About me
Hi, I’m Rosie,
Strength coach. Menopause specialist. Art teacher turned personal trainer. Occasional oversharer about my dogs.
I work with women in their 40s and 50s who are ready to feel strong again. Maybe for the first time. I help them lift weights, ditch the diet culture they've been swimming in since the 80s, and actually enjoy the process. Not in a toxic positivity way. Just genuinely.
I'm based in Nottinghamshire and coach in person at The Luna Shala in Ilkeston and at the University of Nottingham. I also work online, and honestly I love it just as much.
How I got here
I wasn't always the person who liked exercise. I was absolutely the kid at the back of cross country, faking a sprained wrist in PE, consistently last to be picked for teams. Fitness wasn't for people like me, or at least that's what it felt like.
In my 30s I had some ongoing health stuff that left me running on empty for a long time. Then at 39 I made a few big changes: I started strength training and I stopped drinking. I felt better than I had in years. Possibly better than ever.
Then, at 43, early menopause arrived. I wasn't prepared for it. The fatigue, the brain fog, the feeling of being somehow out of sync with your own body. It knocked me sideways for a while.
But it also pointed me in a direction. I'd already been training as a personal trainer. I went deep on menopause, hormones, and strength. I got qualified in everything I could find that was actually useful. And I started working specifically with women going through the same thing.
That was a few years ago now. I've not looked back.
What I actually believe
I'm not interested in making you smaller. I'm not going to put you on a calorie deficit and call it coaching. I'm not going to tell you to cut carbs or earn your food or do burpees until you want to cry.
What I am going to do is get you strong. Strong enough to feel it. Strong enough that it changes how you move through your days, how you carry yourself, how you feel in your own skin.
Strength training is the single best thing most women in midlife can do for their health, long term. For bones, for metabolism, for mood, for sleep, for confidence. The science is very clear on this. So is the feedback from every woman I've worked with.
As Dr Stacy Sims puts it: lift heavy stuff, eat carbs, prioritise protein. That's basically the brief.
A bit more about me
I'm 47. I live in Nottinghamshire with my husband Johnny and our two dogs, Bramley (a Cavalier King Charles who has a very devoted following) and Ethel (a Jack Russell Whippet cross who has opinions about everything).
Before this I spent years in arts education, running projects and events, mentoring teenagers, working with brilliant organisations across the UK. I still work part time as a senior manager in adult education, three days a week. The coaching I do is not a side hustle. It's a vocation.
My daughter is at university in Bristol, which makes me very proud and only occasionally sad about the empty house.
Qualifications
Because you should know who you're working with.
Personal Training and Coaching
Level 3 Diploma in Gym Instructing and Personal Training, YMCA
Certified Women's Coaching Specialist, Girls Gone Strong
Certified Menopause Coaching Specialist, Girls Gone Strong
Mindset and Confidence Mentor, CPD UK (The Confidence Craft)
Menopause and Women's Health
MenoStrength, Burrell Education
3rd Age Woman, Burrell Education
Strength and Conditioning
Level 3 Strength Coach (British Weightlifting Scholarship)
Level 4 Strength and Conditioning (in progress)
Specialist Populations
Level 3 Working with Disabled Clients, YMCA
Level 3 Diploma in Supporting Clients with Long Term Conditions, Active IQ
Level 2 Circuit Training Instructor, Active IQ
First Aid and Safeguarding
Mental Health First Aider
First Aid at Work, St John's Ambulance
Ready to get started?
The best first step is Stronger, Fitter You, my small group strength training programme in Ilkeston. If you'd like to find out more before committing to anything, drop me a message and we can have a quick chat.
