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with joel totoro and wes barnett This episode

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is sponsored by TeamBuildr, yet another company

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that's doing great things for the first responder

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I'll spell that to you because it's not as you

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think, T -E -A -M -B -U -I -L -D -R .com. Welcome

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to the Behind the Shield podcast. As always,

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my name is James Gearing and this week it is

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my absolute honor to welcome on the show European

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and World Strong Woman Champion, Nurse, and the

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creator of Holistic Strength Coaching, Chloe

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Brennan. Now in this conversation we discuss

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a host of topics, from her journey into medicine,

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working with special needs population, mental

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health, her introduction to the strength sports,

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lifting the dinny stones, coaching, hypnotherapy,

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neuro -linguistic programming, and so much more.

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Now, before we get to this incredible conversation,

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as I say every week, please just take a moment.

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Go to whichever app you listen to this on, subscribe

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to the show, leave feedback, and leave a rating.

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Every single five -star rating truly does elevate

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this podcast, therefore making it easier for

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others to find. And this is a free library of

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well over 1 ,000 episodes now. So all I ask in

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return is that you help share these incredible

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men and women's stories so I can get them to

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every single person on planet Earth who needs

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to hear them. So with that being said, I introduce

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to you, Chloe Brennan. Enjoy. Well, Chloe, I

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want to start by saying two things. Firstly,

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thank you to Isabel, who is one of my gym friends

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and one of your clients. for helping us actually

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make this connection. And secondly, I want to

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welcome you today onto the Behind the Shield

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podcast. Thank you very much. So where on planet

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Earth are we finding you this afternoon? Nowhere

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particularly exciting. I live in a town called

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Tamworth in England, although we do have a theme

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park, Drayton Manatee Park, and we have the Snowdome,

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which is an indoor skiing place. So I don't visit

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either very often, but it's nice to have. I'm

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a farm boy. I grew up just outside Bath, so I

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know Tamworth for the pigs. Oh, nice. The orange

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pigs. Yeah, yeah. We do have loads of pigs. Where

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I train actually is like on a pig farm and there

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are so many. It's like the best part of training,

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just looking at the pigs as I get past. All right.

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Well, I would love to start there. So let's start

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at the very beginning of your journey. So tell

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me where you were born and tell me a little bit

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about your family dynamic, what your parents

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did, how many siblings. Okay, so I was born not

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far from here in a town called Nuneaton, but

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lived in Tamworth as a child. My mum was a mental

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health nurse. My dad worked in recruitment consulting.

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They split up when I was about eight years old.

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Very amicable. They both still speak to each

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other. I still have really good relationships

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with both parents. Had a few experiences of step

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parents, some really good, some not so good.

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And that kind of I moved around the Midlands

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a few times. So I lived in Solihull for a little

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bit. I lived in Castle Bromwich for a little

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bit just because of circumstances. As a kid,

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I didn't have any siblings. It was just me. Had

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some step siblings for a little bit and then

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didn't. Yeah, and that's kind of my upbringing,

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I guess, being a little... I used to relate to

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Jacqueline Wilson's suitcase kid pretty well.

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I'm divorced and my son is an only child and...

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That's, I think, the hardest thing for a single

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parent or ultimately a remarried parent is you

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can control who you are as a mother, as a father.

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And hopefully you can control your relationship

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just like your parents did with the other person,

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with the spouse that you had. But you can't control

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who they're with. And I've had the same thing.

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That's been the hardest thing of watching my

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son grow up and not casting any specific blame,

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but certain people that were in his life in the

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other household. were absolutely detrimental

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and it's it's so hard to watch because you can

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do it now if there's a line that's stepped over

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you know considerably then you go in there and

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you take care of it but if it's just you know

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a bad personality that you know is not exactly

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nurturing your child in that particular home

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it's it's one of the hardest thing i think for

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for a step parent to deal with to be honest yeah

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absolutely and i think like for me it wasn't

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like the person in question wasn't ever so much

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of a problem to me um but was a big problem to

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my mum uh so then that situation ended badly

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and I think that then had a huge impact on me

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but at the time because it was so terrible for

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my mum she maybe didn't realize the impact it

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had on me at the same time so we had quite a

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like fraught relationship growing up um it's

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amazing now like best it's ever been. But definitely

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as a teenager, it was quite sticky. She was ill

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a lot when I was a kid as well. So I wouldn't

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have described myself as a young carer. But I

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think I definitely had to have an older head

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than maybe other people my age because of those

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situations that I was in. Absolutely. You hear

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that a lot from siblings or children or people

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that are sick. What about the impact of your

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mum's profession in the mental health world not

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so much you know impact specifically but what

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do you remember as far as the ripple effect of

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what she had to see and and the people that she

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tried to take care of um through your eyes i

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remember i've been very stressed um so when i

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was younger um i remember like probably around

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the time my mum and dad were splitting up actually

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obviously with my dad working in recruitment

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cvs were his things i remember him helping her

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out with her CV a lot and obviously being privy

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to those conversations that were happening and

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vaguely remember him basically telling her how

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good she was at her job and highlighting amazing

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things that she'd done and kind of keeping people

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out of hospital and helping them to live independently

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and back before nursing became what it is now

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she she's told me before about like groups that

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she used to run with patients where they'd like

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play badminton and It's really small things,

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but things that I know had a massive impact.

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And one thing that always stood out to me about

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my mum and her work was how much she genuinely

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cared about the people that she cared for. Yeah,

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so I think that definitely stuck out. But then

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later on, as the NHS changed and pressures changed,

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she ended up hating her job. And I remember that

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as I was going into nursing and being like, oh,

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I don't get it. obviously finding out um but

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yeah she was incredible at what she did and she's

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now retired but she's doing support work where

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I used to work where I started my kind of care

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journey off and I think she's really making an

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impact there as well so yeah I think impact is

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a big one a big word that comes to mind when

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I think about my mum's career and my insight

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to it It's really sad because I'm 50 now. So

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I grew up in the NHS as a child, as I was seeing

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pediatricians and or the GP. You know, you're

00:11:23.559 --> 00:11:25.899
talking about the 80s, basically the side of

00:11:25.899 --> 00:11:29.299
the 80s. And when I reflect back on what I saw

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after that and the care that my grandparents

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had as they were priced out of Bupa and it was

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the NHS that took care of them, it was amazing.

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And I think that at its principle, the NHS is

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the best health care system on the planet. But

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we've seen. firstly, the kind of dismantling

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of it and the privatization side, and then the

00:11:48.179 --> 00:11:50.940
lack of effort put into making British people

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healthy so we don't drain the system as well.

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So what is your perspective? Because you've got

00:11:55.720 --> 00:11:57.120
your mothers and will obviously get into your

00:11:57.120 --> 00:11:59.000
journey into nursing, but you were in that role

00:11:59.000 --> 00:12:01.500
as well. What are the things that are broken

00:12:01.500 --> 00:12:03.820
in the NHS? And if you were queen for a day,

00:12:03.919 --> 00:12:06.299
how do we fix them and get back to that beautiful

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system that was initially created? I'm no politician,

00:12:10.519 --> 00:12:13.480
so I wouldn't know where to start. But things

00:12:13.480 --> 00:12:18.799
that were obvious to me when I was, so like when

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I was working, I worked as a nurse, like a band

00:12:24.700 --> 00:12:27.659
six, a senior nurse within a learning disability

00:12:27.659 --> 00:12:31.100
community child and adolescent mental health

00:12:31.100 --> 00:12:34.429
team. I was there. So this was like one of the

00:12:34.429 --> 00:12:37.190
most deprived boroughs in the UK that I worked

00:12:37.190 --> 00:12:39.710
in. I was the only full time member of staff

00:12:39.710 --> 00:12:41.970
in our team. I was the only nurse in our team.

00:12:42.230 --> 00:12:45.289
We had a waiting list of I would hate to even

00:12:45.289 --> 00:12:48.269
say it publicly. It was ridiculous. So we were

00:12:48.269 --> 00:12:50.330
just firefighting all the time. You couldn't

00:12:50.330 --> 00:12:53.090
really do any preventative work, which is the

00:12:53.090 --> 00:12:56.029
most effective work in mental health and challenging

00:12:56.029 --> 00:13:00.129
behavior that I worked in. And yeah, it was.

00:13:00.909 --> 00:13:03.090
It was like an impossible task. Like I went into

00:13:03.090 --> 00:13:05.950
nursing because I wanted to help people and I

00:13:05.950 --> 00:13:08.230
just couldn't, I couldn't do that. And I was

00:13:08.230 --> 00:13:14.070
so stressed doing it and making no impact. And

00:13:14.070 --> 00:13:16.350
I just felt terrible. Like there were kids who

00:13:16.350 --> 00:13:19.389
were suicidal. I had parents who were suicidal

00:13:19.389 --> 00:13:24.289
because their kids were so poorly. Schools overwhelmed

00:13:24.289 --> 00:13:26.789
because they couldn't manage the behavior of

00:13:26.789 --> 00:13:29.379
the. kids that were there so obviously in my

00:13:29.379 --> 00:13:31.899
niche of learning disability challenging behavior

00:13:31.899 --> 00:13:34.480
is a big thing and the the children we were working

00:13:34.480 --> 00:13:36.259
with couldn't always communicate what was going

00:13:36.259 --> 00:13:39.639
on so that was going on so education's then getting

00:13:39.639 --> 00:13:43.580
impacted um and i think covid was a big one that

00:13:43.580 --> 00:13:47.019
really hit everything hard and kind of made waiting

00:13:47.019 --> 00:13:49.279
lists super long and we still haven't recovered

00:13:49.279 --> 00:13:53.100
from that and that's only like my perspective

00:13:53.100 --> 00:13:56.350
from being in a really tiny part of the NHS but

00:13:56.350 --> 00:14:00.610
I know now seeing like my clients for example

00:14:00.610 --> 00:14:03.590
who maybe have health problems and have to wait

00:14:03.590 --> 00:14:06.809
x amount of time to get an appointment or be

00:14:06.809 --> 00:14:09.330
seen and I think when when people do receive

00:14:09.330 --> 00:14:11.429
the care the care is still very good because

00:14:11.429 --> 00:14:15.070
most healthcare professionals really care about

00:14:15.070 --> 00:14:18.509
what they do but they get a bad rap because the

00:14:18.509 --> 00:14:22.590
system is broken. Yeah, no, it's funny. There's

00:14:22.590 --> 00:14:24.789
a show in America at the moment called The Pit

00:14:24.789 --> 00:14:27.289
and it's set in an ER in Pittsburgh. And it's

00:14:27.289 --> 00:14:29.269
actually one of the guys that was in ER, the

00:14:29.269 --> 00:14:31.769
original cast years ago. But it's very, very

00:14:31.769 --> 00:14:33.970
gritty. And there's this, you know, you see the

00:14:33.970 --> 00:14:36.169
ER and you see them overwhelmed. You see the

00:14:36.169 --> 00:14:39.009
triage area just packed full of patients, which

00:14:39.009 --> 00:14:41.590
is funny because when we go to COVID, that's

00:14:41.590 --> 00:14:43.570
what people were saying. Oh, look, the ERs are

00:14:43.570 --> 00:14:45.570
all full or the EDs or, you know, the emergency

00:14:45.570 --> 00:14:48.210
rooms, whatever the term is around the world.

00:14:48.250 --> 00:14:49.940
And it's like, well, this is how they look. All

00:14:49.940 --> 00:14:51.980
the time. But you're only paying attention now.

00:14:52.360 --> 00:14:54.419
And like you said, it's not the doctors and the

00:14:54.419 --> 00:14:56.299
nurses. It's not the firefighters and the police

00:14:56.299 --> 00:14:58.700
officers. It's the environment. It's the lack

00:14:58.700 --> 00:15:00.679
of support. And when you break this down and

00:15:00.679 --> 00:15:03.519
you refuse to support them and fund them, this

00:15:03.519 --> 00:15:06.320
is what happens. And so the beautiful thing is

00:15:06.320 --> 00:15:08.539
it's an opportunity to turn it around. And I

00:15:08.539 --> 00:15:11.860
hope that we can begin kind of a renaissance

00:15:11.860 --> 00:15:14.100
of awakening where people realize what is most

00:15:14.100 --> 00:15:16.059
important. But it breaks my heart. And I was

00:15:16.059 --> 00:15:18.250
talking about this the other day. When I go home,

00:15:18.370 --> 00:15:22.370
when I go back to the UK, it resembles America

00:15:22.370 --> 00:15:24.950
more and more every time as far as the overweight

00:15:24.950 --> 00:15:27.490
and obesity crisis. That wasn't the case when

00:15:27.490 --> 00:15:31.049
I was young. Like the air quotes fat person was

00:15:31.049 --> 00:15:34.129
maybe 50 pounds overweight. Now I'm seeing, you

00:15:34.129 --> 00:15:36.769
know, obese teenagers in the UK. And this is

00:15:36.769 --> 00:15:39.250
a country that's supposed to have a tax based

00:15:39.250 --> 00:15:41.029
health care system. So you would think that would

00:15:41.029 --> 00:15:44.330
push to make people healthy and coaching and

00:15:44.330 --> 00:15:46.549
facilities like yours and all these other places

00:15:46.549 --> 00:15:49.440
that are. forging health would be supported because

00:15:49.440 --> 00:15:51.799
you'd be helping the country but i think it's

00:15:51.799 --> 00:15:54.460
the opposite and i think that's it i think because

00:15:54.460 --> 00:15:56.639
there is so much firefighting there's less funding

00:15:56.639 --> 00:16:00.240
into like health promotion um and that preventative

00:16:00.240 --> 00:16:03.059
work in physical and mental health it's just

00:16:03.059 --> 00:16:04.820
kind of pushed to the back burner because oh

00:16:04.820 --> 00:16:06.460
my god we need to deal with all of these things

00:16:06.460 --> 00:16:09.799
that are that we're behind on um so and it's

00:16:09.799 --> 00:16:11.659
only the people who can afford the privilege

00:16:11.659 --> 00:16:15.320
of that kind of private support and coaching

00:16:15.320 --> 00:16:19.480
and health care that reap those benefits yeah

00:16:19.480 --> 00:16:22.679
exactly all right we're going back to your early

00:16:22.679 --> 00:16:25.480
years again what about sports and exercise what

00:16:25.480 --> 00:16:26.860
were you playing and doing when you were in the

00:16:26.860 --> 00:16:31.480
school ages everything uh everything so like

00:16:31.480 --> 00:16:35.139
many people started off swimming i hate everything

00:16:35.139 --> 00:16:38.440
about swimming i hate when wet hands touch um

00:16:38.440 --> 00:16:42.879
the sensory feeling just it makes me squirm thinking

00:16:42.879 --> 00:16:44.919
about it i hate getting out and having to wash

00:16:44.919 --> 00:16:48.169
my hair every time I hate getting everything

00:16:48.169 --> 00:16:52.350
I hate. So I quit that quite young. But there's

00:16:52.350 --> 00:16:55.570
a point to this. When I left that, my dad said

00:16:55.570 --> 00:16:59.450
to me, that's fine. But if you quit this, you

00:16:59.450 --> 00:17:02.190
need to take up another sport. And that was the

00:17:02.190 --> 00:17:06.190
theme throughout my young years that I was always

00:17:06.190 --> 00:17:10.089
encouraged to do some kind of sport. I quit that

00:17:10.089 --> 00:17:12.910
to do gymnastics and got very upset by what I

00:17:12.910 --> 00:17:15.730
now know as DOMS, thinking that the gymnastics

00:17:15.730 --> 00:17:18.170
coaches had broken all of my bones and that I

00:17:18.170 --> 00:17:22.349
was never going to be the same again. Yes, I

00:17:22.349 --> 00:17:25.109
did gymnastics and figured I was actually quite

00:17:25.109 --> 00:17:28.210
big for a gymnast and just didn't really get

00:17:28.210 --> 00:17:31.369
it. Moved into trampolining, which I did pretty

00:17:31.369 --> 00:17:33.750
well. I got to like lower end of national level.

00:17:34.559 --> 00:17:37.299
um in trampoline and so that was my like predominant

00:17:37.299 --> 00:17:40.480
sport if you like through my childhood while

00:17:40.480 --> 00:17:43.980
I was at school I put my hand to most things

00:17:43.980 --> 00:17:47.160
um I I did play tennis for a little bit that

00:17:47.160 --> 00:17:48.759
was like my mum's side of the family are really

00:17:48.759 --> 00:17:52.400
into tennis but I was quite terrible at it uh

00:17:52.400 --> 00:17:56.380
what else did I do all kinds of athletics mainly

00:17:56.380 --> 00:17:59.380
like sprints and jumping I was asked to throw

00:17:59.380 --> 00:18:02.059
a lot by the teachers at school but didn't and

00:18:02.059 --> 00:18:04.240
I kick myself for it now because I think I would

00:18:04.240 --> 00:18:06.839
have been really good at it I played football

00:18:06.839 --> 00:18:10.160
was encouraged to play rugby but again veered

00:18:10.160 --> 00:18:13.440
away from that which is hilarious because it's

00:18:13.440 --> 00:18:17.140
the more like masculine in quote marks sports

00:18:17.140 --> 00:18:19.960
that I didn't want to do because of that but

00:18:19.960 --> 00:18:21.799
I was the biggest tomboy that I would refuse

00:18:21.799 --> 00:18:24.279
to wear girls clothes so the two don't really

00:18:24.279 --> 00:18:29.039
match up but uh yeah so athletics was a big one

00:18:29.039 --> 00:18:33.039
um Football was a big one, but yeah, trampolining

00:18:33.039 --> 00:18:37.000
was my main thing. But I was always super competitive,

00:18:37.279 --> 00:18:40.740
like loved competing. As you were going through

00:18:40.740 --> 00:18:43.539
the school ages, were there any indication of

00:18:43.539 --> 00:18:48.200
your strength specifically at that point? I mean,

00:18:48.299 --> 00:18:51.920
I was good at power sports. So I was good at

00:18:51.920 --> 00:18:53.539
high jump. I was good at long jump. I was good

00:18:53.539 --> 00:18:57.329
at sprinting. I was good at trampolining. And

00:18:57.329 --> 00:18:59.809
one particular discipline I did was called double

00:18:59.809 --> 00:19:03.390
mini trampoline, which is like a run, two tricks

00:19:03.390 --> 00:19:06.670
and a dismount, put simply. And that's very like

00:19:06.670 --> 00:19:10.470
power driven. So I think I always knew I was

00:19:10.470 --> 00:19:14.890
very powerful, but I would never have. I wouldn't

00:19:14.890 --> 00:19:17.609
have described myself as strong. I remember when

00:19:17.609 --> 00:19:20.410
my partner Matt tried to get me to lift the first

00:19:20.410 --> 00:19:22.849
weights I ever lifted and I was like, ah, can't

00:19:22.849 --> 00:19:25.930
do it. So I clearly didn't think I was very strong.

