Coach Milligan

"We fight for that inch. Cause we know: When we add up all those inches. That's going to make the fu***ng difference"

Any Given Sunday

Making positive health changes can be difficult.

Many people try and make a big pivot and aim for a 100% improvement.

This is usually far too overwhelming.

People give up with this approach.

What if you tried something different?

What if you tried to improve 100 things by 1%?

Over the course of a week you have 100s of opportunities to do something marginally better.

7 days.

Approximately 21 meals and 14 snacks to make better choices.

7 opportunities to go to bed earlier.

7 opportunities to wake up earlier.

7 opportunities to go a walk instead of Netflix.

7 opportunites to go to the gym.

7 days of drinking water instead of fizzy juice.

100s of opportunities every week to shift the needle 1%

Losing weight, building muscle, getting in shape is hard.

Sticking to a plan.

Pushing through your comfort zone.

Meal prep.

Getting your steps in instead of sitting on the coach.

Lifting more weight than last week.

Delaying gratification.

Getting up early, rather than hitting snooze.

All Hard stuff.

But Hard isn't impossible.

Hard is just Hard.

Most humans can do Hard stuff.

That includes you.

Ask yourself:

"Am I the type of person that can do Hard things?"

I bet you'll believe you can.

That's all Getting in shape is - consistently doing Hard things.

That's it.

If you're trying to get in shape, drop fat or build muscle - avoid stepping over pounds to pick up pennies.

Stop worrying about thing like:

Will an ice bath impede my muscle gain?

Do I need to hold a stretch for 20s or 40s?

Is kale better than broccoli?

Do I need to wear blue light blocking sunglasses 39 minutes before bed witha room temperature of exactly 18.499 degrees?

If I eat over 48.79g of protein in one go will it turn straight to fat?

Do I need to meditate, cold shower, fill out a gratitude journal all before the sunrises?

Look, I'm not against optimising human performance. There's things on the list above I'll do.

But.........

Most people are avoiding the big rocks that work, that have stood the test of time in order to f**k about with the little things that may have marginal benefits.

Focus on these things:

Lift weights.

Do cardio.

Eat your protein.

Drink your water.

Move throughout the day.

Eat your fruit and veg.

Get a decent amount of sleep.

Eat like an adult.

I've yet to find a single person in my 20 years of training people that hasn't got themselves in shape by consistently doing what's on this list.

There's a time and place for the other stuff.

But most people need to dial in the basics.

Do them consistently and with savage intention.

The reality is most people probably know this information to he true.

Some will implement it.

Some will keep procrastinate - looking for the stuff that doesn't matter too much.

Some will get results.

Some won't.

Old dogs. No tricks.

Last week I completed the Base Race with an old friend, Scott.

We played football together about 15 years ago - proper old school centre half. Tough, physical and never one to shy away from a battle.  I think he was the only player in our team to pick up more cards than me 🤣

I later looked after his S&C when he won his Scottish Muay Thai title and now years later, I’m training his two boys in the same sport.

The funny thing is, standing beside each other in our 40s, it didn’t feel that different from when we were playing football in our 20s.

The faces have changed a little. The bodies maybe aren’t quite as forgiving.

But the competitive nature, the banter, the willingness to suffer and the desire to push each other is still exactly the same.

Maybe that’s the real benefit of staying fit as you get older.

You don’t have to grow out of the things that made you who you are.

Some people will invite you to go drinking, others will invite you to spend 12 hours on a Saturday running 24km, 24km on a Bike Erg, 6km on a Ski Erg and 6km on a Rower.

Choose your people wisely.

Some official pics by Ross Macdonald from Saturdays Base Race.

What a day, what a team 🔨🔨🔨

You said you'd start.

After Xmas.

Before Summer.

After Summer.

When the kids are off school.

When the kids are back at school.

When the weather's better.

When the weather's worse.

Next Monday.

The next next Monday.

Next Month.

The problem with this mentality is that this becomes a habit.

Perpetually procrastinating on your health and fitness.

I say it all the time, it's not going to get easier when your older, fatter and less fit.

The cost of inaction is high.

If you were going to get in shape this year, it's time to start.

Now.

BACK TO BASELINE

Summer's coming to an end.

The kids are heading back to school, routines are starting to return and for a lot of us, it's time to get back to doing the things we know make us feel better.

Back to BaseLine is a 6 week programme designed to get you back into a solid routine, rebuild your strength and raise your standards again.

6 weeks of consistent training, better nutrition and doing the basics well.

WHAT'S INCLUDED

3/4 structured training sessions per week:
Built around strength, muscle and conditioning - so you get stronger, look better and improve your fitness.

Nutrition guidance:
Simple, realistic targets to get your eating back under control without living on chicken and broccoli.

Accountability:
A clear structure to keep you moving forward and stop the usual "I'll start again Monday" cycle.

The BaseLine standards:
Steps. Protein. Water. Training. Recovery.

The boring stuff that works.

Whether you've let things slide over the summer or you're simply ready for a fresh start, this is your opportunity to get back on track.

Starts Monday 24th August.

6 weeks.

Available at BaseLine HQ for members or online, so you can follow the programme wherever you train.

Get back to BaseLine.

DM me BASELINE for the details.