Music So you are strength and conditioning coach for WRU Wales
rugby right? You were also a former pro for
10 years as well, playing for Cardiff Blues, playing for Wales
as well. What's the difference between a
normal training programme for like the everyday athlete and a
pros approach to training? So I think I the easiest way of
kicking off would be to give you a bit of an overview in terms of
what a a life in a professional rugby player would be, in terms
of if we've got a seven day turnaround.
So yeah, day one, players coming in, breakfast, meetings,
reviews, then tail end of the morning probably that'd be where
we have our, our key, our key lower body lift of the of the
week. I think, you know, certainly
players like, and it makes sense in terms of we try to front load
the week and taper off as the week goes on.
So players have that freshness going into the game.
So gym based session would be very much consistent of a start,
some movement prep and then you know, some speed mechanics, low
level plyometrics because we want to micro dose what we do
because we don't have huge amounts of time in the week
probably to work on your physical prep.
You've probably got 2 1/2 hours in the week.
You know, these professional rugby players, a lot of the work
will go yeah, a lot of the work throughout the whole week.
A lot of the, the work will be on field, the, you know, in the,
in the classroom as such, in terms of learning the plays,
putting them to play on field and rugby specific to sports
specific work that we do. So, you know, we have to be
very, you know, clear in terms of what we want to get out of
the session. Probably for me going off on a
tangent, you know, the importance is we don't try to
bring any fluff, any, any, any additional work that doesn't
need to be into the gym. We're working on developing the
physical qualities, the strength, speed and power.
So it's bang for buck. What can we get out of these
sessions in the short space of time?
So you know, for example, lower body key left front end of the
week, what are we trying to do with probably working more at
that force focus end of the spectrum in terms of our
strength qualities, You know, Max strength, that's the quality
that underpins majority of the other physical qualities, your
speed, your power elements. So there's still a focus, a big
focus on that throughout this, throughout the season.
So it'll be our big key compound lifts, your squats, your dead
lifts, that's what drives your global strength qualities,
followed by sing some single leg work, posterior chain, your
glutes, your hammies, you know, your big muscle groups to
enhance these these qualities and then some some trunk and Co
worker at the same time. You know, afternoon session will
be a learning session on field, you know, lower, lower pace,
lower key sort of session, just putting things into play for the
next day. So day 2 or Tuesday, if you're
on a same day, turn around, that's going to be the big
physical contact on field day of the week PM would be upper body,
similar foot, similar approach to our lower body, our key upper
body lifts and then finishing the session with more robustness
work. So that's what we refer to as,
you know, some calf work, some capacity work, neck work.
So a big quality that we want players to have is durability as
well, because we need the players to be fit and healthy
year round, you know, not just on match day, but also being
able to back it up in the training week.
So, you know, making sure we're not picking up soft tissue
injuries, which are just a common place in, in, in
professional sports. And this is just day one.
So this is on to day 2. Day 2.
OK, Yeah. Well, a little bit.
Wednesday will tend to be the recovery day.
So players will be off, they'll go, you know, sports massage,
the hot cold therapy, you know, making sure nutrition, sleep,
everything else is on point. The Thursday game day -2 as we
refer to it, that's going to be very much more, you know, sharp,
short, sharp sessions on field, but also driving our power
quality. So gym based, more total body
work. That's where we'll be doing more
of our Olympic lifting, our jump variations, you know, throwing
variations, you know, really trying to drive intense speed
and movement. We also use velocity based
training at times. So what we find with that is
it's, you know, devices on the bars or the balls, whatever
we're throwing that gives instant feedback which creates
challenge amongst the boys. At the end of the day, these
boys are competitive individuals, so we want to drive
competition as much as we can in the gym environment as well.
So that's something that we do. And then Friday it's a team run,
recover, get ready for game day, so which is then on the
Saturday. So that's how we're probably a
typical week of a professional athlete.
But I think just to go back to it, it's, you know, they're long
days. Monday, Tuesdays will be full
days, Wednesdays are down days, but still recovery learning.
And then Thursdays are trying to be a little bit shorter.
So we're tapering and recovering going into the game on the
Saturday. So how can me, Terry, 41 year
old man, like with a full time job and kids, obviously I'm not
a pro athlete, but how can like an everyday athlete take those
principles from a pros game and apply it to their own lives?
Well. Yeah, I think that's, that's a
great question. I think I've, I've probably
suggested that in terms of how much time we actually spend on
driving, physical qualities, what we're trying to develop,
you know, how much time we have in the gym, for example, you
know, 2 1/2 hours a week, you know, is that long enough to Dr.
adaptation, create change, see improvements. 100%.
It's, you know, for me, it's, it's just bang for buck.
What are the exercises, You know, if we're talking about
developing lean muscle strength quality, which is a key
component and in terms of what people ideally from a training
perspective will have in their training week, you know, is, is,
is is key. And that's where it is key.
Compound lifts, multi joint full body exercises, you know, rather
than the approach of doing millions of different exercises
in the gym, changing them week to week.
You know, it's been really sensible with your, you know,
the amount of time you've got and you know, the low variation
in key exercises. That's what we want to have low
variation. If you're doing, you know, if
you're consistent with your exercises, you're going to see
improvement in terms of the way you move, the way you, your
technical ability, which is super key in terms of driving,
driving change with what we're doing.
So what do? What do you see the the the
biggest mistake everyday athletes make?
Then when they try, is it because they're trying to do
more? I think there's, there's,
there's always, I think it's trying to fit everything in,
isn't it? I think often people will train,
you know, trying to cover off your strength, your power, your
speed, your conditioning All in all in one session.
You know, So there's always can be a danger of trying to do too
much, which, you know, ends up overtraining and really, you
know, not necessarily driving the, the, the, the, and having
the clear understanding of what you're trying to develop in that
session itself. So it's trying to just, it's
smart, but simple programming. That's what my beliefs are.
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Now let's get back to the episode.
Yes. So would you say like to an
everyday athlete, the it's the first portal call when you're
trying to improve performance proof ability is you go to the
drawing board and you actually boil it down.
What what am I actually trying to achieve?
And then you craft the plan. From that, yeah, 100%.
And you know, when you break it down like that in terms of for
the everyday athlete or the everyday person, in terms of
like, we're trying to what, what are we trying to, what are we
training for? I think that's a great starting
point in terms of are you training for performance?
Are you trying training for longevity, quality of life,
which I think, you know, the, the, when we start tapping into
our late 30s forties, the mindset around that starts to
shift a little bit in terms of why the why and the motivation
behind what we're doing from a training perspective.
And I think, you know, then it becomes when we're breaking down
our training, why, OK, but what do we need to, what do we need
to prioritize if we need to build lean muscle?
You know, muscle is the long, the organ of longevity.
You know, it's the more muscle mass we have, you know, the
higher, you know, the, the, the, the longer our lifespan tends to
be. You know, it's not as simple as
that, but there's plenty enough to, to research around that site
and why the more muscle mass you have, the better blood sugar
control you have, the less prone to type 2.
You know, all the knock on effect is is.
And that's where I think, and I think social media has done a, a
good job of that over the years. A lot of, you know, negativity
around social media, but the information that's going out
around training and exercise is positive as well.
And I think, you know, a lot of ladies now these days are, are
buying into the benefits of, of strength training.
