Built To Move

It’s a bit bloody hot today.

Just a quick reminder if you’re training in this weather — be sensible with it. You do not get extra points for cooking yourself on a run or trying to smash PBs at midday.

Hydrate properly before and after training, add electrolytes, ease the intensity back if needed, and if you can, train earlier or later when it’s cooler.

Also pay attention to how you feel. If your heart rate’s through the roof, you feel dizzy, sick, or unusually fatigued, stop being stubborn and take a break.

And ironically, the coolest place in the building today is probably the gym… so for once cardio might just be worth it for the air conditioning alone.

Nutrition for Muscle Fat Loss and Endurance

I get asked this all the time what should I eat to build muscle lose fat improve endurance

And honestly most people are overcomplicating it

The basics don’t change The goal just shifts how you apply them

1. Building muscle

If you are not growing it is usually one of two things
you are not eating enough or you are not recovering properly

Simple as that

You need a small calorie surplus Not a binge Just enough to support training

If your body weight is not slowly going up over weeks you are not in a surplus End of story

Protein wise
You need enough Not some not when you remember

Rough target
around 1.6 to 2.2g per kg of bodyweight

And don’t overthink timing too much but spacing it out across the day helps Most people do better with 3 to 5 proper meals than one huge hit at night

Carbs
Don’t fear them

If you are lifting hard carbs are basically your training fuel Low carbs usually just means worse sessions not better fat loss

Fats just need to be there in the background You don’t need to drown food in them or avoid them

2. Losing fat

This one is actually simple but people don’t like the answer

You need to eat slightly less than you burn

Not extreme Not starving yourself

Think a small daily deficit

If you are crashing bingeing or your training is falling apart you have gone too far

Protein goes up here not down

Why
Because it helps you keep muscle while you lose fat and keeps you fuller

Most people should be closer to
2.0 to 2.4g per kg

Carbs again not the enemy

Just adjust them around your activity
more on training days
less on rest days if needed

But don’t remove them just because you think that is what cutting means

The boring truth is fat loss comes down to
being in a calorie deficit
hitting protein
keeping training consistent
moving more in your day

That is it

3. Endurance training

This is where people get it completely wrong

They try to eat light and end up training like they have got no engine

If you are doing serious endurance work carbs are not optional

They are literally what you are using to perform

For longer sessions
If you are going past an hour you should be thinking about fueling during it

Something like carbs per hour depending on intensity

Because once glycogen drops everything feels harder than it should

Protein still matters here too it is not just for bodybuilders
You still need it for recovery and injury prevention

And honestly the biggest issue I see

People under eating for weeks then wondering why they feel flat slow and cannot recover

That is not discipline That is just under fuelling

Bottom line

No matter the goal

calories control bodyweight
protein controls muscle
carbs control performance
consistency controls everything

If you are not progressing it is almost never because you need something fancy

It is usually because one of those four things is off

Fear of movement is real.
And for a lot of people in pain, its the thing that keeps them stuck.

When your body hurts, your brain does its job and tries to protect you.
You stop bending.
Stop lifting.
Stop running.
Stop trusting what your body can do.

But pain doesnt always mean damage.

Sometimes the body has already healed, but the nervous system is still firing alarms that arent needed anymore.

The longer we avoid movement, the more sensitive things can become. Strength drops. Confidence drops. Fear builds.

The aim isnt to push through pain for the sake of it.
The aim is to rebuild trust in movement again.

Small wins. Gradual exposure. Smart loading. Consistency.

And sometimes the movement that feels like it hurts, is actually the exact movement you need to be reintroducing again.

Not all at once.
Not recklessly.
But slowly, progressively, and with control.

Movement isnt the enemy. In most cases its part of the solution.

The body is far more adaptable than people give it credit for.
You just have to give it the right reason to trust again.

I was asked recently if I use AI to help write my posts.

The answer is yes I do.

But here’s the important part: the ideas, opinions, experiences, and information are mine. AI simply helps me organise my thoughts and polish the wording so the message is clearer and easier for people to read and understand.

