aps Coaching

Felt good to be back! 😊

Injuries, new baby and life in general have kept me away from Friday night Jiu-Jitsu for about a year.

It was worth the wait. Great to be back, reuniting with some old friends and rolling without the gi as well.

See you next Friday.

"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 into our gym in Sonning, 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?

15 years in to aps now for Matt & me!

more grey hairs,
more responsibilities,

and still helping fill in that grey area between physio and personal trainers — helping sporty (or used-to-be) grown-ups go from restricted, or just getting by, to strong and thriving!

How did "putting up with it" become the new benchmark!?

I’m not talking about big injuries or major painful stuff,

More the kind of stuff that's just... there. Kind of ok, but not great either.

Like a shoulder that's been sh*tty for a while doing anything overhead... swimming, or say serving in tennis or painting a ceiling

or a back that grumbles way too often bending and lifting or even just sitting at the desk.

The stuff that starts to feel like it will never get better.

I get why it happens,
Your schedule’s already full-on,
Everything can look ‘fine on paper’
Maybe you play it down as it's not ‘bad enough’ to make a fuss

Plus, it's not like you haven't already tried...

Probably done a bit of physio, been cracked, poked and rubbed more times than you can count, and tried those stretches or class someone recommended.

But nothing’s changed much, you’re running short on belief it's actually possible, and if you do try again, god knows where you'd even start this time.

Deep down, there's nearly always still a part of you that hopes it doesn't have to be like that.

And in all honesty — it usually doesn't,

but more will power, magic fixes or more of the same probably isn’t going to get you there either.

It’s usually about stepping into a process, working with someone you trust, figuring out and sticking with the stuff that's going to have the biggest impact.

Is there something "you just put up with" that you’d love to sort out?

We’ve still got a few Free Intro Sessions to give away! 🥳

Over the years we’ve trained our fair share of sporty grown-ups looking to stay active as they navigate the busyness of life.

A great example of this is Emma! Who’s 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!

Fancy coming down to see what aps Coaching is all about? 👇

Comment or message “Info” and I’ll send you over the details.

⌛ Offer ends midnight on Sunday (02.08.26)