But so it's, it's like I said, but then it's also the flip
side, just as important as developing your cardiovascular
health, staying fit and healthy, you know, making sure you take
in that box as well. So it's, you know, but you know,
it's trying not to overcomplicate it.
It is having a plan in place, you know a purpose behind what
you're doing because if you've got a purpose and a plan, it's
more far more likely you're going to stay accountable and on
track to, to, to achieving what you're trying to, to get with
your training. Yeah, you can certainly track it
better and you missed a point then as well with more mass,
muscle mass. Obviously you look better in a
pair of Speedos as well. Aesthetics and to be honest,
that's that's also, and I probably, you know,
contradicting myself a little bit with what I'm saying now,
but I think there's been a big shift in the the fitness
industry over probably the last 10 years where, you know, for a
large part of time, it's very much been geared around
aesthetics, You know, people trained to look better where,
you know, I think we're certainly seeing it now in terms
of more of a shift towards maybe performance.
Like in terms of, you know, you've seen growth in sports
like high rocks, you know, a lot more people running, you know,
doing 10 KS marathon because people like having a goal,
something to train towards. And that's what helps keep
people accountable. I think the way the tech work
the world is in terms of the various devices, the trackers,
it all helps to keep people accountable.
And I think that's been a positive.
And seeing that shift in giving people a reason to, you know,
have a focus on their training is massively beneficial.
And it's not when I say performance, not necessarily,
you know, performance in terms of against other people, but
performance in, in terms of to themselves.
Like how much better can I get at my 10K time, my 5K time, high
rocks time, whatever it may be, It's and it's it's having goals
that can help move you on and and and see progression.
Yeah, I like that because it's not necessarily like how big can
I get my biceps is perhaps you know, how fast can I get my 5K
time in And then from the back of that you sort of work back.
Well, I need to work on the cardiovascular fitness and then
I need to work on my Sprint training or my and two running.
It's like the training is a product of the end goal.
Yeah. And I think like there's a,
there's a phrase and again, you'll do throughout podcasts,
I'll drop in little cliches, quotes and stuff, but I think
it's so practical in terms of training and keeping people
engaged, but also in other aspects of life in terms of me
growing a business. And it's the, the, the quote is
the man that loves walking will walk further than the man that
loves the destination, you know, And when you love the journey,
the goals just happen. And for me, I think that's a
real important message, certainly from a a health and
fitness perspective, because it is about the process.
If you can find a way of enjoying the process, the goals
will just happen, you know, and it's, it is about, and that's
probably the challenge a lot of people have these days is
staying engaged in the process and the consistency there.
And that's the challenge. And, you know, I think that's
something sport has taught me over the years, Rugby's taught
me over the years of the importance of the consistency,
the behaviours, all that side of things, which ultimately is, is
brings the results. So it is having a plan with your
training and knowing what you're training for, but it's also
trying to find a way of staying accountable, staying engaged and
enjoying the process. Yeah, if your goal could be
something that you're only going to achieve in a year's time.
So if you're constantly looking forward to a year, it's going to
take a long time to actually get there.
Watch pot never boils, as they say.
How does it how does it work in the in Wales?
Then when Steve Tandy gives you a call, is he saying I want
right, Robin, I want my boys to get bigger this week or I want
them to get faster this week. Is he giving you goals or is it
just like don't improve their strength conditioning?
Do you have specifics? So in terms of just a touch on
it, like how our environment works in Wales, so I'm part of
the strength and conditioning department.
So we have Hugh, Hugh Bennett head of performance, so we'd be
the head of our department. There's myself, strength and
conditioning coach, John Ashby, strength and conditioning coach.
We then have Kieran Miller, head of sports science, Chris Edwards
had a nutrition. We've got a full time chef as
well, Andre Moore. So that that's, that's, that's
that's our, our department. So in terms of cons, you know,
the directive will go to Hugh, Hugh will come to us then or
we'll as a group, we'll put plans in place.
And you know, that's probably the big part of it is the, you
know, not just it's not just for the players, it's the management
as well. There's a lot of reflective
practice going on. Where can we improve?
How can we drive things forward, You know, in terms of driving,
you know, the physical qualities for the players.
This is something this isn't just in our environment.
So being with the national squad, we get the players for
small pockets of the years, you know, the Six Nations, the
autumn internationals, summer tours, you know, it's only
really World Cup year that we get prolonged periods of time
with the players. But then I've also in the past,
I've worked at regional level where, you know, that's where
you know, you, you've got the players a lot more year round.
So for us, it's, it's how we can work with the regions to put
plans in place that, you know, drive the players to the, the,
the, the direction that we want to go in with Wales.
And, you know, so it's, you know, it's not just one
conversation being had, it's the drip down understanding the
style of play. And probably that's where we've
struggled a little bit over the years is probably having a clear
understanding what is our style of play with Wales.
And I'd like to think since Steve's come in, certainly this
time, you know, for us, certainly there's a real clear
vision in terms of how we want to play, what the game plan is
about, how we want to grow the squad going forward.
And it's been really pleasing to see, certainly in this Six
Nations now, the light at the end of the tunnel.
It's been a tough couple of years, 100% for us all in Wales
and certainly when we're in it and all the outside noise and
the criticism at times that comes with it.
You know, I think, you know, Steve's done an incredible job
in terms of bringing the group together real and building that
confidence and belief. And I think the last three games
of the Six Nations now there has been clear, you know, movement
forward in terms of how we want to play, you know, the style of
play we want, the togetherness of the squad, the physicality
the players are bringing. You know, that's what's been
really pleasing as well as the abilities and been one off games
that each game has been building.
We talk about processes and you know, Steve's very much about
process driven in terms of, you know, not focusing on the the
result that will come. We get the processes right.
They're game to game. We look for small improvements,
look for improvements, the results will come.
And I think that's the direction exactly where we're going.
And you know, what has happened in a in a fairly short space of
time since Steve's been in. So it's been it's been it's been
great to see and that, you know, it's certainly, you know, for
every involved in in Welsh rugby at the moment, you know,
management, players, supporters as well.
I think it's given the nation a lift again, isn't it?
And I think the buzz, you know, certainly the stadium, you know,
the Italian game, it was brilliant to see that that that
that energy is back in Wales. And hopefully this is just a
sign of things to come into next year, World Cup year, you know,
hopefully big things can that can come for this.
Oh. Absolutely.
I remember it was the the Scottish game and I was watching
it and I found myself, I was cheering, I was whooping and I
was like, this is the first Welsh game I've enjoyed properly
for like 2 years and it was exciting.
It was, it was wicked to feel it again.
Like so they're obviously making progress. 100% and I think it's
also credit to the stadium as well.
I think, you know, from the autumn, from the autumn to the
Six Nations, there's been a clear drive in making this an
event as well for for spectators, supporters and
that's what it needs. We've got to move with the times
and you know, I think the the stadium has done a great job in
terms of creating, helping create the environment.
And, you know, now obviously a lot of that environment is going
to be dictated from what the on field performance, what the
product is. And it's just great to see that
product is now starting to get back to what we know it can be,
what the Welsh way is. And you know, just for the play,
all the players involved, you know, you know, everyone, every
time everyone pulls on that Welsh jersey, even through the
dark times. It's like in the harder times,
everyone always goes on that pitch to give it their all.
You know, the pride they have playing for Wales, you know, and
for whatever reason, you know, things haven't necessarily gone
gone the way we've wanted over the past couple of years.
