SF Fine Fettle

23/04/2026

MHEC, the body that provides my Mental Health and Exercise qualifications, and the amazing coaching community that I am proud to be a part of, shot a mini documentary about me in the lead up to my 60th birthday last year.

It tells the story of why/ how I do what I do now, and helps reinforce the magnitude of what I've done and continue to achieve.

Much love x

I Died Twice! Then Became an MHEC Coach

22/04/2026

Nine years ago today, on 22 April 2017… I died. ⚡💔

Kind of twice. 😳

A lot of people played a part in saving my life 🩺🚑 and putting me back together again.

They know who they are… and they will forever have mine and my family’s gratitude. 🙏💖

As my wife’s Welsh family would say:
“Yma o Hyd” — we’re still here 🙌🏴

––––––––––––––––––

That day changed everything. 🌅

Because the truth hit me hard: 💥

We don’t live our best life…
we live our only life. ⏳✨

What once felt important became insignificant.

What once felt like a luxury—fun 🎈, joy 😄, health 🏋️‍♂️—became non-negotiable.
💡🔥

––––––––––––––––––
I used to want to conquer the world 🌍🚀

Now? 🧐

I just want time ⏰💛

Time to be with the people I love ❤️👨‍👩‍👧‍👦
Time to support them 💪💌
Time to see who my grandchildren grow up to be 👶🌱

That’s what matters. 💖✨
––––––––––––––––––
Life isn’t always sunshine ☀️🌈 and unicorns 🦄

Sometimes it’s really s**t 💩😓

We can’t change that ❌

But we can control how we respond 🔄💪—by investing in our physical 🏃‍♂️💪 and mental 🧠🧘‍♂️ wellbeing now.

––––––––––––––––––
I genuinely love what I do 🥰💼

Being a Mental Health 🧠💚 and Exercise 🏋️‍♂️ Coach is the most fulfilling work I’ve ever had 🌟

The people I’ve met… the community I’ve become part of… 🤝💛
It constantly reminds me:

We’re capable of far more than we think 🌟🚀

––––––––––––––––––

Never underestimate: ⚡💯

✔️ A plan 📝
✔️ A willingness to work hard 💪🔥
✔️ A refusal to give in ✊🛡️

You never know where they’ll take you 🗺️✈️

Because it really is about the journey… not the destination 🌄💫

––––––––––––––––––

And finally…if you’ll indulge me 🎊🎉✨

Happy Re-Birthday to me! 🥳🎂❤️

12/04/2026

🧬🍷 AGING LIKE FINE WINE, NOT MILK... 🥛❌
🌍 The world according to Chippenham’s Mental Health and Exercise Coach 🌍

——————————————

Some people say humans have a finite number of heartbeats ❤️⏳

Maybe that’s why I spent a good chunk of my twenties avoiding anything that made mine beat faster…

🏃‍♂️ running
💔 commitment
💸 looking at my bank account 😅

——————————————

Whilst that theory might be a bit questionable 🤔, what is backed by science is this:

👉 The fitter we are, the better we live 💪✨
🫀 Cardio capacity
🏋️ Strength
⚖️ Balance
🧘 Flexibility

These aren’t just “fitness buzzwords” — they’re the foundations of a longer, healthier, more enjoyable life 🌱

Not just surviving… but thriving 🔥

Remember, there is …

🚫 No magic bullet
🚫 No holy grail
🚫 No guaranteed path to perfect health, happiness, or teenage knees

——————————————

As a 60-year-old heart attack survivor ❤️‍🩹, I know that better than most.

But if we can stack the odds in our favour… why wouldn’t we? 🎯

——————————————

Here’s the trap 👇

🪑 Being sedentary is damaging…

…but so is chasing extremes 🥵, burning out 🔥💤, or obsessing over how we look 👀

⚖️ Our sweet spot sits somewhere in the middle.

