WHY I...

WHY I …

I’ve been thinking a lot about the proliferation of images, words & videos that we’re assailed with daily through our social feeds and through the media.  There’s no doubt about it, wellness and fitness now are HOT right now, smokin’, red-hot, which is great.  Some of you may have been following my adventures and love of sport, the outdoors and a healthy life for a while now through my Mad To Live Blog, and I felt that I wanted put some words down about why I train the way I do.

I train the way I do for a reason, it’s fitness for purpose. It’s what allows my body and my mind to do the out-there and most extraordinarily awesome things I love and make me happy, like surfing for 4 hours non-stop if I want, or cycling 100 miles with a group of friends, and just as important, it lets me feel quite simply more able day by day, whether that's making that extra mile in a short run around the park, dancing until the sun comes up, racing across London to a meeting or making a difficult decision in business or life.

It’s not about a thigh gap, box gap, boob gap, whatever gap is currently a thing now.  It quite simply is what makes me wake up with more of a spring in a step and feel more capable, more ready, more excited and stoked for what life is gonna throw my way next.  You can’t prepare for everything that’s going to happen in life but you can keep your body and your mind sharp, keep them healthy.  You’d be surprised at how within your grasp it is to feel so good.  In my late teens I suffered from pretty severe depression.  I couldn’t shake it for years, I felt that I was doomed to spend the rest of my life feeling like that.  After a while I gradually began to process that if I made some minor tweaks in my life, it could have a positive impact.  Once I started exercising, breaking a sweat, that was a big part of my journey to feeling good again.  Feeling strong physically, being healthy, breaking a daily sweat, it does wonders to keep your noggin’ in check, to feeling mentally stronger, happier and clearer.

I love sharing the journey, the training I do, but it's all leading to that further purpose. It's not a vanity project, it's the sweat and grind that helps me do the daily and feel that bit more capable, and what I find most exhilarating, awesome and out-there. You won't find much #morningabs #gains on my feeds.   If there are body shots, it's of me using my body doing the things that stoke me out the most.  And that that's why I do it.