But certainly, you know, autumn internationals, you know, Six
Nations, there's clear building blocks going in place.
And it's I think Welsh rugby's got a lot to look forward to
because I think there's a lot of like there's a lot of noise in
other areas that, you know, Welsh rugby.
But you know, the product is the most important part.
We need to keep building on that.
Yeah, if we take it back to the everyday athlete now and you
broke down sort of how you train as a professional, you're
breaking down the the one thing that stood out is this sort of
analysis phase is looking about how you've what you've done over
the past week, over the past day, over the past match, and
then applying that then to your for the for the next week and
how you can improve. Would that like that stands out
as a, an element of training that perhaps everyday athletes
don't incorporate into their training?
Because everyone's going to go and they're going to hit the
weights, they're going to hit the track, they're going to do
their running. Everyone's got that in.
Would you say that is the a big part that maybe everyday
athletes don't put in? And if they did put it in, what
could that look like for them? Yeah, I think for me, you know,
we talk, let's clear like in terms of the everyday athletes
into what clearly define what you see as the the me.
I'm sat here, 41 year old, yeah. And for me, it's it's, you know,
who is the everyday athlete? The everyday athlete is, is that
individual that is time, precious busy work life, busy
family life, you know, they don't have, you know, still
understands the importance of staying fit and healthy, but
there's so much other things going on in life that it makes
it hard to stay on track. You know, there's there's so
many other things going on that any slight deviation distraction
takes takes people away from. The first thing they'll tend to
go is them them themselves, you know, and something I again, you
know, for me, what is high performance?
What is a high performance lifestyle?
A high performance lifestyle, One of the three big rocks in
peoples lives. More often than not, as I
mentioned there, it's their family life, their friends,
their family life, the social, it's the their careers, their
working environments. And then there's them as
individuals, the self-care element and what always happens.
You know what always happens? All the time energy goes into
careers, into families, into kids, and the thing that always
falls by the wayside is the self-care element.
But ultimately, for us to perform at our best and have
high performance in the workplace, to be the best
version of ourselves in whatever career we're doing, but also to
be the best version of ourselves as a mum, as a dad, you know,
it's as a as a wife, as a husband.
If you don't have your health and Wellness first and foremost,
you're never going to be able to be high performance in in those
areas. So it is essential that we find
time to prioritize your health and your well-being, even if it
is for just short moments during the day, even if it's 15 minutes
here, half hour there. Then it comes back to the
principle that I talk about at the start in terms of
professional sport, it's bang for buck.
How do we get the most change in the smallest potential time?
That isn't going to take anything away from on field
training game on Saturday, but still going to be enough to
drive change. And that's the key to it.
So you know, how, how, how do we go about creating change for the
everyday athletes? First of all, the importance of
recognising the why. Why is it so important to find
the way of staying accountable to your own health and
well-being? Because ultimately the areas
that are distracting, taking you away from it, they are going to
be the things that suffer if you're not physically well, if
you're struggling as so many people do today with their
anxiety, depression, you know, poor health, you know, you're
just not going to be able to be the best mum and dad that you
could potentially be, let alone in the workplace.
So it's yeah, I think it's identifying that first of all,
not overthinking it, trying to keep things simple in terms of
your training, not beating yourself up if you don't get the
perfect training session in and understanding what is the
biggest driver in terms of change physical health
consistency, consistency in what you're doing.
Being able to show up day in day outdoor, you know, a few times a
a week, frequently week on week, that's how you're going to do
it. So I think at times people can
overthink it, overthink it. Try to be finding the perfect
plan in place. The perfect plan doesn't exist.
It's about the repetition of simplicity, and that's always
the thing that's overlooked and undervalued.
Yeah, that's what I've done with my training.
You, you've almost got to drop the ego because like you've got
this ego. I want to fit in a massive 1 one
hour session. What do you know what I do with
my strength sessions now? Three exercises each like 3 * a
week. That's it.
But because I know I can do that, it takes me 20 minutes,
maybe 15 minutes sometimes, but I can build a consistency
because when I've got an hour or an hour and a half training
session to do and I've only got 40 minutes to do it in, that's
when I don't do it. I go, well, I can't fit it all
in, then I don't do it. But if it if you just reign it
in, that's been the biggest game changer for me is just dropping
the ego. And do you want, that's a
really, because for me, you know, both in rugby and general
pop training, the biggest for those people that enjoy
training, it's the ego is what can get in people's way and hold
people back and reduce their ceiling of physical development
and physical quality. The base of the, the, the
pyramids in terms of physical, the what drives physical
qualities, the first and foremost movement competency,
You know, it's how well can we move?
How well can we, you know, you know, we train, what are we
training? It's the everyday athlete.
What are we training for majority of the time, it is
longevity, quality of life, what we do.
So we want to be working, you know, through range of motion,
through range of motion as best we can.
You know, unless you've got anything significant that's
restricting you, what's often the thing that holds you back
from working through range of motion, if you're doing squats,
dead lifts or whatever it may be, the weight on your back.
So the first thing, drop your ego, reduce the weight and
perform the exercises and movement, these fundamental
everyday movements that we need for everyday life for them in
the correct way. There's your mobility work being
done alongside your strength training.
You don't need to be spending hours on your mobility work.
Then your strength. How can you incorporate all
these things together? And a big part of it is, is
improve the way you move. Have more of a focus and pride
in how you move on a day-to-day basis.
The better you move, the better you're going to be able to
express your strength, your force, your power, whatever it
may be. And that's what then will nudge
your ceiling up. And that's something probably in
rugby environments that can be probably one of the biggest
challenges is you're dealing with a lot of alpha males that
are very competitive in nature, but having the conversations,
boys drop a little bit of weight there.
Focus on moving a bit better. Focus on working through a full
range of motion that you need to be able to get into on field
because if you're not we're able to work through range of motion
in the gym, you're constantly restricting range of motion
there. You're going to be weak in end
range movements then on field that you are going to get into
when you're in the bottom of a rock or whatever it may be.
So you know, not everyone, you know, not everyone will have the
same approach. But for me that's very much why
I see, you know, my methods in terms of professional rugby and
often daily pop are very similar in terms of what what we do in a
gym environment. It's, you know, for me it's
quality, quality of movement is at the heart of what we want to
try and drive everything on. Yeah, I've been at the receiving
end of that. It's it's squats coming back in
here. The ego got the better of me and
I only need to up up the weight a bit, but then I pop my back
and then I'm out for two weeks. Well, that recovers so.
You know, a good a good point on that again, it's it's like, what
is strength training? You know, for me, strength
training is the ability to strain under a load with good
technique. That's how we get stronger.
What isn't strength training is the ability to under a strain
under a load with crap technique.
That's where an injuries happen. That's where backs start going,
where you start pulling muscles and twinges.
It's and it comes back to it. Focus on movement quality.
Focus on movement quality and doing things as perfection, as
close to perfection as you can. Chase, chase, virtuosity, the
ability to perform the common uncommonly well, which is what
so many people don't do. And it's it's so it can't stress
that emphasis enough in terms of it's not necessary about the
load on your back or what you're pushing, it's how well you can
move that load in the 1st place. Only when you've earned the
right to increase the weight do you do so.
Yeah, yeah, yeah. So you, you played professional
rugby for 10 years, was it professional?
And you must have played for years before that as well.
Cardiff Blues Welsh Caps Did you ever think that you'd become a
rugby player when you're growing up?
