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Nearly 250 miles in five days, then Snowdon on day six. Why would you put yourself through that? For Sam Smith, the reason came before the running. He wanted to support the people closest to him and raise awareness of Huntington’s disease through Hayley’s Hope. Sam joins Nick, Grant and Gemma for an honest conversation about ultra running, training around a full-time job and what happens when the motivation wears off. We get into his first marathon, a 100-mile race, the crew behind the challenge, fuelling, recovery and the temptation to judge every session by what someone else is doing. There’s plenty of running chat, but you don’t need to want to run 100 miles to take something from this one. Your 10K still counts. Your hard session is your hard session. And you don’t have to feel brilliant every day to keep showing up. What’s the challenge that would mean something to you? SUPPORT HAYLEY’S HOPE https://www.justgiving.com/page/samuel-smith-2 FOLLOW SAM Sam Smith: https://www.instagram.com/thenewforestgump/ FOLLOW THE HOSTS Nick Finch: https://www.instagram.com/getfitbynick/ Grant McDonald: https://www.instagram.com/coach_grantmcdonald/ Gemma: https://www.instagram.com/gemmapaddy82/ CHAPTERS 00:00 Why run 250 miles? 00:40 Meet Sam Smith 01:44 The reason behind Hayley’s Hope 02:51 Breaking 250 miles into manageable pieces 04:03 Three bodybuilders meet an ultra runner 06:04 Commitment, nerves and the hard days 08:09 One hundred miles and the runner’s high 10:24 Music, switching off and race-day focus 13:59 The crew, the lows and the next small target 15:30 Your 10K still counts 17:39 From a first marathon to consistent training 22:27 Training around a full-time job 26:28 Pace, effort and the problem with comparison 29:32 Ironman versus a 100-mile run 34:56 Backyard ultras and the tunnel challenge 39:08 Could running become a career? 40:06 Fuel, gut training and the bonk 45:08 Crew support, sleep and recovery 49:48 The next challenge 52:52 What does it mean to perform well? 55:55 You don’t have to feel great every day 57:13 Where to follow Sam #UltraRunning #EnduranceTraining #PerformWellPodcast

You get the physique you wanted. Then you find someone bigger, leaner or further ahead. When does it actually feel like enough? Bradley Talbot is 22. He grew up in care, found support through the gym and now works as an online fitness coach. In this conversation, we get into body image, the comparison trap and why looking good means very little if you feel awful. We talk about chasing size, steroid use, whole foods, calorie counting and the problem with a diet you cannot wait to finish. Bradley calls it “renting your body”. We also get into growing up with social media, building a routine you can stick to and what it means to perform well beyond the gym. What changed when you stopped chasing someone else’s body? Let us know in the comments 👇 Episode 163 of the PerformWell Podcast. Follow us on Instagram: Nick: https://www.instagram.com/getfitbynick/ Grant: https://www.instagram.com/coach_grantmcdonald/ Bradley: https://www.instagram.com/bradleytalbot11/ PerformWell Podcast: https://www.instagram.com/performwellpodcast/ CHAPTERS 00:00 A body you can keep. A life that feels good. 00:24 Meet Bradley Talbot 01:53 Growing up in care and finding the gym 04:39 From football to chasing size 07:16 Feeling good vs looking good 09:23 Steroids, comparison and being honest 15:11 Nick on the cost of using steroids 19:12 When gym culture stops being healthy 20:11 Whole foods and calorie counting 23:48 Are you renting your body? 26:41 Building habits that last 28:21 Social media changes who you compare yourself to 30:36 Gen Z, drinking and life after lockdown 37:32 Helping young men beyond the gym 41:53 What does it mean to perform well? 43:24 This too shall pass 46:37 Being present and enjoying the process 48:48 Where to find Bradley #PerformWellPodcast #BodyImage #FitnessMindset #BradleyTalbot #HealthyHabits

