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Healthy ageing & physical function
Stay strong, mobile, balanced and capable as you get older.
Movement Coaching for Health, Strength and Healthy Ageing
Movement coaching provides personalised support to build strength, fitness, physical function and confidence through exercise and everyday movement. Darryl Edwards is a CIMSPA Chartered Senior Practitioner with postgraduate training in exercise medicine. He works with adults seeking healthy ageing, improved physical capacity, metabolic health support, and appropriately adapted movement alongside care for long-term health conditions.
Online coaching worldwide · Limited in-person coaching in West London
Who is movement coaching for?
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Long-term conditions & deconditioning
Adapt movement around symptoms, fatigue, pain, capability and clinical guidance.
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Metabolic health & GLP-1 treatment
Support strength, fitness and physical function during weight and metabolic-health management.
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Strength, fitness & performance
Build strength, stamina, power and movement skill through progressive training.
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You find it difficult to make exercise a regular part of your life
Use active play, movement skills and physical challenges to make regular activity more engaging.
Why Active Play?
Active play is central to the Primal Play Method®. It uses choice, challenge, exploration, skill and enjoyment to make movement engaging while still creating a meaningful physical stimulus. The Method draws on exercise physiology, cognitive neuroscience, evolutionary biology and play psychology to support physical capacity, confidence and sustained participation.
Living with or beyond cancer?
Specialist cancer exercise support is available through Movement Oncology™
PROFESSIONAL PATHWAY
For healthcare professionals
Darryl welcomes appropriate professional signposting for adults who need structured support to become stronger, more physically active and more confident in movement.
This may include people managing long-term conditions, deconditioning, metabolic health concerns, weight-management treatment, reduced physical confidence or difficulty maintaining conventional exercise.
Movement coaching combines evidence-informed exercise with the Primal Play Method®, using strength, conditioning, movement skills and active play based on the individual’s health, capabilities, goals and preferences.
Coaching can work alongside medical, physiotherapy, rehabilitation and lifestyle medicine care. Clinical diagnosis, medical treatment and rehabilitation remain with the appropriate healthcare team.
Healthcare professional considering signposting someone?
Healthcare referrals and signposting
Darryl Edwards performing a Donkey Kick
Why work with Darryl Edwards?
Darryl Edwards is a CIMSPA Chartered Senior Practitioner, author, international speaker and founder of the Primal Play Method®.
His CIMSPA professional status independently verifies competence against the Personal Trainer occupational professional standard and the Working with People with Long Term Conditions professional standard.
His professional credentials include FCIMSPA (Chartered), DFSEM(UK), FBSLM and ACSM Cancer Exercise Trainer®.
His coaching combines exercise medicine, strength and conditioning, active play and behaviour-informed approaches to physical activity. He works primarily online with clients internationally, with limited in-person coaching available in West London.
Verify Darryl’s CIMSPA Chartered Fellow status →
How does movement coaching work?
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Understand the starting point
Goals, capability, health considerations, time, equipment and movement preferences.
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Build the programme
Strength, conditioning, movement skills, animal moves and active play according to the intended outcome.
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Adapt when life changes
Adjust training around energy, symptoms, recovery, travel and available time.
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Review and progress
Reassess capacity and adjust exercise dose, challenge and progression.
What can we work towards?
Coaching can be shaped around the physical capabilities and outcomes that matter most to you.
- Strength and physical capacity
- Balance, coordination and confidence
- Walking, stairs and carrying capacity
- Cardiovascular fitness
- Physical function during healthy ageing
- Consistency with physical activity
- Performance goals where appropriate
Scope and safety
Movement coaching focuses on exercise, physical activity, movement skills, physical capacity and support for continued participation.
Training is adapted to your current health, capability, symptoms and relevant clinical guidance.
Where medical restrictions, recent surgery, significant symptoms or rehabilitation needs are present, coaching can be coordinated with advice from the appropriate doctor, physiotherapist or healthcare team.
New, unexplained or clinically significant symptoms are assessed within the appropriate professional pathway, with clinical input sought where required.
Ways to work together
MAIN OPTION
Online movement coaching
Main coaching option. Available internationally.
IN PERSON
In-person movement coaching
Limited availability in Chiswick, West London.
FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS
Questions about movement coaching
What is movement coaching?
Movement coaching provides personalised support to improve strength, fitness, physical function, movement skills and participation in physical activity. Coaching is adapted to your goals, current capacity, preferences and relevant health considerations.
Can I work with Darryl if I have a long-term condition?
Potentially. Coaching can be adapted around many long-term health conditions when physical activity is appropriate. Your current health, symptoms, physical capacity, relevant clinical guidance and any restrictions help determine the starting point and progression.
