Average Jays health and Wellbeing

🏔️ HOME SAFE... AND WHAT A DAY! 🏔️

After a 5am start, over 16.9km, 1,339m of climbing, 20,000+ steps and 8 hours 16 minutes on our feet, we're finally home safe, shattered and already feeling tomorrow's aches! 😂

A huge thank you to everyone who has sponsored us so far. Your generosity means so much and every penny will help continue giving young people incredible opportunities both in studio, on stage and on screen. 💙🎭
I'm unbelievably proud of (13) and Kobi (11) today. Absolute warriors. They dug deep, kept smiling and reached the summit of the UK's highest mountain. Watching them achieve that is something I'll never forget.

Now it's time to rehydrate, demolish a Pepe's chicken and rice box 🍗🍚 and get some well-earned rest!
If you were waiting to see if we actually made it we did! 😁

💙 There's still plenty of time to sponsor us if you'd like to support Project Theatre and the amazing work they do with children and young people across our community. Every donation, no matter how big or small, really does make a difference.

👉 https://www.justgiving.com/page/ptbennevis26⁠
Every Step Helps A Young Performer Find Their Stage. 🏔️🎭💙

Every

🩸 Venesection #2 - Another step forward.
Today was my second venesection for Hereditary Haemochromatosis.
For anyone who doesn't know, it's a genetic condition where my body stores too much iron. Over time that excess iron can damage organs and leave you feeling exhausted, with joint pain, brain fog and a whole list of symptoms that many people put down to "just getting older."
The treatment is simple in theory by regularly removing blood until the iron levels come back down.
I only managed 400ml today before my blood pressure crashed. Today the goal was my first full pint. 💪🩸
Safe to say the vampires have won this round again... I'm absolutely wiped tonight 😂 but every venesection gets me one step closer to feeling like myself again.
If you're constantly tired and can't explain why, don't ignore it. A simple blood test could make all the difference.
Here's to getting stronger, one pint at a time.
Brick by brick. 👊❤️
HealthJourney

Some goals are worth chasing but not if they cost you everything else.
Over the last few weeks I've realised that being fit isn't about training every single day or feeling guilty when life gets in the way.

It's about finding a balance.
I'm still rebuilding, still learning to manage haemochromatosis, still chasing challenges like Ben Nevis and future races but I'm also a husband, a dad, I work full-time, and I've got a life outside the gym.

Fitness should make life better not become your whole life.
Here's to consistency over perfection.

Brick by brick 🧱💪🏻

WELCOME TO ANOTHER COMPLETELY NORMAL EPISODE OF AVERAGE JAY 🤣💪🏻

Friday night where most sensible people are winding down after work.

Me?

I decided to go for a hot, hayfever filled 5K and then walk into the garage to voluntarily fight with some weights 😂🏋‍♂️
🏃 5.01K done
🔥 Hot, sweaty and breathing approximately 70% pollen
💪 Then straight into Upper A
🏋🏻 20kg DB bench — 3×12
🚣 Cable row — finishing at 57.5kg ×12
😈 Shoulder press and pulldowns doing their thing
And then came them 😭

The exercise formerly known as lateral raises.
Now officially renamed:
DEVIL C**T AS***LE S**T EATER LAT RAISES™ 🤣🔥

Set 1: “These are actually alright.” 😎
Set 2: “Ooooh… there’s the burn.” 👀
Set 3, rep 9: “I HAVE MADE A TERRIBLE MISTAKE.” ☠️
Still got 3×15 though 💥

And that's basically what this whole rebuild is becoming.
Not every session needs to be heroic.
Not every meal needs to be perfect.
Not every day needs some deep motivational meaning.
Sometimes you just turn up, do the work, swear aggressively at a pair of 5kg dumbbells, drink your electrolytes and move on with your life. 🤣
With haemochromatosis treatment underway, sleep still doing whatever the hell it wants, and life generally being life, I'm learning to focus on what I can control.

Keep moving. Keep lifting. Keep laughing. Keep showing up.
Because somehow, amongst all the chaos…
203lb this morning. 5.6lb down from the post-holiday rebuild baseline. 👀💪🏻

Something's working 👌🏻
🧱 Brick by brick

🧱 ANOTHER BRICK LAID

There are days when motivation is overflowing
And there are days when you've got hay fever trying to block your airways, haemochromatosis reminding you it still exists, legs that are already sore, and a brain looking for every excuse to put it off.

Today wasn't about feeling amazing.
It was about showing up anyway.
🏃 5.01 km ⏱️ 29:34 ❤️ 146 bpm average
Then straight into Upper A:
🏋️ 20kg DB Bench × 12, 12, 12 🏋️ 57.5kg Row PB 🏋️ Shoulder press, pulldowns, lateral raises and arm supersets until there wasn't much left in the tank.
Recovery wasn't an afterthought either.

