Fitness Behavior

One of the best ways to make progress is through feedback.   It can be gained through self-assessment or through the use of a mentor or coach.   The problem is, most people don’t have a process for getting feedback. This leads to: Making the same mistakes over and over Not feeling they are getting anywhere or making any progress Depleting motivation because they are a bit lost and confused   Recently I had an experience with one of our runners that should how their lack of self-assessment was working against them. It was taking them to a place where they were losing the love for running.   In this week’s video, I share the insight I gained in working with this person and the advice I gave, which helped them find their mojo again.

I have an insecurity around my piano playing…   It’s that I don’t think I will ever be good at playing by ear.   This holds me back from practicing because when I do spend time trying to play by ear my inner voice says…   ‘You are not good at this so why even try’. This leads to me…   Struggling to stay focused on what I’m trying to practice Telling myself that I can’t do it Moving towards quitting This creates an experience where I don’t get better, which reinforces my insecurity.   Lately, I’ve developed a plan that helps me overcome this, and it’s working. I’m moving away from this insecurity and am actually getting better at playing by ear.    In this week’s video, I share a deeper level of my experience and teach you the technique I’m using which is helping. 

A lot of us have struggled with our devices. Although there is clearly value in having them, they can also… Be massive time wasters Cause mindless use of our energy Have negative impacts on us in social ways (comparison, misrepresentation, FOMO etc..)  The problem is, we also need some of the tools that come with them. Recently I discovered a massive issue that I have… If I had an important task I needed to do on my phone, I was often wasting 5-10mins of my time during the process of dealing with the task itself. For example: I had a work message I had to respond to on Facebook Messenger Once I was in the App, I would spend 5-10mins scrolling So this usual 1-minute task ended up taking up to 10 minutes  When I reflect upon my day, this wastage of time was probably costing me around 40-50 minutes and there was no real value in my ‘scrolling’, I could definitely spend my time on better things. So I knew I need to address this. I came up with a strategy, which is really simple, that has dramatica

When we have moments of success we gain a lot. We... Feel good about ourselves Experience the feeling of having a stronger identity Get to have a rewarding experience In these moments of success, we want to experience as many benefits as possible but sometimes we do things that work against us achieving this outcome.   Two of the main ways we do this are: We diminish our success. This is the ‘yes, but…’ problem.  We rush past the success. This is where you don’t take the time to experience, recognise and feel the full learnings of your success. Recently, I had an experience with one of our runners who rushed passed their success which meant they missed the opportunity to see themselves in a different and more empowering light. In this week’s podcast, I share what happened and I teach what you can do in your moments of success, so you can experience all the powerful benefits that these moments offer us. 

Do you have areas in your life where you may limit your experiences because you feel insecure? You might... Sit on the side-line wishing you could participate Resist from trying new things in a particular area of your life Deep down know you want to have experiences but don’t allow yourself because of an insecurity If you do, you aren’t alone. There’s a life that you want to reach for but your insecurity slaps your hand away. We want to develop these areas so we allow ourselves to move towards growth. So… You actually do have new experiences You may learn that you are not as bad as you think in an area you felt insecure in You have a life that is filled with experiences that you enjoy In this week’s podcast, I share two strategies you can use if you feel you are holding yourself back from the experiences you know you want to move towards.

I was speaking to someone on the phone yesterday who had been very active at high school but had since fallen away from exercise. She was aiming to get back into regular exercise but was making one big mistake which meant she... Was lacking motivation Wasn’t doing the work Was close to the point of giving up While this person had good intentions, it was clear to me that where she was putting her focus at this this stage of her journey was working against her.  When I gave her some advice she said… ‘Stop, I need to get a pen to write this down’. In this week’s podcast, I’m going to share the mistake she was making with her ‘first focus’ and the advice I gave her which will lead her to achieving much better results.

