“After a potentially career ending crash I was given the opportunity to have a second chance and to come back and be better, faster, stronger than I was before.

Despite not being able to walk for months Gareth devised a sport specific programme to minimise muscle disuse and having just had my first fitness test in 18 months and now being back to skiing competitively and preparing for my fourth Olympics.

I owe my comeback and any future achievements in Sport to my amazing Team - in particular the lovely Welshman!”

Chemmy Alcott Olympic skier

To say Gareth is impressive and an expert in his field, would be an understatement.

I had the pleasure of working with Gareth recently after sustaining a painful muscular shoulder injury.

After an initial phone consultation, where we went through a cause and effect assessment, I saw Gareth the next day in person. He really took time to thoroughly assess my injury, with detailed questions and physical movement tests, which narrowed down and accurately identified the exact cause of the pain, and the probable cause of my swim stroke technique.

We then did a number of exercises, stretching and massage manipulation which immediately brought relief and the next day almost felt cured. He also gave me further exercises to continue with for rehab over the next week, suggested corrections to my technique, and followed up with me a week later to check-in.

I was back to light training the next day and full swimming after a week. Gareth’s deep knowledge and his ability to explain all the medical elements of the body and movement was impressive and made me feel like I also understood what was going on with my body and my training.

And he is a bloody good guy as well. I can’t recommend Gareth highly enough.

Michael Horrigan Amateur triathlete

“I had an assessment with Gareth who then created my bespoke programme.

Having help and guidance that is curated to your goals and health makes a world of difference and the difference in your fitness is visible as soon as you start your programme.”

Emma C

“My left foot has gone a bit ‘crunchy’. Stepping on it is like standing on an upturned plug.

I’ve rolled golf balls under it, stretched it, heated it, cooled it, pressured it, bathed it and whispered soothingly to it. Nothing works!

Until now, there was nothing really stopping me running, just a boatful of reticence and a dossier of physical quirks.

Now that I have a reason to stop, all I want to do is run. I’m beginning to liken myself to Kenyan 800-metre runner David Rudisha, who had to take a sabbatical for a year after his calf gave way.

He returned to set a new world record. I can’t be so sure of my return to glory.

To begin rehab, I make an appointment to see Gareth Cole, a man with the reputation of a clairvoyant soothsayer for serious runners. Far from having mystical powers, however, Gareth Cole simply employs a depth of analysis light years beyond your average physio.

At Gareth’s request I stride up and down a corridor, then perform some wobblyone-legged squats and toe waggling. When I walk, my right arm is hanging as if its dislocated. This is important, he says. He then concentrates on my foot, pressing and turning, asking what hurts. He rules out all my biggest fears: plantar fasciitis, Morton’s neuroma, stress fractures.

He points out that my right calf feels solid when it is relaxed. This is important too. But it’s not the problem’s cause.

As he works through my legs, telling me exactly what he’s seeing, he looks quizzically at the big toe of my right foot,. “Notice how stiff this is: try and flex it” he says. I can’t. He clicks the toe to the side. “Now try”. The toe shoots into the air and my right calf loses its rigor mortis.

Of course, it was the restricted dorsiflexion in my hallux. Translated: my big right toe’s inflexibility was turning my left foot into a pain party for one.

The ‘toe-off’ stage of my running movement couldn’t happen, so I was trying to launch my body using the wrong part of my foot. From there it was a chain reaction: a stiff calf, over-tensed quads, tight hips, with my problematic left foot becoming a crash pad for my bodyweight.

It’s very easy to become fixated on the symptom and miss the bigger picture. But without Gareth’s expertise I can’t imagine figuring out that my toe was crying out for attention. He left me confident that I could run again. “Do five miles tonight and see how it goes,” he said. “Foam roll your calves, You shouldn’t have any problems.”

I do the five miles, feel like Forrest Gump sans leg braces, and run an extra hour from sheer excitement.

Thanks Gareth. I’m positive every part of my lower body ache tomorrow - not just my foot. Result!

Jean Paul - Mens Health Magazine

The Marathon des Sables (Marathon of the Sands) is a gruelling 6 day ultra marathon race held in the Sahara desert.

The “race” consists of running a marathon a day for 6 days across the desert, totalling 156 miles. The middle day is the longest stage where you run 2 marathons back to back. Just to make it more fun, you have to carry all your equipment for the entire adventure - a 14kg backpack containing everything: food, water, clothes, cooking/sleeping/medical stuff, emergency flare, snake bite kit, etc.

Temperatures in the Sahara reach up to 50 degrees in April, so the French organisers decided in their wisdom to make it even more challenging by limiting the daily water intake.

Basically, the week consists of sleeping in a large, open tent (bivouac) with 7 others, getting up at 5.30 am, have breakfast, run a marathon under the scorching Moroccan sun, finish, collapse, eat, go to sleep at 9pm, repeat the next day… This is why the MdS is known as “the toughest footrace on earth”.

My 2 goals were to finish and not to come last. Successfully finishing the race depends entirely on preparation. Without being too dramatic, since its inception there have been two deaths during the MdS - so it is vital to prepare properly.

Step forward the amazing Gareth Cole

Gareth has experience of coaching others who have completed the race, so I had no hesitation in asking for his help.

Gareth invited me in and carried out a full assessment by way of a Performance screening report together with video footage of me running.

Gareth was very thorough and explained that I had meniscus on the right knee and a chronic intermittent lumbar pain on my left side. I also had severe lack of mobility at the talocrural joint (ankle), lumbar pelvic hip complex, thoracic spine and shoulder joint together with constraints in unilateral instability. Not understanding a single word, I had to ask Gareth what this all meant.

None of it was good news!

However, I was given a tailored 3 month programme to get my body ready for the event together with a mobility programme to strengthen and improve leg stability, also had to make regular check ins where Gareth manipulated my aging body.

But Gareth fixed me, and so much so that I completed the race with no pain or injuries whatsoever. I ended up finishing 492 out of 1029 and very pleased to be in the top half.

Actually, very pleased just to finish!

And, in all honesty, this was mainly down to Gareth’s help, advice and encouragement.

The whole experience was fantastic, painful, exhausting, exhilarating and emotional.

Was it the most amazing adventure? Yes.

Would I recommend it to anyone? Yes.

Would I do it again? My wife Helen says no.

Nick Saunders”

“Gareth’s coaching has taking me from a complete novice - unable to execute either lift, to a fully fledged weightlifter, now competing against well known lifters at a National Level.

The one to one sessions I have had with Gareth over the past 2 ½ years have helped me develop and refine my technical ability no end.

Gareth’s knowledge, periodised programming and technical coaching has been totally invaluable to me and I would not have achieved what I have done so far without him.”

Fiona Jenkinson National Olympic Lifter

“Gareth Cole has been my coach for the past three years.

He was instrumental and encouraged me to compete in triathlons. From being a complete novice, through his coaching I qualified and competed for the Great Britain Age Group team in the recent World Championships in London .

Gareth has an enormous technical knowledge of different training methods specializing in strength & conditioning as well as injury prevention and rehab.

Even though I am in my 67th year, with Gareth’s continuous support l look forward on improving my PB times in next years Triathlon Championships.”

George Somlo GB triathlete”