SQ Active - Movement and Wellbeing

14/11/2025

Can you stand on one leg for more than 10 seconds? What about 30 seconds or a minute?

If you aren't able to do any of these, it's time to start practising.

Balance = strength + stability + confidence.

It’s one of the simplest ways to stay steady, prevent falls, and keep moving freely as you age.

12/11/2025

Knee pain?

Knee pain can be a result of weak muscles surrounding your knee joint. When there is an imbalance of the muscles that affect the knee, you may find your knee puffs up, swells and generally causes your discomfort. A great exercise to help you strengthen the muscles around your knee joint is the lunge.

It's a movement you should be able to make because you use it daily to walk up and down stairs, slopes and hills. HOWEVER, most people don't know how to lunge or their muscles are weak around their hips affecting their lunge form.

A common issue is the knee falls inwards - thus creating pain. If you find this is what happens when you lunge, you need to strengthen your hip muscles with exercises such as side leg raises, clams and wide squats. If you need help with this, book yourself a discovery call.

10/11/2025

Are you able to clench your buttocks on command? Might seem like a weird question but it’s an important one and many people find this challenging.
Here’s the real challenge, can you clench each buttock in isolation - just the right, just the left?

If you aren’t able to contract your glutes (clench your buttocks) on demand, you are setting yourself up for potential lower back ache, back pain, hip pain, leg pain.
Why?

Because the glutes are one of the strongest muscles in the body and you should be able to contract them in order to stand up from a seated position.

When glutes aren’t able to contract:
They may be locked in a lengthened position from sitting too much.
They might be weak - no strength to contract
They might be stuck in contraction - feel really tight
None of these positions is good news for your back. When your glutes can’t do their job, neighbouring muscles will have to step in to help out. This could be your back muscles or other muscles around your pelvis.

They become overworked because they’re doing jobs that aren’t theirs, resulting in fatigue, aches and pain.

Want to get your glutes functioning well again? I’ve put together a FREE 4-day mini course to help you wake up your glutes, relieve back pain, and move pain-free—all in just a few minutes a day.
Sign up here to get instant access: https://subscribepage.io/awakenmyglutes

Inside, you’ll get:
Easy-to-follow exercises to release tight hips
Simple glute activation drills that actually work
A step-by-step approach to squatting pain-free

My expert guidance so you can stop guessing and start feeling better
If you sit a lot, feel stiff, or just want to move better without pain, this is for you.
And the best part? You’ll know within days if your glutes are the problem!
https://subscribepage.io/awakenmyglutes

07/11/2025

Do you think lifting weights and going to the gym is only for people who want to get super ripped?

Think again!

After 40, we naturally lose muscle and bone density — unless we do something about it.

Strength training helps keep your metabolism up, your joints supported, and your body strong enough to do all the things you love — from walking to carrying the grand kids with ease.

You don’t have to lift heavy — you just have to start lifting something - and that might be your body weight to start with.

So what will you start lifting today?

Some ideas that don't need any prep - ladies - I know your handbags aren't light!

Lift your full handbag up and down from the floor to the table x10
Lift your full handbag in one hand above your head x10
Do x10 push ups against the wall or your kitchen counter
Sit down and stand up on a chair (or floor if you want more challenge) using no hands x10

05/11/2025

“How long do I have to keep doing these exercises for?”
This is a question clients often ask....

My response:
Honestly? Forever — just not as often!

Movement is what keeps you pain-free, strong, and able to do what you love. Once you stop, your muscles weaken and pain creeps back in.
So keep moving — it’s not punishment, it’s freedom.

03/11/2025

Struggling with constant aches and pains?

Whether it’s a stiff neck, sore knees, or aching joints, these issues can hold you back from enjoying life.

But relief is closer than you think. My pain-relief treatments, based in Worcester Park, are designed to not only ease discomfort but help you move better and feel stronger every day.

As an advanced personal trainer (specialising in exercise for lower back pain), Movement Coach and Soft Tissue Therapist using an amazing soft tissue therapy called EMMETT technique combined with remedial massage, I help people to resolve or significantly reduce their aches and pain so they can get on with living their lives.

If stretching isn't working, it's usually because it's the wrong area being stretched, it might be that area is already stretched but is just giving out a 'tight' feeling.
I can look and test how you move to identify where your real restrictions are, then help you rebalance.

