10 minute follow along, aimed at getting your back feeling free and moving well.

Get more from aps Coaching on Patreon

10/08/2025

Last chance for a Free Intro Session! We've released 1 more space for anyone who want's to get back playing the sport they love.
Offer ends tonight!
Comment "Me" for more details.

08/08/2025

“Maybe my body just can’t hack this much longer.”

That’s what many of our clients said before working with us. Like Olly 👇

A busy dad and outdoor climber, Olly was dealing with repeat episodes of back pain. Waking up after climbing days stiff and sore. Steeper angles taking their toll. Strength sessions feeling like a gamble.

Climbing was his escape, a way to challenge himself, but it had started to feel like a grind. Something had to change.

So we got to work:
✅ Full movement assessment to stop guessing and get on the right path
✅ Simplified training + better recovery habits for more impact, less burnout
✅ Strength training from the ground up for more strength, mobility, and power

No passive “rest, rub and hope” rehab — we used targeted exercises, built strength through full ranges, and progressed each phase.

Olly learned to:
✅ Rebuild trust in his back - deal with tweaks, not just work around them
✅ Train in ways that carried over to the wall (without leaving him wrecked)
✅ Recover well so he had energy for climbing and dad life

A few months later he’s pulling strong on the kilterboard, climbing hard outdoors, and deadlifting with more confidence in his back—all while managing a full life schedule!

And he’s not the only one…
🎾 James – tennis player & dad of 3: Shoulder pain gone, serving big and enjoying long matches again.
🚴‍♀️ Soyen – triathlete & mum of 3: Back to racing, training strong, and not worrying about breaking down.

All had access to:
📅 Regular coaching to build skills & momentum for faster results & smoother ride
🔁 Support between sessions—updates, feedback, “is this normal?” reassurance
🧠 Personalised plans with video demos & clear notes

This is what we do best at aps:
Helping busy, sporty grownups train (and recover) with purpose, solve pains, and build a body that supports everything else they want to do in life.

👉 We’re offering FREE Intro Sessions right now—2 new spaces just opened!

Comment “ME” and we’ll send you the details.

⌛ Ends 10.08.2025