00:19:29.039 --> 00:19:31.059
What about career aspirations? When you were

00:19:31.059 --> 00:19:33.359
in school, were you already thinking about the

00:19:33.359 --> 00:19:36.640
nursing world or was there something else? So

00:19:36.640 --> 00:19:41.440
I was I was very academic. I was clever. I didn't.

00:19:42.339 --> 00:19:46.000
I found school hard, but because of the pressure

00:19:46.000 --> 00:19:48.480
that I put on myself. So like socially, I got

00:19:48.480 --> 00:19:51.220
on really well. Academically, I did really well.

00:19:51.279 --> 00:19:56.940
But I think I. I was very stressed a lot at school.

00:19:57.079 --> 00:19:59.759
Our school was a school that kind of, if you

00:19:59.759 --> 00:20:02.960
were bright, you were put into top sets for everything

00:20:02.960 --> 00:20:05.779
and you were made to take extra GCSEs. So I think

00:20:05.779 --> 00:20:09.200
I've got something like 14 GCSEs. Who needs that

00:20:09.200 --> 00:20:13.460
many GCSEs? I think the stress that that put

00:20:13.460 --> 00:20:16.579
on me was just unnecessary. And now as an adult,

00:20:16.640 --> 00:20:19.279
I can absolutely say, why would they do that?

00:20:19.380 --> 00:20:22.099
We know why, to get there. points up and whatnot

00:20:22.099 --> 00:20:26.940
but it was too much um so when I was in school

00:20:26.940 --> 00:20:29.319
I didn't really know exactly what I wanted to

00:20:29.319 --> 00:20:32.759
do um but I knew that it was expected of me to

00:20:32.759 --> 00:20:36.559
go to a good university and study a degree that

00:20:36.559 --> 00:20:42.740
uh would kind of give me opportunities thereafter

00:20:42.740 --> 00:20:49.609
so I did initially go to the University of Sussex

00:20:49.609 --> 00:20:54.329
and I studied psychology with aspirations of

00:20:54.329 --> 00:20:56.769
becoming a psychologist. So I did want to help

00:20:56.769 --> 00:20:59.309
people. I wanted to become a clinical psychologist

00:20:59.309 --> 00:21:02.630
initially, so working within mental health. But

00:21:02.630 --> 00:21:07.930
when I was there, I was just very depressed,

00:21:08.190 --> 00:21:11.119
honestly. I had just had a... terrible time and

00:21:11.119 --> 00:21:13.519
i was thinking i was like oh my god if i want

00:21:13.519 --> 00:21:15.480
to become a psychologist i need to do this for

00:21:15.480 --> 00:21:18.359
three more years then i need to work as an assistant

00:21:18.359 --> 00:21:20.619
psychologist for god knows how many years and

00:21:20.619 --> 00:21:24.400
then i need to do my phd that seems like a lot

00:21:24.400 --> 00:21:28.359
um and that's when i kind of looked up and found

00:21:28.359 --> 00:21:31.279
learning disability nursing and i was like ah

00:21:31.279 --> 00:21:34.779
i can work with that population group that i

00:21:34.779 --> 00:21:38.539
really love working with I don't have to study

00:21:38.539 --> 00:21:42.259
for a million years and I can probably work more

00:21:42.259 --> 00:21:45.220
hands on and have what, in my opinion, then was

00:21:45.220 --> 00:21:50.700
more of an impact. So I went home for my mom's

00:21:50.700 --> 00:21:52.779
birthday and I just said, I'm not going back

00:21:52.779 --> 00:21:58.319
and quit. So talk to me about learning disability

00:21:58.319 --> 00:22:00.740
nursing. What was the kind of scope of practice

00:22:00.740 --> 00:22:05.809
for that role? Yeah, so I first. became familiar

00:22:05.809 --> 00:22:09.369
with that kind of client group when I was I used

00:22:09.369 --> 00:22:13.769
to coach trampolining and the the guy Paul Coates

00:22:13.769 --> 00:22:17.829
who was running the club that I was at was I

00:22:17.829 --> 00:22:21.490
think it was like head of GB disability kind

00:22:21.490 --> 00:22:24.710
of team so we had quite a lot of people who came

00:22:24.710 --> 00:22:28.970
quite a lot of people with autism and other learning

00:22:28.970 --> 00:22:30.950
disabilities and I remember the one day he was

00:22:30.950 --> 00:22:32.849
like you're coaching this trampoline today and

00:22:32.849 --> 00:22:38.250
oh my god I was like I cried because I didn't

00:22:38.250 --> 00:22:40.470
think I was doing a good job because the guy

00:22:40.470 --> 00:22:42.990
was non -verbal and I didn't understand how to

00:22:42.990 --> 00:22:46.349
communicate with him. And for me, that was really

00:22:46.349 --> 00:22:48.769
difficult because I think I'm such an empath.

00:22:49.009 --> 00:22:50.970
Like if I can't make, I just want to fix things

00:22:50.970 --> 00:22:52.609
all the time and make sure people are happy.

00:22:52.650 --> 00:22:54.650
And I was like, oh my God, I'm doing a really

00:22:54.650 --> 00:22:57.990
bad job. Little did I know that I would go on

00:22:57.990 --> 00:23:01.470
to absolutely love. working with this client

00:23:01.470 --> 00:23:03.529
group I became really passionate about making

00:23:03.529 --> 00:23:08.130
sure that people who access services could communicate

00:23:08.130 --> 00:23:11.609
in their way like that was big for me so that

00:23:11.609 --> 00:23:14.769
was my first experience of working in learning

00:23:14.769 --> 00:23:17.529
disabilities and then when I found out that that

00:23:17.529 --> 00:23:19.410
was a discipline within nurse and I was like

00:23:19.410 --> 00:23:22.509
how perfect is this like these people have such

00:23:22.509 --> 00:23:25.390
poor access to health care because they're not

00:23:25.390 --> 00:23:29.099
understood. they're more likely and more at risk

00:23:29.099 --> 00:23:31.099
of certain health conditions anyway their mental

00:23:31.099 --> 00:23:32.940
health is worse because they don't get the same

00:23:32.940 --> 00:23:37.420
opportunities in life um and they're just a hoot

00:23:37.420 --> 00:23:40.240
like I had a right laugh it was a it was a good

00:23:40.240 --> 00:23:43.059
time I think it's a kind of population that you

00:23:43.059 --> 00:23:45.079
either love working with or you find really difficult

00:23:45.079 --> 00:23:49.180
and I really loved it so I was like right I'm

00:23:49.180 --> 00:23:51.980
in sign me up so once I'd left my degree I'd

00:23:51.980 --> 00:23:57.109
applied um for that other degree and got my job

00:23:57.109 --> 00:24:00.490
myself a job as a support worker with adults

00:24:00.490 --> 00:24:04.250
with learning disabilities in the meantime and

00:24:04.250 --> 00:24:08.910
was that before covid yes this was like 20 i

00:24:08.910 --> 00:24:15.170
started university the first time in 2014 and

00:24:15.170 --> 00:24:21.339
then i think started my nurse in 2015 maybe So

00:24:21.339 --> 00:24:23.779
as you progress into that profession and you've

00:24:23.779 --> 00:24:27.000
got all these different autism and downs and

00:24:27.000 --> 00:24:28.660
all these different athletes and people that

00:24:28.660 --> 00:24:31.119
you're working with, were you able to integrate

00:24:31.119 --> 00:24:33.660
some of the sports into what you were doing with

00:24:33.660 --> 00:24:39.319
them? When I was in my support work? Yes. Yeah,

00:24:39.380 --> 00:24:43.299
yeah, absolutely. So we did groups and things

00:24:43.299 --> 00:24:45.480
which were more kind of whatever we were doing.

00:24:45.880 --> 00:24:50.529
But I had... Because I started going to the gym

00:24:50.529 --> 00:24:52.089
at this point as well. So we're crossing into

00:24:52.089 --> 00:24:58.230
I started lifting. Hmm. Maybe just as I got back

00:24:58.230 --> 00:25:01.829
from my first spell at uni, got into the gym

00:25:01.829 --> 00:25:04.609
then. So I was already into it when I started

00:25:04.609 --> 00:25:07.890
my support work. And I had like two or three

00:25:07.890 --> 00:25:11.369
people that I actually took to the gym as part

00:25:11.369 --> 00:25:14.230
of their sessions. And because I had that insight

00:25:14.230 --> 00:25:17.410
on lifting, other support workers were just kind

00:25:17.410 --> 00:25:20.490
of. put them on a machine and be like here you

00:25:20.490 --> 00:25:23.450
go cycle for an hour whereas i'd start to encourage

00:25:23.450 --> 00:25:30.369
them to squat or do different kind of um movements

00:25:30.369 --> 00:25:32.009
that they had never done before like touch the

00:25:32.009 --> 00:25:34.829
dumbbells touch the barbells so that was that

00:25:34.829 --> 00:25:40.200
was really fun um we had a laugh We just had

00:25:40.200 --> 00:25:42.259
a competition that they have every year at the

00:25:42.259 --> 00:25:45.339
gym I train in where Isabel is called Down for

00:25:45.339 --> 00:25:48.420
Donuts, which actually she she organizes. But

00:25:48.420 --> 00:25:50.799
the owners of the gym have a little girl, Kira.

00:25:50.880 --> 00:25:54.059
I think she's 10 now who was born with Down syndrome.

00:25:54.140 --> 00:25:56.980
So that obviously became a very close and personal.

00:25:58.480 --> 00:26:02.039
point for them um so now we have this this fundraiser

00:26:02.039 --> 00:26:04.380
and it's all you know the uh the athletes from

00:26:04.380 --> 00:26:07.579
around here but the very first uh heat of every

00:26:07.579 --> 00:26:10.599
competition is the enhanced and it's people with

00:26:10.599 --> 00:26:14.240
autism down syndrome and it's amazing absolutely

00:26:14.240 --> 00:26:16.259
amazing do they have to scale some things yes

00:26:16.259 --> 00:26:20.319
but to see them you know do the same exact motions

00:26:20.319 --> 00:26:23.359
and obviously there's varying degrees is phenomenal

00:26:23.359 --> 00:26:26.200
and i had a guy on the show nick nickich who's

00:26:26.200 --> 00:26:28.779
the first person with down syndrome to do the

00:26:28.779 --> 00:26:32.599
iron man um the hawaiian iron man triathlon incredible

00:26:32.599 --> 00:26:36.180
and that guy is a machine he would outwork 99

00:26:36.180 --> 00:26:39.799
.9 of the humans on planet earth so yeah the

00:26:39.799 --> 00:26:42.119
diversity that that's you know some of these

00:26:42.119 --> 00:26:43.960
men and women have it might just be picking up

00:26:43.960 --> 00:26:46.700
a pvc pipe for one person it might be crushing

00:26:46.700 --> 00:26:49.759
a triathlon for another one but when i reflect

00:26:49.759 --> 00:26:52.809
uh kind of how a lot of that population was viewed

00:26:52.809 --> 00:26:55.150
when I was younger. I mean, the untapped potential

00:26:55.150 --> 00:26:59.009
of that community is absolutely phenomenal. It's

00:26:59.009 --> 00:27:02.630
huge. And I think especially for people who are

00:27:02.630 --> 00:27:06.400
nonverbal. There's actually so much more going

00:27:06.400 --> 00:27:09.000
on in their mind than people realize. There was

00:27:09.000 --> 00:27:10.680
a program on recently, I think it was called

00:27:10.680 --> 00:27:12.539
like Autism and Me or something. And it was a

00:27:12.539 --> 00:27:14.500
guy who had always kind of been treated like

00:27:14.500 --> 00:27:17.319
a child, but they'd come up with some kind of

00:27:17.319 --> 00:27:19.759
technology where he could communicate his actual

00:27:19.759 --> 00:27:23.119
thoughts. And oh my goodness, like he was so,

00:27:23.299 --> 00:27:27.440
what's the word I want to use? When someone's

00:27:27.440 --> 00:27:30.119
like good at talking. Articulate. Articulate,

00:27:30.180 --> 00:27:32.880
yeah. He was more articulate than me. He was.

00:27:33.319 --> 00:27:36.579
so intelligent and it just it breaks my heart

00:27:36.579 --> 00:27:42.259
that people can't look past someone's physical

00:27:42.259 --> 00:27:45.259
appearance or what they see on the outside and

00:27:45.259 --> 00:27:47.880
kind of just put people down as all they they've

00:27:47.880 --> 00:27:49.680
got a learning disability they can't do anything

00:27:49.680 --> 00:27:52.099
which is utter bollocks I don't know if I'm allowed

00:27:52.099 --> 00:27:57.140
to swear but I like I went on to get jobs and

00:27:57.140 --> 00:28:00.500
kind of travel independently and have families

00:28:00.500 --> 00:28:03.630
like do you know what i mean it's it's frustrating

00:28:03.630 --> 00:28:07.569
how some of the people the learning disability

00:28:07.569 --> 00:28:10.109
population are looked at by general society because

00:28:10.109 --> 00:28:14.509
actually they've got a lot to give absolutely

00:28:14.509 --> 00:28:18.329
what about i don't even know if the success story

00:28:18.329 --> 00:28:20.450
is the right word but what are some of the most

00:28:20.450 --> 00:28:22.589
powerful moments you remember when working with

00:28:22.589 --> 00:28:26.309
that population oh there's loads and they're

00:28:26.309 --> 00:28:29.829
gay from like super little things to massive

00:28:29.829 --> 00:28:35.630
things um One thing I think would be there's

00:28:35.630 --> 00:28:40.930
one guy who was kind of, when staff talked about

00:28:40.930 --> 00:28:43.730
him, he's violent, he lashes out, he's really

00:28:43.730 --> 00:28:47.470
difficult, blah, blah, blah, blah, blah. No one

00:28:47.470 --> 00:28:49.109
had actually bothered to look at his care plan.

00:28:49.430 --> 00:28:53.170
And in that care plan, it says he has a pack

00:28:53.170 --> 00:28:55.089
of cards that he carries in his pocket with him

00:28:55.089 --> 00:28:57.329
all the time to help him to communicate. And

00:28:57.329 --> 00:28:59.369
I remember the one after I'd read that care plan,

00:28:59.410 --> 00:29:01.740
I went in and I was like, hey. Let's get your

00:29:01.740 --> 00:29:03.920
cards out. Show me what you want to do straight

00:29:03.920 --> 00:29:06.900
away. And it was like I'd unlocked a whole world

00:29:06.900 --> 00:29:09.259
for him that just wasn't available because nobody

00:29:09.259 --> 00:29:12.160
had asked him. So it was like incompetency of

00:29:12.160 --> 00:29:17.240
the system. So that was a big one. There was

00:29:17.240 --> 00:29:21.140
another lady. I've heard that she's passed away

00:29:21.140 --> 00:29:25.680
now, which is like tragic. But she was in services

00:29:25.680 --> 00:29:29.779
from a young age and we worked together. passed

00:29:29.779 --> 00:29:34.279
her driving test she got a job at kfc she then

00:29:34.279 --> 00:29:39.279
became a supervisor um and had a baby loads of

00:29:39.279 --> 00:29:43.220
stuff another guy i helped to get a bus independently

00:29:43.220 --> 00:29:47.619
he was i was driving behind the bus on the phone

00:29:47.619 --> 00:29:49.539
to him while he sat on the back seat so he could

00:29:49.539 --> 00:29:52.420
see me but the fact that he could get on a bus

00:29:52.420 --> 00:29:56.519
on his own and do that 15 minute journey considering

00:29:56.519 --> 00:29:59.160
he was scared to get on a bus with me at the

00:29:59.160 --> 00:30:02.700
start was incredible and then just like general

00:30:02.700 --> 00:30:04.880
relationships that I built with people and with

00:30:04.880 --> 00:30:08.640
families I still keep in touch with some families

00:30:08.640 --> 00:30:11.339
that I worked with like what would it be like

00:30:11.339 --> 00:30:16.460
eight ten years ago and yeah it's a lot a lot

00:30:16.460 --> 00:30:18.279
of things really it's really hard to articulate

00:30:18.279 --> 00:30:22.640
in one small chunk but a lot of people had huge

00:30:22.640 --> 00:30:24.900
impact on my life and the same when i was nursing

00:30:24.900 --> 00:30:29.579
there was a few people that kind of you remember

00:30:29.579 --> 00:30:34.420
certain certain cases for sure what about the

00:30:34.420 --> 00:30:36.960
uh the other side a lot of people had on the

00:30:36.960 --> 00:30:40.579
show that um have educated you know people listening

00:30:40.579 --> 00:30:42.500
to this podcast especially if they're first responders

00:30:42.500 --> 00:30:46.559
on some of the idiosyncrasies of some of the

00:30:46.559 --> 00:30:48.619
special needs population as far as us responding

00:30:48.619 --> 00:30:50.619
as a police officer or a paramedic, but also

00:30:50.619 --> 00:30:53.559
some of the dangers and them being preyed upon

00:30:53.559 --> 00:30:55.799
physically and sexually is another thing that

00:30:55.799 --> 00:30:58.200
I don't think most people realize. Were you exposed

00:30:58.200 --> 00:31:01.920
to that at all? Yeah. Mate and hate crime is

00:31:01.920 --> 00:31:05.420
huge, particularly in the adult population. It

00:31:05.420 --> 00:31:09.359
happens in children's services like 100%, especially

00:31:09.359 --> 00:31:13.740
when you have... a lot of children together who

00:31:13.740 --> 00:31:18.539
haven't necessarily been taught appropriate relationships

00:31:18.539 --> 00:31:20.480
or don't understand appropriate relationships

00:31:20.480 --> 00:31:26.339
and don't know the boundaries and then kind of

00:31:26.339 --> 00:31:28.539
prey on each other sometimes because they don't

00:31:28.539 --> 00:31:30.539
understand that it's wrong so that some people

00:31:30.539 --> 00:31:35.089
are vulnerable in that sense. to one another

00:31:35.089 --> 00:31:38.009
but also like in adult services especially in

00:31:38.009 --> 00:31:41.609
when people were living independently um taking

00:31:41.609 --> 00:31:44.670
advantage of people coming into their homes taking

00:31:44.670 --> 00:31:48.710
money from them um I worked with on my very very

00:31:48.710 --> 00:31:50.829
first placement she was the very first patient

00:31:50.829 --> 00:31:56.309
that I met um she had all kinds of trauma and

00:31:56.309 --> 00:31:59.430
different diagnosis and she to talk to her you

00:31:59.430 --> 00:32:00.630
probably wouldn't know that she had a learning

00:32:00.630 --> 00:32:03.660
disability you just think Oh, wow, that's a lot.

