Articles
Long-form writing on training, nutrition, injury, ageing and the reality of staying fit after 50. No filler. No sponsored content. Just experience, honestly written.
These articles are written from lived experience — 30+ years of training, two ACL (anterior cruciate ligament) reconstructions, Type 1 diabetes since 2008, a BSc in Sports and Exercise Science, and the daily reality of training seriously at 50. Most fitness content online is written by people who have read about it. This is written by someone who has done it.
Every New Programme Is the Same Programme
The fitness industry produces a revolution every eighteen months. Pull the science apart and underneath every one you find the same three things. They were true in 1990. They are true now. This is not a coincidence.
How to Tell the Difference Between a Fitness Expert and Someone Playing One
Social media has made it almost impossible to tell genuine fitness expertise from commercial performance. Follower counts, borrowed credentials and professional-looking content have blurred the line. Here is how to tell the difference — and why it matters for your health.
The Forgotten Exercise — Sissy Squat
Vince Gironda called it the greatest quad isolation exercise ever devised and often chose it over the back squat entirely. The name fooled everyone. The knees-over-toes fear finished it off. Both were wrong.
The Forgotten Exercise — Donkey Calf Raise
Arnold had training partners sit on his back to do this. Jay Cutler put two people on his back and called it still the best calf exercise available. Nobody does it anymore. The calves they built explain why that is a mistake.
The Forgotten Exercise — Good Morning
The exercise people avoid to protect their lower back is precisely the exercise that builds it. Thirty years of Good Mornings, two ACL reconstructions, and not one serious back injury. The evidence is in the body, not the fear.
The Forgotten Exercise — Dumbbell Pullover
The dumbbell pullover built some of the greatest physiques in bodybuilding history. Arnold called it a forgotten gem. Frank Zane, Dorian Yates, Ronnie Coleman — all used it. Nobody in a modern gym does it. This is why that is a mistake.
DOMS — What Is Actually Happening in Your Body
Jelly legs. Triceps you can barely straighten. The science behind delayed onset muscle soreness — the mechanism, the debate, what actually helps and what thirty years of training through it teaches you.
The First Session Back — What I Actually Do and Why
He had not trained since March. Almost three months off. He did not want to come. Here is exactly what a 30-year PT does on day one — and why most trainers get it completely wrong.
Where It All Started
A 300-metre block in Yorkshire, back street cricket, Sunday league football, and a belief that fitness could change lives. Why this website was never about money — and why it never will be.
Why I Finally Built This — 26 Years in the Making
Two ACL reconstructions. Type 1 diabetes since 2008. Training since the age of 18. Why it took 26 years to finally build this site — and why it was worth the wait.
How Fit Am I Really? Testing Myself After Years Away
Bleep test, 5km runs, 100 push-ups after a 5km. An honest account of what happens when you stop assuming you are fit and actually find out — with Type 1 diabetes, approaching 50.
What Nobody Tells You About Getting Fit
Everyone is different. What works brilliantly for one person may do nothing for another. After thirty years in this industry, this is the most important thing I know — and almost nobody says it.
Free Weights vs Machines — Why It Matters
Machines have their place. But if your goal is real, functional, lasting strength, free weights are in a different category altogether. Thirty years of experience talking.
The Cold Pint Argument — and Why the Gym Wins
People find two hours for the pub without a second thought. The difference between those people and the ones who train consistently is not time — it is priority. Thirty years of watching people plan to fail, and what to do instead.
Why You Need This More Than Ever
The world is noisier, more stressful and more sedentary than at any point in history. Exercise is the most effective tool available for managing it. The science, the personal story, and why now is the right time to start.
The Curry, The Pint and The Months Off
Balance is not weakness. It is the thing that keeps you going for decades. An honest account of work, training, enjoyment and why the people who last are never the ones who do it perfectly.
The Notebook
Christmas Eve, 1998. No smartphone, no app, no social media. A small red notebook from WH Smith and a pen. The most important training tool ever owned — and why writing it down still matters more than any technology available today.
Returning to the Gym After Years Away — What Nobody Tells You
The reality of starting again after a long break. What hurts, what surprises you, what comes back faster than expected, and why most people quit in week two — when the best part is just about to begin.
The Barbell Squat — The Most Important Exercise Nobody Does Anymore
You have been squatting since you were twelve months old. Somewhere between infancy and adulthood most people forgot the movement entirely — and called the forgetting progress. Why the squat matters, why it disappeared, and why at fifty the goal is still 100kg.
Training After 50 — What Changes and What Does Not
The body at 50 is not the body at 25. Recovery is slower, hormones have shifted and some things genuinely decline. But the science on masters athletes tells a different story about what is actually possible. Here is the honest version.
Why Stretching Is Not Optional — Especially After 40
I did not stretch properly when I was young. I paid for it with two surgeries on the same knee. This is the article I wish someone had made me read at 25.
My Nutrition Story — What 18 Years of T1D Has Taught Me About Food
Diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes in 2008 and still training hard. Managing carbohydrates, insulin and exercise simultaneously for eighteen years. What I got wrong, what I eventually got right, and what every athlete can learn from it.
Articles are published as they are written — not on a schedule, but when there is something genuinely worth saying. If there is a topic you would like covered, get in touch.
