Stronger with Age

Stronger with Age Evidence-based strength training programme for the promotion of healthy ageing

I am honoured to share that I have been selected as a 2026 Implementation Science Fellow! 🎓This fellowship by Centre for...
19/12/2025

I am honoured to share that I have been selected as a 2026 Implementation Science Fellow! 🎓

This fellowship by Centre for Evidence and Implementation Science at the University of Birmingham comes at the perfect time to reflect on my implementation, evaluation, and sustainability aspirations with STRONGER with AGE.

I am excited to build my knowledge and skills in Implementation Science and take this experience and learning back to the School of Health & Society at The University of Salford where I hope I can lead the way in bridging the gap between evidence and practice in Strength Training for Public Health.

Stay tuned for this ride - coming January 2026

We are recruiting for two new research studies!! If you currently wear any type of activity tracker or smart watch, or i...
19/12/2025

We are recruiting for two new research studies!! If you currently wear any type of activity tracker or smart watch, or if you used to wear one, we’d love to hear from you!

Thank you so much, Kath Hudson, for featuring STRONGER with AGE’s collaboration with and in 🏋🏼‍♀️💪🏻We are just gettin...
16/12/2025

Thank you so much, Kath Hudson, for featuring STRONGER with AGE’s collaboration with and in 🏋🏼‍♀️💪🏻

We are just getting started 🥳🥳🥳

Forgot to put on your smartwatch this morning?Feel like without the data, physical activity and exercise just doesn’t co...
10/12/2025

Forgot to put on your smartwatch this morning?

Feel like without the data, physical activity and exercise just doesn’t count?

Does the thought of taking it off or it running out of battery mid-stride make you anxious?

You are not alone.

You’re going to want to read our latest study - incredibly relevant and absolutely fascinating takes on wearables and the emotional conflict we go through as users.

Are the extra thousand steps enough to justify the emotional toll?

Do we really want to trade autonomous motivation for external rewards and feedback?

Should we trust the statistics over our own intuition?

Link to preprint in my stories

I started a YouTube channel!The mission is simple, get everyone by bridging the gap between research and practice. If ...
04/12/2025

I started a YouTube channel!

The mission is simple, get everyone by bridging the gap between research and practice.

If you’re interested in Strength Training for Public Health, please do subscribe.

And if you’re also in this space, let me know by mentioning your channel or let me know what you want to see in the comments below👇

If you’re interested in how to get started with strength training (or need a place to signpost your clients, members, or patients), don’t forget ’s YouTube channel

Personal Trainer? Exercise Physiologist? GP? Nurse? Allied healthcare professional? RESEARCH NEEDS YOU!!I have a few ong...
01/12/2025

Personal Trainer? Exercise Physiologist? GP? Nurse? Allied healthcare professional?

RESEARCH NEEDS YOU!!

I have a few ongoing research studies looking for insights that only you can provide!

Thank you to all my participants so far. Conversations have been incredibly illuminating. Please contact me for more details if you can spare ~45 minutes of your time (on Teams).

25/11/2025

FACT: Women are less likely to participate in strength training when compared to men.

AND

FACT: The gym can act as a major barrier to participation.

BUT

We can (easily) do something about this!

So we did!

Our first pilot of the STRONGER with AGE programme proved that women who never participated in strength training and never held a gym membership can and do thrive in small, fully supervised, women only groups!!

In our participant’s own words:
 
‘It’s an excellent centre and using a gym can be really daunting, not only for women but for women of a certain age – this programme has and continues to give us the confidence to attend.’

So excited to roll this out in Wigan, Greater Manchester 🤩💪🏻
21/11/2025

So excited to roll this out in Wigan, Greater Manchester 🤩💪🏻

✨✨✨Dreams do come true✨✨✨Ever since my first post-doc position, my dream has been to implement STRONGER with AGE into co...
21/11/2025

✨✨✨Dreams do come true✨✨✨

Ever since my first post-doc position, my dream has been to implement STRONGER with AGE into community-settings.

