Your fitness is the backbone of your existence.
And like the tendrils of your ribcage, it wraps around every single movement of your body, determining if they are easy & fun or cumbersome & tiring.
Offering you endless waves of endorphins, oozing amounts of confidence and a metabolism faster than a 12 year old, it’s an aspect of life you can’t ignore.
For choosing to neglect it as tomorrow’s problem will make today’s life infinitely more difficult until you dig yourself an early grave.
To prioritise fitness you need to realise it is not a destination to be achieved.
But, instead a lifestyle to be maintained.
So, let go of the hunger (or lack thereof) for a six pack of abs.
And adopt the pursuit and love of sports over the obsession and immeasurability of fitness.
Only then will you build the scaffolding of a healthy body & mind that will teach you more about patience, hard work and dedication than any book, online course or office job ever could.
To master fitness means learning the 4 types of exercise:
Aerobic - speeds up your HR and breathing.
Strength - builds your muscle mass and strength.
Stretching - maintains flexibility in muscles and tendons.
Balance - steadies your feet by preventing falls.
Which, if you choose right, can be covered by just one sport.
Or supported by several at one time.
However you approach fitness, commit to it as a lifestyle choice that becomes a part of who you are as an individual.
That way you’ll lace your trainers up on a dark Winter evening when the rain is pouring and there’s no-one around to hold you accountable.
Because that’s what it’s about.
So, here’s everything I’ve learnt in 10 years of semi-professional sports that include a top 10 UK time over a half-marathon, finishing a 42km obstacle course and qualifying for the 2023 Ironman 70.3 world championships.
#1: Get the Basics Right 🧱
“The miracle isn't that I finished. The miracle is that I had the courage to start.” - John Bingham
Ignore the fitness fads and the Summer body shortcuts.
Those endless 10-minute workouts won’t move the needle on the body and mind you’re looking to build.
Instead, you need to realise it’s a long-term game.
And then play it accordingly. Here’s how…
1) Consistency Comes First
Fitness takes not days or weeks, but months and years to build towards the aesthetic and function you want to achieve.
So, no matter if it’s the depths of Winter or the plains of Summer, keep turning up every single day.
Then once you do see change, don’t let it slip from your hands. Lower your intensity if you must. But, don’t stop moving.
For starting from something is infinitely easier than starting from nothing.
2) The Power of Zone 2
You don’t need to smash every workout.
Especially if you’re looking for that sweet aerobic conditioning to improve your 10k time, swim reps or even Ironman placing.
Because to get fast, you must go slow.
In fact, if the goal is an endurance sport, you’re going to want to spend at least 80% of your training in Zone 2 at about 60-70% of max effort.
So, the next time you sign yourself up for a half marathon, don’t race every training run in pursuit of a faster time to impress your friends.
Take it easy. Enjoy it. And watch the fitness improve.
3) Your Fitness is Holistic
A lot affects your fitness.
It’s not limited to the minutes you workout. But, to how you spend the 24 hours in each and every day.
Which means that your sleep, stress and what you eat matter a lot more than you think, enabling you to thrive or forcing you just to survive.
So, whenever you put your body through the pain of exercise make sure you give it enough time, energy and rest to fully recover.
For it is like a child that needs constant care and attention to perform it’s best.
#2: Beware the Addiction 💉
“Exercise is like an addiction. Once you're in it, you feel like your body needs it” - Elsa Pataky
Exercise is the world’s most accessible drug.
With one foot in front of the other for at least 30 minutes a day you’ll discover remarkable increases in your overall wellbeing and happiness.
So much in fact that you’ll inevitably end up increasing the intensity and duration of your workouts to reach that ever higher level of fitness.
If done in a sustainable, holistic way you’ll find new heights of athleticism that seemed only impossible to you before.
But, if you ignore the warning signs of your body and push on because you don’t know how to live without exercise you’ll do more harm than good.
Mastering fitness means knowing when to slow down.
1) Injury is the Enemy
You could finish a marathon tomorrow.
It might mean walking, jogging or barely running, but you’d be able to cross the line if your life depended on it.