You keep saying you’ll start Monday. What if the missing piece is a date in the diary? Nick and Grant unpack motivation vs discipline, why forcing yourself through training you hate rarely lasts, and how a goal you actually care about can change your behaviour. Nick shares what kept him moving during his Ironman, and we get into self-help without action, overthinking the perfect plan, and choosing your first event. What would you book if you stopped putting it off? Tell us in the comments. 🎙️ Episode 162 of the PerformWell Podcast. Hosted by Nick & Grant. Nick: https://www.instagram.com/getfitbynick/ Grant: https://www.instagram.com/coach_grantmcdonald/ 📲 Follow us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/performwellpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@performwellpodcast Nick on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@getfitbynick Subscribe for more honest conversations about training, mindset and performing well. 00:00 You need a date 00:29 Why can’t you stay consistent? 01:10 Is discipline enough? 02:04 Internal vs external motivation 03:23 The Ironman moment that tested Nick’s why 05:40 Stop waiting to feel motivated 07:08 You don’t have to love every training session 08:46 Be motivated by the goal 09:15 Write down what you want and why 11:03 Self-help books without action 12:28 Take action first, then course correct 15:11 Book a date and start with one goal 17:03 How one event changes your habits 18:54 Practical tips to perform well 20:37 Like, subscribe and join the conversation #FitnessMotivation #MotivationVsDiscipline #PerformWellPodcast

Craig Swinton is heavily enhanced, competes as a bodybuilder, and used to be a paramedic. So we asked him the question everyone in the gym is quietly asking: how far can you actually get without gear? His answer wasn't what we expected. A natural lifter should train exactly the same way he does. Half his male clients are walking around with low testosterone and no idea. And the four things he'd fix before anyone even mentions a needle are the least exciting things on the list. We also get into what gear actually costs. Craig's cystic acne and Accutane, my torn brachialis and three months on tren I still think about. Plus peptides, GLP-1s, sleep apnea, fake nattys, and whether people buy from your physique or your personality. If you're in your thirties and quietly wondering whether your body's best days are behind you, this one's for you. ⚠️ Nothing here is medical advice. Speak to a doctor. 🎙️ Hosted by Nick & Grant. Nick: instagram.com/getfitbynick Grant: instagram.com/coach_grantmcdonald/ 💪 This week's guest, Craig Swinton (APEX Fitness Coaching): instagram.com/apex_fitness_coaching_/ 📲 Follow us: Instagram instagram.com/performwellpodcast/ TikTok tiktok.com/@performwellpodcast YouTube youtube.com/@getfitbynick 00:00 Craig's back, and this time we answer the question 01:23 An ex-paramedic on why he uses gear anyway 04:27 Is TRT still natty? Where's the line? 06:29 If you took steroids 10 years ago, are you natural now? 09:07 How long a natural needs to catch up, and the real ceiling 12:37 Would Grant ever go on? The side effects that stop him 16:49 What three months on tren actually cost me 18:42 Peptides, GLP-1s and the new middle ground 25:50 Should a natural train differently? Craig says no 30:15 Why he won't push gear on a dad 34:23 Half his male clients have low testosterone 37:22 The four levers to fix before you touch anything 42:28 Sleep apnea takes ten years off your life 49:24 Fake nattys, and whether physique or personality sells 57:50 What it really means to perform well #NaturalBodybuilding #NattyOrNot #LowTestosterone

