Matthew Douglas Personal Training

22/06/2026

Happy birthday to my beautiful wife Ceilidh Douglas 💕

16/06/2026

Members smashing it and feeling summer ready ☀️

I’ve been quiet on my instagram over the last few months, but things have been super busy at strive!

I’ve been helping clients with a variety of different goals including getting wedding ready, hit personal bests at the gym, smash running personal bests, hit the gym for the first time and feel amazing for summer 🎉

I have such a strong community here and it always feels amazing seeing the group smash these goals and achieve things that seemed impossible before they started 🙌

Here are some of the many highlights from the last few months 🏋️👏

05/05/2026

Achieving amazing things 👏

never fails to amaze me with her determination and willingness to try hard things!

Last year, we started PT with the focus on getting her stronger and confident in the gym. This year, we have achieved things that I don’t think we thought were possible this time last year.

To start, she’s ran 2 10k races and now attends my running class where she has been making incredible progress 🏃

She is stronger than ever, now lifting weights that would have been impossible in that first year of training.

Then she went and pushed even further, tackling a Munro and absolutely smashing it last weekend 💪

Here’s what she had to say in the strive group chat:
This time last year I was cursing Matthew for having a gym up a couple of flights of stairs (_seriously_ - it was a struggle!). Made it up a munro at the weekend for the first time - totally worth the effort of the last year. Thanks Matthew, signing up for PT with you was genuinely the best thing I did in 2025. It’s made such a difference to my quality of life.

This message was one of my favourites this year and it really made me realise I can make a difference and help people achieve amazing things ❤️

You are a total machine Lynsey and a pleasure to coach! 🤝

03/05/2026

1 rep max testing 🏋️

This video shows Lucie, and all hitting 1 rep max personal bests in a session this week! 🔥

👉🏻 Lucie hit a 60kg bench press at 19 years old 😱 It’s just amazing to see her consistently and hard work pay off. She is so unbelievably strong and this bench press is just the start of her journey towards huge success with weightlifting!

👉🏻 Kerry hit 47.5kg and it’s just amazing to see the progress she has made since I started coaching her in 2023. To think, she struggled lifting the 5kg dumbbells during session 1! She is a grafter and has genuinely fallen into a routine where she loves the gym 🏋️

👉🏻 Chloe continues to amaze me, with her constant work rate and consistency with training. She’s been a member since 2022 and she can now do 4 full chin ups, smash out all big lifts and then PB her bench here with 45kg 👏

The strive group are so supportive of each other and I’m always so proud of the achievements from each member ❤️

Happy Sunday everyone 🎉🎉

21/04/2026

The reason I became a coach 🏃❤️

I’ve gained some new followers recently! So I thought I would go over why I became a coach ⬇️

When I was young, I had 0 confidence and hid away from so many things. It held me back from playing football, and really taking part in things I knew I would actually love!
Then one day, I ran a 100 metres race at school and won against all the fastest runners in the school. It made me realise I was good at something and helped me believe I could achieve things if I started just trying and not letting fear hold me back.
Then I entered races with my school and we ended up winning the trophy with kinmylies and I got 4 golds for the 100 metres, 200 metres, relay and long jump.

I can’t even begin to explain how much this meant to me and it was the boost I needed to really get into my running and do more things that scared me.

As soon as I left school, I entered the HNC fitness health and exercise and I quickly realised that my life was meant to be one for helping others improve confidence and feel good about exercising.
After a few years of studying and gaining my qualifications I started work at a local tennis and squash club and that’s where my personal training journey began, and it’s also where I met my amazing wife who has always helped me with my confidence ❤️

It’s been such a special journey and I look back on everyone I’ve helped with amazing memories!

Here’s to more amazing people improving confidence and not letting a lack of self belief hold them back from achieving amazing things 🥳

The 10 year old you see in that picture would be proud of where I’ve pushed myself to get today 🤝

14/04/2026

The Strive Ski Erg Olympics 🏋️

When the new ski erg arrived, there was only one thought on my mind… a new challenge 😂🔥

Well done to all the members that took part in the 100 metre sprint test!!
With a crazy 42 times recorded across morning classes, running members, 1 to 1 and partner sessions!

The winners were:

for my male leaderboard and for my female leaderboard 👏
The fastest time is at the end of the video and it’s so impressive 🔥🔥

Incredible effort from the whole team! The next challenge will be on the new assault bike 🚲 😉

Happy Tuesday team, what an amazing group we have created here at strive 🤝

01/04/2026

9 years since our first date ❤️

We’ve only changed a little since then 😂💕

31/03/2026

31/03/2026

Remembering lockdown sessions ❤️

It’s been 6 years since we went into lockdown and I still remember it so well.

Lockdown forced me to change my business and it was one of the best things that actually happened for me.

The outdoor sessions were some of my favourite times as a coach and I genuinely look back and miss these fun sessions outside with clients like .maclean1 and so many of the other amazing clients I trained outside ❤️

I’ve shared clips with these 2 because we always had such a laugh and I could share so many pictures, videos and memories from the 2 years I worked outside. I’m going to share more of them over the coming days, because I have so many highlights!

It actually made me a better coach too, forcing me to get creative with less equipment, even though my little blue polo did have 150kg worth of weight in there, including a rack 😂🏋️

This has inspired me to start more outdoor sessions this spring/summer, so keep an eye out for more info coming soon 🔜 ☀️

To all the clients I trained during COVID and for years after that, you were amazing and we had some amazing times 🤝❤️

31/03/2026

Strength training is essential for runners 🏃‍♂️

This video is for runners picking up small injuries and relying solely on running for improvement to performance!
This 90 second video focuses on why you should be adding strength and mobility into your training plan and how easy it can fit into your schedule 🏋️