Coach JP’s Blog
The Lost Art of Moving Like a Human
Most adults have forgotten how to move the way their bodies were designed to with crawling, rolling, hanging, and playing. This article explores why rediscovering these natural movement patterns builds strength, balance, and resilience at any age, and how reconnecting with play can make you a better athlete for life.
How Mobility Is Like Weeding Your Garden
Mobility isn’t optional; it’s maintenance. Just like weeding a garden, small daily efforts keep your joints healthy and your body moving well. Skip it, and stiffness and pain build up until the work becomes much harder. Learn why consistent mobility matters and how to make it simple and sustainable in your everyday life.
You Don’t Have to Earn Your Rest
Rest isn’t a reward you earn after suffering. It’s part of the work that makes progress possible. In training, nutrition, and life, pushing without recovery leads to burnout and shame, while building in rest fuels growth, joy, and sustainability. Learn why you don’t have to justify rest — and how to embrace it without guilt.
Train Like a Generalist, Not a Specialist
Most people don’t need to train like a pro athlete. Specialisation builds strength in one lane but often creates imbalances and injuries. This article explores why training like a generalist leads to better resilience, broader capability, and long-term health — and how to put it into practice.
The Missing Zones: Why Easy Cardio Isn’t a Waste of Time
Feeling stuck despite training hard? The often missing zones of Baseline Activity and Zone 2 quietly drive fat loss, boost aerobic capacity, improve recovery, and lower stress. Learn practical tests, realistic weekly structure, and why going easier more often builds a fitter, more capable life.
Lift AND Run AND Walk AND Crawl: Building a Truly Capable Body
A truly capable body isn’t built by specialising in just one thing. Learn why strength, endurance, walking, and ground-based movement all matter — and how training across these domains prepares you for real life, from local trails to everyday challenges.
Running Isn’t Just for Runners — Why Aerobic Capacity Matters for Everyone
Running isn’t only for runners. Building aerobic capacity gives you a bigger “gas tank” for life — from daily energy and recovery to metabolic flexibility and resilience. Learn why steady-state training matters, how to do it right, and how to make it work for your goals.
What a Backyard Project (And A Decade Of Spartan Races) Taught Me About Real Strength
Strength isn’t just about the mirror or calorie burn. From moving tons of material in my backyard to completing 32 Spartan Races, I’ve learned that real fitness is about capability — resilience, mobility, and durability that carry over into every part of life. Here’s why form follows function, and why that matters for you.
Never Too Old to Lift: Building Strength and Confidence at Any Age
Think you’re too old or inexperienced to start lifting weights? You’re not. Strength training builds more than muscle — it rebuilds confidence, resilience, and independence. Discover how to begin without overwhelm and why it’s never too late to get stronger.
A Plan Is Not A Prison (Or At Least It Shouldn't Be!)
Plans are only as good as your ability to adapt them. In training, nutrition, and life, flexibility beats perfection. Learn how to build plans that bend without breaking, turn setbacks into progress, and keep you moving toward your goals — no matter what life throws your way.
Strength After 40: How to Build It, Keep It, and Avoid Injuries Doing It
Learn how to build and maintain strength after 40 with smart, sustainable training. Discover strategies to avoid injuries, fuel recovery, and stay strong for life.
Muscle: The Most Overlooked Investment in Your Future Health
Strength training isn’t just about fitness — it’s your best defence against aging, frailty, and loss of independence. Learn why lean muscle mass is the most overlooked investment in your long-term health, resilience, and quality of life.
Minimum Effective Dose: The Busy Person's Guide to Getting Fitter Without Burning Out
Think you're too busy to get fit? Learn how minimum effective dose training delivers real results—without burning you out or taking over your life.
Yes, You Need to Push Yourself In The Gym — But Here’s How to Know When and How Much
You don’t need to crush every workout to get results — but you do need to show up, push your limits smartly, and build the kind of strength that lasts. Learn when to go hard, when to hold back, and how to use training as a tool for real, lasting growth.
Consistency Over Chaos: What Actually Builds Fitness That Lasts
Most fitness plans fail because they chase intensity over consistency. Learn why building a sustainable routine — even at 20% effort on tough days — is the key to long-term health, confidence, and capability.
Train for the Life You Want, Not Just the Body You Miss
Most people train to fix something. But what if you trained to build something instead? This article shows how to shift from chasing weight loss to building real-life capability, confidence, and strength — so your fitness supports the life you want to live, not just the body you used to have.
Sustainable Exercise Tips for Weight Loss: Start Your New Year Right
Discover sustainable exercise tips for weight loss this New Year. From daily movement to strength training, learn how to create habits that support fat loss, health, and longevity without burnout. Perfect for lasting results!
My Journey To Ultra - The Obstacle Is The Way
Kicking off the 2024 race season and the ultra training plan…and then getting COVID! Everyone’s got a plan until they get punched in the face, as “Iron” Mike Tyson used to say. Here’s what I’m doing to keep moving forward.
My Journey To Ultra - Baseline (Day 1)
Embarking on a transformative journey in 2024, I'm taking on two monumental challenges: my first 50K mountain ultramarathon and my first Spartan Race Ultra on my 50th birthday. Despite recent health setbacks and injuries, I'm determined to reach peak physical condition. Join me as I document this journey of resilience and self-discovery - it won't be boring!
Brachiation (Hanging Grip / Movement) Training
If you want a good chance of succeeding on the hanging obstacles on a Spartan Race, you're going to have to train your grip and learn to swing like a primate!
While being able to do pull-ups is great, it's not really necessary if you have a strong grip and good technique. It's also less important how long you can statically hang than it is to be able to grip HARD and release over and over again.
Combined with that, it is important to learn how to properly move your body in space while hanging to control your momentum and smoothly load / unload your hands. This can help you to be much more confident in transitioning from one grip event to the next as you move through the obstacles.
Put it all together, and you have brachiation.