An Interview With Redevelop Movement!

In honesty, it got into me. Only after necessity did I decide to involve myself further. I was a very active and sporty kid and I also had a taste for marathon length computer games (specifically strategic ones where it’s actually hard to ‘finish’ the game). This was a lethal combination for my physicality; I had a lot of sport specific injuries (bad knees from skateboarding, bad shoulder from cricket) and I also was on my way to developing a lot of the common issues that come from ‘sedentarianism’. All the sitting still for computer games was almost as much as the sitting I was doing in school at the time. It was usually all or nothing, similar to the people today who work desk jobs and run marathons for fun – overcompensation is the way to describe it.

When I finished school (Sixth Form) I began involving myself in other activities; I learned to surf and to KiteSurf and had some major problems due to my knees and shoulders and decided I had to start fixing them before I went any further. I later qualified to teach a number of watersports which became my primary work for the next 7 years and was only really possible by sorting out my physical problems. They are hard demanding jobs, both physically and mentally and you absolutely have to be in excellent physical condition.

I went about solving my problems the way anyone would – I turned to specialist therapists (physios, osteos, chiros) in the hope they would help diagnose and cure me. I was thoroughly disappointed with the results so took the matter into my own hands. It’s important to point out that I don’t have a negative view of all people who hold these positions, but my experience was very poor and I spent a lot of money with a wide range of individuals and not a single one gave me any material or advice that I use today.

It took me roughly three years of trial and experimentation to be injury and pain free – it cost me very little money but a lot of effort on my part to make time researching and testing different options. The success I had led me to working with friends and family members before ultimately deciding that I had some very valuable material that I wanted to turn into something tangible.

I am most definitely a teacher. I’ve had a lot of experience teaching different disciplines and always get the same great results paired with excellent feedback from a huge array of students and trainees.  I like to use the strength I have in teaching to determine my place in the industry. I am not a typical trainer and I don’t believe in calling myself something that I am not, just because I have a qualification. There’s a huge problem in the fitness industry that dictates what a trainer ‘should’ be and this alienates a massive number of individuals who could really provide a quality service if our collective expectation wasn’t so narrow minded. The simple idea of a ‘trainer’ also causes many individuals to relinquish responsibility.

I work on many different levels, be it with an individual, a group or much larger audience and the goal for me is always education. Education on the matter is what has made the difference for every single person I have worked with and removes the need for them to rely on me.

Whether something is inferior is relative to your intentions. Having said that, there are many more benefits and reasons to training with a movement based approach than there are to the traditional gym-split. Perhaps if you want to look like Dorian Yates then a split program will undoubtedly be the best way to get you there. Then again, where is all that muscle now? he got rid of it (out of necessity) and is now a yoga aficionado – that itself should tell us something.

The fundamental moves that people should start with should be determined by what they want to achieve and what they need. The good thing is, they are generally very similar (if not the same) for everyone. I will always have people build a solid base in the classic pulling and pushing exercises on both vertical and horizontal planes. For instance, Pull Ups, Rows, Dips, Press Ups and Overhead Pushing. From there I will include a good base of Straight Arm exercises, both pushing and pulling and begin incorporating assistance work for the weak areas (which are typically the same places on everyone). Developing a really good standard in bodyweight training comes from this work – you really can’t rush it. A favourite quote of mine is especially relevant here:

‘The basics are the basics and you can’t beat the basics’ – Charles Poliquin.

For myself – handstand work. Despite being an active youngster I didn’t attempt my first handstand until I was 26/27. It’s now one of my strong points and only getting better. I also say it’s my biggest success as it really takes a long time to develop. I have always made relative quick gains in the strength department but technical work has always been a lot harder for me.

For people I have worked with, it’s always the details which weren’t at the forefront of the training. People usually come to me hoping to learn something specific and then find themselves benefiting in all kinds of other ways. For example, my trainee  Tim, used to have particularly bad sciatica. Now it has gone, completely. These are the details which really improve someones quality of life, not the number they achieve in the session.

My biggest mistake with my own training has been trying to rush things. With the type of training I do, progress is as slow as a moving glacier, but when it does move, you sure as hell notice. I’ve often set myself goals that I can’t attain because I have underestimated how long they will take to achieve – I’ve learned to set many goals along the way as a way of keeping the progress going in the right direction over the course of months so that when I have a down day or week it isn’t enough to derail me.

When it comes to training other people, I’ve learned to use the First Things First principle; give them what they want. Even if this is not precisely what I do, it’s entirely possible to give someone some major improvements without even telling them that is your intention. For example, some people are set on the idea that their weight and physique is the issue when I may see a whole host of other stuff that I consider to be more important. If I approach it from my point of view (which I tended to do in the past) it becomes overwhelming for the trainee and often fails. However, I’ve found I can make enormous improvements to someones mobility without them even knowing, and when they realise, you can imagine how they feel about it.

Yes. I tend not to go searching endlessly for these people but know how to spot them when I come across them and then stick to their work. I then make a point of learning from them and applying it to my work.

The most influential people for me have been;

Charles Poliquin

Pavel Tsatsouline

Ido Portal

Mel Siff

Emmet Louis

Kit Laughlin

There are many more, but I only mention these individuals as I use things that I have learned from them on a daily basis.

If it’s structured exercise, I’d have to go with either something based on the Gymnastic Rings which covers a lot of bases (such as a Muscle Up) or something for the enjoyment factor, such as handstands, particularly as it’s very diverse. If it’s just any exercise in general then I would definitely say swimming. There’s so much enjoyment to be had in the water even without a board of some kind. Body surfing is fantastic.

I tend to focus on general principles before specific guidelines. Both for myself and students/trainees. I find this approach works best as it builds a framework to operate in as opposed to strict guidelines such as meal plans and calorie based approaches. For example; I begin with foods to focus on and what to avoid then I’ll recommend spending some time determining which are most relevant to the individual. then from there it’s easy for someone to begin constructing meals based on what we have found works well and other restraints in their life such as their schedule and time.

I am keen on finding the ‘optimal’ diet for individuals, though I believe this can take a serious amount of time (and possibly money).

It’s most definitely an educational project – because of this there are many routes I can take. I have a lot of ideas and potential avenues to explore – so it’s a particularly exciting time. Essentially, I have no idea where or what it will look like in 5 years and I’m quite alright with that!

My main long term focuses are summarised in my ‘tagline’; ‘Enjoy Physical Freedom – Have Fun Looking After Your Body, Always be Learning‘.

This means to rid the body of pains and injuries, explore the possibilities and ensure that it’s working well for the rest of your life. How I do this with people will no doubt change. I wan’t to have a much bigger reach than the immediate individual so that’s what I am working on right now. I’ve recently begun corporate style events and workshops within industries that can really benefit from the inclusion of this kind of work – specifically the Tech industry.