http://www.onfirefitness.co.uk/

Onfirefitness - Winchester, Winchester (2026)

13/09/2026

💥 FACT BUSTERS #007 — LICENCE TO LIFT 💥

THE MYTH:

“Once you get older, you should stop lifting heavy weights and stick to light weights.”

🚨 FACT BUSTED.

Getting older isn't a reason to stop challenging your body.
In fact, maintaining strength becomes increasingly important as we age.
From our 30s onwards, we can gradually lose muscle mass and strength if we don't give the body a reason to keep them. As we get older, that can eventually affect far more than how much weight we can lift in a gym.

It can affect our ability to:
💪 Get up from the floor
🛒 Carry the shopping
🪜 Climb stairs
🏡 Do jobs around the house and garden
🏃 Keep up with children and grandchildren
⚖️ Maintain balance and stability
🦴 Keep our bones strong
🚶 Move confidently and independently

Strength isn't just about muscles.

Strength is capability.

And resistance training is one of the best tools we have for maintaining that capability as we get older.

BUT WHAT DOES “LIFT HEAVY” ACTUALLY MEAN?

This is where people sometimes misunderstand the message.
Heavy is relative.

Heavy for a trained 30-year-old is different from heavy for a trained 60-year-old.
Heavy for someone who's trained for 20 years is completely different from heavy for someone walking into a gym for the first time.
We're not talking about loading a barbell with as much weight as possible and hoping for the best.
We're talking about progressive resistance training.
Learn the movement.
Build good technique.
Gradually increase the challenge.

Get stronger.

And, where appropriate, continue lifting progressively heavier loads for as long as you safely can.
Your age doesn't automatically determine what you're capable of.
WHY KEEP LIFTING?

🏋️ MUSCLE
Resistance training gives your body a reason to maintain—and potentially build—muscle tissue.

🦴 BONES
Loading the body through appropriate resistance training helps support bone health.

💪 STRENGTH
Strength gives us a bigger physical reserve. Everyday tasks become easier when they're well below our maximum capability.

⚖️ BALANCE & STABILITY
Strong legs, hips and trunk help us control our bodies and can contribute to staying steady on our feet.

🔥 METABOLIC HEALTH
Maintaining muscle and staying physically active are valuable parts of long-term metabolic health.

🧠 CONFIDENCE
There's something incredibly powerful about knowing your body is still capable.
And that matters outside the gym.

SHOULD YOU KEEP TRYING TO GET STRONGER?
For many people—yes.

If your technique is good, you're recovering properly, you're pain-free and your body is responding well, there isn't a magical birthday when you suddenly have to swap challenging weights for tiny dumbbells.
Progress might become slower.
Recovery may need more attention.
Your exercise selection might change.
Old injuries may need managing.
And what “heavy” looks like may change over the years.
That's training intelligently—not giving up.

⚠️ KNOW YOUR LIMITATIONS

None of this means ignoring pain or trying to prove something every time you walk into the gym.
Listen to your body.
Respect

Until we meet again...

Top-Tier Training.

Standards are high here... and that's the point.

Tim – Your Friendly Neighbourhood Personal Trainer. 💪🔥

09/09/2026

TEST DAY: READY FOR WAR ⚔️🔥

Testing gives us data.
Training gives us progress.

This week was Test Day for Joshua.

And before we get into the numbers, I want to explain why we test in the first place.

Joshua didn't come to me as a complete beginner.

He was already training. He already knew his way around a gym and already had a foundation of strength.

What he wanted was to take that next step:

Improve his numbers.
Improve his technique.
Improve his form.
And ultimately, get stronger.

Sometimes that's exactly where coaching becomes valuable.

You don't necessarily need someone to completely reinvent your training.

Sometimes you need another pair of experienced eyes looking at the finer details, making adjustments, putting some structure around what you're doing and helping you turn the strength you already have into better performance.

And if we're going to do that, we need benchmarks.

THE PREVIOUS BENCHMARK

Back in February, Joshua's bench press numbers were:

65kg — 4 sets × 4 reps
70kg — 2 reps

Fast-forward to our latest Test Day:

🔥 70kg × 5

Then we moved onto our heavy singles:

🔥 80kg × 1
80kg × 1
80kg × 1

Three successful singles at 80kg.

That's not just a PB to celebrate.

That's useful information.

