Tristan Ashby Eaglen – Head Coach & Owner
Tristan is the founder, director & head coach at the lab. Tristan is also the owner of tristan eaglen coaching, which he established in 2017 during his undergraduate degree. Tristan graduated with a 1st class honours in Nutrition & Exercise (BSc). he used his learnings to continually aid his coaching & improve his clients experience month-on-month. Unfortunate circumstances shaped his direction of research & career path. Throughout his undergrad, tristan’s brother Thomas fought with brain cancer, eventually culminating in the development of grade 4 glioblastoma multiforme & his sad passing in 2018 during tristan’s final year of undergrad. It was his brother’s fight that pushed tristan to divert his research interest to exercise oncology.
Therefore, tristan went on to study a masters of research at Northumbria university in exercise science, specialising in the growing area of research studying exercises unique “anti-neoplastic” (anti-cancer) effects. Tristan’s thesis culminated in the study being published in the international journal of cancer – “Acute aerobic exercise-conditioned serum reduces colon cancer cell proliferation in vitro through interleukin-6-induced regulation of DNA damage”.
Tristan graduated with a 1st class honours from Northumbria & during the covid-19 pandemic, decided to pursue his ambition to open an exclusive facility to provide first-class training & nutrition coaching. Tristan works with a wide array of individuals, ranging from competitive athletes, pre & post operative individuals, severe weight-loss interventions, individuals living or undergoing treatment for chronic disease, or indeed anyone in-between.
In his spare time, you’re likely to find tristan up a mountain, in an overly cold body of water, adventuring with his wife (olivia), daughter daphne & loyal dog Tara (other daughter) in their classic VW T25 campervan (Frankie). In memory of his brother, Tristan organises & leads free groups hikes (treks for tom) with Olivia to raise money for St Ann’s Hospice in Manchester, where Tristan’s brother Thomas spent his final weeks under the incredible care of the hospice staff.
John Durkin – Coach
Our newest coach & first recruit to the ESL coaching team. John is a L3 personal trainer, currently working through final assessments to gain his L4 Strength & Conditioning qualification. He’s also an all-round great chap. Despite being early in his professional career, his skillset, knowledge & approach is very impressive & something we are grateful to have in our arsenal & help develop. John has a seriously bright future ahead of him & we are very proud to be a part of that journey.
Here’s what John had to say: “Strength training has been a massive part of my life for years. The pursuit of knowledge to better my own training was equally important & enjoyable to me. In time, I realised I wanted to help others build their strength, physical confidence & overall health & wellbeing. I’ve worked hard to make that happen & I would never go back. ESL’s principles & methods are something which resonate with me. An evidence-based scientific approach to training, leading to effective results no matter the client. It’s clear the amount of thought & care that goes into each client as an individual. From what I’ve seen, the work ethic of the clients themselves is also second to non. The opportunity to join the ESL team & use my skills to assist in its mission to create meaningful change to everyone that steps through its doors, is fantastic.”
The addition of john to The Lab will be a huge step in aiding us as we move forward & progress our capabilities to offer the first-class service we provide to more people.
Away from work & the gym, John is a keen photographer. Tristan is hoping to put his talents to good use on group hikes, with john’s new drone skills no doubt producing some epic footage.