Everyone in their mid thirties suddenly decides they're past it. The aches show up, recovery feels slower, and the conclusion is always the same. Must be my age. It usually isn't. Nick and Grant go through the research on muscle mass and metabolic decline, including the MRI study where a 70 year old triathlete's quad matched a 40 year old's while a 74 year old who didn't train had wasted away. Nick tells the story of what six months behind a bank desk during lockdown did to a body that had been fit for fifteen years, and what happened when he started moving again. Two coaches in their mid thirties arguing that this is the prime, not the decline, with the client examples to back it up. A 67 year old working towards a muscle up. A 45 year old through menopause in the best shape of her life. None of it is genetics and none of it is luck. Older is not old. There's a difference. 00:00 The complaint we hear every single week 01:19 When your physical prime actually is 02:47 My 67 year old client is working towards a muscle up 04:31 The study that kills the age excuse 07:28 Stop chasing fat loss and start chasing strength 09:35 Pick a challenge, any challenge 10:55 What six months behind a desk did to me 14:01 The steps number that changes things 15:49 What is genuinely not normal at 35 16:45 When age does start to matter 21:46 Turning up on the bad days 24:51 Older is not old 📚 References Wroblewski et al. "Chronic exercise preserves lean muscle mass in masters athletes." Phys Sportsmed. 2011;39(3):172-8. Forty athletes aged 40 to 81. Muscle area held across the whole range. PMID: 22030953 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22030953/ Pontzer et al. "Daily energy expenditure through the human life course." Science. 2021;373(6556):808-12. 6,400 people, 29 countries. Metabolism is stable from 20 to 60. PMID: 34385400 https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34385400/ We're coaches, not doctors. If something feels medically wrong, go and get tested. 🎙️ Hosted by Nick & Grant. Nick: instagram.com/getfitbynick Grant: instagram.com/coach_grantmcdonald/ 📲 Follow us: Instagram instagram.com/performwellpodcast/ TikTok tiktok.com/@performwellpodcast YouTube youtube.com/@getfitbynick #FitnessOver35 #OlderNotOld #PerformWellPodcast

Three weeks in. You're training. You're eating properly. The mirror hasn't caught up and the scale has stopped moving. Nothing has gone wrong. You're early, and you're measuring the wrong thing. This week Nick and Grant are joined by Southampton personal trainer and nutrition coach Gemma Paddington to unpack the three week wall: why the scale drops fast and then stalls, why quick weight change is almost never fat, and what's actually changing underneath while you can't see a thing. We get into glycogen and water weight, weight loss vs fat loss, why Gemma times progress photos around a client's cycle, the client whose scale weight went UP 2kg and why that was good news, weekend calories, refeeds vs cheat days, the comparison trap, and how precise you actually need to be with food depending on where you're starting from. Plus what all three of us have had to unlearn this year, and what to actually do when you hit week three and want to quit. If you've ever said "I'm doing everything right and nothing's happening", this one's for you. GUEST Gemma Paddington: https://www.instagram.com/gemmapaddy82/ 🎙️ Hosted by Nick & Grant. Nick: https://www.instagram.com/getfitbynick Grant: https://www.instagram.com/coach_grantmcdonald/ 📲 Follow us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/performwellpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@performwellpodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@getfitbynick 🏋️ Coaching: https://performwellcoaching.co.uk New episodes every week. If this one helped, drop a comment and tell us where you got stuck, we read all of them. CHAPTERS 00:00 Your diet is working, you just can't see it yet 00:40 What the first three weeks actually look like 02:08 Why the scale isn't the metric at week three 03:27 Inches, centimetres and other British nonsense 03:55 Why the scale drops fast and then stops 05:23 Glycogen, water and the first two weeks 06:05 Weight loss vs fat loss: not the same goal 09:42 The client whose weight went up 2kg 11:08 How fighters cut water weight, and why you shouldn't 13:56 When weight cutting goes wrong 14:48 What's changing that you can't see 16:10 Recomp: strength up, weight flat, fat dropping 16:59 If not the scale, then what? 17:27 Bloating, cycles and timing progress photos 18:58 Where the honeymoon ends 19:30 "Two sessions a week and 2,000 steps a day" 20:12 The pit of despair 21:21 The weekend maths 22:21 Cheat days vs refeeds 24:18 How to actually run a refeed 28:23 The comparison problem 30:06 Body dysmorphia 31:06 Precision vs simplicity 33:49 Just track something 34:51 Why protein is so hard for people 35:44 What we've each had to unlearn this year 40:00 Gemma's back injury and training past 40 41:38 Three things to do at week three 43:52 Gemma calls out a coach in the gym 46:27 What does it mean to perform well? #fatloss #nutrition #fitnesspodcast