Can my doctor, physiotherapist or another healthcare professional signpost me?
Yes. Healthcare professionals can signpost suitable patients or clients to Darryl. You can then contact Darryl directly to discuss whether movement coaching is appropriate for you.
Can Darryl work alongside my healthcare team?
Yes, where appropriate and with your permission. Movement coaching can incorporate relevant clinical guidance while focusing on exercise, physical activity and physical capacity. Diagnosis, medical treatment and specialist rehabilitation remain with the appropriate healthcare professionals.
Can movement coaching support healthy ageing?
Yes. Healthy ageing is a major focus of Darryl's work. Coaching can target strength, balance, cardiovascular fitness, mobility, coordination and the physical capacity required for everyday life.
Can I work with Darryl while taking a GLP-1 medicine?
Potentially. Movement coaching can place particular emphasis on resistance training, physical function, cardiovascular fitness and maintaining regular physical activity as body weight changes. Medication and clinical management remain with your prescribing healthcare professional.
How does online movement coaching work?
Most coaching is delivered remotely. Online coaching can include movement assessment, programme design, coached sessions and regular progress reviews.
Do I have to enjoy conventional exercise?
No specific type of exercise is required. The Primal Play Method® can incorporate active play, movement skills, strength training, locomotion and adaptable physical challenges according to your preferences, capabilities and goals.
Movement Coaching with Darryl Edwards
CLIENT EXPERIENCES
What clients say
REMOTE COACHING · HEALTHY AGEING
“I have never felt better.”
Client-reported outcome
Progressed from severe fatigue and very limited activity to regular
strength and HIIT training, with improvements in strength, energy,
movement confidence and physical function through remote coaching.
Lynne C.
Age 60 · Healthy ageing and remote coaching
EXERCISE ONCOLOGY · REMOTE SUPPORT
“I feel better equipped.”
Client-reported outcome
Maintained progressive strength and cardiovascular exercise across
surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy, with training adapted to
treatment phase, fatigue and weekly capacity.
Sophie S.
Age 47 · Exercise oncology and adapted movement
STRENGTH · FITNESS · PERFORMANCE
“The most enjoyable sessions I have undertaken.”
Client-reported outcome
Progressed over 24 months from struggling to complete a 5 km obstacle
course to regularly placing within the top 10 for his age group.
Iain R.
Obstacle-course racing and performance coaching
METABOLIC HEALTH · WEIGHT MANAGEMENT
“I’ve achieved a body fat% reduction.”
Client-reported outcome
Over three months, body fat reduced from 34.6% to 27.9% and body
weight from 74 kg to 67 kg. Blood glucose also moved from the
prediabetes range into the normal range during the coaching period.
Parissa P.
Metabolic health and weight management
PARKINSON’S · STRENGTH · PHYSICAL FUNCTION
“I feel more confident in what my body can do.”
Client-reported outcome
Built greater confidence with walking, balance, sit-to-stand
movements and everyday physical tasks. Training was adapted around
changes in energy, movement quality and symptoms, with progressive
strength, coordination and active-play challenges used to support
physical function.
Janet M.
Age 57 · Parkinson’s, strength and functional movement
MULTIPLE SCLEROSIS · STRENGTH · FATIGUE MANAGEMENT
“I’m doing more than I thought I could.”
Client-reported outcome
Improved strength, movement confidence and consistency with physical
activity while working around fatigue and day-to-day changes in
capacity. Sessions were adjusted when needed, allowing exercise to
remain challenging while accounting for symptoms, recovery and
energy levels.
Lee J.
Age 49 · Multiple sclerosis, strength and adapted movement
ACTIVE PLAY · EXERCISE ADHERENCE · MOVEMENT CONFIDENCE
“I still wouldn’t call myself a gym person, but Darryl has somehow made me look forward to moving.”
Client-reported outcome
Started with a strong dislike of conventional exercise and little
enthusiasm for structured training. Through playful movement,
achievable challenges and greater choice, regular activity gradually
became something enjoyable rather than something to endure. Over time,
confidence increased, and movement became a more consistent part of
everyday life.
Venita K.
Active play · Exercise adherence and movement confidence
PARTNER PLAY · FAMILY MOVEMENT · SOCIAL CONNECTION
“We started doing the games together, and before long the kids were joining in too.”
Client-reported outcome
Two parents began using partner games, movement challenges and playful
activities as a shared way to stay active. What started as time for the
two of them gradually became part of family life, with their children
occasionally joining in. Movement became more social, spontaneous and
easier to return to regularly.
Joseph and Marissa S.
Partner play · Family movement and shared activity