So start playing rugby as an 8 year old, you know, like a lot
of young Welsh boys and it was my life.
It was, it's all I ever wanted to do was play rugby, you know,
play out in the garden, play for my local club Pentil.
And so I always, always had aspirations of playing rugby.
I think as I got old I can't remember exactly 95
unprofessional so I can't remember exactly how old I
should be able to. Work it says.
It says year 2000 on your LinkedIn on your Wikipedia.
So in terms of actually, you know, the the game obviously
going professional. So I, yeah, so you know, it was
something I always had aspirations when the game went
professional, then that was that was my sole focus.
Wanted to play professional rugby for Wales, you know,
British Lions. I wanted to be the best of the
best, you know, and that's something that you know, I
didn't obviously achieve, you know, and probably probably
moves on to it, probably another area like it.
You know, I what I achieved in my rugby career, it's only
recently I've really been able to actually feel more fulfilled
with it because I certainly at the end of my career and for
many years after, I felt so unfulfilled from rugby because I
wanted to be the best. I wanted, I genuinely wanted to
play for the British Lions. I wanted to be 506070 caps for
Wales. And I just because I didn't
achieve that, that's something that is eaten away, ate away at
me because my goal from a young age was to be the best.
And but you know, without sounding cheesy with it, it's
like I said, it's only recently now over the last few years, I
actually sit back and I'm like, and this isn't the bragging
rights. It's like I, you know, what I
achieved in my, in my career, I'm really proud of.
Like I played for Wales. I was part of two Grand Slam
winning campaigns, played against New Zealand, South
Africa, Australia, went to the Commonwealth Games in Australia,
played for Wales Sevens. Like the experiences I had as a
professional rugby player. I'm so grateful.
I got a lot of gratitude for that now, but it's only been, I
think probably as I've got a little bit older, a little bit
more, you know, sentimental with things that I can look back and,
and be, you know, actually, no, I'm, I'm proud of what I
achieved there. And also, you know, the way my
career was, it wasn't, you know, a straight line, you know, and
it's a lot of what a lot of people don't see the
professional rugby play or the professional athletes, the, you
know, the, the setbacks, the failures, you know, it's for me,
it's rugby. I really do see it's the perfect
analogy for life and probably what's helped really mould me as
a person then get me ready for the next stage of life is, you
know, rugby is a sport that is full of setbacks and failures,
you know, and it's ultimately it's how you respond to those
setbacks and failures that moves you along.
And you know, that's something that I've taken and apply to my
second stage of my life because that's exactly what life is all
about. Without getting too cheesy and
emotional with it's, you know, it's been able to recognize it
and build your resilience as as a person that can handle these
and, and using the reflective practice to to try and improve
and learn from these experiences.
Yeah. I mean, just there's a tiny,
tiny percentage of the Welsh population that will ever play
for Wales. And you've got to do it numerous
times. Like you, you did achieve what
every schoolboy aspires to do when they're when they're young,
growing up like, but it's for you, I suppose it's it's finding
that perspective in later life. And like to dive, dive a little
bit more probably into the way my career went.
It's, you know, I from a young age, you know, probably from 50,
I probably really started to kick on from about 15 years of
age. And you know, playing for Wales,
you know, in the age grades, playing a year young, I was, you
know, when again, it's not, it's not bragging about stuff.
But I also got picked for Wales as an 18 year old.
So I'm actually one of the, the, one of the youngest players to
have played for Wales. Not many people know that.
But I played. So I got picked to go on tour to
Japan with Wales, played in the midweek game.
So it wasn't an official cap game.
But still as an 18 year old playing for Wales was, you know,
an incredible achievement. It was still years late until I
won my first Welsh cap, but you know, the difference from going
from schoolboy youth rugby into the senior environment, that's
where it really started become, you know, it was a a it was
tough. It was competitive.
I played majority in my career, Cardiff Rugby, my home club, the
club that I supported, you know, and I had Martin Williams, one
of the greatest Welsh frankers of all time, as the seven in the
seven jersey. And I spent the majority of my
career battling with Martin to get the game time.
And, you know, throughout, you know, we'd always probably
season on season play more or less the same number of games,
but Martin B and Martin would play the big European games, you
know. But then, you know, but I also,
I look back, that's also what brought the best out of me.
You know, nothing was given to me on a plate.
I had to fight tooth and nail to to and probably where my passion
and love for strength and condition really came from
because I had to do everything I could to succeed and get and to
achieve my ultimate ambition and dream of playing for my country
through real grit and hard work. And that's they're the qualities
that I'm really proud. And the way my career went,
because like I said, it was full of, you know, setbacks,
failures, whether that was selection, whether that was
injuries, you know, but ultimately, you know, I, I did
achieve what I wanted to achieve, you know, maybe, maybe
not to the level that I wanted to in terms of the volume of
caps and British Lions. But I said it's, it's, it's a,
it's a dream that, you know, I fulfilled.
And I'm, I'm, yeah, I'm, I'm proud of what I did and the way,
the way I was able to do it as well.
Yeah, you've, you've clearly played with some legends of the
sport. You mentioned Martin Williams
there, The new sense. That's what Jonathan Davis used
to call it, the new sense, Martin, Martin Williams.
But what one thing I wanted to ask you, you played with John
Alomo, literally the biggest legend in the game.
What was what was it like playing with people like him?
Do you all like, I'll never forget, like I don't even know
how it happened in terms of all I remember is being on in my car
on a my little white Saxo on a 11 weekday evening.
And I had the radio on and it announced that I think, and I
would have been, I've been pretty young at this time that
Jonah Lomu had signed for Cardiff Blues.
And I just remember my mouth just dropped.
This was Jonah Lomu, the guy that literally had inspired so
many people, kids, adults, the the greatest rugby player ever
to have played the game. He is, as far as I'm concerned,
he is, you know, in terms of excitement and he is signed for
Cardiff, the team I'm playing. I'm going to get to play with
Jonah Lomu and it was phenomenal.
And you know, he, he as a bloke as well.
You know, you talk about a superstar of a sport, you know,
you don't get bigger than Jonah, but what an absolute humble,
amazing guy he was, you know, and it's just, it's obviously
you know, not with us anymore. But I couldn't speak enough, You
know, you, you, when you get to meet your genuine hero, your
childhood hero, and he's that sort of character as well.
It just, it doesn't disappoint. You know something else?
Stay with me for forever, for life.
Absolutely. What?
What do you find that he did
differently to others that sort of separated him, that made him
that elite? So I think, you know, when Jonah
came to us, he was at the tail end of his career.
He was already at that stage struggling with his, you know,
kidneys and you know, his the, the, the illness, unfortunately,
unfortunately, but you know, so he wasn't in his prime.
You know, he was coming after bouts of treatment and stuff.
So for Jonah, it was, you know, getting back to fitness.
So we didn't obviously see the best of Jonah during the that
time. But you know, you talk about
physical specimen. You know, this guy was 6 foot
5/19/20 stone when he was ASP his running, you know, velocity
speeds that are just, you know, Louise Erie Samet pace.
You know, it's incredible. But you know, the thing that I
keep saying it's it's the person.
It's the person that made Jonah. Like I just couldn't get over
how humble, how much time he had for all those guys that
obviously his team mates. But just, you know, whether it
was the Academy players, whether it was, you know, the squad
players, whether it's the guys playing, had time for everyone,
and it's just, yeah, just something that's just an amazing
experience. Who's who's some of the most,
like, physically intimidating people you've played with?
