The UK's Premiere Gymnastic Fitness Gym - bodyweight training, calisthenics, flexibility, mobility, handstands and more. Fitness classes at their best!
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With our Professional Osteopathy & Massage Clinic also, we have your physical health covered. We were the first to offer Gymnastic Fitness classes in the UK and Europe back in 2013 and have since helped hundreds of members to achieve excellent levels of health and fitness. Tried, tested and proven on thousands of everyday people from across the globe from everyday Mums and Dads to Elite Professional level athletes. Be a part of a true revolution in fitness and join us.
19/06/2025
There are numerous ways to effectively increase ranges of motion, here are a few drills we’ve been exploring with to improve her straddle and pancake positions specifically but also the mobility of the hips in general.
Both the resistance bands exercises incorporate spinal flexion and then extension. Whilst we want the movement to come from the hips ultimately, these movements help the athlete to distinguish between hip and spinal movement, build awareness but also control in both.
Give them a go and let us know how you get on 😎
26/04/2025
Gareth had back surgery (microdiscectomy at L5/S1) a few weeks before Christmas.
PT sessions with Gareth have been a lot fun since his return with a mixture of specific work on back extension range/strength and a mixture of general strength work including planche progressions, handstand pushups progressions, single leg squat progressions.
We’ve also introduced specific work on jumping mechanics with an aim of improving Achilles tendon elasticity/stiffness to improve shock absorption with an aim to return to running with improved kinetic efficiency - pogo jumps, isometrics, depth jumps…
01/03/2025
Friday’s are filling up with Personal Training clients, each one unique with various personal goals, but one goal they all have in common is a wish to fortify their bodies for the long term… the second half of life so to speak 😊
Freedom of movement, strength, coordination, balance are all important aspects of physical health, with most fitness programmes overly focused on strength and cardiovascular fitness only… what does your training look like?
Gareth is 12 weeks post surgery for a microdiscectomy at L5/S1 - we did 8 weeks of PT session pre op and managed to on get his level of function well up. His surgeon was amazed at his level of function despite the level of nerve compression he found.
If your body functions well globally - all major joints having a large range of motion with good strength and control levels - the body can handle quite significant injuries whilst maintaining surprising levels of function.
Perhaps I’ll expound on this concept in later posts 🤔
11/01/2025
Finding strength and comfort in the L position 😊
In the first clip we’re aiming to build strength in the hip flexors and abdominals but with an emphasis on control and integrating the shoulder girdle, spine and pelvis.
In the second clip we’re reinforcing the ability to hold the shape but this time under tension. The myofascial chains of the arms, chest and lateral aspects of the trunk are all elongated and under tension when hanging, it’s a very different feel within the same shape.
Building resilience in the tissues for longevity and a richer ability to function physically.
03/01/2025
Check out some of our leg work from yesterday!
Our son plays volleyball and wants to improve his vertical jump, and whilst we know heavy front squats can help build the explosive force rapidly, we want to make sure there is a solid foundation of proper lower limb function with great levels of flexibility and control as well as strength.
High box steps are great for challenging the mechanics of the feet (subtalar and ankle joints particularly), knee and hip!
Front squats working on tempo, form and volume for anatomical adaptation first.
Box jumps to develop a sense of spring, lightness and elasticity in the system.
Looking forward to classes this Sunday 😊
and our Tuscany Retreat in July 🇮🇹☀️
02/01/2025
Whilst we wake up to a cold and frosty morning here in the shire… we look both back and forward to being at the beautiful for a week of daily movement, water, sunshine, great company, handstands, stretching, unwinding, restoring and all the smiles!
Join us in Tuscany for our Annual Wellness Retreat in the lush hills of Tuscany - July 20th-27th ☀️🌳🏝️
01/01/2025
Starting the year as we mean to continue!
2025 will see a renewed focus on flexibility for me personally, a brief foray into Hyrox last year was a good experiment to see the effects of that type of fitness pursuit on the body… whilst it certainly benefits the CV system and boosts strength endurance, the overwhelming effect on the body is major tensioning of the system globally - and I have seen detrimental effects in quite a few good level athletes around the 40 year age group.
So, we’ll continue to work and promote strength and flexibility training in equal measure, with a big dose of handstands because they are just so much fun and endlessly challenging 🙃
Best wishes to everyone for 2025 ❤️💪🏽
14/12/2024
Handstands tomorrow morning at 10m after a wonderful hour of Flexibility at 9am 🥰🤸🏽♀️
Not every attempt is successful but there’s always something to learn and take from it.
Classes this year have been such a pleasure, some new faces and re-appearances of a few not seen for some time has been lovely!
Much love to you all ❤️ it’s beginning to feel a lot like Christmas 🎄
26/11/2024
Monday night’s Foundation class 😊
All about building strong, functional movements - working in accordance with the bodies anatomy and not forcing it out of balance like so many fitness modalities do without realising.
These are just snippets and not all that we work on, come and see for yourself in Stroud or Online at Formagym.co.uk/formaonline
09/11/2024
A lot of work goes into learning how to handstand 😅 the gymnastic methodology we teach incorporates alignement drills, flexibility work, conditioning and of course balance practice. That’s before we start exploring shapes.
Such a joy to teach and practice alongside this wonderful bunch of people 🙏🏽❤️
05/11/2024
If you want to develop refined control in your movements then repetition is absolutely necessary!
Low resistance movements practiced 1000’s of times is a staple of classical dance training, and it produces some of the best movers on the planet.
Stretch & Core classes with Claire will help you develop that refined control and grace in your movements whilst developing strength and length throughout the legs and core 👌🏽
Day 2 of our Flexibility and Mobility Certification Seminar for Trainers - the focus was on the shoulders and spine!
The focus of these courses is not just for us to pass on a load of exercise drills (of which there are many) but more precisely to pass on the understanding of each drill: the target tissues and goals of each drill from an anatomical perspective, the correct ex*****on depending on the individuals current level (history and anatomy accounted for), and the multitude of nuances that are essential to achieve all of the above!
We are professional therapists, students of movement who have explored exercise since our childhood , and now as we approach our 50’s we get to explore what really works for longevity and ease of movement translating not just to fitness but everyday life.
Gurus are seemingly everywhere on the gram, look for the long term outcomes not just peaks of achievement!
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We are the UK’s premiere Gymnastic Fitness facility based in Gloucester and Stroud.
We teach and promote a totally new approach to fitness and training that simply gets you fitter, stronger and more flexible than you will have ever been before. Utilising methods of flexibility and strength training from the world of elite level gymnastics but reformulated for everyday normal adults, our eclectic community of average adults are fast becoming bonafide high level athletes!
Led by a team of highly experienced Osteopaths in Wesley Tan and Claire Berthier, our team of expert instructors are themselves a testimony to the results of the training methods we use. Each one of us has been a student of the system ourselves for at at least 3 years and we continue to progress and refine our understanding day by day.
The emphasis of Gymnastic Fitness is on restoring our natural joint ranges of motion and balanced muscular strength, that most adults have lost since childhood. Flexibility and strength are trained in equal measure and quality of movement is always paramount. In all of our classes students will receive expert guidance and coaching in all of the exercises. We have an extensive library of exercises that start form beginner level all the way to advanced, and we move forward step by step building resilience in the bodies joints, tendons, ligaments and muscles methodically and in line with our bodies natural physiological time frame.
Check us out at Forma Gloucester, Unit D, Goodridge Business Park, Goodridge Avenue, Gloucetser GL2 5EB
Follow us on Instagram @forma.gst and on Twitter @formastrength
