Hi, I'm Jo.

I'm a Level 3 qualified Personal Trainer, and I spend a lot of my time lifting heavy things.

I compete in Strongman and Stonelifting, which wasn't the plan when I first started exercising, but here we are!

I was diagnosed with M.E. when I was 16, and I've had a fairly complicated relationship with exercise over the years. There have been periods where I couldn't do much at all, including a pretty major relapse when my kids were little.

It took me a long time to get back to doing anything properly.

When I eventually did, I started small. Walking. A bit of exercise. Some weights.

Then I discovered that I actually quite liked lifting things.

Then I found Strongman - who knew it was actually a very accessible way to exercise!

And then, apparently, I decided that lifting increasingly heavy things was a good use of my time.

It turns out I really like it.

I like getting stronger. I like having something to work towards. I like learning what my body can actually do, particularly when it turns out to be more than I thought.

That's what I want to help other people with too.

You don't need to want to compete. You don't need to be particularly strong. You don't even need to know what half the equipment in a gym is called.

You might just want to get stronger, feel more capable, work towards a particular goal, or find out what happens if you actually give strength training a proper go.

I'm here for all of that.

And yes, if you eventually decide you'd quite like to pick up something really big, I'm probably going to encourage you.