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

04/06/2026

“Every time a treatment failed, I ended up in a darker place.” 😟

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 go for a walk, let alone work.

She was “confused by what was going on”. 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.

We had a lot of work to do. And LET’S 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 journey so far, 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 we 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. 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.

01/06/2026

"I've been rubbed, stretched, cracked and punctured, but I still don't feel like I'm making progress." 🙍

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

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

Long-term pain is exhausting. 😩

Not just the physical side, but the mental toll of 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, it’s almost a given they’ve 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 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:

1️⃣ There’s more going on than just a site-specific problem - Sometimes back pain isn’t just about your back.

2️⃣ You’re low on confidence and exercising on your own feels scary, confusing or a waste of time.

3️⃣ You want to get back to an awesome active life – not just be pain free when you 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 great 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:

🟢 A Comprehensive Approach: Focusing on recovery, nutrition, mindset and an overall approach to training, rather than site-specific exercises.

🟢 Time to Listen: Our 60-75 minute sessions allow us to listen to you, communicate with you and guide you through the exercises. Building your confidence to allow you to do things by yourself.

🟢 Combined knowledge: We bring together our understanding of pain and early stage 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.

So 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. Or comment "help" and I'll reach out to you.

30/05/2026

A gentle reminder if rehab feels a bit messy right now...

Messy doesn't mean it isn't working.

A good week.
A setback.
A ni**le.

Things finally feeling easier.

Then a random flare up that makes you question everything.

Or a plateau where it feels like absolutely nothing is happening.

Then suddenly...
you realise you're doing things that felt difficult a month ago without really thinking about it.

Maybe that's:
👉 feeling stronger
👉 moving freely with less hesitation
👉 getting back to doing more of the things you enjoy
👉 or simply not thinking about that painful shoulder, knee or back

One frustrating thing about overcoming pain is

looking back, progress often seems obvious.

Living through it feels more chaotic 😅

It's rarely a straight line.

It's more like:

up...
sideways...
back a bit...
up again...
plateau...
small breakthrough...
repeat 😅

Stick with the plan, make small tweaks when needed, back off a touch when life gets busy and gradually build things back up again.

Sometimes the biggest mistake is assuming a few wobbles mean it's not working.

Often they're just part of the process. 🌱

28/05/2026

Nice to have the pooch down the gym this week to motivate and inspire working out in this heat 😅

27/05/2026

Ever feel like you’ve spent the last few years bouncing from one ni**le or injury to the next?

First it was the knee.
Now it’s the shoulder.
Maybe the back gets aggy so it doesn’t feel left out 😅

The frustrating bit is none of them are usually bad enough to stop you…

But they ARE enough to:
limit how you move,
chip away at confidence,
and slowly erode that trust in your body.

and instead of moving freely and properly enjoying your sport
you’re constantly managing something.

Or back on the treatment table again.
Stretching random bits hoping it helps.
Doing the band rehab exercises.

Things gradually improve and you start getting back into things…

Feeling cautious…

But also kind of seeing what you can get away with… when you climb, or play tennis or turn up to jits…

until the next flare up appears.

From working with all sorts of sporty grown ups over the years,
I get the sense loads of people end up stuck in this frustrating grey area of

“I can still do stuff…
…but something never quite feels right.”

And quietly put up with it, for far too long…

genuinely curious how many people relate to this.

22/05/2026

Is your training and exercise ageing you more than it's helping you? 🤔👇

None of us enjoy the side effects of getting older:

💥 More ni**les, aches, and stubborn injuries.
📉 Frustrating dips in our strength and performance.
⏳ Recovery times that seem to stretch out for days.

But what if it doesn't have to be as bad as it seems?

And what if our efforts, training and exercise are actually making it worse? 🤦

21/05/2026

It's not just my training that has changed as I've got older. 🧓

But how I celebrate! 🥳

Yesterday I had great fun turning 39, but instead of the parties or workout challenges of the past, it was about cuddles, walks and eating banana melty sticks with this one.

Same objective as ever - have a fun birthday. ✅
Same outcome as normal - had a great birthday. ✅

Just a different strategy. 😂

18/05/2026

“I feel like I’m falling apart… but that’s all part of getting older I guess”. 🧓

I hate this phrase. 😡

“I refuse to get old”.

