Mark Fenn - Health & Fitness

The strength & conditioning we work to maintain and progress is never owned. Its only rented.

A continuous investment is required.

Celebrate the good week. (Often spoken about)

Respect the weeks and months were hard work and consistency was achieved. (often over looked)

Admire the years. (often never mentioned)

With events like the London Marathon and Manchester Marathon coming up, I’ve been speaking a lot about preparation, tapering, and getting to the start line ready.

But there’s something we don’t talk about enough

What happens after the event?

For many, the goal is simple, complete the marathon and rightly so. It takes time, effort, and consistency to get there.

But what I often see is this:

Train hard for months
Complete the event
Stop training

And over time everything you built starts to fade.

Because in fitness, we don’t own results we rent them.

In time to come this process comes around again and with it comes i use to be able to. This brings more challenges to the table.

Now, here’s the question:

Do we want to achieve something or maintain and improve something?

You don’t need to stay on a marathon plan to keep your fitness.
But you do need a plan.

Without one, it’s easy to drift back:

Old habits creep in
Structure disappears
Consistency drops
Time is given to other things

Before you know it, you’re back at the same starting point you worked so hard to move away from.

It’s not just running either.

We see the same cycle everywhere:

Start something → Get results → Stop → Lose results
Then repeat often comes with the next new method or trend.

The method isn’t always the problem.

The problem can be:
We never learn how to transition out of it.

What’s often missing is this:

How do we maintain what we’ve built?
What does training look like after the goal?
How do we bring structure into normal life?

Real progress isn’t just what you achieve.

It’s what you can keep.

So if you’ve got an event coming up by all means give it your focus.

But also ask yourself:

What happens next?

Because the people who keep their results long-term aren’t the ones who just train hard for an event.

They’re the ones who learn how to keep showing up after it’s done.

There is no right or wrong just what is good for you.

We’ve never had more information yet never been more confused.

A long time ago if you wanted to learn about training, strength or nutrition, you’d wait for a monthly magazine or maybe a yearly annual.

Then came the internet suddenly you could search lower body strength plan or fat loss workout and get endless options.

Now we have AI where you can ask a question and get an answer instantly.

And that’s powerful.

But here’s the problem

Access to information isn’t the same as understanding it.

Take this example:

You’ll often hear
They got great results from a high-protein diet.

That sounds useful but what does it actually mean?

How many grams of protein?
Per day? Per kg of bodyweight?
What did the rest of their diet look like?
Did they do endurance based sprots?

Because if someone was previously eating very little protein then any increase could be considered high but that doesn’t make it optimal for you.

Same with training:

This 20-minute workout got amazing results.

It might have.

But give that same workout to 10 people:

Some will push hard
Some will sit in the middle
Some will just cruise through it

And the results will be completely different.

This is where we need to bring calm to the storm.

Because more and more I’m seeing:

People wanting performance-based goals but following social-based training

There’s nothing wrong with training socially it’s enjoyable, it keeps you consistent.

But we have to ask:

Where is the progression coming from?
Where are we actually pushing the needle?

Sometimes, it’s not about doing more.
It’s about having a small percentage of structured work that drives the outcome.

The same applies to strength training.

If the goal is to get stronger at some point we need to be:

Working close to failure
Leaving 1–2 reps in reserve
Occasionally pushing to the point where another rep isn’t there

Without that we’re just moving weights, not progressing them.

So when you see something online whether it’s social media, Google or AI try this:

Seek the source.

Ask:

What exactly did they do?
How did they apply it?
What did it look like in practice?

Because the headline isn’t the method.

And then bring it back to you:

What is your goal?
What is your lifestyle?
What are your current habits?

Build from there.

Because more often than not:

What worked for them won’t look the same for you.

You’ll see it over the coming weeks with marathons:

People crossing finish lines, achieving incredible things.

But what you don’t see is:

The early mornings
The cold, wet runs
The days they didn’t want to go out but did

So take the information it’s there to help.

But don’t just consume it.

Understand it. Apply it. Question it.

Because that’s where real progress starts.

I hope that helps 1 person because if it does i have done my job

Over the next week, you’ll see a lot of posts about marathon preparation.

• How should I taper?
• How should I carb load?

On paper, these are important questions.
But the answers you’ll see are often based on what worked for someone else not what you need and that matters.

Ideally taper and nutrition aren’t things we figure out the week before.

They should have already been part of your plan.

Working backwards from race day:
• How long do you need to taper?
• What structure works for you 7 days, 10 days, longer?
• What foods sit well with you under load?

Because by now this should feel familiar not new.

The same applies to carb loading.

This isn’t the time to suddenly change foods or try something new.

