Meet The Team

Matt Penney

Founder & Coach · Royal Navy
Matt Penney, founder of MP Coaching

I started training at 16, but it was inconsistent, no real plan, just messing about in the gym. At 18 I found powerlifting and went all in: gold at my first local competition, then bronze at the British Championships in my first year in the sport. Around the same time I was studying Sport and Exercise Science to Level 3, which gave me the theory behind everything I'd been learning by trial and error.

I joined the Royal Navy in April 2023, aged 19. Training never stopped: five days a week, wherever I could fit it in, still learning as I went.

Last year I came back to competitive powerlifting properly and hit the strongest numbers of my life: a training total of 180kg squat, 135kg bench and 225kg deadlift for three reps. I competed in the deadlift at the UK Armed Forces Interservices 2025, still the best experience I've had in this sport.

Not long after, I realised the size I'd built to hit those numbers wasn't actually how I wanted to look or feel. I was 83kg and carrying more than I wanted to. So I stepped back from competing and rebuilt my own training from the ground up: proper structure, consistent sessions, and cardio brought back in properly. I'm currently 72kg (over 10kg lighter than I was in January) and I look and feel the best I ever have.

MP Coaching is something I'd planned to start for over two years and kept putting off. I love the idea of helping people get exactly what they're chasing. Now, whether that's building real strength or changing how you look and feel the way I just did, I've actually lived both sides of it.

Serving
Royal Navy · Since April 2023
Qualification
L2 Fitness Instructor · L3 Sport & Exercise Science
Competed
British Championships · UK Armed Forces Interservices 2025

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