00:32:04.099 --> 00:32:09.579
But she actually contracted hepatitis from a

00:32:09.579 --> 00:32:11.680
taxi driver that had been taking advantage of

00:32:11.680 --> 00:32:16.039
her, along with multiple other things that had

00:32:16.039 --> 00:32:21.140
gone on. It's awful because when you're in those

00:32:21.140 --> 00:32:24.119
services, you become so desensitised to things.

00:32:24.559 --> 00:32:28.019
You hear the most horrific things, and abuse

00:32:28.019 --> 00:32:31.440
from parents to... to kids but I had one person

00:32:31.440 --> 00:32:35.599
who um mum was a big drinker he was he was a

00:32:35.599 --> 00:32:40.259
teenager and he never ate proper meals at home

00:32:40.259 --> 00:32:41.799
like when you went into the house there were

00:32:41.799 --> 00:32:45.019
just like stale crisps in boxes around um he'd

00:32:45.019 --> 00:32:46.960
never spoken a word bearing in mind he was 14

00:32:46.960 --> 00:32:50.359
still wore a continence pad didn't go to the

00:32:50.359 --> 00:32:53.869
toilet independently Within a month of moving

00:32:53.869 --> 00:32:57.130
to a residential home with a plan in place from

00:32:57.130 --> 00:33:00.029
us and an amazing support team where we lived,

00:33:00.130 --> 00:33:01.750
he was speaking three words and going to the

00:33:01.750 --> 00:33:05.069
toilet by himself at 14 years of age. So I think

00:33:05.069 --> 00:33:07.250
sometimes people's learning disabilities are

00:33:07.250 --> 00:33:09.690
exacerbated by the environments that they're

00:33:09.690 --> 00:33:15.609
in. So, yeah, there's a lot that goes on and

00:33:15.609 --> 00:33:19.849
I think you can never be too careful when it

00:33:19.849 --> 00:33:22.759
comes to safeguarding. Yeah. It was something

00:33:22.759 --> 00:33:24.839
I was naive to early in my career, but you know,

00:33:24.839 --> 00:33:26.779
as we progress through and we're taught about,

00:33:26.839 --> 00:33:29.440
you know, that community about human trafficking,

00:33:29.460 --> 00:33:31.220
you know, some of these other things, you start

00:33:31.220 --> 00:33:34.299
to open your eyes. Yeah. Yeah. It really opens

00:33:34.299 --> 00:33:36.859
your eyes. Well, let's kind of transition to

00:33:36.859 --> 00:33:39.160
the lifting side and then we'll get to, you know,

00:33:39.180 --> 00:33:41.240
when you made the leap of faith out of nursing,

00:33:41.339 --> 00:33:45.079
but when, when did you start, you know, weight

00:33:45.079 --> 00:33:47.259
training at all? And then how did that transition

00:33:47.259 --> 00:33:53.009
into power sports specifically? okay so I like

00:33:53.009 --> 00:33:57.710
many women started going to the gym walk it went

00:33:57.710 --> 00:34:02.150
this was probably like I'd done bits at uni but

00:34:02.150 --> 00:34:04.190
when I got back from uni the first time so I

00:34:04.190 --> 00:34:10.070
would have been 18 19 um would walk around the

00:34:10.070 --> 00:34:12.750
gym look at the weight section like I want to

00:34:12.750 --> 00:34:15.320
do that and then be very intimidated. I'd maybe

00:34:15.320 --> 00:34:17.500
go on the leg press. The leg press was okay.

00:34:17.719 --> 00:34:20.860
I might do that and some lat pull downs and then

00:34:20.860 --> 00:34:24.260
would quickly go back to the cross trainer or

00:34:24.260 --> 00:34:26.559
the rowing machine for the remainder of the hour

00:34:26.559 --> 00:34:30.179
that I was there and then leave. I tried some

00:34:30.179 --> 00:34:32.760
body pump classes that I was absolutely terrible

00:34:32.760 --> 00:34:36.019
at and really didn't enjoy that much. I was just

00:34:36.019 --> 00:34:41.159
like, this is terrible. No, no, thank you. And

00:34:41.159 --> 00:34:46.559
then my partner, Matt, introduced me to, so he'd

00:34:46.559 --> 00:34:49.619
become part of an organisation called International

00:34:49.619 --> 00:34:52.739
All Round Weightlifting, Iowa. And that was where

00:34:52.739 --> 00:34:56.539
I started actually lifting using free weights.

00:34:56.659 --> 00:35:01.079
I worked with, there's a guy called Steve Gardner.

00:35:01.119 --> 00:35:04.380
He was a high level British powerlifter, a strong

00:35:04.380 --> 00:35:06.960
man, competed with some of the greats, trained

00:35:06.960 --> 00:35:12.300
with Jeff Capes. like awesome guy and he him

00:35:12.300 --> 00:35:14.820
and his wife Karen who I think was the first

00:35:14.820 --> 00:35:16.920
woman that I'd really seen lifting weights because

00:35:16.920 --> 00:35:20.079
lifting weights obviously wasn't on my Instagram

00:35:20.079 --> 00:35:22.199
algorithm then I don't know if there even was

00:35:22.199 --> 00:35:26.079
an algorithm then to be honest um so I just hadn't

00:35:26.079 --> 00:35:28.480
seen it before and even though she was like late

00:35:28.480 --> 00:35:30.519
50s and wasn't lifting like huge amounts of weight

00:35:30.519 --> 00:35:35.179
anymore I was like wow this is cool um so that's

00:35:35.179 --> 00:35:38.889
how I got into lifting weights really a bit of

00:35:38.889 --> 00:35:43.750
an obscure introduction but it was one of the

00:35:43.750 --> 00:35:46.849
best things that I've ever done so what was the

00:35:46.849 --> 00:35:49.489
beginning of that journey then when did you have

00:35:49.489 --> 00:35:51.989
or maybe even people around you have an aha moment

00:35:51.989 --> 00:35:57.389
that you between the way you trained and you

00:35:57.389 --> 00:35:59.489
know the body that you had that you actually

00:35:59.489 --> 00:36:02.210
had the ability to be very good at this particular

00:36:02.210 --> 00:36:07.380
sport yeah so I think like within the Iowa pretty

00:36:07.380 --> 00:36:09.980
much straight away um when I went down I was

00:36:09.980 --> 00:36:13.300
lifting decent weights I would say like I think

00:36:13.300 --> 00:36:15.280
I had like a 90 kilo deadlift the first time

00:36:15.280 --> 00:36:18.940
I deadlifted um I can't remember many other numbers

00:36:18.940 --> 00:36:21.880
but I was getting past 100 kilos very quickly

00:36:21.880 --> 00:36:27.300
my squat was up near 100 kilos um yeah I was

00:36:27.300 --> 00:36:30.679
I just took to it really well and I think People

00:36:30.679 --> 00:36:33.059
were kind of like, oh, you're quite good at this.

00:36:33.139 --> 00:36:35.300
So they started entering me into competitions.

00:36:35.360 --> 00:36:37.059
I didn't really have a clue what was going on.

00:36:37.079 --> 00:36:40.260
I just turned up anyway and had a nice time.

00:36:41.019 --> 00:36:45.119
And then so strongman wise, I actually wanted

00:36:45.119 --> 00:36:47.539
to do powerlifting when I did all round weightlifting

00:36:47.539 --> 00:36:49.900
strongman. Just I was like, oh, I don't know

00:36:49.900 --> 00:36:52.659
about that. But my partner, Matt, did a strongman

00:36:52.659 --> 00:36:55.260
competition and they were a person down on the

00:36:55.260 --> 00:36:59.099
deadlift. so they were like who wants to do it

00:36:59.099 --> 00:37:01.039
anyone from the crowd join in matt pushed me

00:37:01.039 --> 00:37:02.900
and was like chloe will do it they put the weight

00:37:02.900 --> 00:37:05.980
to 100 kilos and i pulled 20 reps and they were

00:37:05.980 --> 00:37:08.860
like ah you'd be quite good at this strong woman

00:37:08.860 --> 00:37:14.679
thing um so i was invited down to a gym um in

00:37:14.679 --> 00:37:17.480
true chloe style entered a couple of competitions

00:37:17.480 --> 00:37:22.380
that year so that was 2016 then 2017 i did um

00:37:22.380 --> 00:37:26.570
i entered the england's strongest woman qualifier

00:37:26.570 --> 00:37:29.429
didn't really expect anything to come of it i

00:37:29.429 --> 00:37:31.449
just didn't want to look like an idiot i won

00:37:31.449 --> 00:37:34.269
that i then went on to came second to come second

00:37:34.269 --> 00:37:37.670
at england's strongest woman and third at britain's

00:37:37.670 --> 00:37:40.829
strongest woman and that's when i was like i

00:37:40.829 --> 00:37:45.110
think i'm okay at this and just to clarify because

00:37:45.110 --> 00:37:46.650
you're talking about his weights what was your

00:37:46.650 --> 00:37:51.519
body weight at that point so when i um was told

00:37:51.519 --> 00:37:56.099
I'd be good at this I was in the 70 kilo 70 something

00:37:56.099 --> 00:37:58.460
range I can't remember exactly and I was told

00:37:58.460 --> 00:38:01.320
on that day um if you can get your weight down

00:38:01.320 --> 00:38:04.139
to 63 kilos you'll be really competitive and

00:38:04.139 --> 00:38:08.960
I was like oh my god that's that's a lot um but

00:38:08.960 --> 00:38:12.610
I was really fortunate that I had um someone

00:38:12.610 --> 00:38:15.230
i actually went to primary school with um charlie

00:38:15.230 --> 00:38:17.750
b stone he's cb nutrition approached me because

00:38:17.750 --> 00:38:21.469
he saw i put on instagram i'm doing fasted cardio

00:38:21.469 --> 00:38:25.389
to lose weight was i like i was like running

00:38:25.389 --> 00:38:27.329
when the cars were there and stopping when they

00:38:27.329 --> 00:38:31.170
weren't and starving myself um he helped me get

00:38:31.170 --> 00:38:32.570
down to that weight class and that's where i

00:38:32.570 --> 00:38:37.429
competed for the first four years of my career

00:38:37.429 --> 00:38:40.380
so yeah when i One of those competitions, I was

00:38:40.380 --> 00:38:44.739
at 60, 63 kilos or a bit below. Because that

00:38:44.739 --> 00:38:46.619
puts it into context. I had Kristen Rose on the

00:38:46.619 --> 00:38:49.199
show, but she's a big, strong woman. Yeah, she's

00:38:49.199 --> 00:38:51.039
amazing. You're talking about a much smaller

00:38:51.039 --> 00:38:56.840
frame pulling those weights. Yeah, I didn't realize

00:38:56.840 --> 00:38:59.159
at the time quite what would happen. It got a

00:38:59.159 --> 00:39:02.880
little bit out of hand. So talk to me about that.

00:39:03.000 --> 00:39:04.559
Lead me through that journey as a competitor

00:39:04.559 --> 00:39:06.659
for us and we'll get to the coaching and training

00:39:06.659 --> 00:39:11.809
side. okay oh goodness so yeah it was a bit of

00:39:11.809 --> 00:39:14.889
a roller coaster really I the first year I totally

00:39:14.889 --> 00:39:18.570
didn't expect um and it was truly amazing and

00:39:18.570 --> 00:39:21.289
at that time I was watching people like Donna

00:39:21.289 --> 00:39:23.750
Moore, Jenny Todd, Farrah Fonseca they were all

00:39:23.750 --> 00:39:26.130
going off and competing at the Arnold which at

00:39:26.130 --> 00:39:28.590
the time was world's strongest woman we didn't

00:39:28.590 --> 00:39:32.500
have OSG that we have now So my ultimate dream

00:39:32.500 --> 00:39:34.679
was I just want to be able to compete at the

00:39:34.679 --> 00:39:36.760
Arnold. I didn't want to win, didn't want to

00:39:36.760 --> 00:39:39.099
podium. I just wanted to be good enough to compete

00:39:39.099 --> 00:39:42.840
there. That was my ultimate. So over the next

00:39:42.840 --> 00:39:46.139
couple of years, I did pretty well. I continued

00:39:46.139 --> 00:39:50.719
to podium at things. My second year was really

00:39:50.719 --> 00:39:53.780
hard, actually, because I'd had such a good first

00:39:53.780 --> 00:39:56.840
year. I felt a lot of pressure. There wasn't

00:39:56.840 --> 00:39:59.440
any pressure. It was, of course, internal. But

00:39:59.440 --> 00:40:03.389
I thought. people expected things of me so that

00:40:03.389 --> 00:40:05.869
was I put a lot of unnecessary pressure on myself

00:40:05.869 --> 00:40:07.989
and didn't enjoy it as much as I should have

00:40:07.989 --> 00:40:14.409
at times um but did did really well I then qualified

00:40:14.409 --> 00:40:16.809
for my first Arnold through Britain's Strongest

00:40:16.809 --> 00:40:21.329
Woman and I went and competed there in 2020 that

00:40:21.329 --> 00:40:24.449
was my first ever international competition and

00:40:24.449 --> 00:40:27.110
I came fourth so in the Arnold you basically

00:40:27.110 --> 00:40:30.039
have Two days of prelims and a finals day. Only

00:40:30.039 --> 00:40:33.880
the top four make the finals. And considering

00:40:33.880 --> 00:40:36.679
my dream was to compete at the Arnold, I let

00:40:36.679 --> 00:40:39.139
out the loudest scream you've ever heard when

00:40:39.139 --> 00:40:44.179
I realized I did make finals. Yeah, it was wild.

00:40:44.440 --> 00:40:47.059
So I finished up fourth there. And that's when

00:40:47.059 --> 00:40:50.199
I was like, oh, we play internationally now.

00:40:50.380 --> 00:40:54.739
I did my first ever World's Strongest Woman OSG

00:40:54.739 --> 00:40:59.860
in 2021. And I came fifth in the under 64s again.

00:40:59.940 --> 00:41:03.480
I was like, ha, I won the yoke event, which I

00:41:03.480 --> 00:41:05.519
was like, didn't expect. Everyone was telling

00:41:05.519 --> 00:41:07.619
me I would, but I didn't really have any benchmark.

00:41:07.639 --> 00:41:09.519
I didn't know what to compare it to. So that

00:41:09.519 --> 00:41:14.820
was a highlight. That was really cool. 2022 was

00:41:14.820 --> 00:41:22.300
the year for me, I think. Just insane. So I entered

00:41:22.300 --> 00:41:26.179
the Arnold Amateur for that year as well. and

00:41:26.179 --> 00:41:31.519
came second which podium at the arnold was blew

00:41:31.519 --> 00:41:34.739
my mind um but i saw that they were doing the

00:41:34.739 --> 00:41:38.519
dinny stone record that year and i was like huh

00:41:38.519 --> 00:41:41.739
but you haven't invited me and i so i did do

00:41:41.739 --> 00:41:45.219
the dinnies in 2019 missed that bit out that

00:41:45.219 --> 00:41:48.059
was quite significant um and they were inviting

00:41:48.059 --> 00:41:49.579
all of the pro women who had never touched the

00:41:49.579 --> 00:41:53.130
dinny stones and i was like well Sometimes you

00:41:53.130 --> 00:41:55.489
have to chase your own opportunities. So I emailed

00:41:55.489 --> 00:42:00.730
around and did get in and took the record. That

00:42:00.730 --> 00:42:02.989
was huge for me because obviously competing against

00:42:02.989 --> 00:42:05.150
Rebecca Roberts and Donna Moore. Absolutely.