I’m not much of a fan of this one either.

Don’t get me wrong, ageing can be as irritating as it is inevitable.

There are the obvious downsides that hold us back from the active lives we want:

💥 The Physical Toll: Aches, pains and ni**les.

📉 The Performance Drop: A loss of strength, speed, stamina and suppleness.

⌛ Longer Recovery Times: a body that just doesn’t respond to exercise and activity like it used to.

Heavy gym sessions or intense classes now take 3 days to recover from.

Playing your favourite sport is hit and miss because of your knees… shoulder… ah, this week it’s your back. 🩼

Now you face a dilemma – push on and accept the pain that comes with it or leave the active stuff to the younger crowd and take up your place on the sidelines.

These are the 2 choices I see people box themselves into. Push against it or give into it. ⚖️

That’s the reason I don’t like the phrases above. They’re a bit too black and white. One is too accepting and one is too stubborn.

I don’t think you need a different goal (although you are certainly welcome to one). You don’t even need to accept a different outcome (unless you’re expecting to start a career as an elite athlete).

But what you do need is…
… a DIFFERENT APPROACH. 🤔

Things do change as you age. Not only physically, but your life changes. How much time you have, your priorities, your preferences, everything. 🔁

Leaning into these changes and adjusting accordingly is, I have found (through doing a lot of the opposite!), the best method for staying healthy, competent and active in the long term. 🏆

So, tell me in the comments 👇

1️⃣ Are you still trying to exercise and train like you did in your 20’s?

2️⃣ Are you accepting defeat to Father time?

3️⃣ Or have you found the middle ground?

15/05/2026

Anyone else have a place that gives them a quiet smile and sense of calm, even just for a moment?

‘old father oak’ is one of those places for me, nearly every time walk by

Sometimes I deliberately walk that way just to go past it.

In a busy world, on a busy week
I appreciate, and try to notice little moments like that more and more

Maybe it’s the treebeard vibes
Maybe it’s being outside
Maybe it’s the sense of age and steadiness to it.

Or maybe it’s just a bit of a quirky sculpture that makes me pause for 10 seconds instead of rushing onto the next thing 🙃

14/05/2026

Honestly… I think most sporty grown ups don’t need more training pressure

If your goals are to keep playing well AND feel physically good…

You probably don’t need a harder plan with loads of sessions trying to do everything all at once.

Most of the time sporty adults get way more from one that fits real life

Something stripped back
Adaptable
Still doable in the busy patches

And that doesn’t turn into another source of pressure or make you feel bad for skipping it on the tired days!

Because most of us never survive the BIG plan anyways 😅

That shift in thinking can be far more impactful than the “perfect” programme when it comes to staying strong and healthy…

with less ni**les and fewer injuries…
and able to properly go for it, enjoying your sport long term.

The more sporty adults I work with who are still keen, still psyched, and still want some energy left for the rest of life too…

the more I feel I’m on the right track with this.

The best results usually aren’t the people doing the most!

So these days, here’s the important stuff I lean more and more towards:

1) 2 full rest days most weeks

2) Eating enough (probably more than most sporty adults think)

3) 1–2 genuinely good strength sessions most weeks (with energy left in the tank)

4) Choosing exercises based on movements over muscles (most of the time)

5) Single leg work, twisting, weight shifts and lateral movement

6) Less exercises… more attention and intent

7) have a few weeks, hell, even a month off now and then (i very much doubt you will fall apart or suddenly be rubbish when you come back)

I don’t really have a fancy name for this stuff.

And honestly, I probably miss out on some “optimal” gains because of it.

But I’m completely fine with that.

Because I genuinely believe a stripped back, zoned in plan you can actually stick with is what helps people stay strong, with less ni**les or injuries and enjoying their sport now…

and I'd put money on next year too.

Hit like if this resonates, would genuinely love to hear other people’s experiences with finding that balance.

aps Coaching

04/06/2026

01/06/2026

30/05/2026

28/05/2026

27/05/2026

22/05/2026

21/05/2026

18/05/2026

15/05/2026

14/05/2026

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