This week's guest, is Joshua Parry.

Josh is a fellow welshman and weightlifter, hailing from my hometown, South Wales steel capital, and my hometown, Port Talbot.

In 2018, Josh represented Team GB at the Commonwealth Games in Australia, the 94 kg Men’s weightlifting category.

In this wide-ranging, funny, insightful and inspiring chat, we talk about Josh’s journey from casual gym-goer to Commonwealth Games weightlifting competitor.

We talk about masculinity, weightlifting and the fitness community at large. We delve into eating disorders (something Josh and I have both struggled with), male body image and feeling the societal and cultural pressure to look a certain way and uphold a certain image.

We also talk goal-setting, focus and determination. As well as performance anxiety, panic attacks and learning to cope under pressure. As this was something Josh struggled with on his journey, we also talk about managing your mind, thoughts and the importance of being in touch with your emotions.

Another key theme that was interwoven throughout our chat, was learning to be yourself and stop caring what other people think about you, because ultimately, it does not matter!

The world needs you, exactly as you are.

I really want to commend Josh for speaking so openly about his eating disorder journey, because speaking from experience, it ain’t easy. Especially with a lot of the rhetoric in gym-going circles and the fitness community is to appear larger than life and bulletproof. But I think it shows a different type of strength to expose what we perceive to be our vulnerabilities. That's true courage and fortitude.

Anyway, please enjoy my conversation with Josh Parry!