00:42:05.230 --> 00:42:08.329
Like Donna Moore at the time had won three World's

00:42:08.329 --> 00:42:10.030
Strongest Woman titles. Rebecca was the current

00:42:10.030 --> 00:42:12.610
World's Strongest Woman in the open class. And

00:42:12.610 --> 00:42:14.610
I was the one who took the record. I was like,

00:42:14.710 --> 00:42:19.269
oh, I'm quite strong. I can I think I can do

00:42:19.269 --> 00:42:23.840
well. And from there. I think the rest the rest

00:42:23.840 --> 00:42:26.880
of that year then I was like I want I was confident

00:42:26.880 --> 00:42:30.219
enough to say I wanted to win things and to actually

00:42:30.219 --> 00:42:32.719
go for it whereas before I think I've been oh

00:42:32.719 --> 00:42:35.639
it would be nice to participate and my mindset

00:42:35.639 --> 00:42:38.380
flicked like I want to win because it feels really

00:42:38.380 --> 00:42:42.960
good so um I won the Arnold Pro UK that year

00:42:42.960 --> 00:42:46.940
and then I absolutely bombed at Worlds I came

00:42:46.940 --> 00:42:53.050
14th um And I had someone say to me, I understood

00:42:53.050 --> 00:42:55.050
after we had a conversation, it was crossed wires.

00:42:55.510 --> 00:42:58.710
We just misunderstood each other. But she basically

00:42:58.710 --> 00:43:02.110
told me if I didn't do certain things that some

00:43:02.110 --> 00:43:05.630
people do in this sport, I would never be able

00:43:05.630 --> 00:43:09.030
to hang with the people at the top. Like I just

00:43:09.030 --> 00:43:11.989
it was impossible for me to be competitive in

00:43:11.989 --> 00:43:13.889
that weight class. So that's I'd moved up to

00:43:13.889 --> 00:43:19.349
under 73s at this point. And I like a challenge.

00:43:19.389 --> 00:43:22.889
So the following year, 2023, I won Europe's Strongest

00:43:22.889 --> 00:43:25.750
Woman, won Natural World's Strongest Woman and

00:43:25.750 --> 00:43:30.369
came third at OSG. And I think that was where

00:43:30.369 --> 00:43:36.090
I peaked. So just so I'm clear, the actual strongest

00:43:36.090 --> 00:43:39.469
man or woman events are not natural athletes?

00:43:40.050 --> 00:43:44.710
No. So, yeah, there's only like natural strongman

00:43:44.710 --> 00:43:50.010
and... I believe it's BNSF and the World Heavy

00:43:50.010 --> 00:43:53.150
events. They're the tested competitions and others

00:43:53.150 --> 00:43:57.369
are not. Gotcha. So that's a hell of an achievement

00:43:57.369 --> 00:44:01.909
then. Yeah, it felt pretty significant. To me,

00:44:01.929 --> 00:44:06.809
it doesn't matter. I've never been one to say

00:44:06.809 --> 00:44:09.949
it's unfair. I choose to compete in that federation

00:44:09.949 --> 00:44:12.510
and I believe that if I work hard enough, there's

00:44:12.510 --> 00:44:15.539
no reason why I can't compete. which I have done

00:44:15.539 --> 00:44:19.940
so but yeah it's I guess it's it's a factor absolutely

00:44:19.940 --> 00:44:21.920
well I think the sad thing the other side of

00:44:21.920 --> 00:44:24.119
this story and we've seen it with um you know

00:44:24.119 --> 00:44:26.579
Eddie Hall a lot of other people is you know

00:44:26.579 --> 00:44:29.460
sometimes performance comes at the cost of longevity

00:44:29.460 --> 00:44:31.679
and wellness and you know where is that line

00:44:31.679 --> 00:44:33.500
for you as a human being you know what are you

00:44:33.500 --> 00:44:35.719
willing to give up yes you might podium in this

00:44:35.719 --> 00:44:37.900
one area but is it going to be detrimental to

00:44:37.900 --> 00:44:41.000
your actual health later on yeah that's a big

00:44:41.000 --> 00:44:44.699
thing for me like I enjoy it and I like winning,

00:44:44.780 --> 00:44:49.619
but I like having my life as well and realize

00:44:49.619 --> 00:44:54.159
that there's a life outside and after this. Absolutely.

00:44:54.519 --> 00:44:57.599
Well, I just want to do one kind of revisit of

00:44:57.599 --> 00:44:59.780
the Dinnie Stones because that was how I came

00:44:59.780 --> 00:45:01.980
across you, was that very lift that was all over

00:45:01.980 --> 00:45:06.179
Instagram. Again, if you've created your algorithms

00:45:06.179 --> 00:45:09.460
to have positive athletes and that kind of thing.

00:45:10.400 --> 00:45:12.519
So talk to me about the history of those. Are

00:45:12.519 --> 00:45:14.679
those Irish stones or are they Scandinavian?

00:45:15.460 --> 00:45:18.719
Scottish. Scottish, okay. Yeah, yeah. So the

00:45:18.719 --> 00:45:22.079
history of them basically is the Potarch Bridge

00:45:22.079 --> 00:45:25.599
in Scotland, in Aberdeenshire. The Dinnie Stones

00:45:25.599 --> 00:45:27.699
originally were used as like counterweights for

00:45:27.699 --> 00:45:29.840
building that bridge. And legend has it that

00:45:29.840 --> 00:45:33.000
Donald Dinnie, who was an insane athlete back

00:45:33.000 --> 00:45:35.820
in his day, like actual insane athlete, Highland

00:45:35.820 --> 00:45:39.699
Games athlete, dancer, athletics. everything

00:45:39.699 --> 00:45:44.019
um yeah legend has it he crossed the bridge carrying

00:45:44.019 --> 00:45:46.320
those stones they were then lost for a while

00:45:46.320 --> 00:45:49.039
and then rediscovered I think in this I always

00:45:49.039 --> 00:45:52.619
get confused I think it's the 70s by David Webster

00:45:52.619 --> 00:45:58.039
and then became a bit of a a thing again um and

00:45:58.039 --> 00:46:01.460
lifting them became a feat and then the rogue

00:46:01.460 --> 00:46:04.639
replicas I think are also from Scotland if I'm

00:46:04.639 --> 00:46:08.570
not mistaken um very very similar weights and

00:46:08.570 --> 00:46:11.389
they're kind of used at the arnold as the the

00:46:11.389 --> 00:46:14.329
replicas brilliant my apologies to the people

00:46:14.329 --> 00:46:17.769
of scotland for getting that wrong they'll come

00:46:17.769 --> 00:46:19.889
after you with sticks they will i'm down south

00:46:19.889 --> 00:46:23.590
um all right well then let's you know as you're

00:46:23.590 --> 00:46:25.670
going through this and you are you starting to

00:46:25.670 --> 00:46:27.510
coach at this point as well or are you purely

00:46:27.510 --> 00:46:30.730
still a competitor yeah so i started coaching

00:46:30.730 --> 00:46:38.989
in 2020 um And I left my nursing in 2021. It

00:46:38.989 --> 00:46:41.170
was a very quick transition. I didn't expect

00:46:41.170 --> 00:46:42.829
it. But yeah, I went full time with my coach

00:46:42.829 --> 00:46:46.829
in 2021. So had been doing that a while by that

00:46:46.829 --> 00:46:50.489
point. Well, two years. Well, let's kind of hit

00:46:50.489 --> 00:46:55.010
that very obvious point as well then. What was

00:46:55.010 --> 00:46:57.789
the COVID experience like through your eyes?

00:46:58.849 --> 00:47:04.000
Awful. Awful. Well. I mean, I think I was kind

00:47:04.000 --> 00:47:06.920
of lucky in a sense because of being a key worker.

00:47:07.119 --> 00:47:12.039
I did get to socialize and go out and, well,

00:47:12.079 --> 00:47:15.179
not socialize, go to work. Did you get invited

00:47:15.179 --> 00:47:16.840
to all the government parties they were having?

00:47:17.500 --> 00:47:21.840
No, unfortunately not. So when I was working

00:47:21.840 --> 00:47:24.119
in CAMHS, we were predominantly working from

00:47:24.119 --> 00:47:26.019
home. We weren't able to visit families unless

00:47:26.019 --> 00:47:29.500
it was an emergency. And then I was, so that

00:47:29.500 --> 00:47:32.489
time was awful because. I had parents phoning

00:47:32.489 --> 00:47:34.230
me. Obviously, their kids were out of routine,

00:47:34.409 --> 00:47:36.710
which was like the worst thing that could happen

00:47:36.710 --> 00:47:40.050
for them. And it also meant that these parents

00:47:40.050 --> 00:47:41.670
had become full time carers for their children

00:47:41.670 --> 00:47:43.789
again and their children were quite complex and

00:47:43.789 --> 00:47:47.309
severe needs. So the amount of phone calls we

00:47:47.309 --> 00:47:49.570
had from parents just saying I can't cope was

00:47:49.570 --> 00:47:52.750
terrible. And like I, I couldn't do anything.

00:47:52.889 --> 00:47:57.519
I just felt helpless, which was awful. Awful,

00:47:57.519 --> 00:48:01.619
awful. And then I was redeployed to a female

00:48:01.619 --> 00:48:04.320
acute mental health ward. So not learning disability,

00:48:04.760 --> 00:48:11.119
just very unwell women who also happened to have

00:48:11.119 --> 00:48:14.719
COVID, a couple of them. We didn't have the correct

00:48:14.719 --> 00:48:19.199
PPE at the start of that placement either. Yeah,

00:48:19.300 --> 00:48:20.880
it was like being thrown in at the deep end because

00:48:20.880 --> 00:48:23.360
it's although I had experience in mental health,

00:48:23.500 --> 00:48:27.179
not in female acute. That's a whole other. ball

00:48:27.179 --> 00:48:30.159
game but i i did i learned a lot and i enjoyed

00:48:30.159 --> 00:48:33.719
it but it was tough like it was hard trying to

00:48:33.719 --> 00:48:36.559
explain to people who are really unwell why they

00:48:36.559 --> 00:48:38.679
can't go on to the rest of the war because they

00:48:38.679 --> 00:48:42.460
were separated onto a corridor because of the

00:48:42.460 --> 00:48:46.760
whole guidelines and whatnot they would sometimes

00:48:46.760 --> 00:48:49.840
understandably become quite aggressive and confused

00:48:49.840 --> 00:48:55.019
um The leave wasn't quite the same as what it

00:48:55.019 --> 00:48:57.079
would normally be, so people felt really trapped.

00:48:57.420 --> 00:49:02.219
I think being a patient in a mental health hospital

00:49:02.219 --> 00:49:05.099
in COVID must have been the scariest experience.

00:49:05.460 --> 00:49:07.559
As if these people aren't poorly enough already,

00:49:07.940 --> 00:49:12.400
I got to leave that ward every day. I cannot

00:49:12.400 --> 00:49:17.159
imagine how they felt. It must have just been

00:49:17.159 --> 00:49:21.989
awful. My experience of COVID was through their

00:49:21.989 --> 00:49:25.389
eyes because it was just so poignant. I couldn't

00:49:25.389 --> 00:49:28.650
not think about that. So me having to stay at

00:49:28.650 --> 00:49:31.829
home and spend afternoons out in the garden while

00:49:31.829 --> 00:49:33.710
the sun was shining hardly felt like a hardship.

00:49:36.030 --> 00:49:40.150
I think what's so sad, and I started adding an

00:49:40.150 --> 00:49:42.530
extra episode a week during COVID because I saw

00:49:42.530 --> 00:49:45.110
all the misinformation. I saw the fear mongering

00:49:45.110 --> 00:49:47.070
and I stood in the middle and said, look, this

00:49:47.070 --> 00:49:50.340
is a real virus. But what, you know, the other

00:49:50.340 --> 00:49:51.940
factor that you're all missing is the health

00:49:51.940 --> 00:49:53.940
of the individual. Let's get people as healthy

00:49:53.940 --> 00:49:55.800
as possible. I know in the UK, Joe Wicks, for

00:49:55.800 --> 00:49:59.780
example, was one of the beacons in that. But

00:49:59.780 --> 00:50:02.059
the healthier and happier, you know, the less

00:50:02.059 --> 00:50:03.880
stressed a human being, the more chance they

00:50:03.880 --> 00:50:07.099
have a better outcome from COVID. And then as

00:50:07.099 --> 00:50:09.159
we transition through the way it was done, I

00:50:09.159 --> 00:50:11.539
think was just done so poorly. There was isolation

00:50:11.539 --> 00:50:13.539
needed, I think, for certain groups, but the

00:50:13.539 --> 00:50:16.099
rest of the population could have kept the world

00:50:16.099 --> 00:50:19.440
moving on. And then everything was kind of swept

00:50:19.440 --> 00:50:20.940
under the rug, like we don't want to talk about

00:50:20.940 --> 00:50:23.179
it anymore on the back end. And I think it's

00:50:23.179 --> 00:50:26.539
such a disservice because the mental health impact

00:50:26.539 --> 00:50:31.099
of that, the lockdowns and the isolation on all

00:50:31.099 --> 00:50:33.099
the people, whether it was cancer patients that

00:50:33.099 --> 00:50:35.280
didn't get a checkup and ended up dying, whether

00:50:35.280 --> 00:50:37.559
it was cardiac patients not getting their chest

00:50:37.559 --> 00:50:39.480
pain checked in, whether it was a mental health

00:50:39.480 --> 00:50:41.340
patient that wasn't getting their meds filled.

00:50:42.029 --> 00:50:43.909
I think we're still seeing the ripple effect

00:50:43.909 --> 00:50:47.110
now and just be curious your your perspective

00:50:47.110 --> 00:50:50.869
on that yeah no I think definitely and I think

00:50:50.869 --> 00:50:56.329
also like kids that were born and or not that

00:50:56.329 --> 00:50:58.250
were born but like what that were at that primary

00:50:58.250 --> 00:51:00.110
school age where you start socializing like the

00:51:00.110 --> 00:51:03.849
impact that's gonna have on mental health services

00:51:03.849 --> 00:51:05.949
and just like education in general because then

00:51:05.949 --> 00:51:12.269
they didn't learn properly is huge and I do think

00:51:12.269 --> 00:51:14.829
it was it's very strange now like at the time

00:51:14.829 --> 00:51:17.349
it was like oh my god life has changed forever

00:51:17.349 --> 00:51:19.449
and now it is very much like you're talking about

00:51:19.449 --> 00:51:21.949
another world isn't it's like I don't I don't

00:51:21.949 --> 00:51:26.510
remember that like it feels so bizarre it's so

00:51:26.510 --> 00:51:29.070
bizarre I think it's been referred to before

00:51:29.070 --> 00:51:31.510
hasn't it as like an international kind of traumatic

00:51:31.510 --> 00:51:34.349
event because it's everybody went through it

00:51:34.349 --> 00:51:36.170
everybody had different experiences of it but

00:51:36.170 --> 00:51:40.380
it was just so like abrupt and weird and uncomfortable

00:51:40.380 --> 00:51:44.239
and unpredictable no one really knows how to

00:51:44.239 --> 00:51:48.519
cope with it yeah well i look at it like this

00:51:48.519 --> 00:51:51.679
after world war one people concluded okay let's

00:51:51.679 --> 00:51:54.679
not just dig two ditches and and fire rockets

00:51:54.679 --> 00:51:57.500
each other you know for for several years so

00:51:57.500 --> 00:52:00.079
that's not a good way of resolving anything so

00:52:00.079 --> 00:52:01.739
even though you know it was completely different

00:52:01.739 --> 00:52:03.860
you never saw trench warfare again after that

00:52:03.860 --> 00:52:06.739
it's the same thing you can't have an event like

00:52:06.739 --> 00:52:09.900
that And then refuse to analyze it and go, what

00:52:09.900 --> 00:52:12.320
do we do well? And what do we do really badly?

00:52:12.500 --> 00:52:15.519
And so if not, if when we get the next virus

00:52:15.519 --> 00:52:17.880
sweeping through, have we made our population

00:52:17.880 --> 00:52:21.000
healthier? You know, are we developing vaccines

00:52:21.000 --> 00:52:22.619
if they are going to be one of the solutions

00:52:22.619 --> 00:52:24.559
ahead of time for some of these things? So we

00:52:24.559 --> 00:52:27.119
can appease the people and say, this has actually

00:52:27.119 --> 00:52:29.380
been going for a long time. You know, we'll be

00:52:29.380 --> 00:52:31.699
building trust in certain figures. So God forbid

00:52:31.699 --> 00:52:33.780
something happens. You're familiar with that

00:52:33.780 --> 00:52:35.539
person that tells you on television that you

00:52:35.539 --> 00:52:42.719
should do A, B and C. But nothing has been analysed.

00:52:42.739 --> 00:52:44.679
No apologies have been made. No one's been held

00:52:44.679 --> 00:52:47.119
accountable when they were incredibly wrong.

00:52:47.420 --> 00:52:49.380
And no one's been praised for doing the right

00:52:49.380 --> 00:52:51.380
things. It's just all kind of like we don't want

00:52:51.380 --> 00:52:54.420
to talk about it anymore. And that's a huge disservice

00:52:54.420 --> 00:52:56.380
for the people that we actually lost from COVID.