✔️ Move often 🚶‍♂️
✔️ Maintain muscle and strength 💪
✔️ Challenge our lungs 🌬️
✔️ Stay supple for balance and mobility 🤸‍♂️
✔️ Adapt as life changes 🔄

Our real goal should be …

👉 Finding a way of moving — and living — that we actually enjoy 😊
👉 Something sustainable 🔁
👉 Something meaningful 💭

——————————————

For me, exercise isn’t about chasing unrealistic ideals ❌

It is for:

🛒 Carrying my own shopping at 80
⛰️ Walking up hills with my grandchildren
🏥 Staying out of hospital
🧻 Wiping my own bum in my 90s (let’s be honest… that one matters 😄)

I put my health first so I can show up for the people I love ❤️
and grab every bit of fun life throws my way 🎉

Because this isn’t about perfection.

It’s about longevity, freedom, and living fully 🔓✨

05/04/2026

🔥 THE COST OF NOT LIVING CRISIS 🔥

________________________________________

Not a day seems to go by where we hear about a cost of living crisis 💷📉

The real crisis isn’t the cost of living…

it’s the cost of not living ⏳🖤

________________________________________

Right now in the UK…🇬🇧

A lot of us are struggling more than we admit…

• Around 25% of us are experiencing poor mental health 🧠⚠️
• Just 13% of us exercise regularly ✅💪

👉 I’m not saying this to scare you, but to remind you—there is still time⏰✨

________________________________________

Exercise isn’t about scales, mirrors, or shrinking ourselves.
It’s about building a life that actually feels good to live.

It is about:

✨ Space for us to work towards meaningful goals
🧠 Our mental health over aesthetics
🔥 Confidence over our clothes size
🤍 Self-respect over scales
🚫 A refusal to judge self-worth by appearance

________________________________________
On my left side I have a tattoo of a skeleton at prayer ☠️🙏

inspired by William Cheselden’s 1733 anatomical work
and the idea of Memento Mori📜

Memento Mori is Latin for:

“Remember you have to die.” ⏳

I don’t see it as morbid 🖤

I see it as grounding 🌍

It reminds me that when I die:

• I will have looked after the people I care about to the best of my ability and for as long as possible ❤️
• I will have, all things being equal, achieved all I wanted to 🎯
• I will offer myself up with no regrets ✨
• I will have done all these things whilst having as much fun as possible, at every opportunity 😄

________________________________________

Exercise will have been the foundation of all of that 🏗️
Because it’s the most potent longevity “drug” we have 💊⏳

________________________________________

We won’t care what we weighed in 2026 ⚖️❌

But we will care about:

• Our independence 🚶‍♂️💥
• Our energy⚡
• Keeping up with kids, grandkids, nieces and nephews🧒👧
• Whether our lives feel expansive or restricted 🌈🔒

________________________________________

✨ We can intervene now
✨ We can make our change now
✨ We can lay the foundations of living the rest of our lives how we want to, now 🧱🌱

________________________________________

I'm happy to chat with anyone about getting started —

my door (and kettle!) is always open ☕💛

I’m one of a small number of certified Mental Health & Exercise Coaches in the UK who help people build real health:

💪 Physical
🧠 Mental
❤️ Social

I provide simple, personalised 1:1 coaching.

Just you, me, in an empty gym …

with favourite music. 🎶

________________________________________

A connection and a conversation that might change something.

Because the real crisis was never the cost of living…
it was always the cost of not living.

29/03/2026

I am: 👋

• 𝘚𝘵𝘦𝘷𝘦 𝘍𝘰𝘹 𝘰𝘧 𝘚𝘍 𝘍𝘪𝘯𝘦 𝘍𝘦𝘵𝘵𝘭𝘦 — Chippenham’s only mental health and exercise coach 💬💪

• 60 and have experienced both life’s joys and rubbish 🎢

• A besotted grandfather of two 👶👶 and husband (not necessarily in that order depending on who is listening! 😄)

• A heart attack survivor ❤️

• The son of three parents lost to cancer, the first when I was 15 💔
––––––––––––––––––

🧠 Health is not defined by not being ill

It is physical 💪, social 🤝 and mental 🧠 wellbeing working in harmony.

That’s not my definition… it’s the World Health Organisation’s.

💭 My journey to becoming a mental health and exercise coach began the day I realised my psychological recovery from my heart attack would be far greater and harder than my physical one.