Every goal I set as a kid, I quit. The Marines, two weeks from Greenberry. SAS selection. A business that folded in COVID. Cycling the length of Britain. At 35, the Ironman is the first one I've actually ticked off that list. Grant and I break down what the last 12 months really cost: the 11 to 15 hour training weeks, the social life, the strength work I loved, the beer gardens I cycled past. Why "I don't have time" almost always means "I don't have the energy." Why discipline shows up AFTER commitment, not before it. And the question that nearly broke me the day before the race: Does it still count as an Ironman if they cancel the swim? If you're strength-first and you think endurance is out of your reach, this one's for you. 🎙️ Hosted by Nick & Grant. Nick: https://www.instagram.com/getfitbynick Grant: https://www.instagram.com/coach_grantmcdonald/ 📲 Follow us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/performwellpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@performwellpodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@getfitbynick 🏋️ Coaching: https://performwellcoaching.co.uk #ironman #ironmantraining #hybridathlete

Archie Hunt was born ten weeks early with a heart that isn't supposed to let him run. In April he ran 2:27:41 at the London Marathon in a cape and a pair of red pants, and set the Guinness World Record for the fastest marathon dressed as a book character. The previous record was 2:42, held by a man dressed as Dracula. The part nobody expects is how he did it. Ninety-two percent of his training is zone one and zone two. No intervals, no threshold sessions, no marathon blocks, for two full years. He built from 40k a week to 200k a week by run-commuting to and from work with a backpack, around 60-hour weeks as a corporate lawyer in London. In that time his heart got measurably stronger and he came off three of his four medications. He's also beaten runners who've trained hard their entire lives, which is why the hate mail is always from people slightly slower than him and never from anyone faster. We get into all of it. Why patience beats intensity. Why he'd take 300th place with a PB over 10th without one. What he thinks about at 30k when it's falling apart. And what it actually means to perform well when the ceiling you're chasing keeps moving. In this episode: Why he was told not to run, and why he found a different doctor How 200k a week is possible around a full-time job The zone two case, from someone who has no other option Fuelling, 3,500 calories a day, and two breakfasts at his desk Throwing up at 60k of a 110k ultra and winning it anyway Splitting yourself into the person who trains and the person who races Sub 2:20, Comrades, backyard ultras, and the elite start at London Follow Archie: https://www.instagram.com/archibald_on_the_run/ Archie trains under medical supervision with regular scans and checkups. As he says himself in the episode, don't copy a 24 year old on the internet. If you have a heart condition, speak to your own specialist. 🎙️ Hosted by Nick & Grant. Nick: https://www.instagram.com/getfitbynick Grant: https://www.instagram.com/coach_grantmcdonald/ 📲 Follow us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/performwellpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@performwellpodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@getfitbynick #Marathon #ZoneTwo #RunningPodcast #WorldRecord #Endurance

Bryony "Killer Bee" Tyrell spent seven years as an intensive care nurse. She spent her nights becoming one of Britain's leading female cage fighters. She raised two kids through all of it. Nobody on the ward had any idea. Now Gemma Arterton is playing her in a feature film. In this episode: why weight cutting kills more fighters than punches do, what her coach shouted at her from the corner in Belgium when she was too tired to stand, why she'd rather fight 15,000 people than speak to them, and why at 46 she's still competing and moving into stunt work. She also put both of us on the floor before we started recording. She fights at 52kg. Bryony is the clearest example we've had on this show of something that keeps coming up: the people doing extraordinary things almost never quit their normal life to do it. They just refuse to accept that the ordinary one is all they get. Follow the film: https://www.instagram.com/killa_bee_film/ Shot at: Hoplite BJJ https://www.hoplitebjj.co.uk/ The PerformWell Podcast. You haven't peaked. You just stopped doing hard things. Hosted by Nick Finch and Grant McDonald. Online coaching: performwellcoaching.co.uk Instagram: www.instagram.com/getfitbynick www.instagram.com/performwellpodcast www.instagram.com/coach_grant_mcdonald #MMA #Nurse #Podcast

