The Human Potential Project

In Practice #2 join Basis London coach Tom McAdam for a beginner-friendly 15 minute walking meditation. Use this simple and easy mindfulness practice wherever you are walking, whether on your commute, round your local streets or in the park.

In Episode #17  Basis London founder Tom McAdam speaks with behaviour change specialist and bestselling author of The Kindness Method, Shahroo Izadi.

Shahroo began her career in addition treatment in the NHS. Through her experience, she became convinced that the general population could benefit from variations on the same tools and approaches that she was seeing transform people's lives in addiction recovery.

​Shahroo began to combine and adapt all of the most effective, compassion-based elements into a practical toolkit of written exercises and motivational information; adding her own observations and experience as she went.

These lessons are distilled into Shahroo's two bestselling books, The Kindness Method and The Last Diet.

We speak about:

* A radically different approach to behaviour change

* Why "problem habits" are actually solutions and how thinking about this can provide key insights into what you need to do to change

* Why kindness is such an effective way to create new habits and practical ways you can go about being kinder to yourself through the process of change

* The importance of becoming aware of your internal narrative

* Acknowledging ambivalence towards change and preparing for the inevitable moments of low motivation

* Why you should leverage your strengths rather than focus on your weaknesses

* Creating a positive vision for the future to become excited about the process of change

* Positive affirmations

* Finding your genuine reasons for change

* Why the most important part of your "plan" should be what you will do when you deviate from the plan

Among many other things. We hope you enjoy the conversation!
 
You can find Shahroo on instagram @shahroo_izadi and through her website shahrooizadi.co.uk

In Episode #16 Basis London founder Tom McAdam speaks with George Edwards, running coach and personal trainer based at GYMBOX Farringdon in London.

Having spent his early years pursuing a career in professional football, George has been coaching for well over a decade and has spent time working with everybody from youth footballers to general population.

George's passion for running and endurance emerged from his interest in obstacle course racing in which he currently competes.

We speak about:

* Running technique: how to use cadence, stride length and pose running to avoid injuries and improve performance

* How to get started with improving your running form

* Training protocols and strategies for exceptional endurance

* Common mistakes with endurance training

* Introduction to training zones and definition of Zones 1-5

* Why you should limit training time in Zones 3 & 4

* The importance of Zone 2 training

* How you should split your training between Zone 2 training and high intensity intervals

* The benefits of nasal breathing in running

* Why you should run without music

Among many other things. We hope you enjoy the conversation!
 
You can find George on instagram @ge_training and you can find out more about working directly with George at his website here

Welcome to the brand new Practice series at The Human Potential Project. In Practice 01, join podcast guest and breathwork teacher Artur Paulins for a 10 minute guided breath practice. This simple and beginner-friendly exercise will leave you feeling calm and restored and ready for whatever is next in your day.

See episode #15 for the full conversation with Artur.

In Episode #15 of The Health Club, Tom McAdam speaks with Artur Paulins, a breathwork teacher and mindfulness coach.

Creator of Breathwork Academy and the explorer of human equanimity, Artur is working internationally to transform our access to daily calm through breathwork.

In his early years, Artur became one of the first instructors trained directly by Wim Hof. This was his first training in breath mastery, which now spans a variety of breath-based approaches to wellbeing, resilience and inner-strength.

Artur has been practicing and teaching in the breath / meditation space for a long, long time and serves as the perfect guide for anybody who wants to learn more about these approaches.

We speak about:

• Getting into meditation as a way to enhance performance for martial arts
• Artur’s knee dislocation which lead him to Wim Hof
• Training with Wim Hof himself in the Netherlands
• Beginner’s guide to Wim Hof breathing
• Artur's broad range of breath training spanning Wim Hof, pranayama and yoga teacher training as well as Oxygen Advantage and more
• Artur’s exploration of effort and strictness in practice
• What is effortless meditation practice and what did Artur learn doing it?
• How to get started with meditation
• How to get started with breathwork
• Artur’s Breathwork Academy
• 3 top tips for starting an effective breath practice
  
  

Among many other things. We hope you enjoy the conversation!
 
You can find Artur on instagram @arturpaulins and you can find out more about Breathwork Academy and working directly with Artur at his website here

In Episode #14 of The Health Club, BJ Rule speaks with Darryl Edwards, a former investment banking technologist turned movement coach and author. He is the founder of the Primal Play Method and a physical activity, health and play researcher. 

Darryl wants to inspire humans regardless of age, ability or disability to transform their health by making physical activity fun and engaging.

