Like all small business owners my life is very busy and long distance walking and trekking had become my main form of exercise over the years. Getting away from it all on the long distance National Trails in the UK and celebrating my 60th birthday by doing a 5 day trek on The Great Wall of China were fantastic times for me.

All this stopped when a recurring back problem raised its’ ugly head. I couldn’t walk more than two miles before I was in pain. Despite rest and frequent visits to my chiropractor it just wasn’t getting any better. I did less and less exercise, reached for coffee, sugar and alcohol to cheer me up and guess - what – gained weight.

I came across Duncan Edward and Bodyguards Fitness whilst looking for help on line. At my first visit to Duncan, he took meticulous measurements from the straightness of my spine to the angle of my jaw and much much more. He also put me through various exercises to correctly judge my range of movements – I had never had such a detailed examination of my frame and posture in my life, despite suffering with recurring back problems since a bad skiing accident in 1994!

But that wasn’t all - Duncan’s holistic approach to health made me understand that the reasons for the pain may not only be caused by a physical weakness from a previous injury but could also be affected or exacerbated by stress, poor nutrition, not drinking enough water and not getting enough quality sleep. He understood my frustration and stress at not being able to exercise and explained that this too could be making things worse, going through details of my lifestyle and helping me to put together a detailed plan to get myself back out there walking.

My personal exercise programme is delivered to me on line with clear instructions, videos for each exercise as well as a log to record my daily activity and progress. Duncan is always available for advice whether it is exercise, nutrition or stress related and with his support I recently completed a 25 mile trek on Hadrian’s Wall. It took me 10.5 hours and it wasn’t Kilimanjaro but for me it was a massive improvement – no pain, no aches – no blisters.

I’m keeping up with the changes to my lifestyle, my posture is improving week by week and I’m planning to do a Coast to Coast trek next year.

I couldn’t have done it without Duncan’s support and understanding and have no hesitation in recommending his services to anyone.

Denise Morgan, Brandesburton, East Yorkshire