Free: the Build Guide PDF Get it

Steve Hoyles

Certified PT, Weightlifting Coach & Gym Owner

  • Gym Equipment
  • Strength Training
  • Workouts
  • Coaching

Steve Hoyles is a Sports Science graduate, certified personal trainer and owner of MyGym in Manchester, with 20 years of coaching and gear-testing.

Steve Hoyles — certified personal trainer, weightlifting coach and gym owner.
// Steve Hoyles · Manchester, UK

Why we trust Steve's reviews.

  1. 01

    Two decades on the gym floor.

    Coaching since 2004 and running MyGym in Manchester — most kit we recommend has either lived in his gym or been tested by his clients.

  2. 02

    Sports Science honours degree.

    Bachelor's from the University of Wales Swansea, plus British Weightlifting and Level-2 Kettlebell coaching certifications and a Level 4 Exercise on GP Referral specialism.

  3. 03

    Cited by national press.

    Quoted in Men's Health, Men's Fitness, BBC and The Guardian for strength-training and home-gym pieces.

More on Steve.

Steve has been coaching since 2004 and owns MyGym in Manchester — a working strength gym that doubles as the testing ground for most of the equipment reviewed on this site. Before opening MyGym he spent years on the gym floor as a personal trainer, working through the British Weightlifting and Level 2 Kettlebell coaching qualifications, plus the Level 4 Exercise on GP Referral specialism for clients with chronic conditions.

His writing pulls from two decades of putting kit through real sets with real lifters. That practical lens matters: a barbell that flexes nicely under 60kg in a YouTube unboxing can feel completely different at 200kg with a tired hook grip — and the only way to know is to load it and pull. Steve writes the technical reviews on this site (squat racks, dumbbells, all-in-ones, flooring) because he has the hands-on hours to call them honestly.

Outside the gym, Steve’s married to Rachel and dad to two sons. He coaches his eldest’s football team, mentors trainers stepping into the industry, and travels when the gym’s quiet. The cited features in Men’s Health, Men’s Fitness, the BBC, and The Guardian are mostly strength-training pieces — areas where the editors needed someone who’d actually coached the lift, not just read about it.

Steve's qualifications.

Where Steve's work has been cited.

I've been coaching since 2004. Every piece of kit on this site has either lived in my gym or been put through real sets by real lifters. We don't unbox — we use.

Steve Hoyles

Read more from Steve.

  1. 01 7 Best Squat Racks For Home Gym Read article
  2. 02 5 Best Smith Machines For Your Home Gym Read article
  3. 03 8 Best All-In-One Home Gym Machines Read article
  4. 04 11 Best Adjustable Dumbbells Read article
  5. 05 6 Best Deadlift Bars Read article
  6. 06 12 Best Home Gym Flooring options Read article
One more thing

Still browsing?
Grab the bundle.

Five free tools — the Build Guide, training program, nutrition tracker, exercise alternatives, and 10 cheap equipment picks. The same bundle the team built their own home gyms with. All in your inbox.

Check your inbox in about a minute.

  • 5 free tools, instant download
  • Built and tested by the team
  • Reply with questions — Mike reads them all

Free PDF

The Strong Home Gym Build Guide.

Five complete kit-lists, $500 to $8,500. Every rack, bar, bench and plate researched, ranked and budgeted by the people who actually train at home. No filler. No upsell.

  • Five tiered kit-lists ranked slot-by-slot
  • Real product picks at every budget
  • Space-saving setups for any garage or spare room

Joining 11,824+ readers. No spam, no list selling. One unsubscribe click and you're out.

✓ Thanks — check your inbox in the next few minutes.