Balancing Fatherhood and Fitness: My readiness recipe

Over the past 3-4 years, my relationship with exercise and food has really shifted. Especially since becoming a dad in 2022, I've found it tough to keep a balanced routine and take better care of my body.

I've always been sporty and ever since I was young, I've loved being active. In the last five years alone, I’ve gone through various phases of exercise. At one point, I ran 1600 miles over two years! Then I started training for an Ironman. But just as I was getting into it, my son was born, and my boss, Keith Hatter (who's done nine Ironman’s—can you believe it? Nine! It's insane), suggested I might want to take a break. But the real challenge has been keeping those routines going consistently over long periods. And finding that balance with everything else going on has been a bit of a struggle.

Like most of us, I tend to yo-yo with my health habits. I go through phases of intense exercise, then none at all. My weight fluctuates, and I switch between diets and overindulging. At times, I find it challenging. Take last night, for example. I was up from 11 PM to 3 AM trying to soothe my son to sleep. The next day, the last thing I want to do is exercise and eat less.

Ironic, right? I’m a trained CBT therapist, have studied sports psychology, and a director of PlanetK2 , where I’m surrounded by performance experts like Chris Shambrook , Rebecca Weissbort , Duncan Woods , Chidinma Owens & Oliver Deasy . Our whole mission is to help people and teams perform at their best and be fit for purpose for important events. But when it comes to myself, I often fall short. When I think about it, I realise I’m not treating my mind and body with the respect they deserve. I have all this knowledge and support at my fingertips, yet I struggle to apply it to my own life.

So today, I wanted to share something personal with you about how I applied one of our most commonly used tools at PlanetK2 to help me get back into a consistent programme focused predominantly on kettlebell training.

As I mentioned earlier, I've tried lots of different exercises over the years. I've always wanted to find a workout that combines both weight training and cardio and after spending a lot of time Googling and watching YouTube videos, I stumbled upon kettlebell training. It's something I'd never tried before, but it really excited me.

So what is the performance pie?

Well, the performance pie is a tool made up of six factors that individuals and teams can work on to increase their readiness to perform and their chances of success. So, let's break down how I got ready for kettlebell training using the "Performance Pie."

Technical Readiness

This is all about making sure that you have the relevant knowledge and skills. I found a great online trainer and started regular sessions to learn the proper techniques. I even recorded videos of myself practising so I could fine-tune my form.

Tactical Readiness:

Tactical readiness is all about how you plan to use your knowledge and skillset in the best possible way towards achieving your aims. Planning was key. I had to get really good at prioritising my time. Sometimes, I didn’t have a full hour for a session, so I used my skills and adapted my knowledge to create a 15-minute kettlebell flow that still gave me a solid workout.

Physical Readiness:

Being physically ready is focused on making sure that your body is supporting you in the best way possible by being fit for purpose. For me, this meant making sure my body was up for the challenge. I prioritised sleep, good nutrition, and hydration. Rest and recovery were the first things I scheduled in my diary.

Mental Readiness:

Mental readiness is all about how you prepare your mind to meet the rigours of performance. This was all about my mindset and the relationship I developed with my thoughts and training. I kept a curious attitude and played to my strengths like discipline, focus, and consistency. This approach really boosted my confidence.

Emotional Readiness:

The emotional part of the Pie refers to the essential resource we get from having people around us who support us. Support from others is crucial. I made sure to connect with people who could support me, like my trainer. Regular check-ins helped me stay on track and fuelled motivation.

Contextual Readiness:

The contextual part is focused on everything that that surrounds you and how those factors are contributing to your ability to perform. To ensure I was contextually ready and to create the conditions for success I had to make sure I had the relevant equipment (mat, range of kettlebell sizes) to take part in training and ensure that I was using an appropriate space in my home that was conducive for training.

So I am now 10 weeks into kettlebell training. I have lost the weight I wanted to lose, I have built a whole range of new skills, I have found a new love and relationship with exercise and kettlebell training, I am lifting heavier and each week I am enjoying using the pie and being really curious as to how ready I can be to perform within my conditions.

If you’re interested in helping your team or individuals be more ready to perform using the Performance Pie, feel free to reach out to me at [email protected] for more info.