Not everyone finds writing easy, especially when you have a lot to say and want to communicate it properly. I’d rather focus my energy on sharing valuable information than worrying about grammar, structure, or whether I’ve worded something perfectly.

So no, AI doesn’t replace my voice it helps me communicate it better.

At the end of the day, if the message helps someone, educates someone, or makes someone think differently, then that’s what matters most to me.

A lot of people think building muscle is about absolutley destroying yourself every session and crawling out the gym.

Its not.

Muscle is built from quality tension, progression and being able to repeat good work consistently over time.

One method I use alot with clients for strength and hypertrophy is cluster sets.

Basicly your breaking one long set into smaller blocks with short rest periods between them. What this does is lets you maintain better movement and produce more force instead of just grinding through ugly reps once fatigue kicks in.

Example:

Instead of:
12 straight reps

Do:
4 reps
Rest 15-20 seconds
4 reps
Rest 15-20 seconds
4 reps

That becomes 1 cluster set.

Reason I like them:
• Better movement under fatigue
• More quality reps
• Less pointless fatigue
• Easier to maintain output
• Good for both strength and muscle growth

Research has shown cluster sets can create similiar hypertrophy results to traditional sets whilst helping maintain power output and movement quality. (link.springer.com)

I use them alot with:
• Squats
• Deadlifts
• Pressing movements
• Pull ups
• Sled work

Simple starting point:
3-5 clusters
2-5 reps each
10-30 seconds rest between mini sets

The goal isnt to survive the workout.

The goal is giving the body high quality reps it can actually adapt too.

Saunas are they actually good for you or if it’s just another health trend people are obsessed with.

Truth is, the research on saunas is actually pretty solid.

One of the biggest studies followed over 2,300 Finnish men for nearly 20 years and found the people using saunas 4–7 times a week had lower risk of:
• heart disease
• stroke
• sudden cardiac death
• overall mortality

Compared to people only using it once a week.

Now obviously sitting in a sauna isn’t the same as training.
You still need to move properly, get stronger and actually do your cardio.

But sauna does put stress on the body in a similar sort of way:
• heart rate goes up
• circulation improves
• blood vessels relax more
• helps recovery
• helps you switch off a bit mentally

For runners and endurance athletes there’s also some good research showing sauna after training can help with heat adaptation and plasma volume which can help performance over time.

What it doesn’t do is:
• detox your body
• magically burn fat
• replace proper training

Most the weight you lose in there is just water.

Personally I think one of the biggest benefits now is people actually sitting still for 15 mins without their phone glued to their face.

Simple stuff works:
Train hard.
Recover properly.
Sleep more.
Eat better.

Sauna can just be another tool alongside it.

Research:
• JAMA Internal Medicine study on sauna and mortality
• BMC Medicine sauna and cardiovascular mortality study
• Study on heat therapy, blood pressure and arterial stiffness

Are you a runner and have you ever had a coach say “relax your jaw”?

Most people think it’s just a random cue but there’s actually a reason for it.

When your jaw is clenched or really tight, it’s rarely just the jaw. You start to see a chain reaction through your body.

Neck gets tight, upper traps kick in, shoulders creep up a bit without you noticing. Breathing also changes, it gets more shallow and you don’t use your diaphragm as well as you should.

From a biomechnics point of view, your body starts to run with unnecessary tension. That costs you energy and can affect how smooth your running is.

So instead of just thinking jaw think about what that tension is doing to your whole system.

Relax the jaw, tongue off the roof of the mouth, let the shoulders drop a bit… and you’ll usually see movement feel a lot easier straight away.

Simple cue, but it carries a lot more behind it than people realise.

STOP DOING DEEP SQUATS IF YOUR KNEE POPS

That grinding or crunching under your kneecap isn’t always just bad knees.

A lot of the time it’s a tracking issue.

Your kneecap is ment to glide smoothly through a groove while spreading force when you walk, run, squat, or climb stairs. But when the mechanics go off, the joint starts taking stress where it shouldn’t.

Then the grinding starts.

The cartilage gets compressed unevenly. The tendon starts overworking. The joint gets irritated. Inflammation builds up.

That clicking, popping, burning, or grinding feeling under the kneecap isn’t random.

