SF Fine Fettle

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SF Fine Fettle

Mental Health & Exercise Coach Hi, for those of you who don’t know me personally yet; I’m Steve Fox aged 57½, husband and smitten grandfather of two.

I have spent 35 years in the financial services industry, but I have decided it is time for a change. So, I am also now a Personal Trainer and Trainee Mental Health & Exercise Coach from Chippenham. I have a belief system:

“We have a responsibility to ourselves first, and then to our family and friends, to make sure we are around as long as possible to enjoy and support them.”

I am a passionate

believer that exercise should be promoted as fun first, and then for health and wellbeing – NOT for aesthetic or appearance reasons. Viewing it this way can make you feel happier, healthier, and more confident than ever before. I had a serious (aren’t they all!) heart attack in 2017. Whilst exercise played its part in my physical recovery, it was undoubtedly key in my mental one. What I nearly lost fashioned my belief system. This is the principal reason why I am adding Mental Health & Exercise Coach to my fitness qualifications. If you want to use exercise solely as a tool to “look good”, then I am not the fitness partner for you. I want to help you use exercise to FEEL good. We’ll find a form that you’ll love and stick to, and view as an essential opportunity for fun, not a chore. Age and perceived levels of current fitness should not be identified as a barrier because they are not. The World Health Organisation defines health as a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease or infirmity. That is why I believe that exercise should address key markers of health such as physical, emotional, intellectual, and social. My prime drivers are to be around for as long as possible to see the people who my grandchildren will blossom in to, and squeeze in as much fun as possible on the way. Looking after myself, whilst not providing any guarantees, without doubt weighs the odds in my favour. Around 1 in 3 men and 1 in 2 women are not active enough for good health*. That can only be due to perceived barriers that I’d love to help you tear down. As I know (courtesy of my granddaughter) Elsa sings in Frozen 2:

Every day's a little harder
As I feel my power grow
Don't you know there's part of me
That longs to go
Into the unknown

Don’t be scared of the unknown, lets embrace it together and have a load of fun on the way.

* Office for Health Improvement and Disparities, 10 March 2022.

20/07/2025

My Facebook cover photo reads:
“People often mistake me for an adult because of my age.”
That’s not just a joke — it’s a statement.
Too often, we hit a certain age and feel we have to pack away things that made as laugh. We get serious. We stop playing and stop being curious. We tell ourselves that exercise is “working out” - not messing about. We must be industrious, practical, and appropriate because anything else is childish and therefore worthless.
But I believe the opposite:
We don’t stop playing because we grow old…
We grow old because we stop playing.
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🎠 Reclaiming Play as an Adult
Play is not a luxury – it is a core part of being human.
Play is laughter, movement, freedom. self-expression, connection and being present.
And play can be exercise. It can be mental health care. It can be the spark that reignites everything we’ve been missing.
✅ Play lets us move without pressure — it’s about the journey, not the outcome.
✅ Play helps us connect with others — through shared fun, laughter, and encouragement.
✅ Play reduces stress, boosts mood, and improves physical health.
✅ Play lets us feel alive again — something far too many of us have forgotten about.
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💪 So what about “exercise”?
The word often puts people off, conjuring up images of sweat-soaked classes, intimidating gyms, mirrors, machines, and judgement.
👉 But what if we stopped thinking of exercise as a chore, and started thinking of it as play with purpose?
We don’t need to punish our body to make progress.
We don’t need to conform to any ridiculous societal ideal.
We don’t need to do what everyone else is doing.
We just need to move in ways that feel good, that ignite joy, that bring energy back into our days, and make us want to do it again and again and again…….
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15/07/2025

💡 Imagine lying on your deathbed… tired but at peace. You’ve lived fully, loved deeply, made peace with your regrets, and left nothing unsaid.

Now — what advice, wisdom, or tough love would that version of you give to the current you?

