Hey guys, I’m James!

I’m originally from Pembrokeshire and have now lived in Bath for almost 12 years. When I’m not training or coaching at Valesco, I’m either working for Apple where I look after the Operations in our Bristol store or hanging out with my pup Sonny who makes a guest appearance at the gym every now and then!

I got into sport during school where I spent time training with the Welsh track team. I started to spend more time in the gym and after becoming too heavy to run fast. I decided to go with it and started powerlifting! A few years of full-time 1 rep maxes and obviously shaving my head and growing a beard (which I can confirm adds 10kg to your 1 rep max), it was time to take on something new and start getting a bit fitter. I started to do some Functional Fitness workouts and it didn’t take long for me to find Valesco! The family-vibe of our gym – the other coaches and all of the members – instantly made it feel like somewhere I wanted to be and I’ve never enjoyed training more than I do now.

Fun fact – I reached the live shows of the first ever series of Britain’s Got Talent and soon after went on to perform on stage at the Royal Albert Hall… drumming on Dustbins!