STRENGTH 2 STRENGTH coach: Simon Hammonds

Simon has been the primary strength & conditioning Coach for several international level athletes including members of full Olympic, England and GB squads and has supported a variety of professional sports people. He has provided strength & conditioning services to the R.F.U.W., the Talented Athlete Scholarship Scheme, Brunel University and Middlesex University as well as various Primary Care Trusts and Healthy School Schemes. He has also published articles for Men's Fitness Magazine and various online publications. Simon has worked with athletes from most sports and has successfully prepared people for challenges ranging from the Beijing 2008 Olympics to Climbing Mount Everest.

Simon has extensive experience designing and monitoring individual periodised training schedules and recovery protocols for athletes of varied ages both in and out of the competitive season. He is used to liaising with physiotherapists, physiologists and sports nutritionists and having to make immediate alterations based around injuries or peaking for unexpected competition or matches.

He has a true passion for sports and a contagious enthusiasm for strength training. He loves seeing his athletes succeed and knowing that the strength and conditioning they have undertaken has been a contributing factor to their success.

His sporting interests are not only restricted to others. He has competed in Ironman triathlon, the BUSA Mountain biking championships and with the British Army in Luge at the Calgary Olympic Park in Canada. He has also participated in cardiac research studies for the CRY Centre for Sports Cardiology at the Olympic Medical Institute, trying to help prevent Sudden Cardiac Death in young athletes.

He has worked at various centres across the United Kingdom and Norway as a trainer, swimming coach and sports nutrition advisor. He also worked as a Fitness Consultant for Cruise Lines, Fitness Director for Sports Camps in the U.S.A. and in conjunction with Sport England and the Inclusive Fitness Initiative, training special populations. He is also a health consultant for the UK Stress Management Society.

Simon has been an Advanced Instructor with the British Register of Exercise Professionals as well as an Associate member of the UK Strength & Conditioning Association. He has also been a Water Safety Instructor with the American Red Cross a member of the British Weight Lifters' Association and a member of the Register of Nutritional Therapists. He specialises in injury prevention and sports specific conditioning.