Here’s what my older, wiser self tells me:

“Life should not be a journey to the grave with the intention of arriving safely in a pretty and well-preserved body, but rather to skid in broadside in a cloud of smoke, thoroughly used up, totally worn out, and loudly proclaiming, ‘Wow! What a ride!’” 💥

👉 Let this be your mantra.
🔸 You may think you’ve wasted time — but that’s just the night before a beautiful dawn.
🔸 Don’t fear mistakes — they teach you everything.
🔸 You have a right to be an idiot — just don’t abuse the privilege.
🔸 Love those who deserve it — forget the rest.
🔸 Look after your heart ❤️ and your knees 🦵— they matter more than you think.
🔸 Don’t care what others think — you’ve always been enough.
🔸 Laugh often — it’s when you’re most yourself.
🔸 Put yourself first sometimes — you can’t pour from an empty cup.

❌ Oh, and don’t forget that heart and those knees x
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These core beliefs underpin everything I do as 1 of only 400+ qualified Mental Health & Exercise Coaches in the UK.
Now, my qualification doesn’t make me a “people whisperer”...
But it does help me speak with empathy, to work with people to improve both physical and mental fitness — together.

🧠 + 💪 = 💥

I’ve learned this:
People will forget what we say.
People will forget what we do.
But people will never forget how we made them feel.” 💛
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Exercise is not a punishment. It’s a life skill. And it must be part of a holistic approach to health.

🌱 Mental & physical health is about:

✨ Happiness
✨ Confidence
✨ Fulfilment
✨ Courage
✨ Adaptability
✨ Aspiration
✨ Calm
✨ Identity
..and so much more.

🧠 Exercise is self-health. Not healthcare.

29/06/2025

🎂 I turn 60 this year. Some days, I wonder how I got here…

I’ve lost people I love — some “before their time” (I really hate that phrase) — and I’ve gained a loving family and lifelong friends.

✅ I’ve made some wise decisions
✅ I’ve done some brave things

🤦‍♂️ And yep, I’ve been an idiot more than once (just ask my wife!)

So… what now? If the average life expectancy is around 80, that means I’ve got a quarter of my life left to live.

👉 My goal? Make it spectacular.
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❤️ WHY DOES WELLBEING MATTER?

We often say:

👉 “I want to be here for my kids, grandkids, partner, mum, dad, friends...”

But here’s the truth:

To be there for others, we must show up for ourselves too.

That means prioritising movement, joy, connection, and health. Not a fan of the word exercise? Just call it movement. Because movement helps us:

🧠 Boost brain function & mental health
💪 Maintain muscle mass & bone strength
🩺 Reduce risk of chronic disease
🫀 Strengthen the heart & lower blood pressure
💤 Improve sleep quality
🧍 Enhance mobility & independence
🔥 Support metabolism & weight management
🛡️ Strengthen the immune system
👥 Build social connection & confidence
🎉 Create opportunities to laugh, play & enjoy life!
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💬 As a heart attack survivor and the son of three parents lost to cancer, I know there are no guarantees. But if we can tip the odds in our favour… why wouldn’t we?

Growing old is not about fading away.

It’s about living fully — with grace, purpose, laughter, love, and the chance to pass on what we’ve learned.
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22/06/2025

This is so much fun, an absolute personification of finish lines not finish times♥️

22/06/2025

💥 DON’T JUST SAY YOU’D DIE FOR THE PEOPLE YOU LOVE — LIVE FOR THEM. 💥

Yes, LIVE for Them.
With strength.
With energy.
With movement.
With purpose.

It’s easy to say:
👉 “I’d die for my kids.”
👉 “I’d do anything for my friends and family.”

But what about living for them?
What about showing up as our best, strongest, clearest-thinking selves — not just in emergencies, but every single day?

As a mental health and exercise coach, I don’t believe in gimmicks or shallow motivational slogans.
I don’t try to tempt people with a quick fix or throwaway messages like getting “beach ready” or ask them to judge their own worth with before and after pictures.

People deserve more credit than that.

My goal is to educate, inform, and support people in discovering their own reasons for investing in a holistic approach to their health — physical, mental, and emotional.

The fitness industry is flooded with reasons to exercise.
Some are rubbish rooted in vanity or peer pressure.
Some are more meaningful, like healthy ageing.

For me — and for the people I work with — exercise is grounded in my values:
✨ I move because it’s fun. Because I will never be too old to go out and play.
✨ I exercise because I have a responsibility to myself, my family, and my friends — to stick around, to show up, and to enjoy life with them.
✨ I move because my heart attack reminded me that life is not guaranteed — but we can tilt the odds in our favour.
✨ I don’t stop moving because I’ll get old — I’ll get old if I stop moving.