Who's some of the best players that you feel like or played
against? Yeah.
Or played Yeah, in your area era, obviously.
First thing, I don't think you'll get many rugby players
admitting to being physically intimidated by, you know,
rugby's an AA sport alpha male. So it's like so.
But to answer your question, I think you know, you know, the
the players I played were the games, you know, this world
class players. I think again to the best of the
best would obviously, you know, when I had the opportunity, when
I played against New Zealand, the Autumn Internationals, 2
thousand 2005, you know, sort of my claim to fame as well is that
I was on the bench. I got I think probably 2025
minutes to go New Zealand. So I came on and they bought
brought Richie Mccour off the bench.
So that's my claim to fame. I'm not sure it's quite really
that reason, but you know, that game in itself, you know, there
was Richie Mccour, Dan Carter, Umang, you know, it was
incredible. But the player that I was just,
you know, was Norman Manon, who like the, the literally this
guy, you know, I, the, the, the pace, the power, but the
footwork. I just, it was incredible.
It was just unmatchable for me. Like even in like just that
sport short space of time, just, you know, they, I think they
tore us up that day. I think it was 40 points to 10
or something like that. But it was just, and he'd come
off the bench as well. And you talk about just someone
lighting, lighting it up so that he would be 1.
I know that's probably a little bit of a name dropping one, but
probably one close to home in terms of again, physical,
physically as an 18 year old so play.
My first season for Cardiff was the season before we went
regional. So it was an 18 year old going
to Sardis Road and playing in the Derby, the the Cardiff Ponty
Derby and facing the legendary Chief Dale Mackintosh.
That was probably one that an 18 year old is like, oh, I've got
to be on my button here to to him.
And yeah, I mean, chief's chief's a legend.
But you know, certainly the physicality he played the game
at it was yeah, it was you know, that that hero was special.
I I genuinely see as. It's it's nuts because like
obviously I, I played rugby for years.
In fact I was, I worked out I was probably 400th pick for
Wales as player to play as hooker.
Yeah, well, I worked it out. I was like, because I, you know,
we're playing for the old pens. We're registered WRU team.
There's like 300 clubs in Wales. Like so each club has two
hookers. So I'm probably around 400th
pick, I reckon. Like so lucky we didn't ever met
on the per field, Rob. 100% I'm glad the physically intimidated
one then. I 100% would have thought it'd.
Be you. Absolutely.
I've lost my trail of four. I've lost the trail of four.
What? The question was, we'll move on
anyway. What?
What do you think separates the the good players from the
absolute elite then? Phrase I've already used.
Repetition, simplicity, you know, for me, again, it's a
phrase I use time and time again, both elite sports with
our squad. At times I like a quote on the
start of each week. I like a quote on a whiteboard
or on our screen that we use to inspire the players.
Whether they get inspired is a different matter.
But also, you know, in, in some of the work I do with, with Ion
as well. It's for me.
Anyone can achieve high performance, you know, high
performance lifestyle, high performance in sport.
It's all about the repetition of simplicity, so often overlooked
and undervalued. What is it that separates the
good professional rugby player and the world class players?
It's the basics, the attention to detail.
It's the behaviours. It's usually not the the
physical qualities, the strength, speed, the power, the
skill. It's their ability to show up
day in, day out, be in early, do that prehab, do the work they
need to do to get their body rate right for training to be
able to recover. Spending a bit longer than on
their recovery, making sure their nutrition's dialled in,
you know, making sure they're getting enough sleep at night,
supplementation, whatever it may be, but not just doing it once
doing that day in day out. And that's where you really see
world class players stepping up. And it always amazes me that you
know, I'm you know, you look around and just like, is this
not obvious? Is this not obvious?
If we want to be the best of the best, is this this these are the
traits that we need. And it's you know, I also
believe a lot in environment. And you know, it's probably
something over the last, you know, since the World Cup.
I think it's well recognised that, you know, we lost some,
you know, you know, pretty, you know, you know, same stage you
lost your George N, you know, George N, your damn biggers,
your Fallot House to a degree in terms of you know, and these are
your Lee half pennies, you know, and.
As soon as you take them out of the environment and you've got a
young crop of players coming through that may not have had,
you know, the experience and, and seeing what it takes to get
to the top, that's what becomes the challenge.
And, you know, I think not having those sort of players to
influence and to influence the current the, the, the, the group
gone by has taken time to get there, but very much so now it's
on the build. You've seen these behaviours and
hopefully this is what's going to help move us forward and get
back to be and where we know we can be.
Yeah, well. You said that yourself.
You said that it was because you were surrounded by these legends
of the game that that upped your level.
I'm just like, you know, a big part is competition.
You know, when competition is there and you have to fight
tough and nail to achieve anything that you want to
achieve in professional sport, that's what's going to drive you
got to find it's the it's the inches, isn't it?
It's the inches are there everywhere around is not going
to break into Al Pacini. Are you doing mean impression
right? Yeah.
But it's it's those marginal gains, it's the process, it's
it's getting those processes right day in, day out, the
consistency, you know, if we want to be like, it's all, you
know, probably for me, you know, I'm fortunate, I'm, you know,
working in the elite end of sport, the Six Nations just gone
by now, you know, probably, you know, what people don't see is
the, you know, the level, the physical, the physical stress,
the players get put through the mental stress, the players get
put through, you know, training, playing, but not just that.
And that's again, what's so pleasing for me.
And my role is just how those players have, you know, the
Scotland game, the French game, the have been able to back it
up, back it up or not just have one good game, back it up into
the next game, recover, recover, get the nutrition on point, get
ready so we can go again and play at that high level.
And that's what blows me away. And I've got so much respect for
the players these days as well as like through what we've been.
But that ability, these boys have gone through such an
intense period now in the Six Nations, the physicality of
rugby is just huge. But then they're going straight
back into regional rugby, into the URC, into the European, and
they've got to do this again, again, again.
And that's where the the, yeah, you know, the players like the
biggest element for me, you know, in terms of as a as a
coach, as a strength and ignitioning coach, probably, you
know, where at the start of my career was all about how do I
make players fitter, faster, stronger to now, a big part of
the role is getting things right in terms of how can we help
these players is manage stress. How do we help these players
recover between training sessions, between match day?
The better we can help players recover, the better they're
going to be able to train, the better they're going to be able
to perform on a Saturday. And what is recovery?
It's stress management. You know, again, we talk about
day-to-day life. We need to manage stress in all
our lives. And, you know, I think in this
day and age, it's, you know, for a lot of players, players are
now incorporating breathwork coaches, the, you know, I think
it's, you know, everyone seeing the benefits of the hot, cold,
that side of things. You can't go away from the big
rocks, nutrition, sleep. But then it's all the other
things around it, sports, massage, bath work that helps.
Again, just lift that ceiling, improve the stress management
that is, is key to to performance in all aspects.
Yeah, yeah. Now you.
You suffered an absolutely horrific injury playing rugby,
you said. You sent me the video and.
I thought you liked that one. Yeah, but I'm surprised how long
it took you to realise what the. No, I was because you sent me
the video and I because I was in work at the time.
I didn't watch it at that time, but I saw your young little
face. I was.
Oh, my God. I mean, you're young Robin.
Like, yeah, but then you attached a photo as well.
And I assumed it was two people's legs, but no, they were
both your legs and one was facing the wrong direction.
