Category: Blog

Change is hard.  A workout exemplifies this.  As soon as you place hands on a barbell your state begins to shift, as you are ripped away from the comfort of baseline. Heart rate elevates as blood rushes to muscles. Sweat begins to form as core temperature rises. Change has begun and completing the work is…

There are very few original ideas.  Much of what is communicated, written, taught or expressed has been adopted from elsewhere. A concept on its own is usually just a recycled idea. Take for example, training. Strength and conditioning principles have been well established for many years. Most exercise scientists, physiologists and coaches now consider these…

D x V x F > R(Dissatisfaction x Vision x First Steps > Resistance)– The Beckhard-Harris Change Equation –  This is a formula for change I find myself constantly referring back to. The first time I learned of it, my intuitive truth radar lit up as I recognised elements of the equation had been present during the transformational…

Competence. This is the goal for many. “The ability to do something successfully or efficiently.” In a physical practice, we create standards around our training – be it an RX weight, or hitting depth on a squat. We look towards these as a metric of success and of achieving competence. Efficiency on the other hand is…

30-20-10Medicine Ball CleansAb-Mat Sit-Ups This was the workout programmed during my Level 1 CrossFit Trainer Certification Course. Prior to commencing the workout, The Master Trainers organised the Prospective Trainers in a circle as one demonstrated the points of performance, and another explained them. We were then given some time for independent practice. At this point,…

Disappointment is a powerful driver. As was the case in last Sunday’s City2Surf. After two short kilometres, I realised that this year would be a very different experience to the 8 I have completed prior.  It was the second slowest time I had run the 14km in, including the first year, where I spent most…

“How you do anything is how you do everything”. I wrote this on the whiteboard a few weeks ago. A few seemed to understand while some questioned its validity. This statement obviously has some logistical inconsistencies especially when taken literally. However, even if this statement is not entirely true, you should act in a way…

A good program is both interesting and progressive. Having both these elements speaks to an athletes’ adherence over an extended period of time; perhaps the most important variable in any physical practice – consistency. On the one hand, a program must be interesting. An interesting program keeps the athlete excited and inspired to train, especially given…

Humans are lazy by design. We are genetically programmed for homeostasis.  Our DNA was primed this way long before Netflix, air conditioning and microwaves, when adversity was the norm. Finding safety and comfort was a matter of survival. Now, it is the inverse. In order to drive adaptation, we must artificially manufacture this adversity, in…

I’m sure I speak for most coaches here – one of my pet peeves is when an athlete says “this is easy”. This irks me for a couple of reasons:1. It’s an insult to most other athletes2. It’s missing the point Let’s discuss that second reason… Most of us understand that adaptation occurs on the…

At a certain point during a workout, a conversation begins to take place, whether we realise it or not.  This conversation, while it may only last a few seconds, usually occurs at a time when we want to ease off the intensity; shorten the reps; put an end to the discomfort… To quit. Perhaps this…

The alarm goes off. It’s 4:55am.  You bounce out of bed, feeling well rested and alert, sliding on your workout gear that you had intentionally laid out the night before; the limited edition fluro release from the WOD-LIFE.  After a few sips of water, you grab your bag and make for the door. The program…

27-21-15-12-9: Thrusters@50kg and Toes To Bar.  The whiteboard read as such. My brain, jacked on the three shots of coffee I had downed prior attempts to calculate the total amount of volume. It arrived at “a lot”. Wanting to create an impression amongst the newly acquainted community, I had quickly ramped up my training intensity…

Attention is a finite resource.  With so many forces coercing, cajoling, and coaxing ones awareness, there is usually very little cognitive space available to approach a physical practice with the type of intentionality that is necessary and required. The rise of fast food fitness illustrates this point; loud and crowded circuit classes, with the participants mimicking an…

The Standard is influenced and upheld by three aspects: environment, effort and ego. The undeniable reality is that we are products of the environment. This is a law of human nature. Organisms mirror and are direct expressions of the conditions of their habitat. The Standard, in this sense is continually reinforced by The Space, which…

Change is the point. It’s a concept which I try to orient my life towards. I’ve tried in the past to encapsulate something that reflects my process, however, after sometime, these no longer seem broad enough.  So I thought: how do I conceptualise something that consistently and sustainably reflects this change? And I arrived at…

I. The Philosophy Head & Heart is a conscious training practice, using the context of the gym as a way to learn, refine and improve on aspects of oneself both inside and outside of the facility. Head & Heart is the practice of thinking with feeling to facilitate self-awareness and change.  Head & Heart requires that an athlete tune in – to become…

I was 16 years old, running around after kids on a tennis court – attempting to articulate the difference between the base line and service line. I was 17 years old, my skin soaking in chlorine while my physiology struggled to regulate my internal body temperature as I spent my Sunday mornings with toddlers teaching…

The “No Edit” blog post. It’s interesting to see what your brain comes up with when forced to put pen to paper – or in 2021; hands to key-board. There is a desire in all of us to creatively express ourselves – in a way that is authentic and true to ourselves. Many of us do…

Monotony and routine – the daily grind. Most of us find ourselves lodged somewhere in between. Some are fully aware of their situation, having committed to the work from day one and have been on the straight and narrow ever since. Some feel trapped and unable to escape the constant burden of responsibilities, finances and…

Why do you coach? It’s an important question to ask. On the one hand, coaching (within the fitness industry) is a demanding profession – early mornings and late evenings, dealing intimately with the personal challenges of people, and energy outputs that do not always match the monetary inputs.  Yet there are also moments of authentic…