However, you’d probably injure yourself along the way.
Ending up having to rest that newly discovered knee pain all Summer until you’re able to barely move again. Which is the opposite of what you want.
So, train not just to move faster or lift heavier.
But, also to get there without causing long-term damage.
2) See Past the Numbers
Fitness Curves, Race Times & Max Reps.
There are a million and one data points you can track as an indicator of if you’re fitness is in the right ballpark.
Use the most relevant metrics and ignore the rest.
For they should be seen as guides of your progress rather than the single source of truth on where you’re at right now.
Because if you’re not running as fast as last year, it doesn’t mean you’re behind. It just means you prioritised other parts of life.
And that’s more than okay.
3) Don’t Obsess over Food
“Weight Gain/Loss = Calories consumed - Calories burnt”, right?
Alongside body type & metabolism, the short answer is “Yes”.
Meaning it can be tempting to go all-in by downloading MyFitnessPal and tracking every single meal down to the additional grain of rice.
Which can be helpful if you’re overweight.
But, if you’re already pretty healthy, it can quickly become an obsession that plagues your thoughts and prevents you from enjoying life a little.
For there are no “healthy foods”.
Just ones with more or less of each nutritional value.
#3: Power Your Performance
“Only the disciplined ones in life are free. If you are undisciplined, you are a slave to your moods and your passions” - Eliud Kipchoge
Now you’ve mastered the basics it’s time to take it to the next level.
Which means learning from experts, biting the bullet on expensive investments and unlocking the full extent of your mindset.
For hard work and dedication will only take you so far.
The rest will need to be discovered from other sources.
Here’s where you find them…
1) Get a Coach
Improving means learning from those ahead of you.
And there’s no faster way to do this than investing in a coach who will tell you exactly what to do, how to do it and when to do it.
So, use one to hold you accountable and take the worry off your hands.
Just make sure you follow their plan to the letter. Otherwise you won’t be giving their advice a fair chance to succeed.
But, how do you know you’ve found the right one?
It’ll be obvious. For when you delight in storytelling your best performance they’ll brush it off with a “Ehh… Nice”, because they’ve seen it all before.
That’s the green light to get signed up right away.
2) Invest in Equipment
Sports can become ridiculously expensive.
Especially when you’re squeezing out the 1% marginal gains by investing in a new £10k bike so you can go 30 seconds faster every hour.
But, at the start you don’t need ALL the equipment.
Begin with the basics, borrow where you have to and focus on the gains that come from knocking back consistent training weeks first.
Only once you’re competing at the top level, where your performance is being handicapped, should you think about making the big ticket purchases.
Because you should have some idea.
Before buying all the gear.
3) Work on Your Mindset
When you think you’re done, you’re only 40% done.
Working on your ability to endure and even enjoy pain will enable you to tap into the 60% of performance that you didn’t know existed.
To get there try out these mantras the next time you’re in the pain cave:
Winter miles for Summer smiles.
Pain is temporary, achievement lasts a lifetime.
I’ll think about it after that next lamp-post.
After this next rep there’s only 1 left.
Exceeding your limits is a game of delayed gratification.
Where you must decide to keep putting one foot in-front of the other when every muscle in your body is screaming at you to stop.
For the pain will come to an end.
All you need is the bravery to see it through.
The Summary
Let’s recap: To master fitness you need to get the basics right, beware the addiction and power your performance.
There’s your 5 minutes, now take action:
📚 Recommended Book: Can’t Hurt Me - David Goggins explains how he transformed himself from a depressed overweight young man into one of the world’s greatest endurance athletes through sheer determination & grit.
🎤 Recommended Talk: INEOS 1:59 Documentary - Eliud Kipchoge reveals the simplicity of his lifestyle and how keeps his feet on the ground despite breaking the sub-2 hour marathon and becoming the GOAT.
💎 Recommended Resource: Strava - If you’re thinking about taking sport semi-seriously then get yourself on Strava. You’ll find route inspiration and reminders from friends on those days when it gets tough.