Smashing Fifty

Flexibility, mobility, and aches and pains are relatively quiet in the health and fitness world, where fat loss and muscle growth rule. However, as we age, ensuring that we stay mobile, active, and pain-free by focusing on our joints might just be the most important thing we can do.

Today's guest, Paul Millard, talks us through his journey from being a regular personal trainer in 2001 and going through various experiences to where he is today, working as a coach who focuses on building strong foundations first.

His unique practices ensure his clients stay pain-free, strong, and active well into their 70s.

Check out Paul's website here.

www.paulmillardfitness.com

When a routine blood test came back showing signs of cancer, 45-year-old Jo White knew he wasn't going to let the disease beat him.

Jo, from oldboystraining.com has spent his life training both the military and civilians up in the mountains and underwater and has been passionate about health and fitness for as long as he can remember.

Despite spending the last 10-plus years receiving treatment for his cancer, Jo continues to smash out remarkable feats that I quite frankly can't quite get my head around.

In this episode, Jo recounts his 365 half marathons challenge, his daily workout routines that he believes are key to him staying fit and healthy into old age, his ongoing passion for helping others, being humbled by a fellow hiker without legs, his upcoming marathon that his cancer drugs will prevent him from running properly, and his ongoing 1000 mountains challenge.

www.smashingfifty.com

Jamie Prokell is the Creative Director of Men's Health Magazine.

He's also a father, a husband, and a middle-aged man who, at 45, felt like he was being left behind in terms of his health and fitness.

In this episode, we learn how Jamie's eldest daughter running a 5k prompted him to start on his own running journey (and failing terribly), but how his persistence took him all the way to the New York Marathon and beyond.

Our conversation takes a wonderful twist from the physical benefits and positive changes that running can have on your life into mental health, the strange things that happen in your head whilst on a long run, and how Jamie's running brought him closer to his recently deceased father.

Check out Jamie's original article here: https://www.menshealth.com/fitness/a46165499/marathon-running-transformation/

In this episode, I discuss with world-renowned stretching coach Brad Walker everything you need to know about runner's knee.

In this episode, we discuss:

• What runner's knee is & how to prevent it

• How to treat runner's knee

• Recovery techniques

• What to do if you're currently struggling with runner's knee and you have an event coming up

• We'll also discuss strength training for runners and alternative forms of cardio

Brad Walker is a coach, author, speaker, and stretching expert, as well as a nationally-ranked athlete in Australia.

He's been featured in dozens of magazines on hundreds of websites across the globe and is often referred to as the stretching guru.

https://stretchcoach.com/

https://smashingfifty.com/

Freddie Bennett has been to places that most of us haven't on the spectrum of despair and personal achievement.

He went from being an overweight, unfit, drunk and depressed corporate executive to a Guinness World Record holder, running across the Sahara desert, winning ultramarathons, becoming a bestselling author and following a dream to move from the UK to New Zealand.

At rock bottom, he faced the barrel of a gun, but despite so many false starts and failures, he turned his life around completely.

Freddie shares many of his crazy stories in this episode, PLUS some of his top tips for how you can transform your own life.

Freddie's now on a mission to get people unstuck, unshackled & unleashed, and prove to the world that everyday people can achieve remarkable things.

His next challenge?

The world's toughest Ultra-Marathon through the Arctic.

Enjoy

https://smashingfifty.com/podcast/

https://freddiembennett.com/

Have you ever made a to do list because you’ve got loads of things on your mind and you want to start making progress in one area of your life or another, but then it all goes onto the list along with a handful of other things… and then you never do them.

Then instead of making long to-do-lists try making short and concise must-do lists.

I always considered myself to be an average, middle-of-the-road drinker who, despite drinking excessively in my younger days drank much the same as everyone else. However, could my drinking have been responsible for the mental health problems I suffered, especially with anxiety? 

I hope that you will be able to relate to this story, and maybe help you to explore your own relationship with alcohol and what harm it may have done to you. 

How much alcohol should you drink in order to enjoy alcohol at a safe level? 

Well, as of January 2023, Canada has announced that their new recommendation for a safe amount of alcohol to drink is ZERO!!   

And if you must drink, then it should be no more than two drinks (a glass of wine or a beer) per week!  

Previously they had recommended around 10 drinks per week in line with the US (the UK currently recommends about 6 per week).  

The new guidelines are based on new research that says "any amount of alcohol is a risk to your health".  

What do you think? Will this change how much alcohol you drink? 

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More resources: 

https://smashingfifty.com/21-benefits-of-giving-up-alcohol-for-a-month/ 

https://smashingfifty.com/20-things-to-do-instead-of-drinking/ 

https://smashingfifty.com/how-to-get-rid-of-a-beer-belly/

In 2018 Ian was struggling. His relationship was failing, his business was failing and at 27.5 stone (174kg, 385 lbs) his mental and physical health was failing. As he saw it, he was a failure. Fuelled by alcohol and drugs he attempted to take his own life. Thankfully, he was unsuccessful. Today, Ian has a new vice. Triathlon.

This is the story of how Ian, a 37-year-old man from the UK went from death’s door to being in the best shape of his life - across all areas of his life.

In this episode, Ian reveals how he went from a life full of excess and excuses to being a determined athlete about to take on his biggest challenge yet. An Iron Man.

@One_blokes_tri_journey

@Koasports 

@Gregmcdermottcoach

@Lyndsey_b_tri_

@Markrainey_theunit

@R8church 

@Philipcraig

@Bigmob

www.smashingfifty.com helping middle-aged men get healthier and happier.

Body Sculptor Ben is a coach and founder of the unbreakable man program. In this episode, we discuss what he thinks are the biggest challenges facing middle-aged men and how you can get out of a middle-aged rut. Ben also gives us a simple breakdown of how calories work as well as a few other interesting insights into men's health and happiness.