––––––––––––––––––

💬 What I do

I: 👇

• 𝘬𝘯𝘰𝘸 what it feels like to lose control of the most precious thing in life — but also that it’s possible to rejuvenate 🔄

• 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘱 people reclaim their ability to live life on their terms 🌱

• 𝘴𝘱𝘦𝘢𝘬 with empathy and understanding to improve mental 🧠 and physical 💪 fitness together

• 𝘢𝘮 someone people can turn to when tempted… but scared to exercise 😬

• 𝘸𝘰𝘯’𝘵 make anyone feel like they’re walking into a classroom for the first time again 🚫🏋️‍♂️

• don’t judge by any ridiculous societal norm — I see people for who they are 👀

––––––––––––––––––

🏡 What I offer

An alternative to the mainstream.

I am one of only 450 qualified mental health AND exercise coaches in the UK 🇬🇧

I work 1:1 in a quiet, informal, professional Chippenham gym:

🎧 Just you
🎧 Me
🎧 Your favourite music
👉 No one else in the room

––––––––––––––––––
🏃‍♂️ The aim of what I do

To have fun 🎉 whilst returning the body to its natural way of moving.

Building a foundation through fundamental movement patterns 🧩

Yes — there will be physical benefits 💪

But just as important…

👉 Looking after mental health too 🧠

––––––––––––––––––

🌍 Life is:

• 𝘯𝘰𝘵 about destinations
• 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 journeys 🚶‍♂️
• 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 squeezing as much fun out of it as possible 😄
• 𝘢𝘣𝘰𝘶𝘵 never being too old to go out and just play 🎯

––––––––––––––––––

🔥 Exercise is:

• 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘯𝘨 fun and creating transferable skills 🎯
• 𝘦𝘯𝘫𝘰𝘺𝘪𝘯𝘨 the journey, not focussing on the outcome 🛤️
• 𝘧𝘦𝘦𝘭𝘪𝘯𝘨 good and not caring how others see us 🙌
• 𝘢𝘱𝘱𝘳𝘦𝘤𝘪𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘯𝘨 our bodies for what they can do, NOT what they look like ❤️

––––––––––––––––––

☕ My offer

I’d love to anyone a tea or coffee (other soft drinks are available! 😄)

📍 At a location of your choice
💬 No obligation
🤝 Just a proper conversation

Let’s get to know each other… and take things from there

––––––––––––––––––

✨ Remember

Life doesn’t get better through chance; it gets better through change

22/03/2026

💬 I died twice… and it changed everything💬

Health isn’t just the absence of illness.

Real health happens when our body 💪, mind 🧠 and relationships ❤️ are all working together.
That’s what I help people rebuild.

Because we don’t start from scratch.

We reconnect with what we were always capable of. 💥

As a son 👨‍👩‍👦, husband 💍, father 👨‍👧‍👦 and grandfather 👴

I understand real life.

The pressures.
The setbacks.
The starting again.

And I walk alongside people, step by step 👣

––––––––––––––––––

⛰️ From Peak… to Rock Bottom… to Purpose

In 2016 I competed at the Obstacle Course Racing World Championships. 🏁

Seven months later…

💔 I had a heart attack.

My body recovered quickly.

My mind didn’t.

That part?

No one talks about it.

Today, I help people rebuild both 💪🧠.

––––––––––––––––––

🚁 The Day That Everything Changed

April 2017.

Start line.

Adrenaline ⚡
Music 🎶
Energy everywhere 🏃‍♂️

Then … nothing …

My heart stopped.

CPR.
Paramedics.
Air ambulance 🚁
Defibrillator … twice ⚡

Ten hours later… I woke.

Family around me ❤️

A stent in my heart...
And a fire in my belly. 🔥

Four months later I raced again.

1 year later I crossed another World Championship finish line.

Not because I had to.
Because I could.

Now it’s not about performance anymore.

👉 It’s about joy.
👉 Living.
👉 Showing up.

We’re never too old to play. 🎯

––––––––––––––––––

🧠💪 Movement Is Medicine

During my recovery I realised something powerful.

We are designed to move.

And when we stop moving…

Our minds suffer too.

Exercise isn’t punishment.

It’s:

🎯 Freedom
🎯 Play
🎯 Confidence
🎯 Energy

Looking after ourselves isn’t selfish.

It’s one of the most selfless things we can do.

Because when we’re stronger, calmer, and healthier…

Everyone around us benefits too. ❤️

––––––––––––––––––

🏋️‍♂️ Life doesn’t get better by chance - it gets better by change.