Leadership from were the first people in the UK I think I ever spoke to about the potential benefits of delivering a fully supervised, small group, strength training class for the prevention of low muscle strength and promotion of healthy ageing.

Yesterday, we completed an eight-week pilot of the programme. The first time ever, that I’ve let STRONGER with AGE into the wild. No more highly controlled academic settings, where we know strength training works, but does very little to impact behaviour and health at scale.

For this first cohort, we focused on women early in their menopause journey.

Using a word play on TATT, ‘Tired All The Time,’ a menopause symptom that was starting to define their lives, after a few weeks in, they decided to call themselves the TAT group, ‘Tired AND Thriving!!’

I think the quote on the wall behind us says it all with menopause sometimes!

I think this shows the power of small group strength training (delivered by someone who believes in their capabilities!!) for supporting relatedness, social connection, belonging, autonomy, competence, and exercise self-efficacy for increasing intrinsic motivation for healthier behaviours, growth, and wellbeing.

✨Grateful✨

Is MUSCLE STRENGTH the key to increasing healthy life expectancy in an ageing society? I am new to policy, but I was per...
18/11/2025

Is MUSCLE STRENGTH the key to increasing healthy life expectancy in an ageing society?

I am new to policy, but I was personally invited by the Department of Health and Social Care, so, I tried my hand at convincing the Committee that it is!

I was thrilled to be listed as 1 of 49 individuals and/or organisations to contribute written evidence to the POST, UK Parliament’s conversation in Physical Activity in an Ageing Society.

Giants before me have been banging this drum for over 3 decades, so I’ll update you on my progress in 2055😆

(you probably shouldn’t wait that long to get strong, though - the evidence is overwhelming, it’s real-world practice that lags seriously behind)

Who’s excited to see the full list of published evidence!? 🙋🏻‍♀️

An option to download the full PDF’s - link in my story

We all know that gyms are not popular places for many older adults (just yet 😉). However, they are an incredibly importa...
31/10/2025

We all know that gyms are not popular places for many older adults (just yet 😉).

However, they are an incredibly important tool for developing significant and meaningful levels of muscle strength, power, confidence, and independence in later life.

So, here are a few things that we can do to change the narrative and perception that gyms and group classes cater only to young people -

✔️ Increase the opportunities for long-term, meaningful social connection between like-minded, ability-matched cohorts. This can be as simple as offering seated areas in order for participants to come together and linger before or after classes. Additionally, exercise (especially strength exercise) is seen as more enjoyable when done together than when doing it on one’s own

✔️ Consider turning the music down or off for classes targeted for older adults. Not being able to hear directions, having to yell over it to get their questions heard = not a pleasurable experience

✔️ Consider huge windows to the outside and plenty of green plants and shrubs to make some spaces more like the outdoors and less like a dungeon of 4 black walls

✔️ I cannot overstate how important the instructor is to long-term adherence. Find one that is empathetic and caring, knowledgable and can communicate that knowledge in simple, easy to understand ways, persuasive about the abilities of ageing cohorts (i.e. no compassionate ageism please!), and one who has a toolbox of progressive strategies - empowering exercise self-efficacy is the key to behaviour change.

(link to paper in story)

I am so excited to announce that we’ve been awarded a Small Research Grant from the British Academy supported by the Wel...
23/10/2025

I am so excited to announce that we’ve been awarded a Small Research Grant from the British Academy supported by the Wellcome Trust.

In the first stage of this two-year funded programme, we are seeking (allied) healthcare providers working in the UK who personally participate in and/or professionally promote the Chief Medical Officers’ muscle-strengthening guidelines in their clinical consultations.

As a volunteer you will be asked to participate in one interview online (approximately 45-60 minutes).

If you want to read more, have any queries about the study, or if you are interested in taking part, then please email or DM me your email address.

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Wigan
WN2 5

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