WHY TEST A 5RM?

A heavy set of five tells us something different from a maximum single.

We're not just asking:

“Can you move this weight?”

We're asking whether you can repeatedly produce force while maintaining the standards of the lift.

What happens to your setup?

What happens to your bar path?

Where does the sticking point appear?

Can you maintain your position as fatigue starts accumulating?

Does rep five still look like the movement we're trying to perform?

And, importantly, compared with our previous benchmark:

Are we stronger?

February: 70kg ×2.

Now: 70kg ×5.

There's our answer.

WHY TEST THE HEAVY SINGLE?

Because a heavy single gives us a different piece of information.

If one of your goals is maximum strength, eventually you need to know what happens when the load gets genuinely heavy.

Heavy weights have a wonderful habit of exposing things.

Your setup matters.

Your brace matters.

Your positioning matters.

Your bar path matters.

Your ability to create whole-body tension matters.

And your confidence under a heavy bar definitely matters.

Technical errors you might get away with at lighter weights become much harder to hide when you're approaching your limit.

That's one of the reasons I like testing both.

The 5RM gives us one picture of Joshua's strength.

The heavy single gives us another.

And in this case, Joshua didn't just get 80kg up once on a heroic all-or-nothing effort.

He successfully pressed it for three separate singles.

That gives us a solid new benchmark to work from.

BUT WHY BENCH PRESS?

Interestingly, we don't actually spend most of our pressing time barbell bench pressing.

We normally use dumbbells.

And I'm not going to tell you that the barbell bench press is somehow the ultimate exercise for building your chest or creating a great physique.

It isn't.

There are plenty of fantastic exercises available to us, and dumbbell pressing gives us a lot of what we're looking for during our normal training.

But that's not the purpose of the bench press on Test Day.

Here, it's a testing tool.

The bench press is recognisable.

It's measurable.

It's repeatable.

And, providing we keep our standards consistent, it's easy to standardise.

Same movement.

Same setup.

Same expectations.

That means we can put a marker in the sand today, go away and train, then come back months later and compare like for like.

That's what makes it useful.

THE BLOCK WE'VE JUST FINISHED

Joshua and I have just finished a rolling three-session training approach.

Across our main movement patterns — push, pull, squat and hinge — the emphasis rotated:

HEAVY → MEDIUM → LIGHT

So rather than trying to smash every movement heavily every time we trained, the stress and intensity changed across the sessions.

Heavy work had its place.

Medium work had its place.

Lighter work had its place.

We've accumulated the work, practised the movements, refined technique and built strength.

That block has now finished.

So this was the perfect time to test.

NOW WE CHANGE GEAR

The next phase is going to look different.

We're moving towards a more focused hybrid strength approach.

Instead of trying to cram lots of different exercises into every workout, some sessions may contain only two to four main lifts.

Potentially up to around five working sets.

Lower rep ranges.

Heavier loads.

Appropriate recovery between sets.

And a lot of focus on the quality of those lifts.

Fewer movements. More intent.

Because getting stronger doesn't always require adding another exercise.

Sometimes the answer is exactly the opposite.

Strip things back.

Choose the movements that matter.

Practise them.

Load them.

Recover properly.

And get exceptionally good at them.

AND THIS IS WHY WE HAD TEST DAY

Before starting that next phase, I wanted data.

Where is Joshua's strength right now?

What are the numbers we're working from?

Where are the technical strengths?

Where are the weaknesses?

And what benchmark are we going to use when we eventually come back and test again?

That's what today gave us.

We're not going to max out every week.

We're not going to constantly test whether we've become stronger.

Testing doesn't make you stronger. Training does.

Test Day simply tells us where we are.

Then we take that information and go back to work.

And after another period of structured training, we'll come back to these numbers.

70kg ×5.
80kg ×1 ×3.

Then we'll find out whether we've moved the marker again.

That's the difference between simply going into the gym and lifting weights...

…and training with a purpose.

Joshua came to me wanting to improve his numbers, technique and form.

From 70kg ×2 in February to 70kg ×5 and three successful singles at 80kg.

I'd say we're heading in the right direction. 👊🔥

Fantastic work, Joshua.

Enjoy the win.

Because now we've got the data...

it's time to get back to work. ⚔️🔥

TESTING GIVES US DATA.
TRAINING GIVES US PROGRESS.