I’m one of a small number of certified Mental Health & Exercise Coaches in the UK.

I help people build real health:

💪 Physical
🧠 Mental
❤️ Social

Through simple, personalised 1:1 coaching.

My client, me, in an empty gym …

with your favourite music. 🎶

Nothing and no one else.

15/03/2026

Exercise is unnatural.
Yes, really.
But movement isn’t.
For most of human history we didn’t “exercise”.
We moved because we had to.
🌍 Hunt
🌿 Gather
🚶 Explore
🪵 Build
🔥 Survive
Move… or die.
And when we weren’t moving?
We were conserving energy — just like a cheetah before a hunt.
Here’s the slightly uncomfortable truth…
⚡ Conserving energy is natural.
🏃 Exercise, in the modern sense, isn’t.
––––––––––––––––––
Thousands of years ago our instincts drove us to move and explore.
Modern life changed everything.
🚗 Cars
💻 Screens
🪑 Desk jobs
📱 Phones
Life has changed faster than our bodies have.
Over thousands of years our brains evolved to drive movement — because movement meant survival.
But today?
We’re becoming a sedentary species.
Modern life has engineered natural movement out of our days.
So we invent something artificial to replace it:
🏋️ Exercise.
And then wonder why it sometimes feels like a chore.
––––––––––––––––––
The real problem isn’t that we are lazy.
It’s that modern life has removed the movement our bodies evolved for.
Which is why I don’t focus on:
❌ Arm days
❌ Chest days
❌ Punishing workouts
Instead, I help people rediscover natural movement patterns their bodies were designed for.
Something interesting happens when that clicks…
People stop forcing exercise.
They start wanting to move again.
––––––––––––––––––
Health isn’t just about not being ill.
The World Health Organisation defines health as physical, mental and social wellbeing working in harmony.
In other words…
🌱 Thriving.
––––––––––––––––––
And thriving starts with something simple:
Prioritising our own wellbeing.
That isn’t selfish.
It’s selfless.
It’s making sure we stay healthy and capable for the people who matter most in our lives.

10/03/2026

Much like its participants, Swindon's The Longevity Games is going from strength to strength - check out Points West tonight.

So happy to be a part of it.

Tim Howe is the founder of the Longevity Games - an exercise regime to help promote longer living.

08/03/2026

🔥 Unpopular opinion.

“Work/life balance” is a lie.

It’s LIFE/work balance. ⚖️

For most of us, work is renting our time and energy in exchange for money. 💷

That’s the deal. 🤝

It’s neither purpose.
Nor identity.
Nor meaning.

It simply funds our actual lives. ❤️

Yet we give it the best hours of our day… ⏰

And try to squeeze our real life into what’s left.

And call that “balance”.
How did that happen? 🤔
________________________________________
🚨 Another uncomfortable one.

“Are you living your best life?”

No.

I’m living my only life.

There isn’t a spare one tucked away for later. 🗄

We get one shot. 🎯

And we spend huge chunks of it stressed… distracted… exhausted…
and apologising for prioritising ourselves.

Madness. 😵‍💫
________________________________________
🧠 Here’s what we rarely admit.

Most of us are trying to look successful 🏆
instead of trying to feel well. 🌿

Society glorifies burnout. 🔥
… admires busyness. 👏
…and praises exhaustion. 😴

Then we wonder why anxiety is everywhere.
________________________________________
📈 Healthspan > Lifespan.

Being strong enough to enjoy life matters more than simply being around for longer.

Exercise isn’t about aesthetics. 💪

It’s about protecting our mind. 🧠
Building resilience. 🌳
Feeling capable. ⚡
Staying strong for the people we love. ❤️

Prioritising ourselves isn’t selfish.

It’s responsible.

Because we can’t support the people we care about
if we’re depleted and constantly running on empty. 🔋
________________________________________
Life’s short. ⏳

Pretending we’re fine isn’t the same as flourishing. 🌿

Think, when was the last time you put yourself first without saying sorry for it?

01/03/2026

01/03/2026

When the rest of the world starts to catch-up to what you knew to be true all along….priceless…..

01/03/2026

When the rest of the world starts to catch-up to what you knew to be true all along….priceless…..