It’s poor biomechanics.

Here’s what normally causes it:

• Weak glutes allow the femur to roll inward too much
• Tight outer quads pull the kneecap off track
• Poor ankle mobility changes force through the leg
• Deep knee bends increase pressure behind the kneecap
• Lots of stairs increase stress on the joint
• Sitting too long stiffens everything up and worsens tracking

That’s why people often feel:

• Pain walking downstairs
• Grinding during squats
• Stiffness after sitting
• Burning under the kneecap

And here’s the part most people miss…

A lot of “quad strengthening” programs make it worse because they add more compression before fixing alignment.

Foam rolling alone won’t magically reposition the kneecap.

And injections may calm symptoms temporary while the mechanics underneath stay exactly the same.

Here’s the fix:

STEP 1
Improve Hip Stability
Your hips control femur position. Strengthen the glutes and external rotators to stop the knee collapsing inward.

STEP 2
Improve Patella Tracking
Use controlled terminal knee extension work and quad activation drills to help balance the pull around the kneecap.

STEP 3
Reduce Compression
Temporarily reduce painful deep squats and excessive stair loading while improving ankle mobility and movement quality.

The goal isn’t to avoid movement.

It’s to restore clean movement.

Your knee isn’t weak.

It’s just not tracking properly.

And untill the mechanics improve, the grinding cycle usually continues.

IF WE CAN GET 8 PEOPLE I WILL RELAUNCH

I’m considering bringing back a Saturday morning bootcamp this summer.

Location: Bovingdon Green
Time: Saturdays 8am
Duration: 1 hour
Block: 5 weeks

This will be a structured, coached outdoor session focused on building strength, fitness, conditioning, and consistency.

No gimmicks, just solid coaching and a reliable weekly session to start your weekend.

Pricing
£69 for the full 5-week block
(under £14 per session)

Important
I will only relaunch this if I can secure 8 committed people for the first block.

If you’re interested, comment “IN” or message me directly.

Once we hit 8, it goes ahead.

Summer is coming soon and everyone starts talking about beach body

But listen

You already have one

The body you live in right now, every single day, is your beach body

It is the one that gets you out of bed in the morning, carries you through work, stress, family, training, everything

Stop trying to punish it or chase a different one

Train because you want to feel stronger and move better
Eat better because you want to look after yourself
Move more because you actually can, not because you have to fix something

You do not need a new body for summer

You just need to look after the one you already have

One thing I see alot with people who work desk jobs all day is what we call gluteal amnesia… basically your glutes forget how to switch on properly.

Sounds mad but its actually really common.

When you spend hours sat down your body starts relying on other muscles to do the work. So instead of your glutes controlling the hips properly, your lower back, hip flexors and hamstrings start taking over.

That’s why loads of people get:

- tight hips

- achy lower backs

- hamstring tightness

- knees caving in during squats

- no power when running or training

And the big thing people dont realise… your glutes are one of the biggest stabilisers in the body. If you lose proper glute function you lose stability through the hips, pelvis and lower back aswell. Thats when compensation patterns start creeping in and injuries usualy follow.

Then people try train harder but the body is still compensating.

Most of the time the fix isnt complicated. You need to get the glutes firing again and teach the body how to move properly.

Things I normally get clients doing:

- glute bridges

- split squats

- banded walks

- hip mobility work

- slowing movements down and actually feeling the glutes work

And honestly… just getting up and moving more through the day makes a massive difference.

Your glutes are ment to be one of the strongest muscle groups in the body. If they stop doing there job, something else has to pick up the slack.

Move more. Sit less. Train smarter.

Most of the time the fix isnt complicated. You need to get the glutes firing again and teach the body how to move properly.

Things I normally get clients doing:

- 90/90 Hip lift with hamstring
- glute bridges
- split squats
- banded walks
- hip mobility work
- slowing movements down and actually feeling the glutes work

And honestly… just getting up and moving more through the day makes a massive difference.

Your glutes are ment to be one of the strongest muscle groups in the body. If they stop doing there job, something else has to pick up the slack.

Move more. Sit less. Train smarter.