Until we meet again...

Top-Tier Training.
Standards are high here... and that's the point.

Tim – Your Friendly Neighbourhood Personal Trainer. 💪🔥

09/09/2026

🔥 BODYWEIGHT MOVEMENTS — A TO E TIER: THE FULL BREAKDOWN 🔥

Following on from my Instagram post, let's go a little deeper into WHY I've chosen these movements and why I've ranked them where I have.

First, something that's really important:

THIS IS NOT A RANKING OF DIFFICULTY.

A-tier does not mean hardest.

B-tier does not mean beginner.

I'm ranking these movements according to how useful and fundamental I believe they are for developing and maintaining a strong, capable, functioning human body.

These are general recommendations, not individual prescriptions.

Male or female, 30, 40, 50 or beyond — we're all coming from different starting points.

Different strength.
Different mobility.
Different bodyweight.
Different injury histories.
Different coordination.
Different experience.
Different skill levels.

Knowing what your body can currently do — and understanding its limitations — is actually an incredibly empowering position to be in.

Because now you know where you're starting from.

And everything can be built from there.

🅰️ A-TIER — FUNDAMENTAL HUMAN MOVEMENT

🔥 WALKING

Probably the most fundamental movement on the entire list.

It's human locomotion in its simplest form.

We should be able to walk, cover ground and continue doing so throughout our lives.

Simple doesn't mean unimportant.

🔥 FLOOR GET-UPS

Can you get yourself onto the floor and get yourself back up again?

Without panicking about how you're going to do it?

That's strength, mobility, balance, coordination and confidence working together.

For me, this is one of the clearest examples of functional human capability.

🔥 SQUATS

Sit down. Stand up.

Simple human movement.

There are countless variations and starting points — supported squats, partial squats, full bodyweight squats and eventually loaded versions.

Your squat doesn't have to look like somebody else's.

Start with the range you can control and build from there.

🔥 PRESS-UPS

A press-up is far more than a chest exercise.

You're pushing while maintaining tension through your shoulders, trunk, hips and legs.

And it's incredibly scalable.

Wall press-up.
Elevated press-up.
Knees.
Floor.
Then increasingly advanced variations.

There's almost always another level.

🔥 PULL-UPS

One of the great demonstrations of relative upper-body strength.

You're controlling and moving your own bodyweight.

Can't do one?

Fine.

Start with hangs, assistance, negatives and other pulling variations and begin building the strength and skill.

🔥 LUNGES

Single-leg strength, balance, stability and coordination while moving through space.

Forward.
Reverse.
Walking.
Lateral.
Assisted.
Eventually loaded.

Another enormous movement family that can grow alongside your ability.

🔥 INVERTED ROWS

A fantastic horizontal pulling movement and one that's incredibly easy to adjust.

Changing your body angle can take it from relatively accessible to seriously challenging.

It's also a brilliant way of developing the pulling strength required for harder movements.

🔥 DEAD HANGS

When was the last time you actually hung from something?

Grip strength. Supporting your bodyweight. Spending time in an overhead position.

And it's a fantastic foundation for pulling and hanging movements.

🔥 CRAWLING

This one might make some people laugh.

"I'm 45 years old. Why would I crawl around on the floor?"

Because when did you stop?

As children, we crawled, climbed, rolled around, got onto the floor, stood back up and explored movement constantly.

Crawling requires your arms, legs and trunk to work together while you move through space.

That's coordination, control and whole-body movement.

🅱️ B-TIER — HIGHLY VALUABLE MOVEMENT & SKILL

🔥 DIPS

A brilliant upper-body pushing movement.

You're moving your entire bodyweight and developing serious pushing strength.

But they demand more strength and shoulder control than basic pushing movements, making them less universally accessible.

🔥 KNEE / LEG RAISES

Another movement with a massive progression pathway.

Lying bent-knee raises can be accessible.

Hanging knee raises increase the challenge.

Straight-leg raises take it further again.

You're developing trunk strength and learning to control your lower body rather than simply throwing your legs around.

🔥 PLANKS

A great introduction to bracing and whole-body tension.

But there's a point where holding a basic plank for longer and longer isn't giving you much more.

That's when you progress it.

Make the position harder rather than simply chasing minutes.

SO WHERE ARE C, D AND E?

They're empty.

Deliberately.