In February, I had a client I was coaching for running tell me they were ready to quit their goals. They were… - Not fitting all their training in - Feeling unmotivated - Not getting the results they wanted - Ready to move on from running completely  While sometimes people do need to move on from certain areas of their lives, I thought it’s worth giving it one more shot with this person. I put my thinking cap on and developed a new way of approaching this person’s training. It’s been a total success. Now they are… - Achieving every session - Feeling on fire with their training - Getting amazing results In this week’s video, I share with you the change in approach I used that has helped this person go from being ready to quit completely to being on fire with their exercise goals.

I recently interviewed leading performance physiologist, Dr Greg Wells. He’s brought out a book called Powerhouse. It’s about how to use scientifically proven techniques to improve energy in our life. The book is based on techniques in these four areas: 1. Breathe 2. Move 3. Energize 4. Thrive In my interview, he shared a concept about how to get more ‘Thrive’ energy in our life. As Greg was talking to me, I was thinking ‘I love this concept’. So, in this week’s show, I’m sharing a technique that you can use to get more thriving energy into your life.

I’ve been working with someone who has made phenomenal progress in their life. When they came to me they: Felt they weren’t at the level they needed to be Had impostor syndrome Felt limitations on the possibilities within their life Through our time working together, this person is now in a place where they: Are a strong leader having massive impact Have massively shifted their self-perception about themselves Have ambition about their future While I have helped guide this person’s growth, my part is only 1% of the reason they have shifted so much. Looking at the reasons for their success, there are two factors that have been crucial and have enabled their growth and ensures their development moving forward. In this week’s podcast, I want to share with you the two things this person has continuously done to create an amazing life for themselves.

Are you good at communication? Actually, let’s go to the next level. Are you good at communication when it comes to helping others get to a higher level? This can be… - With young people in your life - With people you are mentoring - With your friends and family A lot of people aren’t great at this because they make these two mistakes: - They just want to share their own experience: “Here’s what happened to me in this situation’ - They just want to problem solve for the other person: ‘Here’s what you need to do’ - Great communicators use proven techniques that help guide others to place where new possibilities and pathways open up. Think about your own life... ​​​I can 100% guarantee that there have been moments of change that came from a key conversation. In this week’s podcast I’m going to share a leadership communication technique that I learnt years ago that has had a massive impact on how I can help others get to their higher level. It can help you help others in powerful ways.

Last week I thought of something that I had never contemplated before. It was a bit mind-blowing for me. It was to do with a key difference between the life of the ‘old druggie me’ and the now ‘current fitness me’. I’ve decided to share this with you. I’ve got to be honest, while I think there’s some fascinating insights from this… It could be a total disaster. Have a listen and let me know your thoughts.

I'm back with a long form podcast this week. In it I share some thoughts on how to create an amazing high performing culture. 

I was teaching an extremely hard cycle class the other night. The conditions were: Stupidly hot It was a very challenging workout Everyone was working hard With around 10-15mins to go, when the hardest part of the workout was still in front of us, I could see that people were: Getting tired, both physically and mentally Looking for a reason to take it easy Starting to lose their focus In fairness to the class, it was easy to justify pulling back in effort because the hot conditions were making it so tough... But it’s my job to help people get to a higher level within themselves.   I knew I had to come up with something that would do just that.   A motivational thought popped into my mind, and I shared it with my class. It must have hit a note because for the last part of the workout everyone absolutely destroyed themselves. It was amazing to see. In this week’s video, I share this with you, and you may find that it helps you in times when you need to take things to the next level.

Sadly, so many people struggle with exercise. Here’s the thing, most of these people have tried to exercise but have ended up quitting. This obviously has a massive impact on their health, fitness and wellbeing. When they have that moment where they are motivated to try to bring exercise into their lives, unfortunately, they make some key mistakes, which ultimately leads to them quitting and often, never wanting to try again. In this week’s podcast, I want to share the 4 reasons why beginners often fail when starting on their exercise journey.     When you know these reasons, you can see a wiser pathway forward, which means you will have a higher chance of successfully introducing exercise into your life and start on the pathway to a fitter and healthier you.  