Should you do an Ironman? Probably not. Three days before Ironman Leeds, Nick Finch and Grant McDonald talk about why chasing someone else's challenge is the fastest way to end up training for a life you don't want. Everyone's doing a Hyrox. Everyone's running a marathon. Everyone's posting the medal. And if you're in your thirties watching all of it happen on your phone, it's easy to feel like you're behind on a race you never entered. This episode is about the opposite of that. It's about reference experiences, the small things you tick off that quietly build the confidence to attempt bigger ones, and why nobody wakes up one morning and does a 2.4 mile swim, a 112 mile bike and a marathon in a single day. Nick breaks down the four year ladder that got him to the start line: a charity boxing match in front of a thousand people, a failed attempt to cycle the length of the UK, a marathon, and a swim with the Royal Marines. Grant walks through the same pattern in karate, from white belt to two national titles, and why earning his black belt was harder and more frightening than any competition. We also get into the 11 hour training weeks, the 24 week build, the swim cutoff that ends your race before you've even got on the bike, and the honest answer to what happens if it goes wrong on Sunday. The question underneath all of it: what's your marathon? Tell us in the comments. We read every one. SUPPORT THE FUNDRAISER Nick is racing for CALM. https://www.justgiving.com/page/stronger-than-the-silence NEXT WEEK'S EPISODE Post race debrief, recorded within 48 hours of the finish line. Subscribe so you don't miss it. ABOUT THE SHOW PerformWell is a podcast about people who have done something most people would call impossible. We find the part you can copy. Every guest gets the same question at the end: what does it mean to perform well? Hosted by Nick Finch and Grant McDonald. WORK WITH NICK Online coaching, The Hybrid Build: performwellcoaching.co.uk Instagram: @getfitbynick @coach_grantmcdonald #Ironman #HybridTraining #PerformWell

Rob Stark photographs physiques for a living. He still catches himself in a mirror and thinks he looks small. Rob went from 64kg at 6'2" to 101kg and back down to 80kg. Before the camera he was a DJ at Ministry of Sound, a filmmaker with a U2 music video to his name, an actor and a performer. He told me before we recorded that he wasn't sure he had anything interesting to say. In this one we get into why nearly everyone hates being photographed, how Rob talks people down before a shoot, what a physique built as a hiding place actually costs, and why he still gets nervous after twenty years behind the lens. Grant and I have both been shot by Rob. This one's personal. Follow Rob: https://www.instagram.com/starkphysiques/ https://www.shotbystark.com/ Get after your own goals: 💪 Coaching: performwellcoaching.co.uk 🎙️ Hosted by Nick & Grant. Nick: https://www.instagram.com/getfitbynick Grant: https://www.instagram.com/coach_grantmcdonald/ 📲 Follow us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/performwellpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@performwellpodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@getfitbynick 00:00 The man who thought he had nothing to say 00:45 A career that started by accident 08:12 Everyone is creative until it gets taken out of them 11:13 Fifty side quests and one pattern 13:48 The holiday photo that started it 14:45 The advice that stopped him wasting years 15:33 Wanting to be lean and big at the same time 17:48 Nick at 75kg and 6'4" 20:18 Testosterone, bloods, and doing it properly 29:31 Body dysmorphia goes both ways 30:24 Hiding inside a character 32:39 How to talk someone down before a shoot 35:53 I'd rather fight 1,000 people than talk to them 40:41 Building a body you can hide in 45:07 What does it mean to perform well? 53:05 Twenty years in and still nervous 55:24 Meditation, and rowing versus sailing #bodydysmorphia #physiquephotography #performwellpodcast

