There’s a steep hill in Ambleside that tells you everything you need to know about Ursula Brendling. We don’t rush it. We don’t make it a race. We take it slowly, breathe deeply, and listen as Ursula shares her journey with us, whilst we walk.
A Life Lived Everywhere
Ursula was born in Nottingham, but her story quickly took her across the globe. She worked for the Youth Hostels Association, lived in the Virgin Islands, toured Australia, and spent time at Kakadu National Park in the Northern Territory, living and working alongside Aboriginal communities. By 1999, she’d found her way to Cumbria, and she’s been here ever since.
Twenty-five years in the Lake District. She’s earned her local stripes, even if her accent, a wonderful cocktail of New Zealand twang, London influence, and southern softness, tells a slightly different story.
Running the Biggest YHA Hostel in the UK
It was through the YHA that Ursula first planted roots in the Lakes. She and her then-husband applied to manage what was, at the time, the biggest youth hostel in the UK. They got it. And right from the start, the ethos was clear: make it welcoming, keep it affordable, and let the locals in too.
“We always had a bar that locals could come to and have a drink and it wouldn’t be expensive,” she says. That philosophy, community first, has run through everything Ursula has done since.
30 Years of Fitness, and Still Going Strong
Ursula has been a fitness instructor for three decades. She trained with the YMCA in an intensive two-week course, followed by a year of personal training qualifications and teaching training. But fitness, for her, has never just been about the physical.
She teaches people living with MS, stroke, and Parkinson’s. She trained as a rehab stroke instructor after a close friend suffered a stroke, and got her walking again. The satisfaction she describes when she talks about that moment, the smile on her face, says everything.
“You can be a hero for a day. But it’s more about being there for them.”
The Long COVID Chapter
Even someone as active and energised as Ursula isn’t immune to life throwing a curveball. Long COVID hit hard. It changed her personality, she says. A naturally energetic, upbeat person, she found herself exhausted, barely able to move, and deeply aware, for the first time, of what it must feel like to live with chronic fatigue or conditions like ME.
She took four months off, then gradually returned. Breathing work became central. Exercise, she discovered, was actually good for her asthma too. Today, she’s fully recovered, but she carries that experience with her into how she works with clients.
Pulling Cars and Breaking Records (Yes, Really)
Four times, Ursula has organised 30 women pulling a car up Kirkstone Pass for charity. This year (2025), on Mother’s Day, they did it for their local hospice, St Mary’s, and broke the record, completing it in 56 minutes. The previous record was 1 hour 6 minutes.
“The girls were solid, oh my God,” she laughs. But behind the laughter is serious effort: months of training, running the pass, strength work, with a cut-off qualifying time of 11 minutes to the first bench.
Swimming Across Windermere, and a Promise to Herself
At 50, Ursula set herself a challenge. She was mid-swim, crossing Windermere, when the sun came up, and something shifted. She made a quiet promise to herself: if she got through this, she’d stop doing things just for herself, and start helping others.
“I don’t want to keep doing things for myself. I want to help others. It gives me better satisfaction.”
That moment became a turning point. It’s why she teaches. It’s why she raises money for the hospice. It’s why, when you meet her on a hillside, she’s thinking about how to get more people into nature, into movement, into community.
Climate Literacy: The Other Side of Ursula
There’s a version of this conversation that stays purely in the fitness lane. But Ursula doesn’t let you stay comfortable. She’s a qualified carbon literacy trainer, working as a freelance trainer for Future Proof Cumbria, one of the biggest organisations helping communities across the county reduce their carbon footprint.
She runs interactive three-hour workshops. She works with young people. Last summer (2025), Ursula was planning to stand at the Ambleside show and talk to people as they walk past.
“I love it because it’s an eye opener. It can be shocking, but it’s also motivational. It’s about truth.”
Her point isn’t that we should all feel guilty. It’s that most of us don’t fully understand what’s happening, and once we do, we can find our own unique way to contribute, whether that’s gardening, understanding solar power, or simply getting more people to love and protect the natural world around us.
Mindset, Social Media and the Comparison Trap
Inevitably, the conversation turns to mindset. Ursula is refreshingly honest: she’s a positive person by nature, but she’s aware that life throws challenges at everyone, and she doesn’t load people up with unrealistic expectations.
Her advice is to make a list of what you enjoy. Do more of that. Don’t be influenced by what everyone else is doing on social media.
“Comparison is the thief of joy” comes up, and she agrees. Scrolling through perfect fitness influencers on Instagram isn’t motivation. It’s a trap. Be yourself and people will come to you because of who you are, not because you’ve managed to match someone else’s highlight reel.
The First Step Is the Hardest
For anyone thinking about getting into fitness, or coming back to it after a break, Ursula’s message is consistent and warm: take the first step. That’s it.
“The people we work with are so welcoming and friendly. For every level. If you can take that first step, the hardest step, because you’ll do anything to avoid it. But once you do, you might just surprise yourself.”
Not everyone wants a gym. Not everyone wants classes. Some people want a walking group. The key is finding what you love, and then doing it for yourself, not for Instagram.
Final Thoughts
Walking with Ursula through the hills above Ambleside, watching her point out the Langdales emerging through the cloud, hearing her talk about breathwork beside a waterfall, it’s hard not to feel the force of her central argument: that the things which make us happiest are often the simplest.
Movement. Nature. Community. Doing things for others. Showing up consistently.
Ursula has lived in more places and done more things than most of us will in a lifetime. And what she’s brought back to this extraordinary corner of England is a deep belief that wellbeing isn’t a luxury. It’s the whole point.
Resources & Connect
Ursula Brendling is one of a kind, literally. Google her name and you’ll find exactly one person.
With 30 years in the fitness industry as a fitness instructor, run coach and personal trainer, Ursula runs 8 community classes a week across the Lake District, and co-founded both the Ambleside Parkrun and the Ambleside Social Run Group alongside Suzanne Pender. She also teaches Management, Leadership, and Climate and Carbon Literacy for Futureproof Cumbria, because one career was never going to be enough.
Kirkstone Pass holds a special place in Ursula’s heart. She’s cycled it as part of an Ironman, run it, and pulled a car up it with 30 women in aid of St Mary’s Hospice. The waterfall walk you’ll hear us on today is where she brings her clients, and where she had her first kiss with her partner Charlie.
And if you think that’s impressive, wait until 2026. When Ursula turns 60, she’s planning to complete 60 exercises, in 60 locations, for 60 charities, with 60 people, ending with a party for the whole community.
She’s not slowing down. She’s just getting warmed up!
Links:
- Website: www.ursulatraining.co.uk
- Ursula Brendling on Instagram
- Ursula Training on Facebook
- S3’s music partner is: A Band Called Persimmon. You can check them out here: https://www.youtube.com/@bandcalledPersimmon
Kirkstone pass loop: This episode was recorded on a circular walk starting from Ambleside Post Office, the route climbs The Struggle, a path that earns its name with a gradient of 1 in 4, rising up to Kirkstone Pass at 1,489 feet. The views across the Langdales and the surrounding fells open up as you climb.
