Endurance training was once my passion. As an enthusiastic triathlete, I would train for 20+ hours a week. I thought I was doing my body a favour but in actual fact, I was setting myself up for lingering injuries and low muscle mass. During my hardcore running days, I was only 68kgs (skinny-fat).
Fast forward to now and I embrace a varied approach to training. From weights to gymnastics with a focus on movement quality, strength, mobility and setting my body up for success. I’m happy to report that I train on average 6-8hours a week and weigh a very healthy 80kgs.
2008-2009 Training
After moving to London in 2008 I started running to keep fit. Running was something I could do anywhere, and it was nice to get outdoors and train, especially after spending 8 hours in a concrete cell [aka office] every day.
I secured a spot in the London Marathon ballot and running became a big part of my life. I began researching nutrition, endurance training, recovery and supplements. A passion for health and fitness was born. At the time, I thought endurance athletes were the fittest people on the planet. Hindsight is a wonderful thing, and only later did I recognise the true impacts that endurance training had on my health.
In 2008-2009 I did a number of 10K races, a half marathon, the London Marathon, The London Duathlon, and the London Triathlon. I was hooked, and my training goals were purely based on sport and what I believed was healthy.
I followed a typical endurance training programme that slowly increases the miles per week. I also hired a personal trainer to help bulletproof my body and further my personal training knowledge.
“Training for sport and training for health and longevity are two very different things, you can not have both.”
2010-2013 Training
After training and competing in a The Triathlon EDF Alpe d’Huez, my colleague and I both agreed that we could no longer continue to train 20+ hours a week and build a successful personal training company at the same time.
I remember watching my colleague struggling to keep his eyes open while training a client at the end of a busy week. He was lucky he didn’t fall flat on his face in the middle of the gym!
This is when we first discovered CrossFit, specifically CrossFit Endurance (CFE) and Brian MacKenzie. We attended a CFE workshop in London and listened to Brain’s theory that endurance athletes could train less and see better results. At the end of the 2-day workshop, we hired Brian to write our training programme in preparation for an Ironman 70.3 event.
My training changed dramatically during this period. I went from doing endless miles to lifting weights, focussing on high-intensity intervals and training 10-12hours per week.
After competing in a number of marathons and triathlons I decided to hang up my endurance shoes and try something different. I realised endurance wasn’t great for my overall health. It was a difficult but necessary lesson.
“It takes courage to say “yes” to rest and play in a culture where exhaustion is seen as a status symbol.”
2013-2018 Training
My training changed a lot over this period. I continued with strength and condition training with Derek Woodske. I also added some CrossFit W.O.D’s into the mix and competed in a few local CrossFit competitions.
I quickly figured out that a workout with deadlifts and handstand push-ups, pull-ups and muscle-ups was my favourite, and anything with heavy squats and Olympic lifts would be a challenge. I was pretty good with light weights and the gymnastics movements, but the heavy barbell was my nemesis.
It always took me a few days to recover from a long CrossFit workout and trying to juggle training, with running a business, doing personal training sessions, and managing staff were difficult, to say the least. I quickly cut W.O.D.’s from my schedule. I just didn’t have the capacity to do them along with all the other training I was engaging in.
My priority was building strength, gymnastics skills along with Olympic lifting and I quickly set my boundaries around my training volume, training time, and work time.
It wasn’t long before my training became more about gymnastics, mobility and movement.
I’d been keeping an eye on Ido Portal for over a year and I decided to attend Movement Camp in Thailand. After spending a week with Ido and his team, along with the movement community, I realised I’d only skimmed the surface. My thirst for knowledge was activated so I hired Ido as an online coach. I committed myself to see the bodyweight journey through.
I would spend hours in the gym stretching, building strength, learning how to do a handstand and complete ring routines. My strength slowly started to increase in new ways, my stiff endurance and weightlifting body started to become nimble and my knowledge of movement quality expanded to a whole new level. Each training session was more about research and finding what my body was capable of, I became a lot more mindful of my body and it’s limitations.
Endurance training, bodybuilding, Olympic lifting, powerlifting, and Crossfit were all fun and valuable to me at the time. But one thing that really surprised me about bodyweight training and gymnastics was my muscle awareness and control. I discovered muscles that I never thought I had, I learnt to perform handstands and ring routines that I thought were out of my reach. The possibilities to continue learning new skills and new movements seemed endless and much more exciting than deadlifting, squatting and running. I could actually see myself doing bodyweight training well into my 50’s, 60’s and 70's.
Finally, something that seemed to answer my questions about training longevity!
Everybody has their own style of training, and there is no one training plan that suits us all. I’ve been lucky to have many mentors from many different backgrounds and to try a variety of training styles. As my training age has changed, I’ve found new and exciting ways to keep training interesting challenging. What works for me may not work for you. We each must find the right style, volume, intensity and frequency of training that suits our lifestyle, our values, and our goals.
Sustainable Training is not a one-size-fits-all model of training, its an individual approach tailored to the health, experience and goals of each individual.
2018 - Current Training
The love of movement and bodyweight training has continued. I simply enjoy training and want it to be part of my life for as long as possible. I find the balance between strength, skill and mobility suits my body and makes me feel strong, happy and healthy.
I train 4-5 days a week and can spend 60mins to 2hrs training per session. Stretching and skill work can take a lot of time!
I prioritise training and set aside time between 10am-12noon on most training days. I also prioritise recovery and make sure I do some parasympathetic work at the end of each training session and when I feel stressed.
I monitor my heart rate variable (HRV) with an Oura ring and if my sleep quality and quantity is poor, I will do less training or take a rest day. Training is important, but not at the cost of sleep and recovery.
“Rest and recovery is like water, inadequate amounts will increase your chance of chronic diseases, decrease your performance and your life expectancy.”
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