It was Absolutely. I'll put it on the screen
wherever the screen is here. What?
What was going through your head when that injury happened?
And what, what happened first? Yeah.
And then what was going through your head?
Liberty Stadium Ospreys, you know was Cardiff, Cardiff,
Cardiff Ospreys tight game was going into the final minute of
the game, the Ospreys had just scored.
So it was we were chasing the game.
So I think we were a couple of points down.
So the game is right on the cusp.
So we had we had the kick off, I was a 7 so naturally we were
going straight up the middle short kick off.
We've got to win this ball back. You know the clock's going
against it. So we've gone up, jumped in the
air, reach for the ball. I can't remember what the
outcome of the kick kick was. I'd say we won it back.
Anyway, as I've come down, I've landed on my one leg and just as
I've landed on my one leg, Ryan Jones, the number 8 Wales
captain I think at the time, landed on top of me.
So all 120 kilos of his weight has come on my one leg and I've
fallen flat on my front. And again, this is what is
amazing about the human body and how it responds.
You know, the adrenaline that's you know, we are in fight or
flight mode. Got to get the kick off, got to
win back bodies on it gone down awkwardly.
Think bloody hell, like I've done.
I've rolled my ankle bad here. I've laid on my front.
And as I've looked over, literally the shock was just, Oh
no, if if feel I can still sense it today in terms of seeing my
leg turned around and my I'm lying on my front and my lower
leg is facing up towards the sky in a horrible angle as well.
And it was just the sheer panic, you know, whether you use the
video or not, but the sheer panic.
It wasn't pain. It wasn't, you know, it wasn't
pain that I was suffering at the time.
It was, I look at my face and it's just the, the, the, the,
the, the fear that this is job done.
Like because it was, it's not been dramatic with it.
It's, you know, so like disfigured at that time.
And my hand's in my head and I'm just like, you know, I'm a
202324 year old rugby player. That's all.
This is all I've ever known. This is all I've ever wanted to
do. And you know, I feel like, how
on earth am I going to be able to get back?
And this all happens in the space of a few seconds.
And it was, it was horrible. It was horrible.
But I also, again, reflection, it was also one of the best
things that ever happened to me. I like both as a player but also
from an individual. It molded me a lot during that
time because I'm really fortunate I played professional
rugby. An injury like that happens that
you'd like to think isn't particularly common in the
sport, but may happen from time to time.
You know, the fact we've got, you know, access to, you know,
world class surgeons like, you know, we at the time I got to
drop their names in it. It's like Richard Evans was the
the consultant at the ground on that day that helped manipulate
and put the foot back into a reasonable position.
Rhys Thomas, you know who's my surgeon that fixed me up, Andy
Shane, my physio. But if I didn't have that care
and level of expertise, I know for a fact I would not got a
back back play. And that's not been dramatic
with it. And you know, for me, it was
probably the first stage I've had injuries, I think I
dislocated my soul had been through, but I hadn't
experienced something of this significance and something that
needed to come back. And for me, it's again, we talk
about processes. Rehab is a tough place to be for
any, any, any athletes, certainly in team sport where
you're always used to being in around it with, with your, your,
your teammates. But you're, you know, you're
isolated. You're doing the 1:00 to 1:00
work with the physio. You have an intensive physio,
You've got to do your own work along inside it and that goes on
for months. It's small, mundane, but it's
the what it teaches you is the small wins You've got to you
can't be focused on when am I getting back playing?
It's got to be right. How, how am I getting improving
this week compared to last week? Seeing the improvements in my
range of motion, seeing my improvements in my, my, my calf
capacity, whatever it may be, you know, first stage, I want to
get back walking. And it's, you know, when the
injury happened, I was in hospital for a week after, you
know, and it's, you know, lying in the bed, unsure what's going
on. Like I said to all I've ever
known, it's, it's tough time, tough time, but it's, it's
something that massively you learn from it.
We talk about reflectiveness, you know, realising how much I
want this, how much I need to, you know, do to get back to
where I want to be. But it and it's the resilience
that it brings you and it's those setbacks, failures, little
more, little more each time you build your resiliency tolerance.
And you know what it does? It makes you a stronger person
100%. I suppose all the change was the
goal. Like the process is still the
same whether you're playing for international caps in rugby or
you're trying to rehab a leg that's facing the wrong way.
Like I suppose in that moment your goal changed and the
quicker you can accept that your goal has changed, because I
suppose that there's going to be a bit of sort of denial.
I don't, you know what, what's that system?
The quicker you can get around to OK goals change but that
process is the same. And I think anyone that knows me
probably knows what I built so much on in terms of both an eye
on my programme, our programme with Wales like it is all about
the basics. It's all about the simplicity,
it's all about the consistency. And I am so confident in that
approach that that is why I'm happy to hang my hat on.
And that is something that I've just learnt through rugby,
through sport, that is so applicable to everything else.
And you know, you, you, you know, the, as you said, the
goals change and you know, it's what I always try to like people
injuries, you know, pick people, pick things up in rugby, in, in
the gym, bat bags when puts people out for it.
And it, it's, you've got to try and teach, treat every
opportunity, every step back as an opportunity.
You know, it's an opportunity to work on maybe another area of
your, your fitness. You know, if you've got a lower
limb injury, well, it gives you time to chance to potentially
work on your upper body. You know, if you can't do
anything upper body, is it giving you opportunity to do a
little bit more conditioning? But you've got it.
As you said, your goal might change, but the process doesn't.
The process and the consistency, the turning up, doing the
mundane, doing the repetition of simplicity is what ultimately
drives you to your results. And it's that's, that's again in
society today, that's the biggest challenge for so many
people we don't have. And an element of probably where
people think results come from compared to where results do
come from often gets clouded. I suppose people think results
come from impact and it's not it's it's from the consistency,
even with a lesser impact, but it's that consistency and
frequency that will get you there in the long run.
Was it a career ender, that leg? No.
And that's again, like, do you want like when I got back
playing, I never ever had any issues with my leg in terms of
that injury throughout my career.
So I, I retired early. I was 28 when I retired, so did
retire early, but that injury happened at 2324 years of age.
So, you know, had, you know, it's, it's amazing.
It's amazing in terms of again, and hats off to the, the medical
care I received during that time.
How on earth, you know, you manipulate you, you take care
of, you know, twisting that leg back to normal like it's just
unbelievable. But it's it's nuts.
But when the when the viewers see the the the photos and
stuff, it's incredible. So when you retired, was
coaching always in your plan? No, not, not in terms of rugby.
So I retired. So I retired early from rugby.
It was a tough time. It was a tough time and my rugby
career, as I said, full of ups and downs, setbacks and
failures. Towards the end of my career,
probably in a 12 month period, I'd gone from playing for Wales
to been struggling to find a contract And I, I was struggling
a lot with an Achilles injury that was just so consistent and
you know, it really did drain the life out of me.
But it also, it had came at a bad time in terms of I had six
months left in my contract with Cardiff.
I had an injury I couldn't play for the remains of that six
months. There was a young kid coming
through the the the ranks of the time called Sam Warburton.
I've heard of him. So you might have heard of him.
There was Josh Navidi. So I was 28, I was struggling
with injury, you know, I so it's what happens in rugby.
I've got to look for another club, you know, my by the time
my, my, my contract had ended, I'm still injured, still trying
to find the club and unfortunately it was, you know,
things moved forward into the following season.