As far as we can find, this is the first podcast ever recorded hanging off a cliff. If you know otherwise - comments are open. I'm terrified of heights. Tim has spent 20+ years as a mountaineering and climbing instructor, and he's the founder of Boulder Shack Climbing Gym in Southampton. I told him I'd do an episode on his turf and then found myself suspended over the edge of a sea cliff, genuinely wanting to quit, crying behind my sunglasses. What followed became a conversation about the thing that actually gets you through fear: trust. Trust in the equipment, trust in the person holding your rope, and trust in yourself, built one small promise at a time. We get into "type 2 fun", the Fear Bubble (Ant Middleton), why calm is contagious, and the breakfast question that talked me off the ledge. Literally. Follow Tim: 🧗 Boulder Shack Climbing Gym, Southampton 🎙️ In Progress with Tim Miller on YouTube, Spotify & Apple Podcasts Tim Miller: https://www.instagram.com/timothy.rocks/ Get after your own goals: 💪 Coaching: performwellcoaching.co.uk 🎙️ Hosted by Nick & Grant. Nick: https://www.instagram.com/getfitbynick Grant: https://www.instagram.com/coach_grantmcdonald/ 📲 Follow us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/performwellpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@performwellpodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@getfitbynick If this episode made you want to do the scary thing - subscribe. And if you don't, I'll come hunt you down once I get off this ledge. ⏱️ CHAPTERS 0:00 Intro The First Podcast Ever Recorded Off a Cliff 0:53 Why We're Hanging Off a Cliff (Fear → Trust) 2:14 The Psychology of Staying Calm 4:23 "Oats Are Working Now, Mate" Tim's Panic Trick 6:04 Has Tim Ever Been Scared? 7:57 Commit First Why We Do Hard Things 9:21 Kids, Parents & Safeguarding: 20 Years of Trust 12:30 "Isn't This Mental?" Panic Mid-Podcast 13:40 The 1AM Knock Foster Care & Trust 16:05 The Spain Burglary Story 17:57 When You Can't Back Out (The Tryfan Story) 20:37 "Let's See Nick Cry" The Courage to Be Seen 21:37 The Fear Bubble (Ant Middleton) 23:46 The 3 Types of Fun 24:33 The Moment I Nearly Quit 26:16 The Climb Out "That Was NOT a V1" 27:11 One Step at a Time Key Takeaways 28:18 What a World We Live In + Where to Find Tim 29:56 Outro #podcast #climbing #overcomingfear #type2fun #mindset

Six months ago Luke Bland sat in his car, pressed record and spoke from the heart. One of those messages - we're all going to die, and most of us are sleepwalking through the time we've got left, stopped over three million people mid-scroll. In this episode of the PerformWell Podcast, Nick Finch sits down with Luke (@lukewbland): dad of two, former Royal Marines recruit, scaffolder turned business owner, Ironman, and a man who has run 100 miles in a single go - with a 200-miler and a 215-mile Race Across Scotland still on the calendar. It's an honest, no-fluff conversation. Luke talks about the turning point that made him quit drinking and drugs overnight at 32 and pour that same energy into endurance sport. We get into learning to swim just nine months out from an Ironman and coming out of the water nearly last, why "world class basics" - manners, timekeeping and hard graft are the only edge he thinks he needs, and the surprisingly underwhelming truth about crossing the finish line. Along the way: men's mental health and brotherhood, being present as a dad, why "no time" doesn't hold up as an excuse, and what it really takes to not die average. Whether you're chasing your first Ironman, trying to get off the sofa, or just tired of the highlight reel - this one's for you. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ FOLLOW & CONNECT ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 🎙️ The PerformWell Podcast → https://www.instagram.com/performwellpodcast/ 💪 Nick Finch (host) → https://www.instagram.com/getfitbynick 🏃 Luke Bland (guest) → https://www.instagram.com/lukewbland/ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ SUPPORT THE CAUSE ❤️ ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ Nick is racing Ironman Leeds to raise money for CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably), a UK suicide prevention charity. For men under 50, suicide is still the leading cause of death - CALM is working to change that. Donate to "Stronger than the Silence" → https://www.justgiving.com/page/stronger-than-the-silence Every share and every pound makes a difference. ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ CHAPTERS ━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━ 00:00 – Intro 00:55 – Meet Luke Bland & the "don't die average" message 02:26 – Losing control: quitting drink and drugs at 32 03:43 – Hyrox, Ironman Barcelona & learning to swim in 9 months 06:49 – Falling in love with the bike and the trails 08:09 – Royal Marines, Lympstone & "world class basics" 10:14 – Failing young and the drive to prove yourself 14:46 – Scaffolding and the power of a group of lads 17:31 – Men's mental health: "therapy without calling it therapy" 18:43 – Advice for busy dads: why "no time" doesn't hold up 21:04 – Stacking days & the quiet mind of an overthinker 23:54 – What you do when no one is watching 26:53 – The 200-miler, "the tunnel" & signing up for what scares you 31:22 – Would you still do it without social media? 32:48 – Discipline, dawn training & the highlight-reel trap 39:40 – Celebrate the wins — but do what you love 45:27 – What it means to "perform well" & a message to his kids 47:40 – What's next: 200 miles, Scotland & speaking on mental health #DontDieAverage #UltraRunning #PerformWellPodcast.