I've selected these movements because I believe they're ALL important movements to cover.

I'm not going to take good movements and pretend they're rubbish just so I can fill every row of an A–E tier list.

Some are more useful than others.

Some are more accessible.

Some require significantly more strength, mobility or skill.

But none of these deserve C, D or E.

They're all movements I believe we should aspire to being able to perform in some shape or form.

WHY WALKING, HANGING AND CRAWLING?

Think about what you did as a child.

You walked.
You ran.
You crawled.
You climbed.
You hung from things.
You squatted.
You played on the floor.
You got yourself back up.

You moved.

Then adulthood happens.

For many people, life becomes increasingly sedentary and our movement becomes less varied.

We sit at work.

We sit in cars.

We sit on sofas.

We spend hours looking at screens.

And gradually we stop asking our bodies to do many of the things they once did regularly.

Then years later we're surprised when some of those movements have become difficult.

Use it or lose it.

That doesn't mean you need to crawl around your house every evening or start hanging from every tree you walk past. 😂

It means we should try to keep as many physical options available to ourselves as possible.

YOU DON'T NEED AN EXPENSIVE GYM MEMBERSHIP

This is another massive advantage.

You can start working on many of these movements at home, outside or with very little equipment.

And you don't need to perform the finished exercise on day one.

Can't press-up from the floor?

Elevate your hands.

Can't squat comfortably through a full range?

Work within the range you can control.

Can't pull yourself over a bar?

Start with easier pulling variations.

You can regress movements, use assistance, change the leverage, shorten the range and gradually build towards more challenging versions.

Start where you are — not where you think you should be.

With a little knowledge, sensible progression and consistent practice, you can go a long, long way using your own bodyweight.

WILL YOU EVENTUALLY OUTGROW SOME OF THEM?

Of course.

As you become stronger and more capable, some basic bodyweight variations won't provide enough stimulus anymore.

That's progress.

Add resistance.

Change the leverage.

Increase the range.

Slow things down.

Move towards a more advanced variation.

Develop greater skill.

But don't throw away your foundations.

Keep them in check.

Keep them on point.

Because when you're travelling, on holiday, away from your gym or simply don't have your normal equipment, you've still got one incredibly useful piece of training equipment:

YOUR BODY.

Walk.

Push.

Pull.

Squat.

Lunge.

Hang.

Crawl.

Brace.

Control your legs.

Get yourself onto the floor.

And get yourself back up again.

Know what your body can do.

Understand its limitations.

Work on your weaknesses.

Maintain your strengths.

And continue building your capabilities.

Because these aren't simply exercises.

🔥 They're the building blocks to staying functionally human. 🔥

Until we meet again...

Top-Tier Training.

Standards are high here... and that’s the point.

Tim – Your Friendly Neighbourhood Personal Trainer. 💪🔥

03/09/2026

MAX LIFT DAY 💪🔥

WHY SHOULD YOU TEST YOUR MAX?

At some point during your training, you need to find out whether all that hard work has actually moved the needle.
That’s where max testing comes in.

At the end of a training block — or at planned points within your programme — testing your strength gives you a genuine benchmark of where you are right now.

This was Joshua testing his strict barbell overhead press after eight weeks of training.
But there’s a little more to the story than simply adding weight to the bar.

FIRST, WE WORKED ON THE LIFT

When Joshua first started pressing with me, we made some small but important adjustments to his technique.

Nothing dramatic. We weren’t trying to reinvent the movement or completely change the way he pressed.

We looked at his hand positioning, his setup, his body position and how he was creating tension through the lift.
Those minor adjustments meant he could start getting more out of the strength he already had.

That’s an important part of coaching.
Sometimes getting stronger isn’t immediately about building more muscle or simply throwing more weight on the bar. Sometimes it’s about learning how to use your current strength more efficiently.

Better positioning.
Better tension.
Better mechanics.
Better transfer of force.
We tidied up the foundations, worked on his technique and then spent the following weeks building on it.
And now?

He’s pressing like a beast. 💪🔥

After progressively warming up and building the weight, Joshua completed four heavy singles.

And the last couple?
Proper grinding reps. 🔥

And that’s exactly what we wanted to see.
WHY TEST YOUR MAX?

Max testing isn’t simply about ego or seeing how much weight you can stick on the bar.

It gives us information.

