08/09/2026
2 years ago, I got engaged. ❤️
At the time, I was very much in my performance era.
I’d completed 2 HYROX events and had another 3 planned. I was still lifting weights, but strength training had taken a bit of a back seat while engine builders, treadmill intervals, longer runs and a few 10Ks took over.
And I was LOVING it.
I was fitter than I’d ever been.
I was running faster than I ever had.
And the high of competing? Unbelievable.
But as my wedding approached, I realised something…
I wasn’t getting the changes I wanted to see in my body composition.
Now, as a PT, you might think I should have known exactly what to do. 😂
But I’d become so hooked on the performance wins that I’d forgotten something I tell other people all the time:
Your training should reflect your CURRENT goal.
So, with my own PT, we changed the focus.
The running and HIIT had to take a back burner for a while — and as someone who absolutely loved the highs they gave me, that was actually hard to accept.
But it was time for a different training cycle.
Bring on the body composition phase. 💪
4 strength sessions a week.
A big focus on progressive overload.
Lower-impact cardio ONLY.
And for 6 weeks, tighter control of my nutrition, including reducing my carbohydrate intake.
Slowly, things started changing.
My body shape changed.
The scales started moving.
I felt less beaten up by my training.
And I started seeing the results that matched the goal I had at that time.
Fast forward to 29th August, when I married my best friend feeling the happiest and most confident I’d felt about how I looked. ❤️
So, what am I actually getting at?
TRAINING COMES IN CYCLES.
My performance-focused training gave me:
🔥 The best fitness levels I’d ever had
🔥 My fastest running times
🔥 Better endurance
🔥 The incredible highs of racing and competing
But it also meant I needed more fuel, carried more scale weight and often held more water from the volume and intensity of training.
My body-composition phase gave me:
💪 More focus on building and shaping muscle
💪 Changes in my overall body shape
💪 Less high-intensity stress on my body
💪 A reduction in scale weight alongside tighter nutrition control
But yes — my running fitness and endurance decreased.
And that’s OK.
Because you don’t have to train for EVERYTHING, ALL THE TIME.
There doesn’t have to be one style of training that you commit to forever.
There can be seasons where you want to run faster.
Seasons where you want to get stronger.
Seasons where you want to compete.
Seasons where changing your body composition is the priority.
And seasons where you simply want to train because it makes you feel good.
Changing the goal doesn’t mean you’ve failed at the previous one. It just means your training evolves with you.
Over a lifetime, you can do ALL of these things.
You can be strong.
You can be fit.
You can chase performance.
You can work on body composition.
Just maybe not all at their absolute peak at exactly the same time.
Train for the goal you have now — and when that goal changes, allow your training to change with it. ❤️
