the big idea
If your back hurts in an exercise, that’s NOT a sign that you should avoid it.
Pain in a movement is information: you need to build capacity to perform this movement pain-free.
Our bodies are ruthless in optimising for the least possible energy expenditure. If you avoid a certain movement, over time your capacity to perform it will further degrade.
Instead of giving up movement by movement and narrowing your training down to a ‘safe’ range that shrinks further and further with time, we will investigate WHY your back hurts in this exercise.
don't forgetYou can’t get better at playing piano if you never practise it.
I created the rePower Method as a synthesis of 14 years of studying across movement and exercise science, physiotherapy and women’s health — and of training hundreds of ‘difficult’ and ‘misbehaving’ bodies, including my own.
We will look for your unique pattern of injury: what your safe range really is, and how we can expand it.
Pop over for a quick assessment at our East London E10 studio or online, so we can figure out:
your coach
a 47-year-old biomechanics scientist and educator. I am passionate about women's health and performance — both biological and athletic — and have published research on slowing down ageing with high levels of training. I value evidence-based solutions and precise, focused training where everything has its ‘why’.
what to expect
If you train regularly but keep running into the same niggles or injuries, this might be a sign to look beyond exercises, into strategies that your body uses to perform them. We start by looking at your story, your habits and the way your nervous system chooses to perform certain movements. We look for patterns.
We'll test the 'tricky' movements — How do you power movements? How do your joints transfer load? What moves too much, what too little? Where could we build more strength and control? We are not looking for what's 'wrong', but where we can build capacity.
We use our findings as information to create an action plan with milestones and a realistic timeline to help you reach your health/fitness goals.
how we get there
RESTORE phase focuses on neuromuscular training — restoring sense of safety and missing motor skills. In the beginning, we'll relieve symptoms and modify movements — while simultaneously building a ‘frame’ on which you can safely add strength. You'll learn to power up movements from the ground up and move with a core that fires reflexively, without you having to remember to 'activate it'.
REBUILD phase bridges neuromuscular training with fitness training — mind to muscle. Once we have the 'frame', we add resistance and weights. We build muscle mass and challenge your stability and control in dynamic workouts with added weights, using progressive overload.
REINFORCE is dedicated to performance-based, sport-specific training, pushing your boundaries, injury-proofing the body.
“After 10 years of chronic pain, dizziness, headaches, bad mood, money wasted on different doctors, therapies, exercises… I tried it all… I can finally live my life like a normal person. This experience helped me reconnect with my body, be pain free, learn how to move freely and maintain my wellbeing. In just 2 weeks all my symptoms were gone and I was able to trust my body again and rebuild my strength.”
“Ivana has been a beam of hope for me. I was really considering surgery. I'm so glad that I found her because through her coaching I have learnt so much about the feet and their connections through the legs and pelvic floor. Everything aligns. I've noticed such an improvement that I don't have to buy tops which are a size bigger to fit my belly. I also feel stronger and reconnected to my core, now I know how it works and my awareness is better.”
“I started working with Ivana after seeing the amazing progress my husband has being experiencing with her. I initially sought help for my back pain, and I have been consistently impressed with the results over the past few months. Not only has my back pain improved, but I've also noticed a significant increase in my overall well-being.”
Physiotherapy usually addresses symptoms and pain but doesn't build a new movement pattern or capacity for loading.
Pilates teaches core activation as a conscious, isolated action (‘pull the navel to spine’, ‘activate the core’) rather than as an emergent property of whole-body organisation.
But the rePower Method teaches a movement strategy — creating the conditions where your body stabilises reflexively, so you don't have to think about it when you load. We look at torso muscle activation in the context of the whole body, not in isolation. Our goal is to restore a reflexive core activation and stability rather than trying to override the body's existing strategy.
You can start be either filling in the Coaching Assessment or the contact form. I’ll get back to you within 2 working days to arrange a quick telephone or Zoom call where you can tell me your story and we can see if it would be a good fit to work together.
We start with a detailed assessment (60-70 min) in our East London E10 studio or online. We see where you are right now on the spectrum between daily symptoms and performance-focused training and where you want to get in 3 months. Then we create an action plan with milestones to help you reach your goal.
If we go ahead with the regular coaching, we work in 12-16-week personalised coaching programmes (prices ranging from £260 - 450 a month, depending on the frequency of sessions and the level of support).
Once you reach your goal, you can train independently or keep a maintenance level of support where you have a personalised weekly schedule and see me occasionally for catch-ups (prices ranging from £100-250 per month).
Watch this 1-min video explaining how rePower coaching works in practice https://www.youtube.com/shorts/2fbN8kO4AFs
I'd be happy to lend you my brain. Complete the assessment below or fill in the contact form to get started.
rePower is LGBTQ+ friendly. Every human is welcome, whatever their gender identity.