It tells us whether the previous block of training has worked. It shows us where your current strength levels sit, exposes sticking points and weaknesses, and gives us useful numbers to programme the next phase of training.

It also teaches you something lighter weights can’t always teach you:
Can you maintain your technique when things get REALLY difficult?
For most people, you certainly don’t need to max out every week.
Depending on the individual, their experience and the programme, roughly every 6–12 weeks can work well.

And it doesn’t always have to be a true 1RM.
A heavy single, 3RM, 5RM or even a rep PB can give you useful information and a benchmark to move forwards from.

WHAT SHOULD A MAX LIFT LOOK LIKE?
Joshua’s presses were a great example.
He maintained a good, solid foundation from the floor up.
Feet planted.
Hips tight.
Abs braced.
Glutes engaged.
Eyes looking forwards.
Everything remained static, controlled and connected.
No bounce. No knee dip. No leg drive.
The bar moved relatively quickly out of the starting position before reaching his sticking point around the middle of the press.
And on those final couple of singles, things slowed right down.

He had to GRIND.
That’s not something I’m worried about on a genuine maximal attempt.

That’s what I want to see.
When you’re genuinely pushing towards the edge of your strength, the bar isn’t always going to fly up. Sometimes you’re going to have to fight for every inch.
What matters is what happens to your technique while you’re fighting.
Joshua stayed tight, worked through that sticking point and finished with a strong overhead lockout.
There was a little natural lean-back under maximal load, but nothing excessive and everything remained well within good-form boundaries for a heavy strict press.

HOW MUCH “CHEAT” IS ACCEPTABLE?

A max-effort lift doesn’t have to look exactly like a warm-up rep.
The bar can slow down.
You can grind.
You can fight through a sticking point.
There may even be small technical changes as you approach your absolute limit.
But there has to be a line.

The exercise still needs to remain the exercise you’re testing.
If we’re testing a strict overhead press and you start bouncing, dipping the knees and using leg drive to get the bar moving, you’re no longer testing the same lift.
You’ve turned your strict press into a push press.
Grinding is acceptable. Changing the movement just to claim a bigger number isn’t.
That’s why max testing isn’t just about the number written on the bar.
It’s about finding the edge of your current ability while maintaining the standards of the movement.
And that’s exactly what Joshua did.

Four heavy singles.
The final couple were grinders.
Technique held together.
Strong lockouts.
Genuine maximal effort.
And finally, a massive congratulations to Joshua. 👊🔥

Over the last eight weeks, he’s put in the hard work, listened, learned, stayed consistent and shown exactly the sort of commitment I expect from the people I coach.
From those initial technical adjustments to what we saw under the bar today, there’s been some fantastic progress.

This test wasn’t just about one session or one number.
It was the result of eight weeks of work.

Fantastic effort, Joshua. You’ve worked hard, you’ve earned it, and you’ve earned your spot among my students.

WELCOME TO ON FIRE FITNESS. 🔥💪

Now we have the benchmark.
Train → Progress → Test → Learn → Reset → Go again.
This is only the beginning.

Until we meet again...

Top-Tier Training.

Standards are high here... and that’s the point.

Be a little bit more Charlie. ❤️

Tim – Your Friendly Neighbourhood Personal Trainer. 💪🔥

01/09/2026

🔥 THE ONE-HANDED PRESS-UP — STRENGTH OR SKILL? 🔥

In my experience, the one-handed press-up is very much a skill-based movement.

Yes, strength matters. But it’s far more about timing, tension, positioning, angles, balance, coordination and motor skill than simply having a strong chest and arm.

FIRST — BUILD THE FOUNDATION

Before we start taking points of contact away, you should have a solid standard press-up:
Two hands. Two feet. Four points of contact.

Generally, I like to see someone capable of around 20–25 good-quality, unbroken press-ups.

At that point, in my experience, you physically have much of the strength and muscular endurance required.

Now you have to learn how to express that strength through one arm.
And that means learning to connect everything from your big toe right through to your little pinky.

YOUR WHOLE BODY IS INVOLVED

A one-handed press-up is very much a core-based movement.
Your positioning matters.
Your angles matter.
Your centre of mass matters.
Your balance matters.

It’s almost maths and physics applied to movement.
Move your feet and you change your base of support.
Move your hand and you change your leverage.
Move your hips and you change your centre of mass.
Change your body angle and you change the difficulty.