00:52:56.619 --> 00:52:58.599
Because the only way we honour them is make sure

00:52:58.599 --> 00:53:01.239
that we do it better next time. Yeah, we mustn't

00:53:01.239 --> 00:53:03.280
forget though, we did all clap on a Tuesday night

00:53:03.280 --> 00:53:07.050
for our key workers. Exactly. exactly someone

00:53:07.050 --> 00:53:09.050
one of my guests it was another british person

00:53:09.050 --> 00:53:12.150
i forget who it was now but they said all that

00:53:12.150 --> 00:53:15.690
clapping did was put the responsibility squarely

00:53:15.690 --> 00:53:18.250
on the shoulders of the frontline workers so

00:53:18.250 --> 00:53:20.170
basically as a citizen you could kind of feel

00:53:20.170 --> 00:53:21.829
good about yourself and then go back and watch

00:53:21.829 --> 00:53:25.289
tiger king but it didn't bring any more ppe any

00:53:25.289 --> 00:53:27.949
more nurses you know anything that you guys actually

00:53:27.949 --> 00:53:30.969
needed out there yeah the first time it felt

00:53:30.969 --> 00:53:33.110
good i remember going out and like joining in

00:53:33.110 --> 00:53:36.059
and being like Like we are appreciated for what

00:53:36.059 --> 00:53:38.519
we're doing. And then it became very hollow after

00:53:38.519 --> 00:53:42.619
a few, a few months. Yeah. I think they call

00:53:42.619 --> 00:53:45.780
it virtue signaling these days. Yeah. Yeah. That's

00:53:45.780 --> 00:53:49.280
it. All right. Well, so you've had this path

00:53:49.280 --> 00:53:51.940
of, you know, of nursing, taking care of special

00:53:51.940 --> 00:53:54.000
needs populations and you're in this acute mental

00:53:54.000 --> 00:53:57.659
health setting and you've begun training as well.

00:53:57.679 --> 00:54:00.449
You've begun coaching. What was that trigger

00:54:00.449 --> 00:54:03.690
point and what gave you the courage to take that

00:54:03.690 --> 00:54:05.949
leap of faith when many people would have just

00:54:05.949 --> 00:54:09.369
stayed in that system? I think it was a combination

00:54:09.369 --> 00:54:12.889
of things. I think starting up coaching in the

00:54:12.889 --> 00:54:14.750
first place is something I'd never considered.

00:54:16.090 --> 00:54:18.650
I remember being on a podcast, it's British Strength

00:54:18.650 --> 00:54:20.510
Magazine. And he said to me, have you ever thought

00:54:20.510 --> 00:54:23.090
about coaching? And I was like, no, like Jenny

00:54:23.090 --> 00:54:26.030
writes the numbers and I do the thing. That's

00:54:26.030 --> 00:54:28.489
how it works. And then that kind of triggered

00:54:28.489 --> 00:54:30.989
conversations with my coach, Jenny. She could

00:54:30.989 --> 00:54:33.610
see obviously the stress that I had at work,

00:54:33.630 --> 00:54:38.809
how that was impacting my performance. And also

00:54:38.809 --> 00:54:42.670
kind of, she knows me as a person. She knew me

00:54:42.670 --> 00:54:44.849
and she was like, and she was kind of saying,

00:54:46.179 --> 00:54:48.599
you would be a really good coach. Why don't you

00:54:48.599 --> 00:54:54.900
give it a go? So after some persuasion, I was

00:54:54.900 --> 00:54:57.900
like, right, okay, I guess we're going to start

00:54:57.900 --> 00:55:00.820
this then. Can you hear that when he's chewing

00:55:00.820 --> 00:55:04.380
it? no you're fine honestly I always tell people

00:55:04.380 --> 00:55:06.980
with this podcast people have dogs people come

00:55:06.980 --> 00:55:09.199
to the door you know I'm not pretending to be

00:55:09.199 --> 00:55:13.059
some fancy BBC studio this is a real person podcast

00:55:13.059 --> 00:55:18.099
with dogs okay okay um yes so um I was like okay

00:55:18.099 --> 00:55:20.380
right I'll I'll give this a go I remember when

00:55:20.380 --> 00:55:23.760
I got my very first client she's called um Natasha

00:55:23.760 --> 00:55:27.829
she was awesome uh And I was like, I remember

00:55:27.829 --> 00:55:29.610
coming off the phone to her and being like, Matt,

00:55:29.730 --> 00:55:32.250
I've got my first client. I can't believe it.

00:55:32.349 --> 00:55:34.989
Like, it's so funny, like thinking about it now.

00:55:35.869 --> 00:55:38.110
But it felt like such a big thing, like that

00:55:38.110 --> 00:55:40.670
someone was trusting me with their training.

00:55:40.809 --> 00:55:43.949
So whilst I was kind of starting to coach, I

00:55:43.949 --> 00:55:46.869
got my personal training qualifications and went

00:55:46.869 --> 00:55:48.650
on to do kind of British weightlifting and things.

00:55:48.750 --> 00:55:52.550
I just love learning. So, yeah, I started picking

00:55:52.550 --> 00:55:56.030
that up and got quite a lot of interest. I was

00:55:56.030 --> 00:55:58.489
just flat out busy, like trying to be an athlete,

00:55:58.570 --> 00:56:01.329
working full time, running a coaching business

00:56:01.329 --> 00:56:04.510
that was doing quite well. And I thought, you

00:56:04.510 --> 00:56:07.570
know what? I think I really love doing this.

00:56:07.730 --> 00:56:09.929
I'm actually I'm helping people every single

00:56:09.929 --> 00:56:12.150
day and not just with their training. People

00:56:12.150 --> 00:56:14.670
are being happier, healthier, more confident.

00:56:14.909 --> 00:56:17.150
I'm making a difference and that's what I want

00:56:17.150 --> 00:56:21.329
to do. So do I see myself nursing long time?

00:56:23.320 --> 00:56:26.159
that I don't know I don't really want to go into

00:56:26.159 --> 00:56:29.820
management and I'm already kind of band six and

00:56:29.820 --> 00:56:33.320
I don't see things getting any easier I'll aim

00:56:33.320 --> 00:56:35.380
to leave my job in about five years like I'll

00:56:35.380 --> 00:56:38.059
build this up slowly um and it escalated very

00:56:38.059 --> 00:56:43.219
quickly and then I can't remember exactly what

00:56:43.219 --> 00:56:46.840
it was I think I'm all I don't know I think I'm

00:56:46.840 --> 00:56:50.519
quite if I'm gonna do something I'm gonna do

00:56:50.519 --> 00:56:54.719
it I'm not going to half -arse it. And that started

00:56:54.719 --> 00:56:58.519
from when I left university. And that was a scary

00:56:58.519 --> 00:57:01.099
decision, but it turned out well. So I think

00:57:01.099 --> 00:57:06.000
I just thought, well, what's the worst that can

00:57:06.000 --> 00:57:08.619
happen? I'm already earning enough through my

00:57:08.619 --> 00:57:10.639
coaching that it can cover what I need it to

00:57:10.639 --> 00:57:14.340
cover. So if it doesn't work out, I'll just get

00:57:14.340 --> 00:57:17.000
another nursing job. There's plenty going around.

00:57:18.840 --> 00:57:20.880
So, yeah, I remember like handing in my notice.

00:57:20.960 --> 00:57:23.480
I was absolutely bricking it. I was so scared,

00:57:23.599 --> 00:57:25.559
but I knew it was something that I had to do.

00:57:25.659 --> 00:57:28.380
And I had a lot of kind of kickback from colleagues

00:57:28.380 --> 00:57:30.860
and not not in a nasty way. I think they just

00:57:30.860 --> 00:57:34.179
didn't understand. So they were like, you're

00:57:34.179 --> 00:57:36.260
leaving a nursing job to go and be a personal

00:57:36.260 --> 00:57:39.619
trainer. And I was like, well, kind of. Yeah,

00:57:39.739 --> 00:57:44.099
because it makes me happy. And it's the best

00:57:44.099 --> 00:57:46.559
thing I ever did. I remember I went back for.

00:57:47.320 --> 00:57:49.920
another colleague's leave and do about three

00:57:49.920 --> 00:57:53.139
weeks after I'd left and I remember walking in

00:57:53.139 --> 00:57:56.000
that office and feeling so free and being like

00:57:56.000 --> 00:58:00.179
I don't regret this decision at all I can live

00:58:00.179 --> 00:58:02.340
whatever life I want to live now the amount of

00:58:02.340 --> 00:58:05.440
freedom I've unlocked for myself yes I have to

00:58:05.440 --> 00:58:07.599
work really hard because I now own a business

00:58:07.599 --> 00:58:11.480
but it's on my terms um so yeah that was that

00:58:11.480 --> 00:58:13.219
was quite a key moment walking back in and being

00:58:13.219 --> 00:58:18.489
like this is it and I feel very privileged that

00:58:18.489 --> 00:58:20.409
I've always been very supported with the decisions

00:58:20.409 --> 00:58:23.130
that I make so even though my mum at the time

00:58:23.130 --> 00:58:25.070
especially didn't really approve of it because

00:58:25.070 --> 00:58:27.610
it was well what about your NHS pension that

00:58:27.610 --> 00:58:32.130
you know um and even to an extent like my dad

00:58:32.130 --> 00:58:34.989
of what about like the financial security that

00:58:34.989 --> 00:58:38.510
you've got now so but I was still supported even

00:58:38.510 --> 00:58:41.550
though they didn't necessarily see what I saw

00:58:42.360 --> 00:58:45.699
And I know that not everybody has that. And although

00:58:45.699 --> 00:58:48.780
I wasn't as confident as I am now, I'm really

00:58:48.780 --> 00:58:50.860
appreciative that I had the confidence to do

00:58:50.860 --> 00:58:53.960
that because I know that's a pretty ballsy move.

00:58:54.320 --> 00:58:57.800
So, yeah, I feel thankful to my upbringing and

00:58:57.800 --> 00:59:02.360
to my past self for going for it. I left the

00:59:02.360 --> 00:59:06.199
fire service six and a half years ago now. And

00:59:06.199 --> 00:59:08.159
it was one of those things, the same kind of

00:59:08.159 --> 00:59:11.429
thing. had a meniscus injury. I'd had it snipped

00:59:11.429 --> 00:59:15.730
and rehab back to full duty. But at that place

00:59:15.730 --> 00:59:18.289
that I worked at that point, again, there was

00:59:18.289 --> 00:59:20.489
that knot in my stomach about going back because

00:59:20.489 --> 00:59:22.369
I knew I was going to go into an environment

00:59:22.369 --> 00:59:24.489
that wasn't going to improve. And I was making

00:59:24.489 --> 00:59:27.869
a difference doing what I do now and bless my

00:59:27.869 --> 00:59:30.800
wife. She supported me. I took a leap of faith.

00:59:30.900 --> 00:59:33.260
And again, the pension is the carrot on the stick

00:59:33.260 --> 00:59:35.639
for us. And I was like, screw it. I just cashed

00:59:35.639 --> 00:59:37.880
out what I had and gave myself a salary for a

00:59:37.880 --> 00:59:40.820
year and a half to cover everything until hopefully

00:59:40.820 --> 00:59:43.639
I get some money coming in. But the same thing,

00:59:43.760 --> 00:59:47.199
I woke up the next day and I've worked with some

00:59:47.199 --> 00:59:49.460
amazing people and the purpose of the job is

00:59:49.460 --> 00:59:53.579
so incredible and so rewarding. But all the people

00:59:53.579 --> 00:59:56.079
that you have to deal with that aren't, that

00:59:56.079 --> 00:59:58.489
you work with that are nothing but... you know

00:59:58.489 --> 01:00:01.570
pushing back and toxic i was like none of them

01:00:01.570 --> 01:00:04.130
matter none of it doesn't matter rank or anything

01:00:04.130 --> 01:00:07.150
like they are literally dead to me now in a positive

01:00:07.150 --> 01:00:10.190
way and so you realize that yeah i wake up i

01:00:10.190 --> 01:00:13.070
determine if i you know lose my house and and

01:00:13.070 --> 01:00:15.809
starve or you know we keep this going and we

01:00:15.809 --> 01:00:18.380
figure out a way to keep the lights on but like

01:00:18.380 --> 01:00:21.059
you said it's on my terms and it's amazing the

01:00:21.059 --> 01:00:24.420
power that you have when there's no emails and

01:00:24.420 --> 01:00:26.780
and you know ranks that you have to go through

01:00:26.780 --> 01:00:28.699
that you can just say i'm gonna do this thing

01:00:28.699 --> 01:00:32.659
and you do that thing yeah absolutely it's um

01:00:32.659 --> 01:00:35.599
it's something not many people get to experience

01:00:35.599 --> 01:00:40.579
but those that do no absolutely well i'm curious

01:00:40.579 --> 01:00:43.159
have you found yourself training police fire

01:00:43.159 --> 01:00:50.260
military at all um i I've trained a police officer.

01:00:51.500 --> 01:00:59.360
I do train ex -military and we do have one police

01:00:59.360 --> 01:01:01.880
officer. She's working with my other coach at

01:01:01.880 --> 01:01:04.579
the moment. So it hasn't been like a prominent

01:01:04.579 --> 01:01:07.780
theme, but we definitely have worked or I've

01:01:07.780 --> 01:01:11.360
worked with people in that kind of with that

01:01:11.360 --> 01:01:15.340
service history. The reason I ask, I got into

01:01:15.340 --> 01:01:18.820
the strong man style training, not competing

01:01:18.820 --> 01:01:20.920
through. I don't know if you ever heard of a

01:01:20.920 --> 01:01:24.760
guy, Julian Pano. He's behind StrongFit. Amazing

01:01:24.760 --> 01:01:26.860
guy. One of those kind of, you know, strength

01:01:26.860 --> 01:01:30.500
and conditioning mad scientists. But his real

01:01:30.500 --> 01:01:33.980
kind of rise came from, for lack of a better

01:01:33.980 --> 01:01:36.760
word, unfucking CrossFit athletes that had all

01:01:36.760 --> 01:01:39.429
these imbalances that kept getting hurt. You

01:01:39.429 --> 01:01:40.869
know, women that were peeing themselves during

01:01:40.869 --> 01:01:42.769
competition. He's like, look, this isn't normal.

01:01:42.889 --> 01:01:44.849
This is all, you know, things that you're missing

01:01:44.849 --> 01:01:47.750
in this kind of high level repetitive training.

01:01:47.889 --> 01:01:50.170
And I've been a CrossFit athlete or CrossFit,

01:01:50.170 --> 01:01:55.010
you know, gym athlete for a long time. So I came

01:01:55.010 --> 01:01:56.949
through that arena. I thought it was fantastic.

01:01:57.329 --> 01:02:00.949
But it does leave issues. You know, you're always

01:02:00.949 --> 01:02:04.170
pronated on the bar, on the pull -up bar. I mean,

01:02:04.170 --> 01:02:06.469
there's a lot of kipping. So you're kind of...

01:02:07.320 --> 01:02:09.260
Oh, my goodness. I'm blanking on the term now.

01:02:09.440 --> 01:02:11.940
Posterior chain, you know, is underdeveloped

01:02:11.940 --> 01:02:15.300
a lot of times. And so when I started looking

01:02:15.300 --> 01:02:18.059
at his training and it was a lot of sandbags,

01:02:18.119 --> 01:02:20.619
a lot of sleds, you know, ropes, that kind of

01:02:20.619 --> 01:02:22.900
thing. It made me realize this is what is so

01:02:22.900 --> 01:02:25.539
pertinent to my profession that we do all these

01:02:25.539 --> 01:02:27.719
movements. We push, we pull, we drag, we climb,

01:02:27.820 --> 01:02:32.239
we carry. And so when I saw you lifting the stones

01:02:32.239 --> 01:02:35.329
and then kind of learn more about you. It seemed

01:02:35.329 --> 01:02:38.690
like you were such a great kind of go to coach

01:02:38.690 --> 01:02:41.030
when it comes to it could be male or female,

01:02:41.250 --> 01:02:44.550
especially the smaller athletes. And I was one.

01:02:44.570 --> 01:02:46.929
I'm six foot tall, but I was only 168 pounds

01:02:46.929 --> 01:02:50.650
going into the fire service that have to work

01:02:50.650 --> 01:02:53.030
on their strength. We have some behemoths in

01:02:53.030 --> 01:02:55.289
the fire service and law enforcement. They have

01:02:55.289 --> 01:02:57.409
to work on their agility and their cardio usually.

