Mark Fenn - Health & Fitness

15/10/2026

Back to the future:

We only have what is to come, we don't get back what we didn't do.

We don't get to catch up in fitness we get to move on.

What we can do though is think we are catching up but what really happens is we work against the process. We increase weekly volume/intensity way above the plan and the week can fall apart.

Some might try to squeeze in an AM session then a PM session just to get it done.

The quality of the plan is lost, sessions to come suffer but its ok we caught up right?

Chasing perfection for me hinders a plan, its not about perfect data its about working a plan to get the most from it. Ticking the box is just that ticking a box.

Advice I propvide to clients.

We don't play catch up.

We work with 2 options and they depend on you at the time.

Option 1: Keep rolling through the plan, what ever session is next we complete. This is one reason I would not always put a session to a day more session 2.1 then 2.2 then 2.3 leading to 3.1 etc. Setting a day can be great but also restrict.

Option 2: We move on, the session not completed is left not completed and we move on 2.1 Completed 2.2 Not Completed 2.3 completed.

No conflict, no additional fatigue we have not planned for and we keep the quality of the plan, process and look after ourselves (self care)

No right or wrong just ownership of outcomes.

14/10/2026

Go big or go home: Often leads to staying home.

It sounds good, it sounds impressive and i get it.

There are times though it doesn't need to be big, sound impressive or be shouted from the roof tops.

Examples:

We talk about indoor bike sessions needing to be long. We are given guidance that its ok to do 20-30 minutes but it get dismiised.

The longer sessions though don't get completed. Not enough time but there was time for shorter sessions.

We might need to do longer sessions but at times we need to work with what we have.

We are going on a hike in a few months, will be out 6-8 hours so some work to be done.

We need to be out walking regularly so more local, out the front door or a 10 minute drive. Due to way of life time is not available but then we talk about a big day out into Wales to help prepare for the hike.

The magic happens with the regular local walks

Within the gym its great talking about how much is lifted but what about how well its lifted, we get caught up in casing the weight while neglecting key areas. This can leave us digging a bit of a hole.

The big numbers sound great but to lift heavier we need to put in the work. Mobility might be an area we need to work on, technique based sessions or working on areas to help improve a specific lift like our conditioning.

Its often the boring stuff that delivers the bigger outcomes.

13/10/2026

That's a bold statement.

Recently I have seen more posts making bold statements that could if we are not careful create more confusion than provide guidance.

Example:

This exercise is 100 x better than XYZ. Sounds good right?

Here's the confusion, many watch the clip and read the post but don't question it. Complete buy in.

Even without the 100 x better is the exercise suitable for you?

Who is the person behind the post?

The person behind the information will they be there if it doesnt go well?

Back to the 100 x better. Were is the evidence to support the post?

Its not about right or wrong at this point, more before diving into the 100 x better in your next session take time to review the information, ask questions and then decide if its for you.

Take care of yourself.

12/10/2026

Hi how are you?

How do you manage volume? Volume is a metric we can use to progress, adapt or regress.

But what happens when we cant give any more time, you have built up to 200 minutes in your heavy phase.

Do we extend the heavy phase so lets say it takes 10 days to complete the heavy phase do we take it over 12 days.

What can we do within that time to help progress? Time/Load/intensity.

We could look at when sessions are completed, Which sessions follow which. What recovery days do we have and which sessions lead into them and out of them.

Within both strength & conditioning available time play a part.

If we add more time do we need more recovery?

Questions need to ebe asked before just doing more.

10/10/2026

Getting away with it - Maybe Not

Recently I have posted about some times we get away with it without consequence or very little. That hike, challenge, event or race etc which we didn't prepare for.

A bit of soreness but we got away with it. The best outcome we could hope for.

Days later even a few weeks doing something what you feel is easy and ouch that hurt. Limping, back pain or shoulder burning etc.

We are shocked, I wasn't doing anything only recently I did X. Often we dismiss its anything to do with what we did.

Lets talk about that volume increase it might be close to 800-900%. A 1hr walk does not prepare for a 9 hour hike. Running for 2.5hrs but you only normally run 30 minutes.

Now lets look at recovery. We dived straight back into life. This does not mean the body has recovered, ligaments, tendons, muscles are now being challenged way above their pay grade doing daily tasks.

This can then lead to niggles, soreness, pain injuries after the event, we didnt prepare for it and we didnt recover from it.

Please lets look ahead, think about what is required, do your best to prepare because even with the best prep there are no guarantees all will go well so not preparing just increases the risks.

And the truth it could be life changing.

Look after yourself.

Mark

09/10/2026

Its all about you:

I appreciate your friend said X or can do Y while respecting its not about you.

Its the same with information we hear, read or watch does it relate to you?

Its easy to copy but that doesn't mean we get the same outcome.

Here's the twist.

If your feel your friend, what you have heard, watched or read holds value for you then maybe you should go with it.

Which ever path you take will require time, patience and understanding.

Look after yourself

06/10/2026

Wk 41

We have less time than we think

It wasn't long ago when I'd open up a client's training plan to fill out their attendance record and see week 8, 15 or 27 and think we're ticking along nicely.

Now it's week 41 and week 52 is very visible.

It's too easy to think "I've got plenty of time."

We have less time than we think It wasn’t long ago when I’d open up a client’s training plan to fill out their attendance record and see week 8, 15 or 27 and think we’re tic…

04/10/2026

What does Autumn bring to you? A season you love or love to hate?

Do you embrace the dark mornings or put the duvet over your head.

The Autumn brings many challenges within my clients way of life. Darker mornings and evenings can stop us in our tracks, from considering our safety during dark runs or bike rides to motivation dropping through the floor to complete our gym sessions.

From a professional perspective so much training can be lost during the Autumn & Winter. Some of it can't be helped but often its lost due to reasons that don't really stack up.

What does Autumn bring to you? A season you love or love to hate? Do you embrace the dark mornings or put the duvet over your head. The Autumn brings many challenges within my clients way of life. …

03/10/2026

Saturday has arrived and for some they head into their weekend.

How its spent is personal, from an up and at it, a relaxing morning to a lye in.

Conflict of interests.

You enjoy a relaxing morning or to have lye in but you have set yourself a goal which requires most weekends for you to be up early to train so you are then able to enjoy the rest of the day. Family commitments start around 10am.

Your session will take 2 hours including getting ready/travel/doing/shower so you need to be up before 8am.

This isn't a one hit wonder, weekend after weekend are similar and thsi is why it has to be part of you, the way of you life.

If you want your relaxing Saturday morning then lets look at how your present goal fits.

Do we need to train later in the day?
Do we need to rethink the goal or training week?

Likewise its a great feeling when your training is done and the day is yours.

Nothing worse though later in the day knowing you missed your session.

No right, no wrong just what's good for you.

03/10/2026

Hi how are you?

For those that know me well will know I appreciate the benefits of activity trackers but appreciate they play a very small % of any plan.

I see too many getting stressed, using these metrics to live life when it’s not necessary.

Many talk about the body battery etc while rarely talking about what affects it or working on what would improve it,

At times to the point convincing themselves how the next session will go way before even starting the warm up.

This is not to say we can’t use it to our advantage. The pictures shows a 7 day period.

5am get up in bed at 22:30 each day.

From the time of get up to going to bed it was either work or being active very little time off feet.

We can see the highs and the lows.

Just because things look good doesn’t mean we are good to go, push on likewise if the data was showing very low across the week that doesn’t mean we need to rest .

There is a much bigger picture to be understood, living by trends might hold us back or push us on when we should do the opposite.