The goal is tension throughout the whole body, with the entire body working as one single unit.

THE STANDARD

Ultimately, we’re trying to maintain a relatively neutral position through the hips and shoulders, rather than excessively twisting and rotating just to get ourselves off the floor.
But when you're first learning, start by understanding how to connect the front and back of your body.
Brace through the front.
Squeeze through the back.
Brace the anterior chain.
Squeeze the glutes and create tension through the posterior chain.

Connect the two through your core.

PRESSING-SIDE POSITION

Bring your working hand towards your midline.
Keep the shoulder tight and packed.
Keep the elbow tightly connected towards your hip.
Do not flare the elbow out.
And remember — this isn't a trap exercise.
Don't shrug the shoulder towards your ear.
Connect the arm into your lat and torso, creating a strong, tightly packed position through the shoulder and elbow.
The pressing arm shouldn't be working independently from your body.
It should be connected to it.

DON'T FORGET THE NON-PRESSING SIDE

Your other arm isn't just along for the ride.
Clench the non-pressing hand into a tight fist and squeeze it against your hip or the outside of your leg.

That helps create tension through the non-pressing side and connects the entire body.
One side is pressing.
The other is creating tension and stability.
Your feet, legs, glutes, core, lats, shoulders, arms and hands are all involved.

Big toe to little pinky.
Everything connected.
Everything under tension.
Everything working as one single unit.

That's why I don't look at the one-handed press-up as simply a stronger version of a normal press-up.
Strength gives you the potential.
Skill allows you to use it.

Are you currently working towards your one-handed press-up?

How are you finding it? What part are you struggling with, and what have you found works for you?
What are your thoughts?

I’d love to hear back from you. 💪🔥

Be a little bit more Charlie. ❤️

Until we meet again...

Top-Tier Training.

Standards are high here... and that’s the point.

Tim – Your Friendly Neighbourhood Personal Trainer. 💪🔥

23/08/2026

Hey, fitness fans. 👋🔥

Quick look at some of the work I’ve been doing with my client Gemma.
In the video above, we’re specifically looking to chisel away at the small details, hone her kettlebell sn**ch and make every rep cleaner, smoother and more efficient.

🎯 The goal: build towards the StrongFirst / RKC Sn**ch Test standard — 100 kettlebell sn**ches in 5 minutes.

For this particular session, our focus was on:
🔹 Shoulder positioning — staying strong and organised overhead.
🔹 Wrist and hand positioning — allowing the bell to move smoothly around the hand rather than crashing onto the forearm.
🔹 Keeping the bell nice and close to the body — particularly during the drop/de-sn**ch and into the backswing, rather than letting it drift away and waste energy.

When you're working towards 100 reps in five minutes, those little inefficiencies soon add up.

This is where training becomes more than simply getting fitter or stronger.

Practice the skill.
Improve the technique.
Remove wasted movement.
Then build the performance.

And I also want to take this opportunity to give Gemma a massive congratulations for all the hard work and dedication she’s been putting into her training.

The work is paying off, the technique is coming together and, yeah...
We’re looking sharp! 👌🔥

Sometimes progress isn't about working harder.
It's about getting better at what you're already doing. 💪🔥
Until we meet again...

Top-Tier Training.

Standards are high here... and that’s the point.

Tim – Your Friendly Neighbourhood Personal Trainer. 💪🔥

Be a little bit more Charlie. ❤️

19/08/2026

THE 80/20 RULE

MOST PEOPLE CAN DO THIS.

You don't need to be perfect.

MOTIVATION
20% motivation.
80% discipline.

You won't always feel like training. You won't always be motivated. That's where routine and discipline take over.

NUTRITION
80% good, nutritious food that supports your goals.
20% flexibility.
You can eat out. Have a takeaway. Have some cake. Enjoy your food. One meal doesn't ruin your progress any more than one healthy meal creates it.

LIFE
80% doing the things that move you forward.
20% switching off, enjoying yourself, being spontaneous and accepting that sometimes life just gets in the bloody way.

Stop chasing 100%.
Your training doesn't have to be perfect.
Your nutrition doesn't have to be perfect.
You don't have to be motivated every single day.
Most people can manage 80/20.
And consistently getting the important stuff mostly right beats occasionally trying to be perfect.

