There are moments in life when you realise it’s time to get uncomfortable again.

For me, 1 September 2026 marks one of those moments.

After years of living, training and coaching in Durban and Umhlanga, I’m swapping the KwaZulu-Natal coastline for London and beginning the next chapter of my career as a personal trainer at Third Space.

It’s a huge change.

And as the move gets closer, I’ve found myself thinking less about what I’m leaving behind and more about just how much Durban has given me.

Durban: Where I Built My Foundations

Durban has been far more than simply the place I’ve called home.

It’s where I’ve developed as a coach, built relationships with clients, made mistakes, learned from them and gradually shaped the philosophy that sits behind Michael Searles Coaching today.

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of working with people with completely different starting points.

Some wanted to lose significant amounts of weight.

Others wanted to build muscle, become stronger, improve their running, return from setbacks or simply feel comfortable and confident in their bodies again.

I’ve seen clients make dramatic physical transformations, but some of the accomplishments I’m most proud of aren’t necessarily the ones that make the best before-and-after photographs.

It’s the person who finally enjoys training after spending years avoiding the gym.

The client who becomes strong enough to do something they previously thought was beyond them.

The person who stops jumping between diets and finally develops a sustainable relationship with nutrition.

And the client who initially needed constant guidance but eventually develops enough knowledge and confidence to take ownership of their own health.

Those experiences have shaped the coach I am today.

More Than Before-and-After Photos

I’m incredibly proud of the physical transformations my clients have achieved in South Africa.

There have been substantial weight-loss journeys, major changes in body composition, improvements in strength and fitness, and people achieving things that once seemed a long way away.

But coaching for long enough teaches you something important:

The photograph is only one part of the transformation.

What you don’t see in a before-and-after photograph are the hundreds of ordinary decisions between those two images.

The early mornings.

The sessions completed when motivation wasn’t particularly high.

Learning how to train properly.

The meals that became better without needing to become perfect.

The setbacks.

The adjustments.

And ultimately, the consistency.

That’s the philosophy I’ll be taking with me to London.

Why London?

Moving from Umhlanga to London isn’t exactly the conservative option.

I’m leaving familiarity, an established network and—perhaps most painfully—the Durban weather.

London in winter may have some questions to answer.

But professionally, I’m incredibly excited.

From September, I’ll be working as a personal trainer at Third Space, surrounded by an environment that takes training, performance and the overall member experience seriously.

For me, that’s an opportunity to grow.

I don’t believe a coach ever reaches a point where they’ve learned enough.

Training science evolves. Nutrition research develops. Technology changes. You meet new people with different problems and different expectations.

Putting myself into a new environment, in a new country, surrounded by excellent professionals is exactly the kind of challenge I want at this stage of my career.

The Coaching Philosophy Isn’t Changing

The location is changing.

The principles aren’t.

My approach will continue to centre around personalised, evidence-based coaching.

I don’t believe everyone needs the same programme.

A 25-year-old wanting to build muscle doesn’t require the same approach as a 50-year-old executive wanting to become stronger, healthier and more resilient.

Someone training five days per week has different requirements from someone who can realistically manage two.

And the theoretically “perfect” programme isn’t particularly useful if somebody can’t fit it into their actual life.

Good coaching means understanding the individual first and building the programme around them.

Training should fit your life—not require your entire life to revolve around training.

South Africa Isn’t Disappearing From the Picture

One of the things I’m particularly excited about is that moving to London no longer means saying goodbye to everyone I’ve coached in South Africa.

My virtual coaching services will continue.

I’ll be offering structured online coaching as well as live virtual personal-training sessions, meaning existing and new clients can work with me regardless of where they’re based.

That includes personalised programming, progress tracking, accountability, nutrition guidance and regular coaching support.

For clients who want the interaction of a traditional PT session but aren’t in London, live virtual training provides another option: we train together in real time, just from different locations.

So while my physical coaching base is moving roughly 9,500 kilometres north, Michael Searles Coaching isn’t becoming London-only.

If anything, it’s becoming more international.

A Moment to Reflect

It’s easy to become obsessed with whatever comes next.

The next client.

The next qualification.

The next business goal.

The next transformation.

The next city.

But before beginning this chapter, I think it’s important to acknowledge the previous one.

I’m grateful to every person who trusted me with their training in Durban.

Every client who turned up.

Every transformation.

Every conversation.

Even every programme that needed changing because reality inevitably disagreed with the spreadsheet.

Those experiences accumulated into something much bigger than individual sessions.

They built the coach I’m taking to London.

And I’m proud of that.

September 1: We Begin Again

There’s something exciting about becoming the new person again.

New city.

New gym.

New clients.

New challenges.

A lot to learn.

I’ll arrive in London with years of coaching experience behind me—but also with the mindset that there is considerably more ahead.

My objective remains simple:

Help people become stronger, healthier, more capable and more confident, using an approach they can actually sustain.

Whether that’s face-to-face with me in London, through live virtual sessions from Durban, or through personalised online coaching from somewhere completely different doesn’t really matter.

The mission remains the same.

Durban built the foundations.

London is the next chapter.

And on 1 September 2026, it begins.

READY FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER TOO?

Whether you’re based in London, South Africa or elsewhere, personalised coaching remains available through face-to-face, live virtual and online options.

EXPLORE COACHING →