aps Coaching, Unit 5, Mill Farm, Sonning Eye, Reading (2026)

01/05/2026

“My Knee’s not ‘bad bad’… but it’s nowhere near right either.”

That’s exactly where Kym was when she joined aps.

She’d done the sensible stuff first

👉 resting it
👉 physio
👉 some rehab exercises

It helped a bit… but 2–3 months in, she was still stuck in that in-between space.

👉 hesitating at the top of the stairs before stepping down
👉 avoiding twisty movements
👉 that lingering sense it might “give way”

“Months of not being able to do anything active was really getting to me.”

and with a summer of hiking, climbing and windsurfing with the family coming up…

…the progress so far wasn’t exactly filling her with confidence.

The shift we needed to make felt a bit scary…

Moving past the usual classics
👉 rest
👉 light rehab
👉 treatment tables
👉 avoiding anything that might hurt

… instead moving into building her knee back up properly.
👉 using weights
👉 progressing into lunging, weightshifts, single leg work
👉 gradually loading it more… starting at a level that made sense and settled well!

Nothing fancy.
Just the right things done consistently.

And because life was busy and mental bandwidth can get low as a working, active mum…

👉 short sessions
👉 focused on what mattered most
👉 things she could actually stick to week to week

No guesswork or scattered exercises.
And no endless “being careful”.

Three weeks in she messages me:
👉 “I’m walking downstairs freely… after two months of physio and rest.”

And a few months later…
👉 a mega summer full of hiking - climbing - windsurfing
even an 11-hour via ferrata!

Feeling Strong.
Confident in her knee
And back enjoying it all again.

That’s usually how this goes when we have
👉 a clear path
👉 gradually build things back up over a few months
👉 and good back and forth - me as the guide, kym in the drivers seat

Are you in that “not bad… but not where you want to be” place with something at the moment?

If it’s a yes, comment ME, maybe I can help point you in the right direction

30/04/2026

Sad times 😜... have you got a favourite faded t-shirt on its last legs??

29/04/2026

Ever felt stuck with an injury or pain that’s better… but nowhere near right either?

When it comes to getting back to sport after an injury (old or new) that ‘in between’ space is where a lot of people get stuck.

👉 Turning up (to the wall, the court, the pitch) but holding back
👉 Back on the treatment table getting poked or cracked… again
👉 Just about fitting in your stretches and light exercises… but with no real plan or progress

It’s a frustrating and pretty demoralising place to be

Being careful feels like the right thing to do… you don’t want to make it worse.

But here’s what I see all the time…
…it never actually gets your shoulder… or your back… or your knee, ready for your sport again.

And you never really trust it enough to just play, fully and freely

Instead, it turns into
… a bit cautious
… a bit inconsistent
… and not really getting anywhere

Second guessing your body more and more!

Stick with that long enough and months drift by…
…you get weaker
…confidence drops
…and that becomes a whole new problem

That’s the bit that really gets people!

You WANT to get back to your sport… the challenge… the social bit… that sense of freedom again.

You KNOW a bit of strength and structure would help

But between physio helping a bit, pilates getting you started and youtube chaos you’re left thinking:
👉 “Where do I go next with this?”
👉 “No one’s really shown me how to build back up properly.”

The shift is usually something like:

Instead of waiting for it to feel perfect… we rebuild your movement and strength

👉 gradually,
👉 over a few months,
👉 starting at a level that makes sense,
👉 that feels tolerable and settles well

Strength comes back.
Your body starts to feel fluid.
Confidence follows.

And you genuinely start trusting it again…
…sometimes to the point you forget which shoulder it was in the first place.

That's what we help people do.

Get unstuck
Create a clear path back to fully fit and playing with confidence
and walk it, navigating the bumps along the way.

Have you ever been stuck in that in-between phase where it’s not too bad… but nowhere near right either?

27/04/2026

🎉 We have a WINNER! 🎉

26/04/2026

⌛ LAST CHANCE to WIN a MONTH of PERSONAL TRAINING! ⌛

If you’re:

😔Missing out on life due to pain or injury.

😖Unsure of what to do and fed up of lacking confidence in your body.

💪 Want to get back to being active and enjoying movement again!

