Lochloy Barbell

There are quite a few new faces here, so I thought it was time I properly introduced myself again.

I’m Jonny, the coach behind Form and Function.

My fitness journey started around 20 years ago. At my heaviest, I was over 330 pounds, so I know what it feels like to be unhappy with your body, lacking confidence and feeling like your health has got away from you.

Fitness helped me change that, but the biggest changes weren’t the physical.

It gave me confidence, discipline and eventually a career helping other people do the same.

I’ve now been coaching for around 10 years, and I still don’t believe I know everything not even close.

I’m consistently still doing continued education.

Still employing coaches who know more than me in areas I want to improve. I still ask questions and change my mind when better information comes along.

That’s part of the responsibility of being a coach in my belief, if I’m going to expect you to part with your money and invest in yourself, then any good should be doing the same.

My reasons for training have changed too.

I still love competing and testing myself, but events aren’t the most important part of fitness for me anymore.

Hayleigh and I both work full time and we’re raising our son Adam who is autistic and has ever changing needs.

Life can be busy and unpredictable, so I understand what it means to make fitness fit around real life rather than expecting life to revolve around fitness.

These days, my biggest reason for looking after myself is simple.

I want to be around for my son for as long as humanly possible.

And I don’t just want to be here, I want the strength, fitness and health to actually be to keep up, do things together, stay independent and have a good quality of life as I get older.

That’s what I want for my clients too, especially parents.

Yes, lose the body fat. Chase the PB. Get stronger. Run the races and Do things that challenge you.

But beyond that, build a body that allows you to live your life.

That’s what Form and Function is about

No expectation of perfection. Just good training, sensible nutrition, education, accountability and support when life gets busy

More life to your years 🤝

I always get messages asking me...

"How much do you charge for PT sessions?"

And it's actually quite a hard question for me to answer.

Because I don't really sell PT sessions.

Yeah, I coach people one to one every week.

But you're not paying me just for that hour in the gym.

Because if all you needed was somebody to stand beside you, count your reps and tell you what exercise is next... I'm probably not the coach for you.

My job is to coach the other 167 hours of your week as well.

It's making sure your training actually has some direction and purpose.

It's changing the plan when work gets mental, the kids are ill, you've barely slept, you've picked up a ni**le, bigger injury or life just gets in the fu***ng way.

It's helping you understand your nutrition rather than just chucking another meal plan at you for you to blindly follow.

It's giving you something to do when you're not training with me.

It's looking at your progress, your recovery, your habits and what's actually stopping you getting where you want to go.

And sometimes it's having the conversation you probably don't want to have when you've started drifting away from the things you told me were important to you.

The one to one session is part of the service.

But the COACHING is the service.

Because I don't want someone to be dependent on seeing me for an hour every week for the rest of their life.

I want you to actually understand what the f**k you're doing and lean into the coaching process fully.

I want you stronger.

Fitter.

Healthier.

More capable.

And able to keep doing this s**t long after you don't need me anymore.

So when someone asks me how much I charge for a PT session...

That's why the answer isn't really that simple.

I don't sell PT sessions.

I coach people.

Today is the last day of my 30s.

A few weeks ago I had a bit of a moment where I was thinking, surely I should have more of my life figured out by now?

I’m turning 40 and half the time I still feel like I’m just winging life. Like I’m behind somehow, or there are things I should have done by now.

But the more I thought about it, the more I realised everyone probably feels like that to some extent

When I actually stopped and looked at my life rather than whatever version of it I thought I should have, I realised I’ve got so much to be grateful for.

I’m fitter now than I was at 20.

Hayleigh and I have just bought what we hope will be our forever home.

I get to work for myself doing something I genuinely love, helping people.

When Adam was born, running my own coaching business was a complete pipe dream. I knew I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life tied to working in care homes, especially with Adam’s complex needs.

I wanted the flexibility to be around for him and to build a life where Hayleigh and I could be there as much as possible.

And somehow we’ve managed to make that happen.

I’ve been coaching for 10 years now, which is pretty mad in itself. The vast majority in the industry don’t see it out the first 3 years.

I’ve got a great family around me, a close group of mates I’ve known since I was a kid and some brilliant newer friendships too.

Some of those friendships have led to starting a podcast, travelling, going to coaching events, meeting people I’d never have met otherwise and saying yes to things I probably wouldn’t have years ago.

So no, I definitely don’t have everything figured out.

I still make mistakes, change my mind, get things wrong and question what I’m doing daily.

I don’t have 40 life lessons to share because I’m turning 40.

But I do know a few things.

You’re never going to get what you want if you don’t try.

You probably should fail at things along the way.

Fall down, f**k things up, learn from them and try again.

