I started training when I was 16 years old, but not in the way most people expect.

My dad did not want me lifting weights. Like a lot of parents back then he believed the common myth that lifting weights would stunt your growth. We now know that is not true, but at the time it was a common belief.

So instead he set me a challenge.

If I wanted to train, I had to start with pull ups.

We had a homemade pull up bar in our flat and the target was simple, complete 10 sets of 10 pull ups. One hundred strict pull ups.

At the time it felt almost impossible. I had to chip away at it set by set, slowly building the strength to get through the full workout. But eventually I got there.

Looking back, that challenge probably shaped my entire approach to training.

It started with bodyweight strength. Pull ups, dips, push ups, learning to control my own body before ever touching a barbell. That foundation carried through everything I did afterwards.

Weights came later.

As I got older I moved deeper into strength training and spent more than a decade heavily focused on bodybuilding and lifting. Like most people in that world I chased numbers, pushing for more muscle and more strength year after year. At my strongest I bench pressed 180kg and spent years lifting heavy.

But strength alone was never the whole answer.

Over time I moved back toward bodyweight training while building endurance and overall work capacity. Since then I have run marathons, completed an Ironman 70.3 and the full Ironman 140.6, raced obstacle course events and completed OCR trifectas in a single weekend. I have trained alongside special forces candidates through programmes like Building the Elite and completed the Paras10.

Running, lifting, swimming, cycling, calisthenics, endurance racing, functional training, across nearly three and a half decades I have explored most corners of the fitness world.

And through all of it one idea has stayed consistent.

Staying capable.

I am now 40 and I would run circles around most 25 year olds. Not just running either. In the gym, in a calisthenics park, or during an endurance session most of them would struggle to keep up.

That is not genetics and it is not luck.

It is simply the result of decades of consistently building and maintaining real capability.

The modern fitness world tends to split people into narrow categories. Strength athletes who cannot run. Endurance athletes who cannot lift. Bodybuilders who look strong but move poorly. Calisthenics athletes chasing flashy skills but ignoring the basics.

Everyone is specialising harder and harder.

But the real goal should be broader.

Your body should be able to run, lift, carry, climb, jump, swim and move through the world without hesitation. You should be able to control your own bodyweight, move heavy things and cover distance when needed.

You do not need to be elite at everything.

But you should be broadly capable.

A capable body gives you freedom. It allows you to take on challenges, explore new environments, keep up with your kids and continue doing hard things as you get older.

But capability is not just physical.

It is also mental. A capable person stays curious. They keep learning, keep testing ideas and keep pushing themselves rather than drifting into comfort.

That is really what Staying Capable is about.

This blog and newsletter is where I will explore the methods, ideas and habits that allow people to remain capable as they age. Some of those will come from my own experience after nearly 35 years of training across different disciplines. Others will come from athletes, coaches, researchers and people who are still performing at a high level well into their 40s, 50s and beyond.

We will look at training methods, endurance, strength, mobility, mindset, recovery and lifestyle. The goal is simple, to understand what it really takes to remain strong, resilient and capable as the years go by.

Because the modern world quietly pushes people toward decline. Less movement, more comfort, more convenience and more distraction.

Staying capable is the decision to push back against that.

The goal is not perfection.

It is simply this.

At 40, 50, 60 and beyond you are still strong, still curious, still adventurous.

Still capable.