Going Sumo & some 500’s – building the pace

8 September 2015

Yesterday was back in the weights room and with a slight change to the deadlifts. I opted for a switch to the sumo deadlift for no other reason apart from I wanted to try it and compare to the regular. I found it quite nice moving up through the warm up lifts and the hardest bit seams to be the initial lift. Once it’s up and moving it seems to finish a lot nicer than the regular deadlift. Strength wise I was down by 4 reps on the same weight, but I’m banking on that being technique related rather than strength. Even if it is strength I plan on continuing this lift for the next few cycles to see how it fairs. It seemed kinder on back during the lift too, however….

Today my back is giving me a bit of trouble, but it is not the back that is misbehaving. It’s the glutes and in particular the hamstrings that took a beating unbeknown to me yesterday which have shortened spectacularly and are tugging on my lower back causing the problems. This has taken me by surprise as I thought during the lift that the hamstrings were taking less work load and not as much activation. I guess it’s just the shock to the body and the change of angles. Still I’ll rehab, prehab and persevere.

On to today and a routine bench press and chest day. On studying some lifting footage and looking into the lift in more detail, I think I over looked the detail and forgot the most important principle of weight lifting – to lift the damn weight! I was down 1 rep on the same weight from last week, but did have a good play with foot placement, spine alignment and elbow positioning. The tight hamstrings didn’t help with the foot placement though.

This afternoon it was back on the erg for a return to the 500’s. Now I think in a previous blog I had said I would drop the pace and build on the reps. However since then Q had suggested getting more comfortable with sticking to 6 reps and building the pace. Having not erg trained for so long I need to build these in gradually rather than attempting what I used to do week in week out.

Still, I smashed my target and felt a lot more comfortable (apart for the hamstring issue) with a longer more fluid stroke. I didn’t want a repeat session of Sunday intensity wise but certainly worked very hard and stayed consistent even with a controlled squeeze on the last rep.

6x500m [90r] 1.34.2 r33 (v’s 1.35.4 last week).

Squats tomorrow and then an erg session with Sam Blythe at http://fitnessmatters.me.uk/ on Thursday. Let’s see what treat he has in for me!

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There comes a point in every high-achiever’s journey where professional success and personal wellness seem irreconcilable, where the cost of performance is paid in silence, self-neglect, and eventual burnout. I had reached that point. Outwardly, I was thriving: respected, accomplished, operating at the peak of my profession. But beneath the surface, I was physically depleted, mentally fractured, and overwhelmed by self-loathing. I asked myself the question so many executives silently carry: How did I let myself get to this point? The answer, as I would come to learn, was not failure , it was imbalance. The truth is, high performance in leadership should not come at the expense of health, clarity, or self-worth. And through the Warrior Wellness Movement, I discovered that it doesn’t have to. This programme is not simply a fitness plan or a motivational workshop. It is a total recalibration of mindset, physiology, and leadership presence. The coaches at Warrior Wellness understood the unique pressures of executive life, the long hours, the constant decision-making, the burden of responsibility, and built a wellness framework that works with those realities, not against them. It is tailored, evidence-based, and deeply human. Through their guidance, I learned how to reclaim my physical health, strengthen my mental resilience, and lead with energy and authenticity. Just as critically, I brought my executive team on the same journey. Together, we evolved not only as professionals, but as people. We now operate with sustainable intensity, strategic clarity, and a shared understanding that wellness is not a luxury, it’s a leadership imperative. The Warrior Wellness Movement has fundamentally changed how I approach success, not as something to chase at all costs, but as a state of balance where performance and wellbeing co-exist. I cannot recommend this programme highly enough to any high-performing individual or team who is ready to stop surviving and start thriving.

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