It should reflect:
• What you’ve already been eating
• What you’ve already tested
• What your body already understands

And then there’s race morning the bit people often overlook.
• You’ll likely be standing around for a long time
• What are you wearing while you wait?
• Are you staying warm or standing there shivering?
• What are you eating in the pen?
• Are you dipping into race fuel too early?

These things matter and they can be practised.

If they haven’t been?

Don’t panic.

Just come back to what you know works.

A taper isn’t about doing nothing.
It’s about reducing volume, not intensity and even that depends on the individual.

Nutrition isn’t about copying someone else’s plan.
It’s about using what your body already tolerates.

Race fuel isn’t something to experiment with now.
It’s something you should already trust.

One more thing

What happens after the race?
• How are you going to recover?
• What does the next week look like?
• What keeps you moving forward once it’s done?

Right now one of the biggest mistakes you can make is:
• Panicking
• Changing everything
• Or trying to follow everyone else

Instead you could:

Stick to what you’ve done
Trust what you know
Keep it simple

Because at this stage confidence beats perfection.

What value do you put on your health?

This time of year always brings a noticeable shift.

Not just enquiries for coaching but a rise in messages from people preparing for half marathons and marathons and with that comes soreness, fatigue and sometimes injury.

Let’s be clear some of this is completely normal.
If you’ve trained consistently and progressed based on you for weeks and months, fatigue at this stage is expected. It’s part of the process.

But here’s the part that often gets missed:

Recovery now matters just as much as the training itself. Not that it didn't before but it needs attention now.

If you’re doing a long run, say on a Saturday, the rest of that day should be about recovery.
Yes, live your life but this isn’t the time to add in extra long walks, errands, or just keeping busy.

This is the phase where the work is done and the body needs to absorb it.

However, there’s another side to this.

Some of the plans I’ve reviewed recently haven’t been progressive.
They’ve gone from very little to a lot very quickly.

That’s not fatigue.
That’s overload.

And unfortunately, that’s where niggles and injuries start to appear.

I completely understand why people sign up to these events.
The reason behind it matters.

But it doesn’t change how we need to approach it now.

For many, I’ve adapted plans with one clear goal:

Get to the finish line safely.

That might mean:

Adjusting sessions week to week
Reducing volume
Introducing run/walk strategies
Prioritising recovery over ticking boxes

And yes sometimes it means doing less, not more.

A quick reality check:

Apps are great but they don’t know you.
They don’t know you’re injured, fatigued, or struggling.

So if you’ve been given a plan that’s been adapted for you it needs to be followed or look to adapt the generic plan.

If not, that’s absolutely ok.
Ownership sits with you.

I’ve also seen a lot of:

“I’m just going to push through anyway.”

And again—that’s your decision.

let’s not ignore this:

Every decision has a consequence.

At some point we have to ask:

Do I need to change the goal?
Is this now about completing, not competing?
Do I need to run/walk instead?

And for a small number of people the hardest conversation:

Should I even be on the start line?

Because sometimes pushing through could mean:

Weeks or months of rehab
Time away from training
longer-term setbacks

If you’re in pain, limping or unsure

Don’t rely on social media opinions.
Don’t guess.

Go and see a professional.
Get it assessed.
Put a plan in place and not just for race day, but for after it too.

Because one of the biggest gaps I see is this:

No recovery plan once the event is done.

I’m not here to hold you back.

I’m here to guide, support, an when needed challenge.

Because your health isn’t just about getting to the start line

It’s about what happens long after you cross the finish line.

At this point honesty is key and it might not be based on what we want to hear.

Please take care of yourself. I know I moan, nag and challenge but that is my job.

When it comes to training it has to align.

If you enjoy training with variety, mixing things up week to week that’s a good thing. Because ultimately that’s what you’ll stay consistent with.

And consistency is what drives progress. But there are factors to consider

If your preference is variety, then the goal isn’t to remove that it’s to build around it:

Stay consistent
Keep enjoyment high
Layer in general goals that support your lifestyle and this type of approach.

From there, if you decide to set a more specific goal, we don’t start from scratch we refine what you’re already doing.

That might mean making some changes.

And this is where it becomes important

Sometimes we set a goal, look at what’s required to achieve it and realise it takes away too much of what we enjoy.

And that’s okay.

Because that awareness helps you:

Manage expectations
Make informed decisions
Stay aligned with what matters to you

Not every goal has to be pursued.

But every decision needs to be understood.

I’ll leave it with yo

Within health and fitness there are many ways to reach the same goal.
It’s rarely one method = one outcome.

Look at elite sport, even at Olympic level, athletes in the same race will have trained differently. Different coaches, different structures, different approaches yet all arriving at the same start line.