Rebalancing your muscles promotes better movement, reducing aches and pains. When you move better and engage the correct muscles, your body becomes far more efficient.

Book your session now and rediscover what pain-free feels like. Let’s get you back to doing what you love! https://SQActive.as.me/treatment

31/10/2025

Tight lats can bring shoulder stiffness and arm pain but did you know they can also cause lower back pain?

You can read more about how lats contribute to lower back pain on my website but in the meantime here’s a quick stretch you can do to improve how your lats feel.

30/10/2025

Struggling with lower back pain? Your buttocks (glutes) might be tight or weak!
You stretch, you move, but somehow your lower back still takes all the strain. The culprit? Your lazy glutes!

If your buttocks aren't doing their job, your lower back picks up the slack—leading to aches, stiffness, and frustration. But don’t worry, I’ve got you!
I’ve put together a FREE 4-day mini course to help you wake up your glutes, relieve back pain, and move pain-free—all in just a few minutes a day.

Sign up here to get instant access: https://subscribepage.io/awakenmyglutes

Inside, you’ll get:
✅ Easy-to-follow exercises to release tight hips
✅ Simple glute activation drills that actually work
✅ A step-by-step approach to squatting pain-free
✅ My expert guidance so you can stop guessing and start feeling better

If you sit a lot, feel stiff, or just want to move better without pain, this is for you. And the best part? You’ll know within days if your glutes are the problem!
https://subscribepage.io/awakenmyglutes

29/10/2025

Struggling with lower back pain?

Your buttocks (glutes) might be asleep!

You stretch, you move, but somehow your lower back still takes all the strain. The culprit? Your lazy glutes!

If your buttocks aren't doing their job, your lower back picks up the slack—leading to aches, stiffness, and frustration. But don’t worry, I’ve got you!
I’ve put together a FREE 4-day mini course to help you wake up your glutes, relieve back pain, and move pain-free—all in just a few minutes a day.

Sign up here to get instant access: https://subscribepage.io/awakenmyglutes

Inside, you’ll get:
✅ Easy-to-follow exercises to release tight hips
✅ Simple glute activation drills that actually work
✅ A step-by-step approach to squatting pain-free
✅ My expert guidance so you can stop guessing and start feeling better

If you sit a lot, feel stiff, or just want to move better without pain, this is for you. And the best part? You’ll know within days if your glutes are the problem!
https://subscribepage.io/awakenmyglutes

28/10/2025

It’s easy to believe that stiffness, pain, and reduced mobility are just part of the ageing process. Many of us have been conditioned to expect it—creaky joints, sore backs, slower movement. But what if that wasn’t the whole truth? What if getting older didn’t have to mean giving up the ability to move well?

Read more:

You’re Not Too Old to Move Well: Why Mobility Isn’t Just for the Young It’s easy to believe that stiffness, pain, and reduced mobility are just part of the ageing process. Many of us have been conditioned to expect it—creaky joints, sore backs, slower movement. But what if that wasn’t the ...

27/10/2025

Have you got aches or pains you’ve just learned to live with?

That niggling knee, stiff hip, aching back or sore shoulder…
Maybe you’ve told yourself:
🟠 “It’s just age.”
🟠 “There’s nothing that can really help.”
🟠 “I don’t want to rely on painkillers—but what else is there?”

So you avoid certain movements. Or stop doing things you enjoy.
Because pain always seems to tag along.

But what if there was another way?
Soft tissue therapy can make a big difference—without needing to push through pain or pop another pill.

👉 It’s not just massage. It’s targeted, remedial work that helps release tension, rebalance muscles and ease pressure on joints—so you can move more freely and feel more comfortable.

I use a mix of techniques, including the Emmett Technique—a gentle, highly effective method that helps relieve pain and improve movement fast.
Most people feel a real difference after just one session. Some don’t even need a second.

If you’re ready to stop putting up with it and start feeling better, book your session now.
📍 Treatments take place in my home treatment room in Worcester Park.
🔗 Book Now https://SQActive.as.me/treatment
You don’t have to live with it. Let’s find what works—for you.

24/10/2025

Tightness in your back? Tightness between the shoulder blades? Restricted overhead reach? You could have tight lats.

Really easy stretch you can do for your lats.