Tony Cottenden
Founder & Coach
Prison PE officer until 2016, then full-time PT: a wooden shed, a metal shed, then Station Road. 42, wears clogs, hates running.
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About Top Condition
From a garden shed to Station Road
Top Condition Personal Training is Tony Cottenden's gym in Rainham, Gillingham. Small group PT, four coaches, and a lot of people who've been coming for years.
The story
How did Top Condition start?
In a wooden shed in Tony's garden. He was a PE officer in the prison service, and on 6 March 2016 he walked out for the last time to take a punt on coaching full-time.
2016
The wooden shed
Full-time PT, in the back garden. Everyone tells him most businesses fail in the first couple of years.
Then
The metal shed
An upgrade. A few members from the shed days still train with him now.
2020
Station Road
Gyms are shut. Tony signs the lease on 189 Station Road anyway ("massively due to my own stupidity"), and members keep paying through the Zoom sessions.
2026
1,000 sessions a month
Four coaches, the loan paid off, the air con finally in, and the first month with 1,000 sessions attended.
“Looking back, I honestly never imagined I'd still be doing this job… let alone still absolutely loving it.”
Tony, ten years in. "Considering I don't even like people that much, that's probably the most impressive part."
The coaches
Who will be coaching me?
One of these four runs every session. They'll know your name, what you're after and what you lifted last time.
Emma
Coach
Em. Coaches women who are just starting to notice menopause symptoms. Does this on top of a full-time job, and still trains four or five times a week.
Dylan Addison
Coach
Dyl. Back from his travels in 2025. Calm, curious and always ready to listen, which makes one of us.
Stewart
Coach
Thirty years a firefighter. Then a client here, and one of the best transformations we've had. Qualified, joined us in May 2026, and runs youth training.
Outside the sessions
What else goes on?
Tony reckons coaching is "30% fitness, 70% group therapy". The rest happens outside the sessions, most months.
- Workshops on sleep, nutrition, the menopause and strength
- The Summer and Winter Games plus HYROX races and hikes
- The Christmas party and the odd social in between
- The Rainham End we sponsor the local football team's shirts
The 6 Week Kickstart
Start with six weeks.
Up to 18 sessions, help with your food and a check-in every week. Turn up, and if you don't feel better, you get your money back.