Nick Bester started running at 23 with a 25-minute 5K. Today: a 2:19 marathon PB, 100 consecutive marathons under 3 hours, and an England vest that took 13 years to earn. In episode 151 of the PerformWell Podcast, the two Nicks get into what elite marathon training really takes — 100-mile weeks with four rest days a year, 15x1km sessions harder than race day, and why the pain never gets easier, it just gets faster. Plus: strength training for runners and how to structure your week around the gym, fuelling up to 120g of carbs per hour (and the 90km Comrades ultra Nick once ran on a single gel), getting humbled at a local fartlek session in Iten, Kenya, and swapping a banking career for coaching mid-COVID. 💙 I'm raising money for CALM (Campaign Against Living Miserably). If this episode gave you something, the fundraiser is here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/stronger-than-the-silence Follow Nick Bester: YouTube — @justalilbester Instagram — https://www.instagram.com/justlittlebester Strava — https://stories.strava.com/profiles/nick-bester Nick's next race: Battersea 5K, 28 July Follow PerformWell: Host Nick Finch: https://www.instagram.com/getfitbynick Nick Finch YouTube: @getfitbynick PerformWell Podcast: https://www.instagram.com/performwellpodcast Catch us on all MAJOR podcast platforms. Chapters 00:00 Intro 00:45 The POV video that led to a 5K PB 03:09 "It hurts just as much" — elite pain 05:23 Kipchoge pace + the £50 track challenge 07:11 Kenyan fartlek explained 11:59 Combining strength training & running 16:08 Seven attempts at sub-2:20 17:53 100-mile weeks & four rest days a year 19:02 Running as hypnosis + the runner's high 21:54 Fuelling: before, during and after 26:36 Gut training & 120g carbs/hour 29:10 Banker to running coach — the career swap 33:02 100 consecutive sub-3 marathons 35:35 Achilles rehab & cross-training 40:00 13 years for one England vest 41:58 What it means to perform well #MarathonTraining #Running #NickBester #Ultramarathon #Podcast

Everyone overcomplicates fat loss. In this episode we break down the single biggest reason you're not losing weight - and why "I'm not losing weight" is the wrong question in the first place. We get into the difference between losing weight and losing fat, why the scale lies to you, the under-reporting trap that quietly stalls most people, how to actually weigh your food (cooked vs raw), and whether your metabolism is really "broken." Then we hand you the exact protein targets, calorie equation and training setup we use with our coaching clients, plus refeeds, calorie cycling, and why your weight spikes after a big meal (and why it's not fat). If the scale won't budge no matter what you do, this one's for you. 🔴 STRONGER THAN THE SILENCE We're taking on a full Ironman this August for CALM, raising money for men's mental health. Every pound helps, please donate here: https://www.justgiving.com/page/stronger-than-the-silence 🎙️ Hosted by Nick & Grant. Nick: https://www.instagram.com/getfitbynick Grant: https://www.instagram.com/coach_grantmcdonald/ 📲 Follow us: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/performwellpodcast/ TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@performwellpodcast YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@getfitbynick CHAPTERS 00:00 Intro 00:33 The one real reason you're not losing weight 01:41 Weight vs fat: ask a better question 02:31 Why the scale is lying to you 03:23 Are you actually in a deficit? (under-reporting) 04:58 Cooked vs raw: the food-weighing mistake 06:27 When it's NOT just calories (PCOS, thyroid) 07:32 Adaptive thermogenesis & the Biggest Loser study 08:49 Why your metabolism and step count drop 11:03 Build muscle to burn fat at rest 12:35 How much protein you actually need 14:34 The simple calorie equation 15:42 Why strength training is non-negotiable 16:57 Refeeds & calorie cycling explained 18:58 Why your weight spikes after eating (not fat) 21:00 The takeaway: stop chasing the scale #FatLoss #CalorieDeficit #WeightLoss #FitnessPodcast #performwell Credits: Music: Infinite by Soundridemusic Link to Video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VZwcnKbRBpo