There is, however, one exception...
Ben & Jerry's. 🍦

The 80/20 rule does NOT apply.
Once that lid comes off, I'm all in.
No moderation.
No portion control.
No 20%.
100% commitment. Finish the tub. 😂

Apparently, where Ben & Jerry's is concerned, my adherence is absolutely fu***ng outstanding. 😂🔥

Until we meet again...

Top-Tier Training.

Standards are high here... and that's the point.

Tim – Your Friendly Neighbourhood Personal Trainer. 💪🔥

19/08/2026

YOUR CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE MIGHT BE KILLING YOU.

There's a saying:
“You become like the five people you spend the most time with.”

Now, five isn't some magic number.

But the principle behind it is worth thinking about.

The people you spend the most time around will influence you.
And I'm not just talking about health and fitness.
They can influence your:
Standards.
Morals.
Attitude.
Health.
Fitness.
Finances.
Emotional wellbeing.
Ambition.
Confidence.
Expectations of yourself.

Spend enough time around certain behaviours, attitudes and opinions and eventually they can start to feel normal.

If the people around you constantly make excuses, complain, give up easily or tell you something can't be done...

That can rub off on you.
But the opposite is also true.

Spend time around people who challenge themselves.
People who look after their health.
People who work hard.
People who support you.
People who want to learn.
People who expect more from themselves.
People who are genuinely pleased when you succeed.
And those standards can start rubbing off on you too.
But there's something else we need to talk about.

THERE'S A WHOLE NEW CIRCLE OF INFLUENCE.

The people or groups you follow on social media.
Think about your phone.
Instagram. Facebook. TikTok. YouTube. Podcasts. WhatsApp groups.
The accounts you follow.
The groups you belong to.
The videos you watch.
The opinions you repeatedly listen to.
The lifestyles you're constantly exposed to.
They're part of your circle of influence too.
You might spend an hour talking to a friend...

Then spend three hours looking at content created by complete strangers.

You've never met them.
They don't know who you are.
But you're allowing them into your head every single day.
And whether you realise it or not, repeated exposure can start influencing what you think is normal.
What a normal body should look like.
What success looks like.
How much money you think you should have.
How relationships should work.
How you should train.
What you should eat.
What you should own.
What you should believe.
Even how you should feel about yourself.
Slowly, over time, these influences can shape your own thoughts and actions.

Some of that influence can be incredibly positive.
It can educate you.
Motivate you.
Challenge you.
Raise your standards.
Introduce you to new ideas.
Help you become healthier, stronger, more confident or more capable.
But it can also go the other way.
Constant comparison.
Negativity.
Anger.
Doom scrolling.
Unrealistic bodies.
Unrealistic lifestyles.
People constantly telling you that you're not successful enough, wealthy enough, attractive enough, fit enough or happy enough.
Consume enough of anything and eventually some of it can start influencing the way you see yourself and the world around you.
And over time, that can potentially affect both your physical and mental wellbeing.

So I'm not saying ditch your friends.
Your friends don't have to share every goal you have.
Your family doesn't need to think exactly like you.
Sometimes you simply need to build another circle alongside them.
A training partner.
A gym community.
A running club.
A coach.
A group of people trying to become a little stronger, fitter, healthier or more capable.
And yes...
The people and groups you choose to follow online.

So here's something worth doing.
Look at the five people you spend the most time with.
Then look at the people you spend the most time watching.

Ask yourself:
What are they adding to my life?
Are they raising my standards or lowering them?
Are they helping me think... or telling me what to think?
How do I feel after spending time around them or consuming their content?

And perhaps the biggest question:
WHAT ARE THEY SLOWLY TEACHING ME TO ACCEPT AS NORMAL?
Choose your circle carefully.
Choose your feed carefully.
Choose where you give your attention.
Because your circle of influence is probably much bigger than you realise.
And there's actually one more person we haven't talked about yet...

The sixth person.
You.
But that's the next post.

Until we meet again...

Top-Tier Training.

Standards are high here... and that's the point.

Tim – Your Friendly Neighbourhood Personal Trainer. 💪🔥

Onfirefitness - Winchester

13/09/2026

09/09/2026

09/09/2026

03/09/2026

01/09/2026

23/08/2026

19/08/2026

19/08/2026

Address

Telephone

Website

Alerts

Shortcuts

Share

Category

Listing takedown request