You might think my motivation is about living longer.

It is not — it is about living better.

It’s about healthspan — the time in our lives when we can actively safeguard our physical and mental wellbeing.

The time when we can choose to feel good, move well, and thrive.

That’s what my friends at The Longevity Games believe too.

There’s real science behind why movement matters:
🧠 Our brain exists to produce movement — that is its core function.
🏃 Our body evolved to equate movement with survival.
⚖️ When we deprive ourselves of that natural state, both our mental and physical health suffer.

Exercise, when done for the right reasons, with the right coaching, is transformational.
It’s a life skill — not a punishment, not a phase.

👉 It reduces stress by helping us release what we shouldn’t hold onto (just like going to the loo!).
👉 It boosts mood, naturally releasing endorphins that support mental health.
👉 It improves sleep, helping us rest and recover.
👉 It sharpens focus, reducing our risk of cognitive decline and helping us stay mentally agile.

But most importantly, it builds a life worth living.

A life full of:
💫 Confidence
💫 Connection
💫 Adaptability
💫 Fulfilment
💫 Joy
💫 Resilience
💫 Self-worth
💫 Calm
💫 Identity

Starting something new is sometimes scary...
…but maybe, just maybe, it can be the first small step towards something better 💬

14/06/2025

A teacher once introduced a class of children to two apples.
Both apples looked the same — red, juicy, and about the same size. 🍎🍎
But one of them had been dropped on the floor a few times.
The teacher picked up that bruised apple and said unkind things about it:
“It’s disgusting… horrible colour… look at that short stem.”
She encouraged the children to do the same.
Soon, they were saying things like:
“You’re smelly.”
“I don’t even know why you exist.”
“You’ve probably got worms inside you.”
Then they passed the other apple around and said kind things:
“You’re a lovely apple.”
“Your skin is beautiful.”
“What a beautiful colour you are.”
Afterwards, the teacher cut both apples open.
The one treated with kindness was fresh, juicy, and clear inside.
The one that had been bullied?
Bruised. Mushy. Broken.
What the children saw is what we can’t always see in people.
💭 Just like that apple, someone who’s been mistreated or under stress might still look fine on the outside — still smile — but inside, they can be hurting deeply.
If the teacher hadn’t cut that apple open, the class would never have known how much pain it was in.
________________________________________
We all have our own stories of soldiering on.
But unlike apples, we can speak up, ask for help, and connect.
Saying “I’m not OK” isn’t weakness.
It’s strength. Towering strength. 💪
👧 We can teach children to be kind.
👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 And as adults, maybe we just need to remember what it felt like to be children — and choose kindness too.
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07/06/2025

As we’ve got older, chances are we’ve started to notice changes — in energy, focus, mood, maybe even motivation. It’s a natural part of life... but it doesn’t have to mean slowing down mentally or physically.

✨ Exercise is the most powerful tool we have to extend both our lifespan and our healthspan — the years we live with clarity, purpose, and independence.

But here's something it is easy to forget:

🏋️‍♀️ Exercise is just as powerful for our mental health as it is for our muscles. It can support our struggles with low mood, anxiety, or stress.

Here’s why that matters even more as we get older:

🔹 Boosts Mood Naturally -
Regular exercise triggers the release of endorphins, dopamine, and serotonin — our brain's natural “feel-good” chemicals, helping lift low mood, reducing anxiety, and fighting midlife burnout.
🔹 Builds Cognitive Resilience
Physical activity improves focus, memory, and helps protect the brain from age-related decline. We should think of it as future-proofing our mind.
🔹 Stress Relief
As we get older, stress often comes from multiple directions — work, family, health changes. Exercise helps calm our nervous system, acting like a natural anti-anxiety treatment.
🔹 Better Sleep
A well-moved body sleeps deeper and recovers faster, giving our mind the reset it needs — critical for mental clarity and emotional resilience.
🔹 Emotional Strength
Finishing a tough walk, class, or workout reminds us: we’re still strong, still capable, still evolving. It builds the same mental muscles we need to handle life’s challenges with confidence.