But I'd, you know, in a 12 month period, I'd really, I was in a
bit of I, I don't use the word depression and that's how, but
I, I recognise it was a dark place in my life in terms of
despite what I'd already achieved and gone through with
setbacks and failures. It was a challenging time, but
ultimately I'd fallen out of love with rugby.
I, I really didn't enjoy what I was doing and I took the
decision to, to step away from professional rugby, which, you
know, do I regret? I don't regret anything because
the way my life has gone on, you know, I'm so you know where I'm
at now. I couldn't be happier and I
believe everything happens for a reason.
You know, I think the way my career finished, I could have
made it a lot easier for myself in the second stage.
But when I retired from professional rugby, I wanted to
move into strength and conditioning.
I wanted to run my own gym. I think the way I achieved a lot
of what I achieved on field, I put down to my, my mindset
around preparation as I spoke about my love for strength and
conditioning, wanting to be physically prepared as best I
could. And I think that's something
that I really took an interest and you know, the, the, the
passion I had for that as a rugby player, it seemed natural.
That's what I wanted to do post rugby, you know, was open my own
gym, you know, open my own gym with a view of training like a,
a rugby player in terms of, you know, certainly, you know, my
vision then was having a facility that was all about
people, you know, a team environment.
So people would come, train, enjoy each other's company, you
know, pushing a prowler, flipping a tire.
The the time was a little bit novel in terms of his stuff that
we were doing a lot in rugby at the time.
You know, I wanted to be out, develop a facility around there.
And you know, when I idea grew, developed and you know, that's
what I did for that's what I was able to do.
You know, for the first few years out rugby had no desire,
no interest in rugby. For the first few years I was
out of it and then over time got the gym up and running.
There was an opportunity then with Neath RFC semi professional
team where I, I, I coached out, did the strength and
conditioning for them for two years and things then just
built, you know, I was running my own business.
Had an opportunity then to come back to Cardiff as an assistant
strength and conditioning coach, which I did for a few years and
then found myself in the lead role for a number of years
again. You know, my hometown played for
the club, you know, been the head of department for, for, for
the club. We'd, we'd won a European title
during that time as well. And it's, you know, it's I, you
know, I, like I said, everything happens for a reason.
And my passion, I, you know, the point, I guess, you know, was
that followed my passion after career changes are always tough.
And, you know, I really do not sympathise.
But you know, I can relate to people that go through these
stages of their lives and looking at career transition.
And you know, the thing that I always talk about is if you're
going through your career transition, it's trying to find
that next stage is something you're you're passionate about.
Because if you're getting up day in day and you're passionate
about and you're getting the process and you're hungry and
you're, you're, you know, that's what you will achieve things as
opposed to going for a career or a job that that's going to earn
me loads of money. That should be almost like,
again, it's the byproduct. It's the, you know, the goals
just happen. It's about the journey and the
processes. And you know, that's yeah,
that's that's that's the direction it was and you know,
finished at Cardiff. You know, I think it was would
have been 2002 thousand and 22,000 and 21 had a couple of
years away where built ion further and then had the
opportunity. Hugh Hugh Bennett with the head
of performance of Wales. There's an opportunity to come
back into rugby at the highest level pre World Cup, you know,
and it's it's a role that I just yeah, I it's this the ultimate.
You know, it's for me. It's it's a role I'm so
passionate about. I'm fortunate the people I work
with daily, but it's yeah, it's, you know, to to be running my
own business but also working in the elite end of sport is yeah,
it's amazing. And you're still wearing those 3
feathers, you've still got them on the top.
You've still got them on the top.
No like starting a gym sounds great.
I think most people in fitness would love to own their own gym
and it looks great on Instagram but what how hard is it?
Would you recommend it to anyone or like what's the part no one
talks about when they're open gyms?
I, I, I think it applies to any business really.
You know, it's starting you starting your own business is
hard. It is hard.
It's hard graft. It's a lot of hours, a lot of
next to no pay. You've yeah, you've got to be
very passionate about making a success.
And ultimately that's sadly why so many start up businesses fail
within the first year. But I think it goes back to, you
know, like would I do it again? 100% I think it was.
Has it been hard? It's been extremely hard in
terms of the last 12 years, 15 years, retiring from rugby,
trying to find myself again in terms of my identity.
You know, a lot of my I felt at the time as a rugby player,
you're robbing the rugby player to then finding more, more, more
meaningful, you know, assets of your character.
And for me, I got into coach and I can see why.
You know, for me, I'm a caring person.
I genuinely AM. And, you know, I'm doing
something, you know, whether I love coaching, what is coaching
is helping people. And you know, whether that's an
elite rugby player or, you know, a 40 year old, you know,
middle-aged lady, legit like it's for me, it's, you know,
that's what I enjoy. I enjoy helping people on their
journey to achieve high performance in their lives,
whatever they may be doing. And you know, for me, that's
why, you know, coaching in the general pop space as well as
international rugby is me extremely fulfilling and being
able to build a business around that is, is, is key.
So I don't think to go back to your question, it's like, you
know, for me, it's really understanding you why, if you're
starting a business or you're starting a gym, what's your why?
What is your, why, what's your what, what is your, your purpose
with what you're doing? And for me, over the years,
that's evolved, but I, I can see all along what, you know,
ultimately for me, I on my mission is about trying to have
a positive impact on our local and wider society community from
a health and Wellness perspective.
That's what I really want to do. You know, we spoke a little bit
early about it for me, growth for us, I on it's got nothing to
do with the financials. That's that's a byproduct for
me. It's about how much impact can
we have? How can much impact impact we
have on our, our community, you know, our society that certainly
during this period, you know, in the direction we're going, is
becoming more and more challenging from a health and
Wellness perspective. And, you know, people are
getting sicker and unhealthier, you know, and it's something
that we need, we need to take ownership and action of and
having the support and, you know, coaching in place is, is,
is what drives us. What's the problem with general
population health at the moment then?
In a snapshot in a snapshot, comfort and convenience, you
know, I think that's the easiest way to describe you know,
society is just moulded. We're in more moulded as
individuals in terms of it's society is trying to be make
everything as comfort and convenient as possible in
whether that's you know, day-to-day life in terms of your
working environment, sedentary lifestyles, being sat down all
day, you know, whether that's going to the shops, you know,
you know everyone trying to fly for via for the the.
Closest parking spot, closest to the, the door, you know, comfort
food, you know, you can talk. I think everyone can understand
why I'm talking about comfort and convenience and you know, no
one, you know, with the comfort and convenience, it becomes
detrimental to our, our long term health, our resilience, our
tolerance, you know, I think it makes us softer as in as
individuals, you know, potential, why so many people
these days suffering with mental health problems is very much,
you know, the, the lack of resilience, robustness that we
can have. But, you know, ultimately, you
know, going off again in a tangent, three primary causes of
90% of modern day chronic illnesses, you know, sedentary
lifestyles, nutrient deficient diets and chronic stress.
Those three primary causes, they're all things that are
their lifestyle, their lifestyle, behaviours, habits.
You know, it's not all but 90%, you know, that's what is
driving, you know, these illnesses that we are getting
sicker and sicker as a, as a nation on.
And you know, for me, you know, I love the stats.
But for me, it's really
important to talk about because it's alarming.
