I'm George.
I coach strength.
I am a strength and conditioning coach in Essex, working 1-1 in Brentwood and Chelmsford and take 1-1 and online clients as well.
My background is in Olympic Weightlifting, which means I care about how you move before I care about how much you lift — and it means I can teach you the lifts properly instead of handing you a list of machines. I mostly work with free weights, building proper technique and strength.
Most people have tried something before and stopped. Usually the programme was not the problem. It was that nothing was built to survive a busy week. Working with me 1-1 online or in-person means you get coaching designed to work around your life. Making it easy to get your training in.
How I got here
How it started
I’ve always been active. I grew up rock climbing and mountain biking, played badminton and tennis at school, and towards the end of secondary school I found running. I got slightly hooked and worked my way up to half marathon distance. It was something I could share, too: running with my family, and making friends at run clubs and parkruns along the way.
During Covid, like so many people, I started training in my garden with Joe Wicks on YouTube, and I loved having the routine of training five days a week again. That led me back to running and back to half marathon distance. This time I realised I needed to get stronger, both to protect my joints from the impact and to become a faster, more efficient runner.
Finding Olympic Lifting
I was pointed towards a local CrossFit gym and went along for a trial session. I was very nervous, and while hanging from a pull-up bar, I fainted. I came round seconds later without a scratch. So if you’re nervous about walking into a gym for the first time, I really do understand.
Despite that start, I loved it. Before long I was training there five days a week, and running had taken a back seat.
What really caught my attention was the Olympic weightlifting within the classes. I wanted to learn those lifts properly, so I joined the gym’s weightlifting club and spent the next two years focused on technique and strength. During that time I qualified as a British Weightlifting coach, and I began coaching adults and running a youth squad. Taking young lifters to competitions, and seeing their faces when they hit a new PB or held their nerve on the platform, is still one of the most rewarding things I’ve done.
I never lost my love of the wider fitness side, so I brought it back into my own training and found a balance between the two. The time I spent on my lifting made me a much better CrossFit athlete. I went on to qualify as a CrossFit Level 1 Trainer, and a British Weightlifting Strength and Conditioning Coach, and I’ve competed at events including the Rainhill Trials and the Arnold Fitness Games.
Now I’m running again too, training for the London Marathon alongside my strength work. I think that makes me a hybrid athlete?
How I coach
Technique before load. Always. Whether you’ve never touched a barbell or you’ve been training for years, we start by making sure you move well, and then we build.
Consistency beats intensity. Your programme needs to be one that you can complete and that pushes you, not one that breaks you and doesn’t fit your schedule. So your training has to fit your life, your equipment and how much you’ve got in the tank that week.
Strength is the base. Almost everything gets easier once you’re stronger, so it sits at the heart of what I write, alongside the conditioning that supports it.
And you’ll always know why. Every session tells you what it’s for, how it should feel, and how to adjust it when you need to.
Who I coach
I’ve coached 1-1 and in classes in Epping, Chelmsford and Brentwood. My clients have ranged from youth lifters and teenage athletes to busy professionals, parents, competitive CrossFit athletes, older adults, and people returning to exercise after serious illness.
What I love is helping people do things they never thought they could. One client came to me after cancer treatment, unable to do a single push-up. A little over a year later, they could do five, back squat 60kg, and their fitness had come on enormously. A young lifter in my youth squad was nervous about attempting a 63kg snatch on the competition platform. With some encouragement, they went for it and made the lift, and they’ve since joined British Weightlifting’s talent pathway.
That’s what coaching is about for me: helping people become fitter, stronger and healthier, so that everyday life gets easier and they can enjoy their time with friends and family even more.
Why I started KeepItUp
There are only so many people I can coach in a day, and I wanted to help more. KeepItUp Fitness is how I do that:
One-off programmes for a specific goal, or to add focused strength, skill or accessory work to the training you already do.
The Training Club for structure, direction and guidance on your movements, with a programme that keeps you accountable.
1-1 coaching, online or in person for busy lives, big goals or specific needs, with a programme written entirely around you.
Whatever your fitness level, goals or schedule, there’s a place for you to start. Have a look at the options or get in touch, and let’s find what works for you, so you can keep it up for the long run.
The KeepItUp Training Pillars
Technique before load.
How you move is the thing that decides whether you are still training in ten years. Weight on the bar is the easy part, and it comes second. Nobody gets rushed into a heavy lift on my watch.
Consistency beats intensity.
Four sessions a week that you dread is a plan you will quit. Three that fit your week is a plan that changes your life. I would rather build something you can actually keep doing.
Strength is the base.
Almost everything people want — looking better, moving without pain, keeping up with their kids, lasting a full shift — sits on top of being stronger. Get strong and most of the rest follows.
The plan has to fit the life.
1-1 programmes get built around your equipment, your schedule and what you actually enjoy. If it does not survive a bad week at work, it is the wrong plan.
Qualifications and cover
Qualified
Level 3 Strength & Conditioning — British Weight Lifting
Level 2 Olympic Weightlifting — British Weight Lifting
CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
Level 2 Fitness Instructor
Fully insured · Enhanced DBS · First aid qualified
Why KeepItUp Fitness is right for you
The people who get the most out of working with me are the ones who want to build strength and are willing to be a beginner for a little while. You do not need to be fit already. You do not need to know what you are doing. You do not need five days a week.
If you are after a quick fix, KeepItUp Fitness is not for you. If you have a goal and are willing to put in the time to get there, then we can develop a plan to make it happen.
Get in touch and let’s get started now, so you can KeepItUp tomorrow!