And it’s no different for you.

There may be times where I say:
“I’ll leave it with you.”

That’s not me passing the buck.
That’s me handing ownership back to you.

Because sometimes the approach being taken doesn’t align with how I coach.

That doesn’t mean it won’t work.
It simply means it doesn’t sit within what I promote, what I believe in and how I guide my clients.

Take something as simple as a bank holiday weekend.

For me progression isn’t based on:
• The sun shining ☀️
• Having more free time
• Feeling good in the moment

Progression is based on:
• What you’ve done over the last few weeks
• What you’ve built over the last few months
• What is appropriate next, not just what is possible

This can be mapped out not just for days or weeks, but for months ahead.

But and this is key

Plans only work if they are managed and adapted.

Most people don’t sit down and map things out in detail and that’s okay.
That’s why generic plans and apps exist.

But the difference is this:

A plan on paper ≠ a plan that fits you

Where I start to see red flags:
• It’ll be fine
• My friend said
• I’ll just add a bit more

None of those are right or wrong
But they often aren’t informed.

When clients work with me, you’re investing your time and money.

So yes sometimes I will step in and say:
• We don’t need to increase the weight
• We’re not chasing soreness
• We’re not adding more just because we can

Because I’m always looking at:
• What you’ve done
• What you’re doing
• Where you’re going

Not just today but 6 months from now.

And right now, with events coming up for many people this sits well.

The event is just an expiry date.

What matters is:
👉 Where you are today
👉 What you can tolerate today

Pushing beyond that now in the final phase
can lead to:
• Increased fatigue
• More niggles
• Poor recovery
• Potential injury

I’ve had conversations recently where we’ve mapped things out on the board

And the red flags were there. Clear as day.

Not everything can be prevented but a lot can be reduced.

And that’s the difference.

So when I say:
“I’ll leave it with you”

It means:
• You have the choice
• You take ownership

I’ll still guide you.
I’ll still explain the why.

But the decision becomes yours.

remember

More isn’t always better.
Better is better.

Please look after yourself this bank holiday.

It can be very easy to increase training volume but just because we can doesn’t always mean we should.

Often we train in the moment and it can catch us out later.

Large spikes in volume will usually need more recovery in the days that follow to help manage the load.

It can also mean training next week might feel much tougher than normal.

Under fueling: The Hidden Limiter

As we head into April if I had to pick one topic that could help a lot of people it would be this:

Under fueling.

I see it time and time again and more often than not it gets dismissed.

When I ask about nutrition the first response is usually:
My diet is really good.

I don’t doubt that.

But here’s the key point:

Good food choices don’t automatically mean you’re adequately fuelled.

Often the plan get questioned and so it should but so should everything else.

We put in the effort but feel flat. Question when do you recover? Doing more doesn't = better outcomes unless you can recover from it. Your nutrition doesn't just fuel your session it helps you recover from it.

Our bodies are amazing, they can operate well at suboptimal but that will mean outcomes are suboptimal.

Doing the training is only part of the process.

There is a pattern to my life and that pattern is feet up because we can only do what we can recover from.

Today I’m using another event for a training session, the goal is to ride a controlled and comfortable race. That might sound counterproductive but it’s not easy, it was feel easy it will be comfortable while working.

This takes self control, it takes purpose and not worrying about who bats me or were I finish because the truth I don’t worry about what others do because this event is about me, my goal and the objective.

60 minutes of comfortable effort. Not easy.

So for now it’s feet up before the fun begins and the chaos, the noise becomes silence.

Enjoy your Sunday because today is what we have.

Funday Friday

I often get asked about the foot position during a leg press set, the foot position is key based on the goal.

It’s the same for the angle of the back rest, I appreciate not all leg press machines provide this feature.

Today my position is key to the outcome.

Back rest is flat so horizontal.

High foot position

Perfect for recovery 😊

Hope your looking after yourself

If the process isn’t working change it.
That’s what we often hear.

And yes if training isn’t delivering results, enjoyment or motivation something needs to shift.

But here’s the part we often miss

What if you do change the plan and nothing actually changes?

You try a new structure.
A new split.
Different sessions.

But the conversation stays the same:
I’m not feeling it.
I’m struggling to stay consistent.
I'm consistent but not seeing results
It’s just not working.

At that point, it’s no longer just a program problem.

It’s not just the exercises.
It’s not just the structure.
It’s not just the plan.

It’s also the approach.

Because if every new plan/process is met with the same mindset, the same behaviours, the same level of commitment and even expectations.

Then the outcome will always repeat. How we talk about it stays the same and the cycle continues.

Is the fire lit or is it flickering.