Acb Coaching

Coach points = -1000! Stayed up to 1am the night before enjoying the Cannes nightlife meant that for large parts this was struggletown. Set off at the back and got held up at the start, climbed the field from 118th at first timer to 35th. 28km running and nearly 9km swimming. Cream crackered.

Awkward moments today as a men's and mixed team cut inside a buoy on a long swim changing the outcome of the podium in both classes. Put together a race 'protest' having cleared it with the mixed team first. They both got a 5 min penalty. This put us in 3rd by about 30 seconds 😬 Mixed feelings receiving this but lotte and I didn't go to the awards to stand on podium.

Great fun at Otillo Cannes sprint swimrun with Lotte Carritt, now for some recovery beers before we do it all over again and then some with Steven Lord!

ACB Coaching Ltd is 4 today! 🎉🎂 Here's to many more!

More #CPD you say? Go on then. @macnutrition #macnutrition

And old guest blog but still a relevant topic, worth a read for coaches working with female athletes!

Strong associations between strength and fitness and claimants for disability even when controlling for socioeconomic status - in a study of 1.2 million!
Mental note - try to not be weak and unfit.
http://bjsm.bmj.com/conte…/…/2018/06/ 19/bjsports-2017-098723

5th overall and 3rd mixed team for Team ACB Coaching ...great day out!

Consistent training, delivers results, over time. Nothing fancy, no magic sessions, just turning up again and again. Fantastic progress from one of the cyclists I've been working with over the last 2.5 years.
The Jan 2017 result is an example of many for context - progress is not linear. You must recover, and adapt, to push on again. This pattern is demonstrated each season, but not graphed.
This represents 30 months of training, averaging 42 hours a month. This is roughly ...53 continuous days of cycling! Thats a lot of work. Patience is required!
1 hour power (FTP) taken from 295 to 349 watts - for someone who was already at a very good standard, an 18% performance a great result.
As a coach, the first year of results is pretty much free. Do anything and the imposed structure will often get you a lot of results. To have continued this progress for another 18 months, and for the hard work to be paying off in the athlete's performances is a great thing to be a part of.
Here's to continued progress!
I have some coaching slots for endurance athletes available. If anyone is interested. Get in touch.
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Some fantastic new equipment that will really help the boys take their strength and conditioning (especially their conditioning) training to another level!

If he keeps this up I'll just have to keep reposting! #Repost @rider1981 ・・・ Very happy to have come 3rd today in my age group in the Tour of Cambridgeshire. New course PB and up 6 places on last year. Big thank you for the cheers for my little moment on the podium @ericha1805 @ptownsin @nicky.lambert.72 @jamesboardley @hlab123 @germ.one Fantastic 📸 courtesy of @nickreinis... @acbcoaching 👍 #tourofcambridgeshire #ToC #chrono #TT #peterboroughcyclingclub #racing #timetriallling #aeroiseverything #orbea #orduomp #hedwheels
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Basically famous! ・・・ Nice to be in the local paper yesterday... #PCC #peterboroughcyclingclub #timetriallling #racing #aeroiseverything @acbcoaching... @activeedgeofficial
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It's been a long journey but one of my proudest achievements as a coach is to have helped this guy get into the United Kingdom Special Forces (UKSF). Knowing what he had to go through to get there, suffering a chest infection during the initial selection process, to going through it again. What a freaking beast! If you know, you know!

Nail on head. Less than 3 minutes of your time. Well worth a watch for an insight into the mindset of bulimic-type eating disorders.
Particularly salient in this video are the societal/cultural pressures he highlights that kept him stuck in his disordered behaviours....
'...there is a laddish sort of culture of urging excess on people...'
... '...if you work out to the point where you throw up or injure yourself, that's sort of admirable in a way, and I sort of bragged to myself about it...'
'...I think I told myself that the lie that the system helps to reinforce is that it didn't matter how I felt about it, what mattered was what I did....'
http://www.bbc.co.uk/ne…/…/44081425/m ale-bulimia-i-told-myse
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Some really cool presentations on Slideshare.
Check out this one on strength training for older populations. So many benefits!
https://www.slideshare.net/…/strength-t raining-for-older-po…

A review I put together of the Athletic Evolution conference in Edinburgh....

Wow, its been a long time since I posted a blog. Back with a bit of a rant. Body image and instagram has been grinding my gears.
http://www.acbcoaching.com/fitspiration-t ransformation-dos…/

Seriously news outlets! Yes it will be slightly warmer than normal for this time of year at the weekend but constantly using the phrase...
'it could be the hottest London marathon on record'
...is seriously unhelpful for the thousands of 1st time runners this weekend.
... News presenters on the BBC suggesting that people need to start hydrating 'probably even before now' is not only incorrect, and potentially dangerous, but anyone who includes 'before now' in time bound advice..... who has a time machine!? Wtf!
Make sure you start well hydrated (pee is not too dark) Pace conservatively If you're too hot, slow down. If you're thirsty drink something
If you're not trained to run marathon in the low to mid 20s on a sunny spring day, #newsflash, you're not trained to run a marathon!
Have fun everyone!
#vlm #marathon #Londonmarathon
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Thank you Andy for helping me help myself. My sessions with you have really been life changing and that is no exaggeration. Nearly 10 years of eating disorder behaviours are finally leaving me. I am no longer scared of food. I enjoy eating. I eat to nourish my body. I can look at myself in the mirror and see good things, i can see beyond aesthetics and a scale weight.