It's alarming that it's not being spoken about enough in
mainstream media because as a result of the three primary
causes, what ultimately is driving the chronic disease the
way it is? It's inflammation within the
body. So you know, the root cause of
inflammation, poor blood sugar control, which is again, poor
nutrition, crappy diets, you know, highly processed, ultra
processed foods, lack of movement, chronically stressed.
These are all things that implement, you know, affect our
our blood sugar level. Sounds like my life.
But then go again just to, to So what are we seeing?
We've seen in the last 15 years type 2 diabetes, which is poor
blood sugar control. That's doubled.
In the next 10 years, it's set to double again.
You know, with that in mind, with that statistic in mind, to
look at cancer rates. OK, so cancer rates 1900s it was
one in twenty 1940s it was one in 17 1970s it was one in ten
2000s, one in three modern day one in two people will develop
cancer. Where do we think these, you
know, these issues are stemming from the one that's the most,
and I'll leave you on this one. The one that frightens me even
more is the dementia rates. You know, your cognitive health,
your well-being, you know, it's it's you know, dementia is
already the biggest killer in society.
So with men and women, it's the biggest killer in society.
With that in mind, dementia rates are set to triple in the
next 30 years in our lifetime. So it's already the biggest
killer in society, but it's set to triple in the next 30 years.
There's an argument, yes, ageing population has has an impact on
that, they're rightly so. But the comfort, convenience,
the poor food, the lack of movement, the chronic stress,
it's driving it. And for me the final one, which
is the most scary, 1 is a father.
You know, I've got a six month old at the moment.
One in three children born this year will develop dementia.
That's the hard facts of it. One in three children born this
yield of dementia. And for me, this is now probably
where so much of my passion for what we're doing at eye on is
being built around in terms of being impactful and trying to
positive, trying to be a ripple in the pond in terms of our
health and well-being of our our society.
You know, and you know, that comes the, the, the four key
pillars movement, trying to help people access purposeful
movement, which is exercise, nutrition, stress management.
But the other one that's often not talked about is, is the
human connections element, the, the socialising, the ability to
form relationships. You know, it's, it's, it's so
important and pillars, what are pillars on top of strong
foundations? What are the foundations to the
pillars? It's about discipline, It's
about consistency, repetition. It's the word mindset, you know,
and for me, it's what is mindset?
The ability to consistently perform discipline behaviours.
I was going to say, if you had to strip it all back, then what
actually matters most for long term, but I, I suppose you've
summed it up there. It's it's these pillars on the
foundations that you're doing. So to answer that question, what
is what it what you know, you've almost said it there yourself,
longevity, you know, it's about, you know, health span.
You talk about health span versus lifespan.
We're getting, you know, we're living longer.
Why are we living longer? The access to more medication,
you know, healthcare do an amazing job keeping people live
for longer. But as a result, we're also, our
health span is decreasing. So we're living for longer in
longer periods of poor health. You know, you know, people from
50-60 years of age, people are dropping off a Cliff in terms
of, you know, the quality of life, the loss of independence,
you know, cognitive health stats around dementia.
It's frightening. So it's, it is all about
longevity. How can we have longevity of
quality of life? Because ultimately that's what
we're all here for. We want to, we want to be able
to enjoy. That's what you want to spend,
you know, 50 years working and having five years of retirement
and, you know, losing all your, your quality of life.
You want to be living until you're 8090 years of age with,
you know, being cognitively on point physically that you can
travel. If you want to travel, you,
you're not relying on loved ones to be looking after you
constantly. And that's where it, you know,
we've got to take extreme ownership of our health.
And I believe that and you know, there's, there is enough support
out there to get it, but it's down to individuals.
So if you have to advise someone, listen to this right
now to make a start, Where do they start?
How do they start looking after themselves?
Just start. Do you mean like it's using
those 4 pillars? You know, it's about trying to
create more movement in your life.
How do we overcome sedentary lifestyles?
We need to move more. You know, I'm not talking about
going to the gym and exercising. It's getting outside, going for
a walk, you know, trying to do more steps on a day-to-day
basis. Just forcing yourself to to
move. But at times it really does take
effort. You know, your nutrition, you
know, it's all good and well, we can say comfort and convenience,
it's hard to access good quality foods, but a bit of preparation,
a little bit of preparation and organization really changes the,
the, the fuel that you're putting in your body 3-4 times a
day, which ultimately is what drives so much change in terms
of both assisted training. You know, you can have the best
training program in the world. If you're not, if you're not
fueling in the correct way, it doesn't matter what you're
doing. The stress management, that's
often the, you know, that is, you know, the rat race of today,
as we said, busy work lives, busy family lives, That's the
area that, you know, it can creep up on people, You know,
trying to find ways that we can relax, switch off, like I said,
going for a walk outside, you know, just trying to find ways
we can relax is so, so important.
And and valuing friendships, valuing the connections you have
with people is is essential. Also with the stress management
is ingestion as well. I find it's smoking, vaping,
alcohol, it's the junk food. These all cause stresses on your
body as well. So you may be thinking that
you're relaxing, having a pint and a fag at the end of the
night. You're actually just increasing
your stress and stuff like that. You know, there's, you know,
certainly when it comes to your diet, you know what you're
drinking, what you're eating, you know your gut health, your
gut health is, it's, it's your second brain.
You know, the gut health, the gut, the gut brain link.
It's, it's there and it's, you know, your digestive system, it
houses 7080% of your immune system.
You know, serotyp only levels you feel good fact.
If you're plying it full of garbage day in day out, it's you
are going to become sicker. It is going to drive
inflammation within the body. It is going to cause chronic
disease. It is going to affect your brain
health. You know, it's you can't get
away from it. And it's, it's an area people
always say, oh, I haven't got time to eat healthy, blah, blah,
blah. But I'm telling you, if we
don't, we don't address it, we are going to become one of those
statistics that is there. And it's very frightening, the
trajectory we're on. We'll we'll end it on a happier
note. Let's try and wrap it up then.
So how, how could, if we're going to wrap it up and conclude
what is the best way that people can live a more or take a more
professional approach to their living like these pro athletes,
but take it through to sort of the everyday athlete?
Lifestyle. I think what I've said time and
time again, I want almost that to become, you know, the, the
key point that's remembered. Anyone can live a high
performance or achieve a high performance lifestyle.
It is all about repetition and simplicity, so often overlooked
and undervalued consistency. Repetition is what the key to
it. And ultimately, it's about just
doing a little bit more than what you're currently doing
across those four key pillars, movement, can we move a little
bit more nutrition, can we eat a little bit better?
Can we reduce the ultra processed foods?
Can we prepare, you know, foods to take for lunch to the
workplace? Stress management?
Can we look after ourselves? Can we try to find ways of
relaxing at times, even for those short, simple windows
during the day that we may have and then value in time with
friends and loved ones and trying to have quality with it.
And that's the that's the big one.
You know, they're the big, the big four, the big four.
As such, can we do a little bit more in each of those areas day
in, day out? Because ultimately that's what's
going to drive change and doing that for the long term.
You know there is no magic, you know, magic program and training
program, whatever. You know an online coach might
be trying to sell you a search or you know any fad diet that's
been advertised as the quick fix.
You know, it's all about the basics.
And it is all in the the ability to continually show up
consistently day in, day out, which drives change and drives
long term health and longevity, which is what we want.
This is what we want, Robin. Thanks very much my man.
Tom, man mate. But awesome interview, thank you
very much. Tom man, thanks mate.
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