💧 500ml electrolytes plus water throughout.
🍗 High-protein dinner with baked potatoes, tuna, salad and chicken.
The old me would've looked for reasons not to train.
The new me is building habits instead.
I'm not trying to be the strongest bloke in the gym or the fastest runner on Strava.
I'm trying to get back to someone who keeps showing up.
Because that's when real change happens.

Every run. Every rep. Every meal. Every early morning. Every decision.
They all stack up.
Brick by brick.
Not chasing perfection. Building consistency.
One day stronger. One day healthier. One day closer.
💪🧱

Brick by Brick Day by Day. 🧱

Some sessions feel effortless 👌🏻
Today wasn't one of them 🥵

Yesterday was a heavy lower body workout. This morning my legs reminded me about every squat and Romanian deadlift. Add in the Scottish heat (yes... 16°C counts 😂) and hay fever trying its best to turn me into a mouth breathing zombie, and I knew this wasn't going to be a personal best kind of day.

But here's the thing

The stats don't care how you feel. They only record what you did.

🏃 5.01 km ⏱️ 28:21 ⚡ 5:39/km average ❤️ 156 bpm average 📈 Negative split every kilometre 💪 Upper B completed afterwards.

Could I have stayed in bed blaming hay fever? Absolutely.
Could I have skipped the gym because my legs were sore? Easily.

Instead, I showed up.
Living with haemochromatosis has taught me that not every day you'll feel like a superhero. Some days your body feels like it's got the handbrake on. Those are the days that build discipline, because motivation is usually nowhere to be found.

People see the finished results.
They don't see the workouts where your eyes are streaming with pollen, your legs feel like concrete, and you're questioning your life choices halfway through lateral raises. (Who invented those things anyway? 😅)

Every run. Every rep. Every meal. Every recovery session.
They're all just another brick in the wall.
I'm not chasing perfection anymore.
I'm chasing consistency.
Because consistency beats motivation every single time.

🧱 Brick by brick.

🩸 Haemochromatosis🩸

8 months ago I'd never even heard of it.
Now it's something I'll manage for the rest of my life.

It's a condition where your body absorbs too much iron. Sounds harmless until that excess iron starts building up in organs over many years.

For me it answered a lot of questions.
The tiredness. The brain fog. The aches. Wondering why I didn't feel like myself.

This week I had my first venesection (blood removal). I'm not going to lie the needle was massive! 😅 But that's now the start of getting my iron levels back under control.

If even one person reads this and thinks, "That sounds like me," then it's worth sharing.
If you're constantly exhausted, have unexplained joint pain, or there's a family history of haemochromatosis, speak to your GP. A simple blood test can make all the difference.

This page isn't just about lifting weights or losing weight anymore.
It's about building a healthier life.
Brick by brick. 🧱❤️

🥵 HEAT. SWEAT. REPEAT. 🧱

Tonight's plan was simple

🏋🏻 Upper A 🏃🏻 Easy 3K 😎 Get in. Get out.
Reality... well......

🥵 The garage felt like the surface of the sun. 💪🏻 One hour. Twenty-two sets. 😅 Sweat absolutely everywhere.
🏃🏻 Managed a legendary 0.89km 👀 before deciding my body had made the executive decision that enough was enough 🤣
And you know what?
That's okay.

Progress isn't about forcing perfection every single day.
It's about turning up, Putting the work in, Listening to your body and Then coming back to do it all again.

Tomorrow I'm donating a little extra Fe 🩸😂, so tonight was about getting the work done and fuelling up.

Not every run will go to plan.
But every brick you lay still builds the wall.
Brick by brick. 🧱❤️

🧱 Brick by Brick Project Rebuild LOWER A 🧱

Today was about laying another brick.
Breakfast was simple black coffee, chicken, cottage cheese and bagels. Nothing fancy, just fuel.
Funny how a few weeks ago I'd probably have been hunting the biscuit tin by 10am.

Then it was time to hit the garage.
First proper barbell squats since my back problems. I kept the weight sensible, worked through Romanian deadlifts, Bulgarian split squats (which nearly sent me into another dimension 🤣), leg curls, calves and core.
Over an hour of graft, nearly 500 calories burned, and I walked out feeling stronger than when I walked in.

After that came a bit of post workout lunch experimenting
Blended up a smoothie with semi-skimmed milk, Greek yoghurt, whey, banana, peanut butter and creatine. Honestly... 9/10. Filling, packed with protein, and a much better choice than standing in the kitchen wondering what snack I can get away with.

That's probably been the biggest lesson this week.
I'm not trying to be perfect. I'm trying to get back to the habits that I know i can actually stick to. Better meals. Better training. Better recovery. One decision at a time.

Some days I'll smash it. Some days I'll eat too much. Some days my legs will feel like Bambi on ice during split squats.
But I'll still show up.
Because that's how this gets done.
Brick by brick. 🧱💪🏻

Keep shining ✨️