We would love to help!

And winning this competition will be a great way to kick-start your path to success.

It couldn’t be SIMPLER to enter...

Just LIKE this post and comment “WIN”. That’s it.

📅 The winner will be drawn TOMORROW and messaged directly — So keep your fingers crossed!

Good luck!

24/04/2026

Our competition is still going strong! 🥳

One lucky person will win a FREE MONTH of PERSONAL TRAINING — and Emma is a great example of why you should enter.

Emma has been training with us for over a DECADE! 🤩

Alongside raising 3 amazing kids, tackling plenty of life’s challenges and being an all-around awesome person, she’s:

🟢 Trained specifically to improve her speed and agility for netball.

🟢 Trained for a half marathon.

🟢 Explored lots of areas of training, nutrition and lifestyle.

🟢 Rehabbed a fair few injuries including an injured back, shoulder pain and a hamstring tendinopathy.

Training has changed over the years, from frequent and intense, to lower volume aimed at staying healthy and navigating stressful times, but through it she’s learnt:

👉 The benefit of strength training, focusing on movement patterns and not just muscle groups.

👉How to utilise specific aspects of training depending on the goal she’s chasing.

👉 The importance of a well-rounded approach to rehab – including tools to desensitise pain, working on restoring mechanics followed by progressions all the way back to sport and normal training, and including supportive habits in nutrition and sleep.

👉 Avoiding an all or nothing approach to training, by being flexible and adapting when life throws some curveballs her way

Has it been hard work? ABSOLUTELY 💪

Has it been worth it? ABSOLUTELY 😊

👏 Well done, Emma! 👏

There’s still plenty of time to win yourself a MONTH of PERSONAL TRAINING.

Just LIKE this post and comment “WIN” below.

GOOD LUCK!

22/04/2026

🎉 We’re giving away 30 days of FREE PERSONAL TRAINING (worth over £250)! 🎉

Here’s what you’ll get:

🟢 4 x 1:1 sessions with Matt (co-owner of aps) at our Private Gym in Sonning Eye, where we'll:
👉 Get to the bottom of exactly where you want to get to.
👉 Find the right start point for you.
👉 Make gradual progress in each session, building your confidence and understanding, to help you keep moving forward.

🟢 Tailored exercises to do at home or in the gym, outside of our sessions — no more having to wing it!

& some bonus freebies…

🟢 Your choice of kit (swiss ball, foam roller or massage ball) - to get you started on your rehab exercises.

🟢 An initial session to gift to a friend — because it’s always nice to help others make progress too.
It couldn’t be SIMPLER to enter...

Simply LIKE this post and comment “WIN”. That’s it.

📅 The winner will be drawn on Monday 27th April and messaged directly — So keep you’re your fingers crossed and your eyes peeled! 👀

Good luck!

20/04/2026

🎉 We’re giving away 30 days of FREE PERSONAL TRAINING (worth over £250)! 🎉

This month marks 15 YEARS of aps and 15 YEARS of helping people who:

❌ Don’t feel like themselves anymore. Missing out on activities with friends and family. Struggling with day to day chores. More concerned with managing their pain than living the active life they crave.

❌ Don’t trust their body to pick up their shoes, let alone chase after the kids, go on a hike with friends or try a new sport.

❌ Have tried Physio, Massage and all sorts of other therapies, but still can’t make any sustained progress.

✅ Want to get back to being active, feeling confident in their body and enjoying moving again!

If this sounds familiar, then this is the competition for you!

Here’s what you’ll get with a month of free coaching:

🟢 4 x 1:1 sessions with Matt (co-owner of aps) at our Private Gym in Sonning Eye, where we'll:
👉 Get to the bottom of exactly where you want to get to.
👉 Find the right start point for you.
👉 Make gradual progress in each session, building your confidence and understanding, to help you keep moving forward.

🟢 Tailored exercises to do at home or in the gym, outside of our sessions — no more having to wing it!

& some bonus freebies…

🟢 Your choice of kit (swiss ball, foam roller or massage ball) - to get you started on your rehab exercises.

🟢 An initial session to gift to a friend — because it’s always nice to help others make progress too.