01:02:57.710 --> 01:02:59.750
But there's a lot of smaller people that want

01:02:59.750 --> 01:03:03.199
to. be in these roles and i think that the training

01:03:03.199 --> 01:03:05.460
that you offer especially with the strong strong

01:03:05.460 --> 01:03:09.139
man strong woman implements are so pertinent

01:03:09.139 --> 01:03:13.400
especially to the fire service yeah definitely

01:03:13.400 --> 01:03:16.139
and i did have a client recently actually who

01:03:16.139 --> 01:03:19.179
was um she was in the fire service and one of

01:03:19.179 --> 01:03:21.059
the reasons she came to me was like i want to

01:03:21.059 --> 01:03:23.460
be able to do my job better i want people i want

01:03:23.460 --> 01:03:25.500
people to look at me and think that they can

01:03:25.500 --> 01:03:29.010
trust me like in those kind of life or death

01:03:29.010 --> 01:03:31.769
situations and strongman was a big part of that

01:03:31.769 --> 01:03:35.010
so i can definitely like you say it is very functional

01:03:35.010 --> 01:03:37.309
that kind of push -pull carry that you're having

01:03:37.309 --> 01:03:41.170
to do all the time absolutely so when you got

01:03:41.170 --> 01:03:43.769
into the coaching space what was it that you

01:03:43.769 --> 01:03:45.829
realized that you were bringing to the table

01:03:45.829 --> 01:03:49.429
that maybe other coaching platforms weren't yeah

01:03:49.429 --> 01:03:53.639
um what was really important to me was in um

01:03:53.639 --> 01:03:56.719
in nursing we always bang on about person -centered

01:03:56.719 --> 01:04:00.059
care holistic care um so to me like holistic

01:04:00.059 --> 01:04:02.960
strength coaching just made sense so I wanted

01:04:02.960 --> 01:04:05.500
to not just make people strong but look after

01:04:05.500 --> 01:04:08.300
the whole person and take everything into consideration

01:04:08.300 --> 01:04:11.019
not just here's your plan get on with it like

01:04:11.019 --> 01:04:13.539
actually okay let's dig a little bit deeper let's

01:04:13.539 --> 01:04:16.039
look at what your life is like how can we work

01:04:16.039 --> 01:04:17.679
with that to make sure you get the best outcome

01:04:17.679 --> 01:04:20.260
but also like I've learned a lot about mental

01:04:20.260 --> 01:04:22.440
health in my role and I didn't want to waste

01:04:22.440 --> 01:04:25.159
that so kind of supporting people with confidence

01:04:25.159 --> 01:04:31.039
and I used to work in diagnosing ADHD and autism

01:04:31.039 --> 01:04:33.800
as well so my knowledge in those kind of neurodiversity

01:04:33.800 --> 01:04:37.059
areas is good so I've and I've had people who

01:04:37.059 --> 01:04:39.179
have been diagnosed as adults and then kind of

01:04:39.179 --> 01:04:41.980
helping them figure that out because the NHS

01:04:41.980 --> 01:04:44.039
doesn't they don't know what that means they're

01:04:44.039 --> 01:04:47.130
just given a label so I've been able to to work

01:04:47.130 --> 01:04:49.710
through that so that's been helpful that's kind

01:04:49.710 --> 01:04:52.489
of i'm drifting off but what makes us different

01:04:52.489 --> 01:04:54.369
is that we do look at the whole person and we

01:04:54.369 --> 01:04:58.010
offer a truly holistic service so more recently

01:04:58.010 --> 01:05:00.030
the last couple of years i've really wanted to

01:05:00.030 --> 01:05:02.869
hone in on that so we've got a nutritionist that

01:05:02.869 --> 01:05:06.010
works with us um i have a physiotherapist who

01:05:06.010 --> 01:05:09.449
is on our team as well um as well as two coaches

01:05:09.449 --> 01:05:12.329
with different backgrounds so we like we're all

01:05:12.329 --> 01:05:14.710
encompassing we can help you with every element

01:05:14.710 --> 01:05:17.230
that's gonna make your training better but also

01:05:17.230 --> 01:05:19.710
hopefully your life and I think that's something

01:05:19.710 --> 01:05:22.409
that is missing and you like especially with

01:05:22.409 --> 01:05:24.250
the physio you'll get a client who gets injured

01:05:24.250 --> 01:05:26.590
and then they'll go and see someone you've never

01:05:26.590 --> 01:05:29.050
heard of and then you'll ask them to give feedback

01:05:29.050 --> 01:05:31.190
and then it'll all get lost in translation and

01:05:31.190 --> 01:05:32.849
then you can't actually rehab properly because

01:05:32.849 --> 01:05:36.550
you're working on a different page to their therapist

01:05:36.550 --> 01:05:42.230
and it's just a bit of a disaster so the vision

01:05:42.230 --> 01:05:47.320
I had was making sure that we can look after

01:05:47.320 --> 01:05:50.920
a whole person and do it well and i think we

01:05:50.920 --> 01:05:52.980
have such good retention because people feel

01:05:52.980 --> 01:05:55.219
valued not just because they've been given a

01:05:55.219 --> 01:06:00.420
training plan what is your kind of philosophy

01:06:00.420 --> 01:06:03.579
on the balance between performance and longevity

01:06:03.579 --> 01:06:05.780
you're going to have some athletes i'm sure that

01:06:05.780 --> 01:06:07.960
you coach that are looking to be on that number

01:06:07.960 --> 01:06:09.920
one podium and that's going to be a certain track

01:06:09.920 --> 01:06:13.420
but I think a lot of average people, even in

01:06:13.420 --> 01:06:14.920
the CrossFit space, for example, they're not

01:06:14.920 --> 01:06:16.519
looking to go to the CrossFit Games, but they're

01:06:16.519 --> 01:06:17.980
training like they're going to the CrossFit Games

01:06:17.980 --> 01:06:19.500
and then they get broken because they're not

01:06:19.500 --> 01:06:21.099
doing all the accessory work and they're not

01:06:21.099 --> 01:06:22.940
understanding nutrition and the sleep and all

01:06:22.940 --> 01:06:26.119
these other areas. So what are you able to do

01:06:26.119 --> 01:06:29.639
holistically to kind of find that higher performance,

01:06:29.679 --> 01:06:33.760
but at the mother or father or the firefighter

01:06:33.760 --> 01:06:37.340
or the accountant level rather than the Arnold

01:06:37.340 --> 01:06:40.389
level, for example? From the off, I say if you

01:06:40.389 --> 01:06:42.130
want to reach that level, it's going to be a

01:06:42.130 --> 01:06:45.550
journey. I'm not one for quick fixes. I've actually

01:06:45.550 --> 01:06:47.409
turned people away because they're like, I want

01:06:47.409 --> 01:06:49.210
to do this in this period of time. I'm like,

01:06:49.250 --> 01:06:52.570
well, I can't guarantee that. So if you're adamant

01:06:52.570 --> 01:06:54.190
that's what you want, I'm probably not the person

01:06:54.190 --> 01:06:56.670
for you. I can get you results. I can get you

01:06:56.670 --> 01:06:57.869
the results that you want, but you're going to

01:06:57.869 --> 01:06:59.429
have to work for a period of time to get them.

01:06:59.909 --> 01:07:03.539
So being honest. from the start but also like

01:07:03.539 --> 01:07:05.559
meeting people where they're at I think is a

01:07:05.559 --> 01:07:07.440
huge one especially when we're talking about

01:07:07.440 --> 01:07:10.280
people who want to perform but our mums work

01:07:10.280 --> 01:07:13.280
full -time have other commitments and often on

01:07:13.280 --> 01:07:16.400
an initial call with someone one of the questions

01:07:16.400 --> 01:07:18.420
I'll ask is like how how often can you train

01:07:18.420 --> 01:07:23.500
and they'll go five days and I'll ask again I'll

01:07:23.500 --> 01:07:26.619
say how often can you really train because people

01:07:26.619 --> 01:07:30.219
when they start a process want to go so balls

01:07:30.219 --> 01:07:33.460
out and want to go so extreme that they set themselves

01:07:33.460 --> 01:07:36.679
up for failure and I'm not doing that like I

01:07:36.679 --> 01:07:39.519
won't accept that so I'll really try and meet

01:07:39.519 --> 01:07:41.880
people where they are and say okay this is where

01:07:41.880 --> 01:07:44.780
you want to be you'll go into the gym non maybe

01:07:44.780 --> 01:07:48.260
once a week at the moment let's meet in the middle

01:07:48.260 --> 01:07:50.300
let's make this realistic so that you feel like

01:07:50.300 --> 01:07:52.059
you're winning straight away we don't want you

01:07:52.059 --> 01:07:54.559
to feel like it's you're constantly chasing I

01:07:54.559 --> 01:07:57.780
want you to feel like you've got easy wins So

01:07:57.780 --> 01:08:00.059
I think that's a big thing. And then once you

01:08:00.059 --> 01:08:02.760
build someone's confidence up of, oh, I've gone

01:08:02.760 --> 01:08:04.840
to the gym twice this week, that's more than

01:08:04.840 --> 01:08:07.300
I've ever done. That's a win. And then you can

01:08:07.300 --> 01:08:09.280
then start getting into the nitty gritties of,

01:08:09.360 --> 01:08:12.699
OK, how's your food been? Like, are you drinking

01:08:12.699 --> 01:08:15.739
enough? Are you sleeping enough? And working

01:08:15.739 --> 01:08:18.020
on all of those things rather than just hammering

01:08:18.020 --> 01:08:20.399
them with volume and killing them off in the

01:08:20.399 --> 01:08:23.380
gym, because ultimately they're going to fail.

01:08:23.979 --> 01:08:25.399
They're going to get injured. They're going to

01:08:25.399 --> 01:08:26.779
feel tired and then they're going to leave. And

01:08:26.779 --> 01:08:29.680
then I haven't helped them at all. You mentioned

01:08:29.680 --> 01:08:32.199
sleep. That's a big key word in a lot of the

01:08:32.199 --> 01:08:34.100
things that I talk about. When you were in the

01:08:34.100 --> 01:08:35.880
nursing space, were you doing any of the night

01:08:35.880 --> 01:08:39.180
shifts or were you days normally? I did some

01:08:39.180 --> 01:08:41.960
night shifts as a student, but I worked in community.

01:08:41.979 --> 01:08:44.800
So I was nine to five Monday to Friday, which

01:08:44.800 --> 01:08:50.970
was nice. Shift work was not for me. I feel fortunate

01:08:50.970 --> 01:08:53.109
that I could choose a job where I didn't have

01:08:53.109 --> 01:08:56.289
to do that. But I've worked with people who work

01:08:56.289 --> 01:09:01.210
shifts, and it's not great for you, is it? It's

01:09:01.210 --> 01:09:04.750
tough. What about on the performance side? Because

01:09:04.750 --> 01:09:06.750
the problem is, at the moment, we're just trying

01:09:06.750 --> 01:09:09.170
to get people to understand that shift work is

01:09:09.170 --> 01:09:11.710
really bad for your health, full stop. But we've

01:09:11.710 --> 01:09:15.069
got a lot of chess beaters that are all in on

01:09:15.069 --> 01:09:17.970
the job, and that's amazing. But they're missing

01:09:17.970 --> 01:09:20.859
the point. that you know the the rest recovery

01:09:20.859 --> 01:09:23.460
sleep is is imperative for high level of performance

01:09:23.460 --> 01:09:26.079
so what have you seen as far as because you mentioned

01:09:26.079 --> 01:09:28.079
about the stress even being detrimental to your

01:09:28.079 --> 01:09:30.239
performance what have you seen in your world

01:09:30.239 --> 01:09:31.819
maybe even some of the people that you're you're

01:09:31.819 --> 01:09:33.579
coaching or some people you trained alongside

01:09:33.579 --> 01:09:37.520
as far as the the importance of sleep of this

01:09:37.520 --> 01:09:41.640
overall performance piece yeah i think i think

01:09:41.640 --> 01:09:45.210
over training is a big thing um And that then

01:09:45.210 --> 01:09:47.130
means people have poor sleep because they're

01:09:47.130 --> 01:09:51.949
so wired all the time. But just in general, like

01:09:51.949 --> 01:09:55.189
if it's one of the things, again, that I ask

01:09:55.189 --> 01:09:57.510
when people very first speak to me, how's your

01:09:57.510 --> 01:10:00.130
sleep? And often those who feel like they're

01:10:00.130 --> 01:10:01.970
banging their heads against a wall and aren't

01:10:01.970 --> 01:10:04.810
progressing, they're plateaued. It's because

01:10:04.810 --> 01:10:08.390
they're not sleeping. Like as soon as I say,

01:10:08.470 --> 01:10:13.399
OK, let's. do xyz to make your sleep better even

01:10:13.399 --> 01:10:16.619
if they don't cut like i do this on the i guess

01:10:16.619 --> 01:10:18.739
like discovery call before they're even a client

01:10:18.739 --> 01:10:21.399
i might do this and then they'll message me a

01:10:21.399 --> 01:10:23.279
few days like oh i feel really great and i'm

01:10:23.279 --> 01:10:24.819
like well yeah of course you do because you've

01:10:24.819 --> 01:10:29.359
closed your eyes and healed um it's it's one

01:10:29.359 --> 01:10:34.079
of the fundamentals and it's i know when people

01:10:34.800 --> 01:10:36.680
And my clients will know as well because they'll

01:10:36.680 --> 01:10:38.319
put in their check -in, I didn't sleep well this

01:10:38.319 --> 01:10:40.880
week, and their sessions will reflect that. But

01:10:40.880 --> 01:10:44.119
we try to raise that awareness. So in their check

01:10:44.119 --> 01:10:46.380
-in every week, it's what are your energy levels

01:10:46.380 --> 01:10:49.279
like? How's your recovery? And in the sub to

01:10:49.279 --> 01:10:52.100
that question, it's how's your food been? How

01:10:52.100 --> 01:10:54.300
have you slept? What's your hydration been like?

01:10:54.460 --> 01:10:56.920
And so often they'll be like, oh, I had loads

01:10:56.920 --> 01:11:00.779
of crap sessions because I didn't sleep. Yeah,

01:11:00.800 --> 01:11:03.779
yeah, exactly. Now, what about that as far as

01:11:03.779 --> 01:11:07.699
the ethos of how someone is feeling versus the

01:11:07.699 --> 01:11:12.619
weights that they're given that day? So we use

01:11:12.619 --> 01:11:17.140
RPE a huge amount because I think, especially

01:11:17.140 --> 01:11:21.079
when we're working with everyday people who aren't,

01:11:21.079 --> 01:11:24.319
they're not full -time athletes. They have a

01:11:24.319 --> 01:11:27.180
life. They have all the stresses. They're not

01:11:27.180 --> 01:11:28.979
going to be at their best every time. So to expect

01:11:28.979 --> 01:11:31.319
them to... lift more and more and more all the

01:11:31.319 --> 01:11:36.000
time isn't doable um so yeah we utilize the rpe

01:11:36.000 --> 01:11:38.720
scale a huge amount getting people to be honest

01:11:38.720 --> 01:11:41.779
with that is another matter but we really try

01:11:41.779 --> 01:11:45.680
to explain that of like so your rpe eight on

01:11:45.680 --> 01:11:48.239
a day where you're well rested you haven't been

01:11:48.239 --> 01:11:50.500
at work for a few days you're fueled up really

01:11:50.500 --> 01:11:53.880
well it's going to be heavier than if you haven't

01:11:53.880 --> 01:11:55.300
had any sleep you've had an argument with your

01:11:55.300 --> 01:11:57.220
partner and you haven't eaten all day and that's

01:11:57.220 --> 01:11:59.760
okay but they're both still rpe8 you're still

01:11:59.760 --> 01:12:02.479
training at the same intensity it's just relative

01:12:02.479 --> 01:12:05.960
to how you're feeling on that day um so yeah

01:12:05.960 --> 01:12:08.840
i think it's very important to take into consideration

01:12:08.840 --> 01:12:11.720
and again it sets people up for success because

01:12:11.720 --> 01:12:14.119
if i'm programming and i do program percentages

01:12:14.119 --> 01:12:16.140
at times especially if people are in prep for

01:12:16.140 --> 01:12:17.899
competitions there's certain weights that they

01:12:17.899 --> 01:12:22.930
need to hit and that's how it is um but most

01:12:22.930 --> 01:12:25.909
of the time I'll use RPE because if I set someone

01:12:25.909 --> 01:12:27.970
a number and they're not recovered they don't

01:12:27.970 --> 01:12:29.850
hit the number what are they going to say to

01:12:29.850 --> 01:12:32.390
me I'm shit I'm a failure I can't do it I'm a

01:12:32.390 --> 01:12:35.529
bad athlete and that isn't conducive to performance

01:12:35.529 --> 01:12:38.430
at all like because mindset comes into it right

01:12:38.430 --> 01:12:42.329
so if you constantly are failing in your sessions

01:12:42.329 --> 01:12:45.329
because you can't meet what's required of you

01:12:45.329 --> 01:12:47.409
your mindset's going to take a battering and

01:12:47.409 --> 01:12:49.890
then again your performance will get hindered

01:12:49.890 --> 01:12:52.710
even more I was talking to someone the other

01:12:52.710 --> 01:12:55.529
day. One of the things I do, I just do a once

01:12:55.529 --> 01:12:58.229
a week, I coach a free class for tactical athletes.

01:12:58.270 --> 01:13:02.149
So please fire me. And every so often, every

01:13:02.149 --> 01:13:04.470
like two or three months, we'll do a sandbag

01:13:04.470 --> 01:13:08.250
walk to a parking structure, carry the bags all

01:13:08.250 --> 01:13:10.010
the way up to the roof, drop them. And then I'll

01:13:10.010 --> 01:13:12.069
just check in with everyone. But how are you

01:13:12.069 --> 01:13:14.479
doing? Why are you even coming to class at the

01:13:14.479 --> 01:13:16.880
moment? You know, what's going on at home? And

01:13:16.880 --> 01:13:19.739
it's amazing that you start learning about people's

01:13:19.739 --> 01:13:23.020
background and their true why. Like one was a

01:13:23.020 --> 01:13:24.939
victim of domestic abuse, so she wants to be

01:13:24.939 --> 01:13:27.600
stronger. And another one's going through a divorce

01:13:27.600 --> 01:13:29.239
and another one's doing just fine at the moment,

01:13:29.300 --> 01:13:31.619
you know, whatever it is. And so you can tap

01:13:31.619 --> 01:13:34.439
into that a lot more rather than, you know, what

01:13:34.439 --> 01:13:36.420
do you want? Oh, I just I want to be more cut.

01:13:36.579 --> 01:13:38.260
I want to lose weight. I want to be stronger.

