About Michael & GROUP PT

Some people come to GROUP PT having never exercised before. Others have tried gyms, classes, and programmes for years. What they have in common is simple — they were looking for something that actually worked for their real life.

I'm Michael, founder and head coach at GROUP PT in Woodley. I've been coaching people for fifteen years, and in that time I've worked with hundreds of men and women — most of them in their 40s, 50s and 60s — who came to me feeling stuck, frustrated, or simply not knowing where to start.

I started GROUP PT because I know what it feels like to need help and not find it.

Growing up, sport was everything to me — my identity, my outlet, my future. When injuries took that away, I felt genuinely lost. And somewhere in that process of rebuilding, I realised two things: that nobody was really helping people the way they deserved to be helped, and that I wanted to be the person who changed that.

After fifteen years of fitness coaching, a life coaching qualification completed in 2021, and years spent studying behaviour change and what actually makes people sustain healthy habits long term — I've learned something most gyms never teach.

It's never really about the exercise. And it's never really about the food.

It's about understanding yourself. Your patterns, your energy, your relationship with your own body. It's about building something sustainable — not another programme you follow for six weeks and abandon.

Most gyms get this wrong. They focus on discipline, willpower, and pushing harder. They create environments that feel intimidating, competitive, and frankly exhausting for anyone who just wants to feel better and live more fully.

GROUP PT was built around a different idea entirely. A calm, emotionally safe space — maximum eight people per session — where the goal isn't perfection. It's progress. It's energy. It's confidence. It's getting well enough to book that adventure holiday, keep up with your kids, or simply feel like yourself again.

Because that's what health is actually for. Not to consume your life. To expand it.

"Spent a lot of last year in a boot or on crutches — couldn't have achieved it without all your help to get me stronger and believe in myself. Just ran the Reading Half Marathon in 2hrs 7mins and am so happy. I can't thank you and all my fellow gym buddies enough."

— Hilary Rennie, 58

If that sounds like the kind of support you've been looking for, I'd love to have a conversation.