A young Turk I’ve been helping get back into the gym after a lengthy hiatus asked for some guidance on how to structure his workouts now he’s been back at it for a while. He’d previously asked me this: Do Protein Shakes Work? Check it out to find out. Up until now he’s been hitting the gym three-to-four times weekly, and generally getting in a full body workout. The results have been impressive: coupled with regular cardio, this approach has helped him shed 6 or 7 kilos in six months and he’s become reacquainted with his previously well-disguised abs. Having been somewhat bitten by the workout ..read more

Do you ever find yourself thinking that society these days is just a tiny bit selfish, and people seem to be solely out for themselves? Worse, do you ever look in the mirror and think that you, too, could be afflicted with this ‘me at all costs’ disease? I do. A worrying amount of the time. People care for themselves and their family, which is perfectly natural and understandable, but how many folks actually go out of their way to regularly do things for other people they don’t know or aren’t related to? I’m guessing the number is fairly low. I guy I train, let’s call him Lenny, volunteers two ..read more

I recently stumbled on this masterpiece from exactly 1 year ago and it got me thinking about the fickle and transient nature of health and fitness, and some of fitness hacks that have worked for me personally. That’s right, our search for the quick-fix silver-bullet shows no sign of abating; we find it, get bored, realise it’s a case of The Emperor’s New Clothes (again), and then move onto the next phase of the quest. So in 2023 I listed the following as top “fitness hacks that still work in 2023”: 10,000 Steps Per Day Daily Creatine Supplementation Sprint & Lift Heavy Intermittent Fastin ..read more

Eight years ago I wrote this article detailing the 17 Things No Man Over 35 Should Still Be Doing.  It was by far the most widely-read and polarising thing I’ve ever written. Well, apart from the Best Man’s Speech that got me thrown out of a wedding. It was published by Lifehacker and the comments went off like a rocket with outraged blokes SCREAMING IN CAPITAL LETTERS that nobody was going to tell them how to live their lives or what to do. My favourite comment was this simple beauty: “Ben Ford can suck my d***,” to which I found the author’s email address and replied, asking if it was a ..read more

I was recently asked this question by a Dad-of-two who has embarked on a fitness journey like the “Prophet New-Inspired.” He’s maxing out on his schmick gym membership with a trainer who partakes in Hyrox competitions so is all about the weights and the running. Hyrox, for those that don’t know, is the acceptable face of fitness competitions, or, put another way, fitness comps for those that find CrossFit too hard. [I joke, of course. Or do I?] Moving on…when I quizzed this chap about his fitness goals, it was a fairly typical mix of losing body fat, building muscle, sharpening up the rig and ..read more

It’s that time of year again. Holiday time. Where I leave behind the daily angst of trying to get #superfitkid off the couch & YouTube in a beachside suburb in Sydney and, instead, try doing the exact same thing but transplanted to Queensland. With much the same results. We’ve made our vaguely annual schlep up to the aptly named Sunshine Coast, and the once-quaint beachside town of Noosa. Or Noosa Heads. Or Noosaville. Whatever. In the same way that some restaurants are run by people who don’t actually like food and F45 workouts are seemingly created by people who hate movement & exerc ..read more

I stumbled across this, previously unpublished, post a few days ago and upon re-reading realised that much of what it contains still holds true when it comes to weight-loss. For me, at least. This shouldn’t be too surprising. Whilst it’s always fun and interesting  to keep on top of the latest findings, so much in health & fitness seems to be born out of fads and get-rich-quick schemes. As a general rule, I’d posit that 70-80% of what you do in any workout should be (or be based on) “the classics” and then 20% could be some new-fangled stuff, if that blows your hair back. Anyhow, back ..read more

Everybody – it seems – is in search of the latest quick fix when it comes to their fitness. The elusive Silver Bullet that will give massive results in exchange for the minimum viable effort. That’s what we’re told. And it could well be true. I don’t really know, and I’m not that sure I actually care. But, as any time-poor parent will tell you, we are always slyly looking out for something that will deliver an asymmetrical ‘bang-for-your-buck’ return on your fitness endeavors. Think: the “sprint & lift heavy” approach recommended by Martin Rooney, founder of Training For Warriors and a man ..read more

Here are a few quick & easy workouts you can do on the beach in next-to-no-time and then jump straight into the ocean for a refreshing cool-down. No worries if you don’t have beach access. You can do these at home, in the back yard, or even in a hotel room if you’re on the road for work. The “easy” aspect of them, though, is a fairly loose and subjective term. Here it means simple to perform without much (or any equipment). But let’s not confuse simple with easy. Warm-up well, ideally for 10 minutes, going through the gears until you’re hot and breathing fairly hard. After all, and to quot ..read more

The internet, as we know, is full of charlatans, snake-oil salesmen and catfishermen.  So where does a time-poor Dad go in search of smart, sensible training advice? Instagram is amongst the best & worst of this new digital age. It’s an absolute rabbit-hole of information, mis-information and pictures of scantily-clad chartreuses. Or maybe that’s just my feed… Well, lurking, like a diamonds in the rough, in this den of digital iniquity are a few value-providers, knocking out free info for the likes of you and I. And luckily for you, I’ve spent the hours digging around, watching the me ..read more