Health Oddity Podcast

We are joined from Putney in London by Aidan O’ Flaherty AKA @theirishphysio ahead of his ‘Running Injuries & Performance Master Class’ in Essex on Saturday 5th October.

Aidan is a former pro football player, competitive rower & runner who now works with high level endurance athletes (up to Olympic level) & recreational runners of all shapes, sizes & abilities.

In this fascinating conversation we discuss all things running, Training mileage, building running specific strength, foot striking, common injuries, biomechanics & more.

An essential episode if you run yourself or are an Physio, Osteo, Therapist or Coach who works with runners.

We are joined all the way from New South Wales, Australia by Allen Willis for a hard hitting, honest & challenging conversation with a man who has faced many demons & trials in his life & is certainly on an upwards trajectory of strength, resilience, empowerment & redemption.

We hear how Tim Anderson’s Original Strength & the work of Dan John formed a pathway for Allen to rebuild his life (physically & emotionally) & how he has managed to go from being in constant pain & barely able to walk to competing in Strongman & now coaching & helping others.

Parts of this conversation are uncomfortable, but Allen holds nothing back & what we are left with is a sense of hope, promise & hopefully a brighter future ahead.

We are joined for the third time by Disabled Strongman pioneer & organiser of Britains Disabled Strongman & Strongwoman Competition Gary Clarke.

This year the prestigious competition is being held at the Indoor Athletics Centre at Brunel University in London on the weekend of 14th/15th September & is going to be bigger than ever!

Health Oddity are sponsoring the event, Magnús Ver Magnússon is the head referee & it is FREE for spectators to watch the incredible & inspiring strongmen & strongwomen in action (plus Pete & James will be there all weekend signing autographs lol).

Peter & James return from their summer vacation (not together) & debrief their experiences of exploring the English countryside & mountainous terrain & discuss how they stayed on track with training while away from home.

The importance of deciding on your outcome & strategy BEFORE you go away & how to hit the ground running on your return. James also visits the birthplace of King Arthur & has a chance meeting on a cliff.

We are joined by our first ever German guest, the strong & mighty Sven Rieger from Stuttgart (dialling in from a family vacation in the idyllic Tuscan countryside).

Sven is the 204th lifter of the Dinnie Stones in Scotland (as referenced in Episode 203 with Andrew Russell) a Strongfirst Team Leader & Elite level instructor.

He has also passed the incredibly tough ‘Sinister’ challenge & is a Functional Movement FMS1 Certified Coach. We discuss strength, how to develop it, train it & adapt it for many varied challenges requiring different implements, skill sets & nuances.

Sven is a jovial giant of a man & it was great fun getting to know him better. Enjoy.

We are joined from Poland (between races at the European Canoeing Championships) by 20 year veteran International Canoeist turned ultra-runner & motivational speaker Keith Moule.

Keith describes the chance passing of a local canoe club at around 10 years of age that led to an international competitive career that saw him travel the world.

We hear about Keith’s record breaking race in 2023 that saw him & his partner break the 44 year standing record for the 125 mile DW (Devizes to Westminster) canoe race - paddling for over 15hrs non stop! Keith also shares what it takes to become world class (in anything) & what his competitive career taught him about life in general & how it educates his corporate career now.

A fascinating meeting with a focused & driven athlete with plenty of relatable advice for us all.

We are joined by returning guest Ben Morris (last seen on Episode 80: Less is More) Coffee Junkie, Sports Dabbler & a man strangely attracted to trying to lift heavy things.

In this engaging conversation we talk about overcoming setbacks in training & life - an inevitability if you adopt training as a lifelong pursuit.

Dealing with injuries both mentally & physically as we age & reframing setbacks as just another challenge to be overcome & an opportunity to learn about oneself & to plan our next steps.

A relaxed & thought provoking catch up with one of the original ‘friends of the show’.

We are joined today by Lucy Underdown - Europe's Strongest Woman 2023, Britain's Strongest Woman 2024, the first woman to deadlift 700lb (318kg) AND full time serving Police Officer.

We discus Lucy’s early athletics career in Shot Put & Discus. Her talent for (& love of) deadlifting, dealing with pressure & anxiety, discovering that training LESS actually produced better results for her, juggling a demanding career with elite performance & how her hobby somehow got out of control.

A lively chat with a down to earth & relatable lady - who just happens to be historically strong!

In this breather episode Peter & James take a focused ramble through some recent events & discussions.

James returns from his walking weekend surprisingly sore & fatigued.

We discus what Wimbledon tennis can teach us about training & lifestyle management & we review a recent episode of the Modern Wisdom podcast where Dr Mike Israetel gives his Masterclass on losing fat.

Andrew Russell is a Fitness Trainer, Strongfirst SFG1 Kettlebell Instructor, Shift worker AND the 274th person to lift the legendary Dinnie Stones in the Scottish Highlands.

Andrew (from Northern Ireland) discusses his training history, setting up his garage gym to allow him to train around his challenging work pattern, programming his training to take into account tiredness & lack of sleep & training to lift the Dinnie Stones.

This is a fascinating, down to earth conversation with a strong but humble family man which will be relatable to many of our listeners.