about 20 minute strength
We’re Matt and Cy, two personal trainers from London. We met at the Pure Gym in Crouch End and quickly connected over wanting to help make strength training more accessible. Cy wanted to support her dad to do more strength training, and he requested something he could ‘do in 20 minutes’. A year later, we created 20 Minute Strength!
About Cy
I ‘got into’ fitness and sports when I was at university and tried my hand at every sport I could. I started playing tag rugby (and loved it!) and later represented Great Britain. However, in 2017, and then again in 2019, I ruptured my ACL and underwent two knee reconstructions.
Since then, I qualified to be a fitness instructor and personal trainer with a keen interest in injury prevention and moving pain-free. I train clients online from around the world to support them to get stronger to do the activities they love most – whether that’s running an ultramarathon or playing with their children!
About Matt
My interest in strength training began while playing football at a reasonably high level as a teenager. After I stopped playing football at the end of university, I took my strength training to the next level and stepped on stage in my first bodybuilding competition when I was 22. However, during the competition prep, I realised that I had developed an obsessive relationship with exercise and food. I put my Master’s degree in Psychology and my expertise in health and fitness to good use, returning exercise to something enjoyable and part of a balanced lifestyle.
After becoming a PT 3 years ago, I apply my experience with clients to support them in using strength training as a tool to help them feel more confident and enhance their lives, rather than take over it.
Follow us on Instagram (@mattandcy) for updates on what we're getting up to.
Why we exist
Building and maintaining strength is essential for our health and empowers us to live the life we want now and into older age. It reduces our risk of injury and pain and supports our daily activities – whether that’s playing a sport, walking upstairs or getting out of bed in the morning.
Getting stronger also increases our confidence, and helps us feel at our best. Strength training is for everyone, and the sooner we start, the easier it is to maintain strength later on in our lives.
The NHS recommends adults take part in activities which build strength at least twice a week to support overall health.
However, most people’s everyday routine makes it hard to build and maintain strength – hours of sitting every day. We know most people are unable to spend multiple hours a week dedicated to effective strength training. This is why we created 20 Minute Strength.
Who is 20 Minute Strength for?
20 Minute Strength is for you if you are new to strength training or just haven’t done it in a while. Whether you want to improve at or continue playing a sport you love, get some more muscle tone, or are a bit older and trying out strength training for the first time – this programme is going to help you get stronger. It is designed specifically for people who can’t dedicate hours a day to working out, but still want the benefits of improving their strength. You won’t even need a gym. You can build significant strength with minimal equipment using just a resistance band, a sturdy chair and objects or weights you can find at home.
What makes 20 Minute Strength different?
We’ve sifted through the current evidence on health and fitness, and have worked out the minimum time you need to spend each week to make and maintain significant strength improvements.
We’ve created a series of resistance training workouts designed to improve your strength as well as other fundamental physical skills such as mobility and balance. The best part is that it takes just three, 20 minutes sessions a week. There are no random exercises thrown in just for the sake of it, every exercise has been carefully selected based on thorough research and the extensive experience we have from working with Personal Training clients over the years. We will guide you through each workout to help find your right level of challenge, so you can see how much stronger you can become over weeks, months and years. We will be building from the ground up so that you have strong foundations for all that life throws at you.
What does the programme look like?
20 Minute Strength is a structured 12-week programme designed to guide you through the workouts and progressions week-on-week. The programme is split into 3 phases, each lasting for 4 weeks. Three times a week, you can complete the full-body workouts at your own convenience with follow-along videos with us. Once you have completed the 12 weeks, you can go back to the start from your new, stronger baseline, and challenge yourself with heavier resistance or tougher variations.
Of course, there is no quick fix when it comes to building and maintaining strength. You will need to apply consistent effort over the course of the programme. We will be there to provide all the support you need: the workouts are easy to access on our website, and we have a library of videos which provide more in-depth explanations of the exercises we use in this programme and the variations available to match your level of challenge.