Precision in Practice: Mastering Your Marginal Decade Fitness Journey

I wrote a brief post last week to introduce a new series of articles I will be writing over the coming weeks on the principles of training.

For anyone undertaking a new fitness regime (and many of you will be starting to reflect upon this as we near the end of 2023), understanding this is a game changer.? When I work with a client, I can quite easily churn out training programme after training programme.? Because I do this in a skilful and targeted manner, my clients consistently make more than the required and desired progress and gains.? However, I also want my clients to not only progress as an athlete, but I want them to really understand why they are doing what they are doing – it means if one of us moves away, then the client has the knowledge and skill to continue training independently and continue to hit their training goals.?

This is where the principles of training come in.? The principles of training encompass foundational guidelines and methodologies designed to optimise physical and mental development, focusing on elements such as specificity, overload, progression, individuality, and recovery. Let’s dive in and start with the first principle of training, specificity.

?

Specificity is crucial to ensure the correct progress is made.? For example, a football player trains in a manner that ensures they have the required fitness to meet the demands of the game.? This will be different to a rugby play, whose training will be different again to a marathon runner or a gymnast.? I think this is obvious, and this then, is specificity.

?

Most of my clients are not training for a competitive sport.? They are simply training for life, but when they come to me, they generally do not know this.? They know they are not fit, they have aches and pains, feel stiff, get out of breath far too easily and cannot touch their toes! ?But because they do not have an obvious end goal (running a marathon, being selected for the 1st team) then they have no focus and so no understanding of what or how to train.? They do not have a ‘why’, so there is no desire to train.? And any training they do is often hit and miss – there is no specificity.

?

Let me suggest this to you, for all those deconditioned athletes who do not have a specific event or sport to train for - you do not have to pick a specific sports event (5KM, marathon etc).? Your event can be training for life.

It is something I started training for in earnest about 4 years ago. If you don’t know my story, 4 years ago I was a physically broken, messed up and stuffed up late forties bloke who was in constant daily pain (having been a 10 miles in an hour type of guy in his 20’s, an Olympic lifting coach and an all round super fit chap!).? There was a poignant moment in 2019, when I sat in despair on a bench on the sea front in Swanage whilst my wife and 2 sons walked up the hills to Durlston Country Park.? I knew at that moment something had to change.? My father-in-law, Pete, who was mid 70’s at this time, would have been able to walk up there with his daughter and 2 grandsons, with no problem.? How proud my wife would have been, how chuffed my sons would have been.? Pete, the superhero Dad and Grandad, living life to the full and being able to keep up with his fit and healthy teenage grandsons and mid 40’s daughter.? Yet here I was, head in hands, in agony hardly able to move.? I can only imagine my sons’ thoughts as they walked away that day.? I must have been a real disappointment to them, perhaps an embarrassment, and certainly not someone who they were aspiring to become. ??

So, I vowed to train for a very specific event.? I vowed to train in order that I could be at the top of my game right up until I take my last breath.? And so began my relentless pursuit of my very own gold medal, my own Olympic event, my World Championship, my very own Grand Slam my Decathlon.? Yep, I was training for life and specifically for my last decade!

I already knew where I was (totally broken!).? The first thing I needed to work out was where I wanted to be in my last decade. ?What was it that I wanted to be able to do in my old age.

With my background in training, I knew I had my work cut out.? And with my background in all things outdoors and adventure based, I knew that if I wanted to climb mountains and to tackle long distance footpaths with my sons and wife, if I wanted to play on the floor with my grandchildren (if I am blessed one day to have them), or to continue to back pack, to go camping, to be canoeing and SUP’ing, rock climbing, surfing, and mountain biking to the end then I had to create a very specific training plan.?

This is my specificity:? I started training for my own decathlon to be competed in when I am in my 70’s and 80’s (my 10 events are the ones listed above and I have very specific targets for each one).? Interestingly, I have recently come across the work of Dr Peter Attia, who coined the phrase Marginal Decade, and it was refreshing to watch and read his wonderful content which was like holding up a mirror to my own approach for the last four years.? It gave a little boost to the already high levels of total faith and huge burning desire I had - I mean if Thor likes this guy, then he's ok with me!? As an aside, I have created what I call the perfect formula for living your best life and have previously posted about this.? Burning desire and total faith are two of the key components.

So, to the title of this article, Precision in Practice: Mastering Your Marginal Decade Fitness Journey.? If you know you are not where you want to be in your health, fitness, and wellbeing, it really does not bode well for the future if you do nothing about it.? The best time to act is right now, without delay or hesitation.? Work out what you want to be able to do, work out the exact steps you need to take and the crack on with the job in hand.? It really is that simple.?

If you want any help, well you could do a lot worse than give me a shout.? I get it, and I get you.? I can also tell you, hand on heart, that life is way too short to procrastinate.? Don’t become another statistic.? Worse still, don’t become the person your children look at and think, what a waste of space, I hope I don’t turn out like you.

You’ve got this, I believe in you!

Big love

Graham