🕰️ Longevity isn’t just about adding years — it’s about preserving quality of life.

🗣️ What do we want our 80s and 90s to look like? Playing with grandkids? Traveling? Staying mentally sharp and physically able?

That starts now — with small, sustainable habits that support both mind and body.

💬 Whether it’s walking the dog, a yoga class, strength training, or just dancing around the kitchen — what helps us feel most alive?

We don’t have to go harder — just go smarter.

💡 Exercise is not just about physical fitness — it’s about building a resilient, joyful, and capable us for decades to come, and for living a longer, healthier, and mentally sharper life.

07/06/2025

Powerful, to the point and 100% on the money - a question we should all be asking ourselves💖

03/06/2025

In the world of fitness events, it is rare to come across something new. Whilst Tough Mudder, Spartan OCR and HYROX have their place, they are a bit McDonalds – they are the same everywhere you go.

Those “big 3” do provide a real physical challenge but at a cost – as difficulty increases, so does price. We pay for challenging ourselves more with additional pounds as well as effort.

The Longevity Games are something refreshingly different and new. We pay the same money no matter whatever difficulty we choose. The concept is simple, and the workouts uncomplicated with the focus on achievement no matter what our actual or perceived level of fitness.

There are no judges, no timers, no one assessing form or counting reps, that’s up to us. So, from the moment we hear the word go, we are free to (re)discover what we are capable of.

It is one of the most inclusive events I have taken part in – its principal goal is the creation of cheesy grins and smiles at the finish line.

But more than that, it is about creating a community of like minded individuals determined to build something where undoubted benefits to physical and mental health are a by-product of the fun that is created on the day. It is about laughter with old friends, and new.

I’m going again next month. Whether you participate in exercise or not doesn’t matter. Society conditions us to not put ourselves first, to think it wrong to re-visit the realm of play from our childhood, and to have to justify doing something only for the purpose of generating that warm fuzzy feeling inside.

But society is wrong. We don’t get stop moving and playing because we get old, we get old because we stop moving and playing.

02/06/2025

Ever heard of “coddiwomple”? 🤔
It means to travel purposefully toward an as-yet-unknown destination. 🧭

That perfectly sums up my attitude to life and longevity. 💪🧠
I look after myself mentally and physically so I can leap on any opportunity to have fun—without wondering if I’m able. 🎉

Much like life, those opportunities can be hard 😮‍💨
But choosing and accomplishing stuff that is difficult—and scares us—is how we generate that warm fuzzy feeling inside. ✨🔥

That sums up my HYROX at the weekend. 🏋️‍♂️💥
I signed up because I wanted a challenge.
Something to shake things up.
Something to push me way outside my comfort zone. 🚀

From my first training session at Southern Academy of Sport 🏃‍♂️
To the support of its amazing coaches 🙌
To my primeval roar as I crossed the finish line at 🗣️🏁
It. Was. Hard.

HYROX tested my endurance, my mindset, my limits. 🧠💥💯
But I kept moving. Purposefully.
Even when the destination felt miles away. 🛤️

Crossing that line wasn’t just a physical win—it was proof:
When you commit to a hard path with intention, even without having it all figured out…
You grow into the person who can finish it. 🏆

Sometimes we coddiwomple our way into strength, grit, and self-belief. 🛶💪🧠

Here’s to doing hard things. 💥
Here’s to backing yourself—especially when it’s scary. 🫶
And here’s to the next unknown challenge… 👀✨

Southern Academy of Sport HYROX

01/06/2025

👨‍👩‍👧‍👦 To enjoy our families
🧓 To support our loved ones
❤️ And to truly live while we’re here.
That’s why investing in our wellbeing isn’t selfish – it’s selfless.
Because when we feel better, we are really there for the people we care about.
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We’re never too old to go out, have fun, or take steps to improve our mental and physical health. And we don’t have to do it perfectly – we just have to be willing to try.