His work has featured on documentaries, TV, radio, podcasts and international press. 

Darryl is author of the best-selling book "Animal Moves" and has released a range of fun fitness cards for adults, juniors, infants, office workers and fitness professionals called the Animal Moves Decks.

He regularly presents as a keynote speaker at events worldwide. His April 2019 TED talk "Why working out isn't working out"—has now been viewed over 800,000 times.

Darryl resides in London, England and publishes about playful living at PrimalPlay.com.

We speak about:

• Darryl’s fitness journey including early days of CrossFit and Gym Jones
• Darryl's unique, fascinating and extremely important view of the importance of play and movement and their effects on health
• Some alarming statistics about our lack of movement 
• The scientific validation of the Primal Play method
• 3 tips on how to incorporate more play and movement into our everyday lives

Among many other things. We hope you enjoy the conversation!

In Episode #13 of The Health Club, BJ Rule speaks with CrossFit HQ Seminar Staff member and Level 4 Coach Karl Steadman.  Karl is a legend in the UK's CrossFit community, having opened one of the country's very first affiliates in 2006 and going on to join the Seminar Staff in 2009. We discuss:

• The early days of CrossFit in the UK, the mid 2000s
• Karl's experience being one of the first box owners in the country
• Working as a “Red Shirt” on CrossFit HQ's Seminar Staff and travelling the world doing it
• Coaching and judging at the CrossFit Games
• Karl's family's move to the Scottish Highlands
• Why you shouldn’t wait any longer to start CrossFit 
• How to be a better coach
  
  Among many other things. You can find Karl at his latest box crossfitellipsis.com and on Instagram @karlsteadman. We hope you enjoy the conversation!

In Episode #12 of The Health Club, Tom McAdam speaks with pH Nutrition founder Liam Homes, a nutritionist with over a decade of experience working with Premier League football teams, CrossFit athletes and everyday people. We speak about:

• What Liam learned as nutritionist at 2 Premier League football clubs (Fulham, Tottenham)
• How nutrition works in elite sports
• What ‘training meals’ and ‘anytime meals’ are
• The fundamentals of good nutrition
• What food quality is and why it’s critical
• Why protein distribution is so important
• Why you shouldn’t eat a protein bar as a pre-workout snack
• How to control your food intake for body composition
• Why ‘if it fits your macros’ is a misguided approach
• The importance of ‘eating the rainbow’ and how to implement eating more colours
• How to make the transition to a plant-based diet
• How to implement a ‘good’ plant-based approach
• What anti-nutrients are and why you probably shouldn’t worry about them
• The importance of sleep for gaining muscle mass and losing fat
• How to improve sleep quality with natural light and sleep routines
• How fatherhood has changed Liam’s approach to training and nutrition
  
  Among many other things. You can find Liam at phnutrition.co.uk and on Instagram @ph_nutrition. We hope you enjoy the conversation!

In Episode #11 of The Health Club, Tom McAdam speaks with Strength Coach, CrossFit Coach and personal trainer Rob Stubbs. We speak about:

• Rob’s journey from training friends to personal training at Virgin Active to coaching CrossFit
• The differences between coaching CrossFit and PTing
• Rob’s philosophy on strength and why he thinks strength training should be universal
• Rob’s Strength Method and how it compares to and was inspired by Wendler’s 5-3-1
• The 5% rule for strength training
• Whether it’s ok to round your back on a deadlift
• Training to earn the right to lift your goal weight
• Rob’s approach to behavioural change with clients
• The magical morning walk
• Why and how you should check in with yourself
• The importance of being present when you eat
• How to approach improving sleep quality
• How to implement a weekly review

Among many other things. You can find Rob at robstubbspt.com and on Instagram @robstubbspt. We hope you enjoy the conversation!

In Episode #10 of The Health Club, Tom McAdam speaks with yoga therapist and acupuncturist Tissie Chan. We talk about:

• Tissie's journey from literature student to yoga therapist⁠
• The fascinating philosophical foundations of yoga and how it initially drew Tissie to the practice⁠
• What a yoga therapist is and how it differs from being a yoga teacher⁠
• Proper breathing in yoga⁠
• How to approach breathwork practice for beginners and more advanced practitioners⁠
• What is missing in typical commercial yoga offerings⁠
• cultural appropriation in yoga and what would constitute a more authentic yoga practice⁠

You can find Tissie at asubtlebreath.com and on Instagram @asubtlebreath

We hope you enjoy the conversation!