Stuart Fairclough Training Lab
Health first, evidence-based always. From your first steps to your next start line.
About me
I’m a long-time runner who’s evolved into a hybrid athlete, with a passion for coaching people who want to train smarter - whether that’s building the habit of moving well and getting stronger or chasing a performance goal.
Professionally, I’ve spent over two decades researching how physical activity influences population health and fitness, as a CASES Accredited Sport and Exercise Scientist and Professor of Physical Activity, Health, and Wellbeing. Before that, I was a high school PE teacher, and along the way I’ve worked as a conditioning coach and spent many years coaching junior rugby league.
Now it’s time to go full circle. I’m returning to coaching as a Personal Trainer, taking an evidence-based approach to help people make exercise for health and longevity a priority, alongside those chasing running and hybrid racing goals.
I also walk the walk. My athletic CV includes a 2:55 marathon and 1:21 half-marathon PB. So far, I’ve raced HYROX three times solo (PB 1:14, one podium finish) and once as a double, with more events in the diary. At 56, I’m still setting PBs and getting the best out of myself, which is exactly the point. The training that gets people to their goals doesn’t stop working as you get older if it’s built and programmed properly and done consistently.
A research-focused approach, years of teaching and coaching experience, and actually doing the training myself is what I bring to coaching.
Not opinions. Not trends. Not fads. Not unsupported claims. Just evidence-based, person-centred practice.
My Approach: Evidence-based coaching, where ever you’re starting from.
One method. Two starting points.
Whether you want to get active and moving well, build strength, or you’re chasing a performance goal like a 10k time or a HYROX result, the underlying approach is the same: evidence-based programming, adjusted to where you actually are, not where a generic plan assumes you should be.
Consistency is the super power and confidence built early often opens the door to performance goals later. There’s no pressure to get there but if you want it, the training will be built to take you there.
My “Why?”
I’ve spent a lot years doing physical activity and health research without ever really seeing the impact on individual people’s lives. Coaching can be impactful every day in ways that academic research can’t. I’m also a cancer survivor and that experience in 2023 really made me appreciate how important physical activity and exercise was for my physical and mental health, which like many people, I’d previously taken for granted.
To put it simply my “Why?” is that I think I can use my experiences and expertise to help people make positive differences to their health, wellbeing, and fitness. I’m doing this part-time and don’t have aspirations to build a massive business, which means I will always be client-focused and provide personalised coaching. My main reward will be the satisfaction gained from seeing how clients progress, whatever their start point.
Get In Touch
Based in Wigan (WN5) and coaching locally.
stufairclough81@gmail.com