01:13:38.359 --> 01:13:40.840
And those are very, very kind of wishy washy

01:13:40.840 --> 01:13:43.619
adjectives. You have a really interesting lens,

01:13:43.680 --> 01:13:45.359
though, because you came from that mental health

01:13:45.359 --> 01:13:48.439
space first and then got into coaching. Talk

01:13:48.439 --> 01:13:51.600
to me about the importance of understanding the

01:13:51.600 --> 01:13:55.520
athletes' mental state and finding their why

01:13:55.520 --> 01:13:58.739
as far as the actual results that you're seeing

01:13:58.739 --> 01:14:03.500
in the gym itself. It's huge. And I mean, if

01:14:03.500 --> 01:14:05.800
I understand someone and I know someone, which

01:14:05.800 --> 01:14:09.000
I know all of my one -to -one athletes, I know

01:14:09.000 --> 01:14:11.720
well because I talk to them. like we have conversations

01:14:11.720 --> 01:14:14.579
like this even if I don't see them in person

01:14:14.579 --> 01:14:17.140
we have video calls so that I get to know them

01:14:17.140 --> 01:14:20.439
and it means like I can if they're having a bad

01:14:20.439 --> 01:14:22.680
day I've got more insight into why they might

01:14:22.680 --> 01:14:24.739
be having a bad day so rather than them texting

01:14:24.739 --> 01:14:28.220
me being like I've had a really bad session and

01:14:28.220 --> 01:14:31.619
me going never mind I can dig a little bit deeper

01:14:31.619 --> 01:14:34.079
and find out why but I think it also works the

01:14:34.079 --> 01:14:36.720
other way for motivation if I know why someone

01:14:36.720 --> 01:14:38.560
is doing something I can remind them of that

01:14:38.970 --> 01:14:41.930
remember why you started this that's why we're

01:14:41.930 --> 01:14:43.250
doing it and that's why you're going to turn

01:14:43.250 --> 01:14:45.890
up and why you're going to do this program and

01:14:45.890 --> 01:14:51.270
not give up because xyz um and i've also more

01:14:51.270 --> 01:14:56.350
recently started another business in life coaching

01:14:56.350 --> 01:15:00.850
nlp and hypnotherapy and a lot of the interest

01:15:00.850 --> 01:15:02.930
has come from people wanting to improve their

01:15:02.930 --> 01:15:05.449
performance again because they recognize that

01:15:05.449 --> 01:15:09.310
mindset plays such huge part and they've got

01:15:09.310 --> 01:15:11.210
so many self -limiting beliefs that hold them

01:15:11.210 --> 01:15:14.329
back in their life and in their performance because

01:15:14.329 --> 01:15:18.050
they've experienced trauma they've got a fear

01:15:18.050 --> 01:15:21.069
of failure or you know don't think that they're

01:15:21.069 --> 01:15:23.069
good enough or they've had a bad experience in

01:15:23.069 --> 01:15:26.109
competition and can't move past it so it's it's

01:15:26.109 --> 01:15:29.729
uh and I think it's it's becoming more of an

01:15:29.729 --> 01:15:32.470
accepted thing and more spoken about thing when

01:15:32.470 --> 01:15:35.710
I started I felt I feel like it was just get

01:15:35.710 --> 01:15:38.170
strong but that's because I trained with a load

01:15:38.170 --> 01:15:41.409
of big burly men i think now there's a much bigger

01:15:41.409 --> 01:15:43.729
space of like well -being and how that goes hand

01:15:43.729 --> 01:15:48.609
in hand with performance what about your mindset

01:15:48.609 --> 01:15:51.229
when you think back to someone pointing at a

01:15:51.229 --> 01:15:54.069
weight and saying you can lift that was there

01:15:54.069 --> 01:15:57.449
a negative voice in your mind or or do you think

01:15:57.449 --> 01:15:59.369
the the journey that you've taken up to that

01:15:59.369 --> 01:16:03.109
point created that i can mentality at that point

01:16:04.840 --> 01:16:07.340
I think because when I started, I didn't expect

01:16:07.340 --> 01:16:10.199
to be competitive. I just thought it was fun.

01:16:10.300 --> 01:16:12.920
I was like, oh, yeah, I'll try that. I've very

01:16:12.920 --> 01:16:15.199
much all my life had a can -do attitude, not

01:16:15.199 --> 01:16:19.420
a can't, I think. I've definitely had doubts

01:16:19.420 --> 01:16:22.039
and I've definitely failed at things, but it's

01:16:22.039 --> 01:16:24.880
never really knocked me that much. I'm like,

01:16:24.920 --> 01:16:27.399
well, I'll just try something else or I'll try

01:16:27.399 --> 01:16:31.579
again. I definitely have had limiting beliefs

01:16:31.579 --> 01:16:36.069
from kind of other... factors and i think for

01:16:36.069 --> 01:16:38.489
me the thing that has hindered me the most is

01:16:38.489 --> 01:16:43.810
um people pleasing and um not perfectionism because

01:16:43.810 --> 01:16:47.470
i i was recently told perfectionism is just procrastination

01:16:47.470 --> 01:16:51.369
dressed up which i agree with um but what wanting

01:16:51.369 --> 01:16:54.550
everything to be right um that's what's held

01:16:54.550 --> 01:16:56.949
me back the most i would say rather than like

01:16:56.949 --> 01:17:00.390
you can't do it it's what if i can't do it right

01:17:00.390 --> 01:17:05.500
or And people expect me to do this. So if I can't

01:17:05.500 --> 01:17:07.760
do this, then I'll let everybody else down. Not

01:17:07.760 --> 01:17:10.359
being scared of it because I'm scared of the

01:17:10.359 --> 01:17:13.520
weight, but that kind of wider implication. And

01:17:13.520 --> 01:17:16.880
I think the factors that I spoke through earlier

01:17:16.880 --> 01:17:18.779
where I really built up my confidence helped

01:17:18.779 --> 01:17:23.579
to overcome that. But I've done work with a mindset

01:17:23.579 --> 01:17:28.140
coach and it was really helpful. I think one

01:17:28.140 --> 01:17:30.699
of the interesting things about strong man, strong

01:17:30.699 --> 01:17:33.800
woman implements that I've seen with my own eyes,

01:17:33.859 --> 01:17:36.819
when you take a group of firefighters, they might

01:17:36.819 --> 01:17:39.020
be the, you know, the athletic rock star all

01:17:39.020 --> 01:17:41.819
the way through to the man or woman that maybe

01:17:41.819 --> 01:17:44.439
hasn't done the exercise for several years and

01:17:44.439 --> 01:17:47.800
should have. You try and get them into, for example,

01:17:48.039 --> 01:17:50.329
you know, a CrossFit style workout. you know

01:17:50.329 --> 01:17:51.810
more often than not they're not going to do it

01:17:51.810 --> 01:17:52.970
they're going to be intimidated they're going

01:17:52.970 --> 01:17:54.750
to feel like it looks stupid god forbid you put

01:17:54.750 --> 01:17:56.890
in you know a snatch or something complex like

01:17:56.890 --> 01:18:01.550
that but with the strong man woman implements

01:18:01.550 --> 01:18:04.649
you literally say hey just push that sled over

01:18:04.649 --> 01:18:08.750
to that cone oh okay oh you did it yeah and and

01:18:08.750 --> 01:18:11.569
so i find that those tools actually create a

01:18:11.569 --> 01:18:15.029
lot more self -belief like i can mentality and

01:18:15.029 --> 01:18:18.329
even yeah There was a local firefighter here

01:18:18.329 --> 01:18:20.890
that is a strongman competitor and he was getting

01:18:20.890 --> 01:18:23.890
us lifting bags. And I lifted more than I realized

01:18:23.890 --> 01:18:26.189
I could just by simply watching other people

01:18:26.189 --> 01:18:28.250
do it and going, all right, hold my beer. Let's

01:18:28.250 --> 01:18:31.689
try this. So I find that those tools, that particular

01:18:31.689 --> 01:18:33.789
kind of community, of course, there's a certain

01:18:33.789 --> 01:18:35.750
point where you're going to hit a wall. But I

01:18:35.750 --> 01:18:38.350
think that taking away that intimidation of the

01:18:38.350 --> 01:18:41.369
complexity of a movement and simply picking up

01:18:41.369 --> 01:18:43.649
a bag, carrying kettlebells, you know, pushing

01:18:43.649 --> 01:18:46.600
or pulling a sled. it does create more of that

01:18:46.600 --> 01:18:49.579
positive mindset rather than, you know, you trying

01:18:49.579 --> 01:18:51.460
to do a snatch, getting frustrated and saying,

01:18:51.500 --> 01:18:53.739
I'm never going to do this. It's stupid. Yeah.

01:18:53.819 --> 01:18:55.579
Yeah, absolutely. I think things can be scaled

01:18:55.579 --> 01:18:57.619
back so easily, but still look really impressive

01:18:57.619 --> 01:19:00.800
as well. Like truck pulls, for example, most

01:19:00.800 --> 01:19:03.619
people can do a truck pull, but if you don't

01:19:03.619 --> 01:19:05.159
know you can do a truck pull, you're going to

01:19:05.159 --> 01:19:08.680
think, Oh my God, that's insane. Like I had a

01:19:08.680 --> 01:19:11.460
client, one of my very first clients loved her

01:19:11.460 --> 01:19:15.029
and she would, she had quite like a, difficult

01:19:15.029 --> 01:19:17.930
job and she would be like if i can pull a truck

01:19:17.930 --> 01:19:21.729
i can do anything i was like damn right you can

01:19:21.729 --> 01:19:24.649
and even like stones like stones look so hard

01:19:24.649 --> 01:19:27.409
and so impressive but you can get lighter stones

01:19:27.409 --> 01:19:29.609
and people will be like i lifted one of them

01:19:29.609 --> 01:19:32.010
stones that are on world strongest man like because

01:19:32.010 --> 01:19:35.289
there's so much variability and kind of the weights

01:19:35.289 --> 01:19:37.949
of the implements people can do stuff that still

01:19:37.949 --> 01:19:41.029
looks really epic even if it's like super scaled

01:19:41.029 --> 01:19:46.010
back which is amazing yeah The closest I've ever

01:19:46.010 --> 01:19:48.569
been to being knocked out was lifting a stone.

01:19:48.729 --> 01:19:50.850
And I did martial arts for a long time and got

01:19:50.850 --> 01:19:53.949
hit many times. But I guess I just held my breath.

01:19:54.069 --> 01:19:56.350
And it was like, it wasn't a crazy weight, but

01:19:56.350 --> 01:19:59.489
it was heavy for me sitting on my chest. And

01:19:59.489 --> 01:20:01.569
I remember just that little tunnel starting to

01:20:01.569 --> 01:20:03.729
get smaller and smaller. And luckily, I sat down

01:20:03.729 --> 01:20:06.050
before I completely passed out. But yeah, the

01:20:06.050 --> 01:20:08.789
stone has kicked my ass more than any human being

01:20:08.789 --> 01:20:12.770
to this point. Yeah, it's brutal. All right.

01:20:12.789 --> 01:20:15.119
Well, speaking of that. Talk to me about breath

01:20:15.119 --> 01:20:16.920
work and the importance of breath, especially

01:20:16.920 --> 01:20:19.380
when you're doing these incredibly heavy lifts.

01:20:21.619 --> 01:20:25.960
I refer in my coaching to the three B's of strongman.

01:20:26.100 --> 01:20:29.300
And if you do not have one of them, it all falls

01:20:29.300 --> 01:20:32.720
apart. And that is breathing, bracing and your

01:20:32.720 --> 01:20:36.420
butt. You need to be able to use all three. But

01:20:36.420 --> 01:20:39.140
yeah, breathe and embrace it. Breathing and bracing,

01:20:39.140 --> 01:20:44.369
super important. Do not brace and breathe effectively.

01:20:45.310 --> 01:20:48.850
One, you're probably going to hurt yourself at

01:20:48.850 --> 01:20:51.229
some point because you're not creating enough

01:20:51.229 --> 01:20:53.909
intra -abdominal pressure. But also I always

01:20:53.909 --> 01:20:58.590
explain it as, so the two parts for the injury

01:20:58.590 --> 01:21:01.510
prevention, I'm like, right, there's two cans

01:21:01.510 --> 01:21:04.909
in my hands. One hasn't been opened and is full

01:21:04.909 --> 01:21:09.050
and the other is empty. If I squeeze them, which

01:21:09.050 --> 01:21:12.050
one is ending up better? you need to breathe.

01:21:12.090 --> 01:21:14.189
You need to breathe in. And breathing in doesn't

01:21:14.189 --> 01:21:15.770
mean sucking your tummy in. It means putting

01:21:15.770 --> 01:21:19.510
air in your belly. And the other that I use,

01:21:19.550 --> 01:21:22.649
the other analogy is the Coke and Mentos. So

01:21:22.649 --> 01:21:25.090
if you put Mentos and Coke, pressure builds,

01:21:25.210 --> 01:21:27.670
it explodes. It's the same with you as an athlete.

01:21:27.850 --> 01:21:31.470
If you breathe in, you put air into you, you

01:21:31.470 --> 01:21:34.090
increase your pressure, you can exert more power.

01:21:34.109 --> 01:21:37.310
So you can ultimately shift more weight. So yeah.

01:21:38.090 --> 01:21:39.890
the amount of people that I've coached face to

01:21:39.890 --> 01:21:42.989
face as well. And I'm like, why can't you breathe?

01:21:43.289 --> 01:21:44.949
And they're like, it's hard. And I'm like, yeah,

01:21:44.970 --> 01:21:47.489
it is. And we need to learn how to learn how

01:21:47.489 --> 01:21:50.829
to do that better. So what about, you mentioned

01:21:50.829 --> 01:21:53.689
that the holistic side, I know you, you do hypnotherapy

01:21:53.689 --> 01:21:56.909
and neuro -linguistic programming now. So we

01:21:56.909 --> 01:21:59.069
know we're watching you picking up stones, you

01:21:59.069 --> 01:22:01.489
know, Fred Flintstone style. And now we're talking

01:22:01.489 --> 01:22:04.729
obviously about these, these soft skills, these,

01:22:04.729 --> 01:22:08.359
you know, these mental resilience skills. Why

01:22:08.359 --> 01:22:10.659
those two practices? And then talk to me about

01:22:10.659 --> 01:22:12.739
the application to the people that you're coaching

01:22:12.739 --> 01:22:19.619
now. Yeah, so for me, I think this is going to

01:22:19.619 --> 01:22:21.119
sound really cheesy. I feel like this is like

01:22:21.119 --> 01:22:23.199
my purpose. This is what I've always been meant

01:22:23.199 --> 01:22:26.800
to do. It's what I wanted to do in nursing, hence

01:22:26.800 --> 01:22:28.680
why I went into the learning disability and mental

01:22:28.680 --> 01:22:30.939
health field. I wanted to help people have a

01:22:30.939 --> 01:22:35.479
better life. It's the element of my sports coaching

01:22:35.479 --> 01:22:39.079
that I enjoy the most. yes it's amazing seeing

01:22:39.079 --> 01:22:42.319
people win competitions get records set pbs but

01:22:42.319 --> 01:22:44.819
the thing that brings me the most joy is someone

01:22:44.819 --> 01:22:48.000
saying i spoke to a client earlier who who's

01:22:48.000 --> 01:22:50.180
leaving us and she said the biggest thing i've

01:22:50.180 --> 01:22:53.439
got is the confidence to walk in the gym amazing

01:22:53.439 --> 01:22:56.359
i've other people one of my clients has been

01:22:56.359 --> 01:22:59.479
through horrendous things in his life and just

01:22:59.479 --> 01:23:02.399
hated himself and now every week he can tell

01:23:02.399 --> 01:23:04.479
me something positive about himself and he can

01:23:04.479 --> 01:23:07.140
say you know what my life's okay considering

01:23:07.140 --> 01:23:10.579
what it's been through massive another girl who

01:23:10.579 --> 01:23:14.739
whose mum told her she'd never leave home because

01:23:14.739 --> 01:23:16.739
she couldn't be independent enough and now she

01:23:16.739 --> 01:23:18.460
lives with her girlfriend and has a really good

01:23:18.460 --> 01:23:22.199
job and is doing a master's degree like seeing

01:23:22.199 --> 01:23:27.619
that gives me a kick like I love it so that's

01:23:27.619 --> 01:23:31.680
kind of how I moved into the life coaching space

01:23:31.680 --> 01:23:35.689
and I know that NLP is used a lot alongside life

01:23:35.689 --> 01:23:38.449
coaching to really kind of work with people kind

01:23:38.449 --> 01:23:40.949
of dip into the subconscious and and get results

01:23:40.949 --> 01:23:44.949
so I signed up to do a life coaching and NLP

01:23:44.949 --> 01:23:48.210
course and part of that course was clinical hypnotherapy