Some people believe they will exercise regularly all their lives. There are a lot of reasons why they think this: They have developed a sustained, long term habit They have a routine that they trust They have a community they belong to They have the identity and mindset that comes with being a long-term exerciser But sometimes these people do fall away from exercise.  Despite having a solid foundation of long-term exercise, it still can happen, and you’d be surprised that it doesn’t take much to be in a place where your health and fitness become a struggle.  For these people, there are some questions which might be useful to explore: Why did this happen? What has been the cost of falling away, both physically and mentally? What are the barriers that need to be faced now? How do they wisely bring exercise back into their life? In this week’s podcast, I’m going to talk about what you should do if you find yourself in this situation, so you can get back to the place you know you love with your health and fi

Do you struggle with motivation? If so, read on and make sure you watch the video.                                                                                                                       Every day of my life I spend time motivating people. It can be with: My group fitness classes Coaching my runners With my mentoring clients Over the years, because I spend so much time in this space, I’ve learnt a lot about motivation. To me, motivating people is about getting them to a higher-level. To get people to take a step up in their action and behaviours.   When I first started teaching fitness a wise soul in the fitness game taught me one of the most important lessons about motivation. This lesson increased my ability to motivate others massively. So much so it’s still one of my foundation thoughts around motivation. In this week’s podcast I’m going to share this lesson with you and teach you how you can apply it to your life, so you’ll be able to motivate yourself to your next level.

Every year I’m very lucky because I get to be the MC at the iconic event, the Kathmandu Coast to Coast. This is one of the most special endurance events in the world. There are many reasons why I love this role but the main one is watching athletes work through this challenge. They… Face doubt, fear, and adversity Must work through challenging moments Learn powerful lessons about themselves Get the amazing reward of finishing something they worked so hard to complete While there are many benefits to training and racing the Coast to Coast, there is one benefit that I feel may be the biggest of all. When I was wrapping up the race briefing, I talked about this benefit and afterwards a guy came up to me and said… ‘What you said meant so much to me, I’ll take that with me forever’. In this week’s podcast I’ll share that benefit with you. Who knows, it may get you signing up for a crazy event like the Coast to Coast!

When I was doing Ironman triathlon, I trained with a guy called Gordo. This guy was a beast of an athlete, and he was a very wise man who: Had the highest level of intelligence Was an amazing communicator who made complex things seem simple Loved helping others improve One day when I was training with him, he shared a way of thinking and mindset that motivated me to be a higher-level athlete myself.   This mindset has: Influenced the rest of my life Helped me overcome my most challenging moments Helped me build more belief in myself In this week’s podcast, I share Gordo’s lesson with you so you can hopefully get as much value from it as I have.

Do you have something that you are trying to improve on? What are your answers to these questions: What’s your approach to improvement? When you spend time on this, how do you spend your time? Do you make the progress you hope for? If we want to improve, it’s important that we spend time on the approach and strategy we use so that… We make shifts in the most impactful way The change we create lasts We evolve as an overall person throughout the process For me, a massive shift happened with my piano playing when I changed my approach to my practice time. It was like I had put my progress into overdrive. And I have been able to apply this to all areas of my life. In this week’s podcast, I share an important way to look at how to use your practice time, so you can develop yourself faster and more effectively.

I have this fitness challenge that I do each week that is designed to: Push me to my absolute physical max Test my mental game Help me evolve the process I use to becoming a higher-level self This challenge brings fear to my day from the moment I wake up, but even though this is the case… I always do it I know the game, so I hit the objectives most of the time I get the physical and mental rewards I love A couple weeks ago this question popped up in my head after completing it (when I was huffing and puffing on the ground): “Have you challenged how you do this challenge? Is there a higher level you can aim for?” Up until this point I would have told you I gave everything in this workout… But by asking myself this question, I’ve been able to go to another level. In this week’s podcast I break down how my ‘challenge my challenge’ thinking has taken me to the next level and how you can apply this principle to your life.