It couldn’t be SIMPLER to enter...

Just like this post and comment “WIN”. That’s it.

📅 The winner will be drawn on Monday 27th April and messaged directly — So keep you’re your fingers crossed and your eyes peeled! 👀

Good luck!

17/04/2026

Managed to annoy my shoulder playing tennis recently 🎾

Nothing too major.

Just a reminder what happens when you do too much… out of the blue.

I played county tennis as a kid,
but drifted away from it for a couple decades...

Rugby.
Then boxing.
Now mostly bouldering 🧗‍♂️

Recently I’ve been dabbling again, a few casual hits here and there.

Timing was coming back so couldn’t resist seeing if the first serve was still in the locker.
(…and the topspin kicker second serve 😅)

Hello muscle memory.

But also hello overdoing it after a long break.

Shoulder was pretty grumpy the next day!

Not broken.
Not “impinged”

Just a bit irritated from too much, too quickly..

The key thing is not getting lost in a rabbit hole of…
🔧 “fix” it
🛌 Rest & Ice it
🤯 Worrying something’s damaged
🟡 Stuck doing light band work… forever

Most flare-ups like this respond really well to:
⏱️ A bit of patience
📈 Gradual progression

Starting with …
😌 Calming things down.

And then moving into…
💪 Building things up.

A couple weeks later it was already feeling pretty decent serving again.

Bodies are usually pretty good at adapting given the opportunity.

Anyone else jumped back into a sport recently and gone a bit hard or overcooked?

15/04/2026

Chris is a keen paddler and climber, he’d had ongoing shoulder pain for ages!

For years he’d been stuck in a familiar loop with his shoulder.

⚠️ It would flare up
🧊 Rest, ice and bit of band work for a bit
🟢 It settles down
🚣 Big white-water weekend or harder climbing
… and back to square one.

Sound familiar?

He also had some old battle scars or ‘wrinkles on the inside’ in the mix

Old rotator cuff issues.
A broken collarbone.
A few other knocks along the way.

When we started working together, we flipped the approach...
Instead of backing off, we focused on:

⚙️ Clear up mobility restrictions
💪 Gradually introduce load
📈 Build proper strength again
⚡ Ease into power

All aimed at handling white water paddling and climbing harder.

Along the way we even had to navigate an ankle sprain.

We started with weekly sessions, and once things were rolling we moved to monthly planning with weekly check-ins.

Fast forward a few months…
🌊 Back on the white water
📍 Photo above from a trip to the Alps

The big takeaway?
A lot of lingering issues aren’t about finding the perfect “fix” or resting until it doesn’t hurt anymore.

They’re about rebuilding capacity so the body can handle what you ask of it.

Do you hold back because of an ongoing ni**le or old injury?

13/04/2026

LINGERING NIGGLES can be the bain of your existence for a sporty grown up when you still want to play well

You’re not injured.
You’re not falling apart.

But something’s always there.

That shoulder settles down… then gets grumpy again.

On the surface you say it’s fine.

Underneath it’s frustrating, grinding away your confidence, your mood, your quiet ambitions…

Progress stalls.
Sessions turn into long warm-ups.
And you gradually get more and more cautious.

Never quite going for it!

So people try the usual things…
• Ignore it
… 50/50 coin toss in my experience
or
• Endless light rehab
Massage. Rest. Ice. Bands. High-rep work.

But nothing really changes.

After a while you notice yourself passing it off as “just getting older.”

Resigning to a slow drift from a sport you love.

I’ve lost count how many times I’ve seen this.
(& fall into it myself too.)

In my experience the answer usually isn’t:
❌ More rest
❌ Trying to “fix” it
❌ Endless light rehab
❌ Or QUIT

It’s rebuilding capacity again.
Gradually. Over a few months.

💡 Tissue adapts to stress (and decent recovery).
💪 Strength needs load.
📈 Change needs progression.

Is there a ni**le that keeps cropping up for you?

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.

aps Coaching

01/05/2026

30/04/2026

29/04/2026

27/04/2026

26/04/2026

24/04/2026

22/04/2026

20/04/2026

17/04/2026

15/04/2026

13/04/2026

02/04/2026

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