My sessions with Andy have taught me so much about myself, and how to deal with different situations that previously I would struggle with. He never solves things for you, but helps you answer things yourself. Managing my relationship with food and body image is still very much a work in progress But i no longer feel despairing when thinking about eating. I’m in a place where i can genuinely say I am very happy. I can eat what i want without negative mental consequences, and the positive changes have been noticed by family and friends.

Superb! First endeavour into the coaching sphere and not disappointed. Far from it... the best desicion I've made for structure, rapid improvement and a very human approach. Would not change..!

Set myself a goal of getting "stronger" having thought I was in reasonable shape but not getting younger. Having known Andy as a coach I approached him with my targets. I was quite specific about what I would do and what I felt I couldn't do. At the age of 56 with a full knee replacement and hip replacement I wasn't the ideal athlete and on my first session with Andy I just about managed to lift my own body weight, 66kg!!

However with Andy's enthusiasm and his attention to my specific needs, combined with the detail of the sessions we've done I have just lifted two and half times my body weight, 170kg. I pull up my body weight and an extra 34.5kg.

Believe me I'm no "muscle man" but with Andy I was able to understand what the body could do as opposed to what I thought I could do.

Top class coach and would have no hesitation in recommending him, especially to what I would describe as people who perhaps had given up on their dreams for one reason or another. Like myself.

Thanks Andy

I'd highly recommend training with Andy. I came to him wanting to improve my technique and get stronger for rugby. His knowledge, ability to adapt sessions/ training regime to me and motivation helped me set and achieve my goals. Andy also gave me a great deal of help with overcoming injuries and nutrition advice. Finally, as others have said, he is a thoroughly good bloke and makes working out hard a lot of fun.

I was slightly reticent to use a personal trainer, having never had one for a training cycle before, but having gone through a 12 week programme with Andy I would thoroughly recommend it.



The programme was broken down into a monthly cycle with a training programme to complete in my own time and nutritional advice. He was fantastically knowledgeable and was able to back up his exercises with scientific reasons, instead of 'Bro-science' that I hear on a regular basis in the gym. As such, I feel much more confident applying the exercises to the training programme as I understand the reasoning behind it.



A fantastic trainer, and I will be using again.

I have overcome and achieved things I never thought I could!

Andy has helped me to improve and manage my emotional and controlling relationship with food and exercise. Since working with Andy, I am much more relaxed with my food choices and am now enjoying my training sessions for the achievement and not just focusing on the calorie burn. My self confidence has improved immensely and I feel healthier and happier. Highly recommend!

Can't recommend Andy highly enough. A top bloke who knows his stuff. He helped me prepare for the Dragon's Back Race - a 200 mile fell run across the mountainous spine of Wales. And despite having a 1:2 chance of not finishing - I did! Thanks Andy!!

Best coaching service I've had to date. Adaptive, progressive and resulting in surprisingly quick improvements.

Andy programmed my training for over 6 months and in that time I must have hit 5 or 6 Personal Bests. As an ex premiership rugby player and now competitive crossfitter, I had my doubts about using a coach who didn't know much about Crossfit. I can honestly say now, that I no longer feel that way. His knowledge and willingness to adapt to further understand my sport was what made my programme so successful.

Without his expertise I can safely say I wouldn't have rowed a 10k row-as part of a competition qualifier-as fast as I did.

He built my confidence in all aspects of my training & he also built my confidence in myself as an athlete.

I can't recommend him highly enough. �

Andy is the best coach I've ever worked with. His adaptability and understanding of each different athlete's requirement is second to none. He's really helped become a better and stronger cricketer. Can't recommend him enough.

Andy has helped improve my relationship with food, exercise and myself.



To keep things simple he has saved me from an eating disorder which was eating me up, and using up all of my time.



After 4 months of work with Andy I have change old patterns and relationships so much, and am beginning to feel more and more confident in my own decision making.



Thank you Andy

Andy began coaching me in the winter build up to this year's time trialling season and with his help I've met or exceeded all of my goals for the year, including numerous PBs, 2nd in the Northamptonshire County TT league (behind another ACB coached rider!) and 7th in my age group at the UCI Gran Fondo World Championships Time Trial. Andy and I quickly established a great working relationship with Andy always going the extra mile to fit my plan around my needs.

I really enjoy working with Andy and having him there to advise and support me. I'm looking forward to the next season!