01:23:48.210 --> 01:23:53.649
and I was like hmm I'm skeptical like is it what

01:23:53.649 --> 01:23:56.409
what is it I'll like it's part of the course

01:23:56.409 --> 01:24:00.029
so I'll do it oh my god I was blown away I was

01:24:00.029 --> 01:24:06.310
like wow this is insane um and like some of so

01:24:06.310 --> 01:24:10.130
as an example of how i apply that now i've worked

01:24:10.130 --> 01:24:15.550
with a client who tore her acl two years ago

01:24:15.550 --> 01:24:17.649
had the reconstructive surgery did the rehab

01:24:17.649 --> 01:24:20.130
signed off everything all clear but she still

01:24:20.130 --> 01:24:22.409
had pain and she was still scared of being in

01:24:22.409 --> 01:24:25.930
pain every single day like it impacted her she

01:24:25.930 --> 01:24:28.930
said like eight out of ten every day um within

01:24:28.930 --> 01:24:31.199
one session that was down to nothing she got

01:24:31.199 --> 01:24:32.859
up she walked around she didn't feel any pain

01:24:32.859 --> 01:24:35.680
she trained that night no pain she's trained

01:24:35.680 --> 01:24:39.979
ever since no pain crazy and we're also going

01:24:39.979 --> 01:24:43.960
to work with her on um seeing herself as more

01:24:43.960 --> 01:24:46.600
of an athlete so there's some nlp techniques

01:24:46.600 --> 01:24:49.520
that i'm going to use in hypnotherapy to kind

01:24:49.520 --> 01:24:52.800
of shrink down this image that she has of herself

01:24:52.800 --> 01:24:55.760
now as kind of not good enough and a bit of a

01:24:56.639 --> 01:24:59.640
broad and really bring up that big picture of

01:24:59.640 --> 01:25:01.520
like you know what i'm a really capable strong

01:25:01.520 --> 01:25:03.560
athlete and i'm amazing so we'll do that within

01:25:03.560 --> 01:25:08.560
hypnosis to shift that mindset um someone else

01:25:08.560 --> 01:25:12.039
i'm working with around their relationship with

01:25:12.039 --> 01:25:15.079
food and binge eating and kind of not feeling

01:25:15.079 --> 01:25:18.899
good enough um but again can lead into performance

01:25:18.899 --> 01:25:21.279
someone else i'm working with i've just done

01:25:21.279 --> 01:25:23.319
a session we did a life coaching session setting

01:25:23.319 --> 01:25:26.939
some goals around okay where are we at in all

01:25:26.939 --> 01:25:29.899
areas of your life where are you getting satisfaction

01:25:29.899 --> 01:25:32.420
where are you not okay if we bring that area

01:25:32.420 --> 01:25:34.520
up everything else is going to improve you're

01:25:34.520 --> 01:25:36.079
going to be able to focus more on your performance

01:25:36.079 --> 01:25:40.579
we did a hypnotherapy session on you can just

01:25:40.579 --> 01:25:45.420
be you that is okay um being confident and capable

01:25:45.420 --> 01:25:49.460
she used her anchor from that session today on

01:25:49.460 --> 01:25:52.060
a log session and said it felt like air felt

01:25:52.060 --> 01:25:54.699
amazing and our next session again will be on

01:25:54.699 --> 01:25:57.319
feeling capable and we're actually going to go

01:25:57.319 --> 01:25:58.819
through the log press she feels like her legs

01:25:58.819 --> 01:26:01.960
switch off when she does log so the whole kind

01:26:01.960 --> 01:26:04.680
of hypno session will be around like feeling

01:26:04.680 --> 01:26:08.640
energy through her body into the log and anchoring

01:26:08.640 --> 01:26:11.859
that so that when she goes to do log her subconscious

01:26:11.859 --> 01:26:15.260
is like we got this it's insane like i sometimes

01:26:15.260 --> 01:26:17.300
obviously people have their eyes closed when

01:26:17.300 --> 01:26:20.340
i'm doing it And when they give me the feedback,

01:26:20.500 --> 01:26:27.159
I'm like, I can't believe that it's worked, even

01:26:27.159 --> 01:26:29.600
though I know it works. It's still quite new

01:26:29.600 --> 01:26:34.060
to me, but I'm like really excited for the impact

01:26:34.060 --> 01:26:38.460
I can have with it. I mean, that side of it is

01:26:38.460 --> 01:26:40.420
so important. I mean, firstly, from the pain,

01:26:40.479 --> 01:26:42.100
the number of people that I've heard that have

01:26:42.100 --> 01:26:44.399
gone through injuries and then they're just so

01:26:44.399 --> 01:26:46.319
protective of that injury. And it's a mental

01:26:46.319 --> 01:26:48.140
block and it's understandable. You know, it hurt

01:26:48.140 --> 01:26:49.779
like hell. You snapped your knee, whatever it

01:26:49.779 --> 01:26:51.739
was. But getting that confidence and getting

01:26:51.739 --> 01:26:54.880
past that. But a really interesting example is

01:26:54.880 --> 01:26:57.659
a guy, Johan Hari, that wrote several books,

01:26:57.739 --> 01:27:00.460
but one of them was on addiction. called Chasing

01:27:00.460 --> 01:27:03.539
the Scream. And he talks about this one study

01:27:03.539 --> 01:27:06.020
that this group did and they had all these obese

01:27:06.020 --> 01:27:09.359
patients and they gave them IV nutrition. And

01:27:09.359 --> 01:27:11.119
there was this one woman that lost more than

01:27:11.119 --> 01:27:12.840
anyone else. She was kind of like the rock star

01:27:12.840 --> 01:27:15.319
of the study group. And then one day she just

01:27:15.319 --> 01:27:17.020
kind of disappeared. She lost all this weight

01:27:17.020 --> 01:27:19.260
and she just disappeared. And they ended up like,

01:27:19.319 --> 01:27:22.260
you know, tracking her down. And she had dived

01:27:22.260 --> 01:27:24.699
back into binge drinking, excuse me, binge eating,

01:27:24.859 --> 01:27:26.720
you know, fast food and she put on some weight.

01:27:27.520 --> 01:27:29.920
And they were able to get her back in. And one

01:27:29.920 --> 01:27:31.739
of the scientists said, well, let me let me ask

01:27:31.739 --> 01:27:34.720
her some questions. And so no one had really

01:27:34.720 --> 01:27:37.920
asked about them. And so he said, you know, how

01:27:37.920 --> 01:27:40.279
old were you when you first started eating this

01:27:40.279 --> 01:27:43.000
way? And she said, I think it was like 10. And

01:27:43.000 --> 01:27:46.539
he said, did anything happen to you in your in

01:27:46.539 --> 01:27:48.340
your life around that same age? And she said,

01:27:48.359 --> 01:27:50.220
yeah, that was when my grandfather started molesting

01:27:50.220 --> 01:27:55.579
me. So that particular woman. When she became

01:27:55.579 --> 01:27:58.300
thin, she became attractive to people around

01:27:58.300 --> 01:28:01.380
her. It brought the very opposite of what she

01:28:01.380 --> 01:28:04.859
wanted. So so many people out there, you know,

01:28:04.859 --> 01:28:07.420
the physical manifestation often is of what's

01:28:07.420 --> 01:28:10.100
going on inside. And so, you know, if you're

01:28:10.100 --> 01:28:13.199
not addressing, you know, the the trauma or the

01:28:13.199 --> 01:28:15.279
kind of life's journey and some of these these

01:28:15.279 --> 01:28:18.859
barriers, then just telling to do three sets

01:28:18.859 --> 01:28:21.460
of whatever isn't going to fix the problem. Yeah.

01:28:22.180 --> 01:28:25.939
Absolutely. Absolutely. All right. Well, I want

01:28:25.939 --> 01:28:27.520
to throw some closing questions at you and be

01:28:27.520 --> 01:28:29.899
mindful of your time and let you go. The first

01:28:29.899 --> 01:28:32.560
one I love to ask, is there a book or are there

01:28:32.560 --> 01:28:35.220
books that you love to recommend? It can be related

01:28:35.220 --> 01:28:37.380
to our discussion today or completely unrelated.

01:28:38.560 --> 01:28:42.659
Yes. The first one is Feel the Fear and Do It

01:28:42.659 --> 01:28:47.819
Anyway by Susan Jeffers. I love that book. Practical

01:28:47.819 --> 01:28:50.180
as well, like has tasks in it. That was a good

01:28:50.180 --> 01:28:55.420
one. Chasing Excellence by Ben Bergagnon, CrossFit

01:28:55.420 --> 01:28:58.859
coach. Fantastic for sports excellence. A bit

01:28:58.859 --> 01:29:03.079
of a harder approach, but tells you what you

01:29:03.079 --> 01:29:09.939
need to know. You Are a Badass by Jen Sincero.

01:29:12.100 --> 01:29:16.260
I'm looking at my shelf. Think Like a Monk by

01:29:16.260 --> 01:29:25.180
Jay Shetty. And I also really liked Ronda Rousey's

01:29:25.180 --> 01:29:28.819
My Fight, Your Fight. Brilliant. I actually had

01:29:28.819 --> 01:29:30.859
Ben Bergeron on the show probably a couple of

01:29:30.859 --> 01:29:33.840
years ago now. It was a great conversation. Wow,

01:29:34.020 --> 01:29:36.560
that must have been... Yeah, what a guy. I butchered

01:29:36.560 --> 01:29:39.100
his name there, but fascinating. Yeah, I think

01:29:39.100 --> 01:29:41.079
it might be Bergeron. Maybe I butchered his name.

01:29:41.699 --> 01:29:44.060
Yours sounds more right. It sounds more French.

01:29:46.380 --> 01:29:48.300
All right, what about films and documentaries?

01:29:51.100 --> 01:29:53.239
There's a documentary out now actually called

01:29:53.239 --> 01:29:56.079
Strong Woman. A Strong Woman, that's really good.

01:29:57.380 --> 01:29:59.260
There was, like I said, I watched it just before

01:29:59.260 --> 01:30:02.060
we hit record and it was excellent. It's on YouTube

01:30:02.060 --> 01:30:04.819
and it's on the link on your bio and on Instagram.

01:30:05.260 --> 01:30:07.140
Yeah, yeah, you can find it. You can find it

01:30:07.140 --> 01:30:09.739
there on the Giants Live YouTube channel. No,

01:30:09.899 --> 01:30:12.619
all seriousness. You're asking me on the spot

01:30:12.619 --> 01:30:18.289
now. There definitely is. There was a boxing

01:30:18.289 --> 01:30:22.470
one. It's not Million Dollar Baby. I think it

01:30:22.470 --> 01:30:24.130
had Halle Berry in it. I can't remember what

01:30:24.130 --> 01:30:28.130
it was called. That was a really good film. Documentaries,

01:30:28.130 --> 01:30:32.210
there are definitely a few. The Simone Biles

01:30:32.210 --> 01:30:35.489
documentary, loved that. That took into account

01:30:35.489 --> 01:30:39.289
a lot of the mental side. And Sprint as well

01:30:39.289 --> 01:30:42.590
that was on Netflix was really good from like

01:30:42.590 --> 01:30:46.619
a sporting. There's definitely more that I've

01:30:46.619 --> 01:30:48.539
watched, but I'm struggling to think on the spot.

01:30:48.720 --> 01:30:51.699
I'll let you know. Have you seen that show Adolescence

01:30:51.699 --> 01:30:55.899
that just came out? Yes. That's rough. Yeah,

01:30:55.920 --> 01:30:58.079
they've done a good job. That's extremely raw.

01:30:58.159 --> 01:31:00.220
And I love the way it's all from each different

01:31:00.220 --> 01:31:02.300
perspective, from the police to the psychologist

01:31:02.300 --> 01:31:04.859
to the parents. They did a phenomenal job with

01:31:04.859 --> 01:31:08.479
that story. Yeah, it was great. All right. Well,

01:31:08.520 --> 01:31:10.600
the next question, is there a person that you

01:31:10.600 --> 01:31:13.020
recommend to come on this podcast as a guest

01:31:13.020 --> 01:31:15.840
to speak to the first responders, military and

01:31:15.840 --> 01:31:23.979
associated professions of the world? Yes, yes,

01:31:24.140 --> 01:31:27.880
yes, yes. Lucy Underdown, deadlift world record

01:31:27.880 --> 01:31:31.739
holder, full -time police officer. Lucy's the

01:31:31.739 --> 01:31:34.180
one in the, in the strong woman film as well.

01:31:34.220 --> 01:31:37.899
Okay. Perfect. Yeah, and she's got, again, very

01:31:37.899 --> 01:31:40.520
vulnerable when it comes to the emotional side

01:31:40.520 --> 01:31:44.939
of the job too. Yeah, she's incredible and just

01:31:44.939 --> 01:31:48.699
such a, like I feel very privileged to call her

01:31:48.699 --> 01:31:51.000
a friend. She's amazing. Brilliant, we'll have

01:31:51.000 --> 01:31:53.640
to make that happen. Thank you so much. All right,

01:31:53.680 --> 01:31:55.340
well then the very last question before we make

01:31:55.340 --> 01:31:56.939
sure everyone knows where to find you in the

01:31:56.939 --> 01:32:02.979
coaching, what do you do to decompress? Cuddle

01:32:02.979 --> 01:32:07.800
my dog. Training is a big thing for me now, especially

01:32:07.800 --> 01:32:10.619
this year. I'm not putting so much pressure on

01:32:10.619 --> 01:32:12.460
myself with competitions and such. So going to

01:32:12.460 --> 01:32:17.260
the gym is nice for me. Walks, I like going for

01:32:17.260 --> 01:32:19.979
hikes and things. I'm really bad at hiking, but

01:32:19.979 --> 01:32:23.300
I enjoy it. And yeah, reading, I love reading

01:32:23.300 --> 01:32:26.500
as well. So I think they're the big ones for

01:32:26.500 --> 01:32:29.479
me. Simple. Brilliant. Now you mentioned not

01:32:29.479 --> 01:32:30.979
competing at the moment. Are you going to return

01:32:30.979 --> 01:32:33.899
to competition or are you done with that chapter?

01:32:34.750 --> 01:32:39.529
I don't know. I've achieved my big goals and

01:32:39.529 --> 01:32:41.630
I feel very privileged to have ticked them off.

01:32:42.430 --> 01:32:45.130
And I feel like now I'm chasing more business

01:32:45.130 --> 01:32:51.270
goals. I haven't announced a retirement or anything

01:32:51.270 --> 01:32:53.850
like that because I want to keep the door open.

01:32:53.890 --> 01:32:56.649
If it feels right and I enjoy it, I'll do it

01:32:56.649 --> 01:32:59.229
again. But I don't feel like I have to. And that's

01:32:59.229 --> 01:33:02.600
nice. Yeah. I think that that why as well, you

01:33:02.600 --> 01:33:05.140
had that why to be at the Arnold to do all these

01:33:05.140 --> 01:33:07.819
things. And when you've done it, I mean, is it

01:33:07.819 --> 01:33:10.560
how much work is it going to take to eke that

01:33:10.560 --> 01:33:13.079
extra one or two percent of performance versus

01:33:13.079 --> 01:33:14.979
all the good you can do in these other avenues?

01:33:16.060 --> 01:33:18.460
Exactly. And I think, to be honest, when I started,

01:33:18.520 --> 01:33:21.039
I used Chloe Brennan, the strong woman, to cover

01:33:21.039 --> 01:33:24.539
up elements of Chloe's past that were difficult.

01:33:24.680 --> 01:33:28.180
It covered it up and made me a strong person.

01:33:28.380 --> 01:33:31.510
But now I'm OK with just being me. with warts

01:33:31.510 --> 01:33:35.350
and all and I think I don't feel the need to

01:33:35.350 --> 01:33:38.130
do it anymore um even though I enjoy it so it's

01:33:38.130 --> 01:33:40.590
nice to have the choice and be in control of

01:33:40.590 --> 01:33:43.329
that choice love it yeah there's so many parallels

01:33:43.329 --> 01:33:45.449
a lot of us that wear uniform that becomes kind

01:33:45.449 --> 01:33:47.350
of an armor you know and you can hide behind

01:33:47.350 --> 01:33:50.250
that if you don't do the work yeah definitely

01:33:50.250 --> 01:33:53.250
all right well for people listening where are

01:33:53.250 --> 01:33:55.649
the best places to find the coaching and yourself

01:33:55.649 --> 01:34:00.869
on the internet or social media yeah so you can

01:34:00.869 --> 01:34:04.750
find me on instagram my handle is chloe brennan

01:34:04.750 --> 01:34:10.189
x um my coaching page is holistic strength coaching

01:34:10.189 --> 01:34:17.229
.co .uk and then into oh no that was handle instagram

01:34:17.229 --> 01:34:20.229
holistic strength coaching find me on youtube

01:34:20.229 --> 01:34:22.909
chloe brennan strong woman The coaching website

01:34:22.909 --> 01:34:27.750
is holisticsc .co .uk and the new venture is

01:34:27.750 --> 01:34:33.270
lift -your -limits .com. Brilliant. Well, I want

01:34:33.270 --> 01:34:36.069
to thank you so much. It's so hard to remember

01:34:36.069 --> 01:34:37.869
as well when you can't get the same name for

01:34:37.869 --> 01:34:39.369
each of these different platforms. It's really

01:34:39.369 --> 01:34:41.270
annoying. And then Instagram goes and shuts your

01:34:41.270 --> 01:34:42.909
page down and then you have to come up with another

01:34:42.909 --> 01:34:47.210
one. All right. Well, I want to thank you so

01:34:47.210 --> 01:34:50.149
much. I mean, you know, obviously. you came across

01:34:50.149 --> 01:34:52.550
my radar for the specific sport that you were

01:34:52.550 --> 01:34:54.810
a part of but it's been such an interesting conversation

01:34:54.810 --> 01:34:57.010
with your lens from the nursing and the mental

01:34:57.010 --> 01:34:59.729
health side and the holistic coaching that you're

01:34:59.729 --> 01:35:02.590
doing now so i want to thank you so so much for

01:35:02.590 --> 01:35:04.590
being so generous with your time and coming on

01:35:04.590 --> 01:35:07.510
the behind the shield podcast today you're welcome

01:35:07.510 --> 01:35:09.010
thank you very much for having me