As Ernest Hemingway said:
“In order to write about life, first you must live it.”
After losing three parents and close friends to cancer – and surviving a heart attack at 52 – I’ve come to believe in a simple truth:
👉 True wellbeing means mental and physical health working in harmony. (That’s not just my opinion – it’s the World Health Organisation’s definition too!)
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We’re human. We’ll never be perfect.
But we can recognise when we need help.
We can reach out.
And we can take small steps in the right direction.
🧠 My heart attack taught me something powerful:
Everything can be taken away – except the freedom to choose how we respond.
________________________________________
So why don’t we choose our own way where exercise is concerned?
Maybe because we’ve been conditioned to think it’s:
❌ Hard
❌ A chore
❌ Not for us

But here’s the truth:
✅ Any movement counts – walking the dog, raking leaves, taking the stairs
✅ We don’t need to be “trained” – we just need to be reminded of what our body can already do
✅ We don’t need to aim for faster or stronger – just move in a way that feels good
✅ We’re never too old to move, play, and rediscover a little joy
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And let’s be real:
We all have mental health – good days and bad.
Just like we all have physical health.
If we break our leg, we don’t "keep calm and carry on" – we get help.
🧠 Mental health deserves the same care.
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👋 The over 400 qualified Mental Health & Exercise Coaches in the UK provide:
✔️ Compassion, not judgement
✔️ Support for mental health, not body composition
✔️ Respect for what your body does, not what it looks like
✔️ A focus on confidence, self-respect and feeling good
✔️ A journey that’s about wellbeing – not appearance or perfection
________________________________________
🌟 Change is scary.
Starting something new can be hard.
But we don’t have to do it alone.
Sometimes we miss childhood – not just for the time, but for the freedom we felt.
Rediscovering that freedom is what wellbeing is really about.
________________________________________

18/05/2025

Being healthy isn’t just about not being sick.

Real health is when our body 🏋️‍♂️, mind 🧠, and relationships ❤️ all thrive together – that’s the World Health Organisation talking, not just me!
I don’t just train people – I coach them. I remind them of the strength that’s already inside them 💪.
This isn’t about starting from scratch. It’s about remembering what we were born capable of.
With life experience as a son 👦, husband 💍, father 👨‍👧, and grandfather 👴 – I get it.
And I’m here to walk alongside, step by step 👣.
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“From Peak ⛰️ to Rock Bottom ⛔ to Purpose 🎯”
In 2016, I competed at the Obstacle Course Racing World Championships 🏁.
Seven months later, at age 52, I had a heart attack ❤️‍🩹.
That was the moment everything changed.
Physically, I recovered fast. But mentally? That took far longer.
That was the real battle ⚔️ – and the one most people don’t talk about.
I’ve been to the edge and back.
Now, I help others rediscover their strength – physically and mentally – so they can live life fully, on their terms 🌈.
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“The Day That Changed Everything 💥”
April 2017. I’m in the start pen of a race 🏃.
Adrenaline’s pumping – then my heart stops ❌❤️.
CPR 🫀, paramedics 🚑, air ambulance 🚁, paddles ⚡... twice.
Ten hours later, I woke up surrounded by my family 👨‍👩‍👧‍👦.
With a stent in my chest and a fire in my belly 🔥.
Four months later, I raced again.
A year later, I crossed the World Championship finish line 🏅 with a smile on my face 😊 – with both my physical AND mental recovery complete.
This wasn’t about being an athlete.
It was about joy ✨. About showing up for myself, and the people I love 💞.
Because life isn’t about arriving somewhere perfect.
It’s about squeezing the fun out of every day 🎉.
We’re never too old to play – sometimes we just need someone to show us the way 🧭.
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“Movement Is Medicine 💊”
When I was recovering, I realised something:
Our bodies were made to move 🕺. And when we don’t, our minds suffer too 😔.
Exercise isn’t punishment – it’s freedom 🕊️. It’s play 🎾.
It’s the way we build our Healthspan – that’s how well we live, not how long 📆.
We owe it to ourselves – and to those we love – to invest in our wellbeing 💚.
Because looking after yourself isn’t selfish.
It’s the most selfless thing you can do 🤝.
We get one life 🌍. One body 🧍. One mind 🧠.
Let’s make it count ✅.
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This isn’t about surviving.
It’s about thriving 🌟 – with compassion 💞, humour 😄, and a bit of grit 🪨.
Life won’t change by accident.
It changes when we choose to take the first step 👣.

Address

Chippenham

Telephone

+447392595426

Website

https://stevefoxfinefettle.com/

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