Say yes to opportunities even when you don’t know where they’ll lead.

And get comfortable saying no to things you don’t want in your life anymore.

I don’t think any of us ever completely figure it out.

Maybe we’re all just winging it?

10 weeks working with
Sam Garrow

No food tracking.

Two holidays.

Multiple trips away.

Three strength sessions every week.

And an insane change in just ten weeks.

But I want to add some context here, because
I don’t want this post to become another example of someone claiming you never need to track your food.

Could everyone achieve these results without tracking?

For the vast majority, probably not.

Sam came to me with some brilliant habits already in place. She eats mostly whole foods, prioritises protein, has a high level of daily activity and trains with me three times per week.

And when she’s in the gym, she grafts.

She turns up, works hard and gives everything I ask of her.

Tracking food is a useful tool, but it isn’t the only way to make progress. Sam didn’t need more restriction or to put her life on hold she is super busy running multiple businesses.

She needed a structured training plan, progressive strength work and consistency with the habits she already had.

She’s enjoyed holidays, gone away with friends and lived her life throughout the process.

No perfect ten weeks.

Just solid habits, good daily standards and a lot of hard work.

She deserves every bit of these results, and the best part is that we’re only just getting started.

The forgotten 23 hours.

Everyone focuses on the 1 hour in the gym…

But the other 23 hours are what determine how much you actually get from it.

Sleep.
Recovery.
Nutrition.
Hydration.
Stress.
Consistency.

That’s where progress is being left on the table.

Want any more info on any of these areas feel free to drop me a message.

This is not a woe is me post this is a learning opportunity for you all.

Life’s been a bit chaotic lately to put it lightly.

We were meant to get the keys to our new house on Monday.

Everything was packed up and moved out Friday ready to go.

We’d already moved ourselves into a caravan for a couple of weeks because the new place needs work done before we can properly move in.

Then on the day of the move we found out things couldn’t go ahead (through no fault of our own) with no real timeline on when it’ll be sorted.

Could be days, could be weeks.

So now we’re living out of a caravan, paying extra money we didn’t expect to spend, stuck in limbo waiting for answers while trying to keep things as settled as possible for Adam.

It’s stressful., It’s frustrating,It’s exhausting mentally.

But the whole situation reminds me of lessons learned when I started this fitness journey and helping clients with fat loss, endurance training and honestly just life in general.

Most people are fine when everything is going to plan.

Calories hit.

Training sessions done

Energy high.

Routine smooth.

But the real test is what happens when things DON’T go perfectly.

When stress is high.

When routines are disrupted.

When life throws something at you that you didn’t plan for.

That’s usually the point people throw the towel in completely because things aren’t ideal anymore.

But progress in fitness and in life often comes from being able to stay steady in the middle of uncertainty.

Not perfect. Just steady.

You don’t need perfect conditions to keep moving forward. You just need to keep controlling what you can.

Right now I can’t control solicitors, paperwork or timelines.

But I can control my attitude.

I can still train albeit sporadic.

Still show up for my family.

Still keep perspective.

Because as stressful as this is, I still have Hayleigh and Adam healthy beside me.

We’re healthy, we’re together, and we’re lucky to even be in a position where buying a new home is possible.

Sometimes life delays things.

That doesn’t mean it’s all falling apart

Same in fitness.

A bad week doesn’t ruin your progress.

A disrupted routine doesn’t mean start again Monday.

You can adapt.

You stay in the game.

You keep moving forward.

34 minutes.

That’s how much knocked off his Loch Ness Etape time this year.

4hr 21 last year.
3hr 47 this year.

And honestly this is exactly what happens when someone commits to the process and just keeps showing up.

Kris came to me wanting to improve his health and performance. Since then he’s continued to stack result after result.

PB at Loch Morlich 10k.
PB at Inverness Half Marathon.
Now a huge PB at the Etape.

But none of this has come from doing anything extreme.
It’s came from consistency.

Kris is a busy dad of two, works full time and like everyone else has weeks where life gets hectic and things aren’t perfect.

He just doesn’t disappear every time life gets busy.

His communication is constant.
He asks questions.
He gives feedback.

When we make changes he implements them fast.
And most importantly he trusts the process.

That’s what keeps moving him forward.

A lot of people want the result without the repetition that comes with it.

Kris has embraced both.

And it’s not just his performance that’s improved either. His body composition, confidence and overall health have changed massively over the last year too as shown in slide 3.

One of my favourite parts from his messages after the Etape was him saying he reached the top of Fort Augustus smiling because he finally had the fitness to enjoy it properly.

That’s what this is about!!

You don’t want to just survive the events you sign up to.

Actually becoming fitter, healthier and more capable enough to enjoy them.

Proud of you lad