Fitness and Thinking

Jack Mann is a personal trainer and podcaster obsessed with helping people see things through. And in this episode [ends third person], I want to re/give you a meaningful secret to success. The thing is while you might know what it is, I don't believe you're consistent with it... If you enjoyed this episode, I think you'll also enjoy: #8 with Maddie #28 with Karl and Leah and #31 with...

This week, I want to reflect with you on what I've learned from writing, hosting, filming and editing 30 episodes of Fitness & Thinking, including: the power of just starting, the importance of community, how pressure to enjoy things can drain the meaning from them, and why time doesn't equal purpose. We'll talk about being present in the in-between moments, reframing setbacks, act...

Imran Naeem is a nationally recognised boxing coach and co-founder of Natural Progression Boxing Academy in Stockton. In episode 30 of Fitness & Thinking we discuss what it means to be a leader of a club and in the community – from the accountability and standards to set and uphold to the feeling of shared success and being an elder of a family across generations and upbringings. We look into...

Ciara Vizzard is a doctor working in geriatric medicine in the UK who is a passionate advocate for ageing well. In this episode, we talk about what actually shapes how we age long before we’re old: muscle mass, mobility, mindset, food, sleep, habits, and the quiet accumulation of lifestyle choices most people only start thinking about too late. We get into why muscle is protective (for bones, bloo...

Leah Brooks and Karl Finch are a PT power couple based in Sheffield. Ahead of the new year, I wanted to catch up with two of the busiest PTs in the Steel City to find out what people get wrong about their resolutions, the vibe difference Leah’s observed since working in a women’s only gym alongside her commercial work, how training for and competing in a recent Hyrox impacted their relationship, i...

Alanna Reid is a senior policy advisor to the UK Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport. In this wide-ranging discussion, Alanna and I get into the experience of finding your sport and finding yourself as an adult via Tom Rasmussen’s 2023 album ‘Bodybuilding’, the Supreme Court’s recent ruling, Frida Kahlo and Pablo Picasso all bookended by the moment Alanna unlocked their first chin-up...

Soph Ingram is a qualified personal trainer who designs and leads women’s wellbeing retreats. Trigger warning: in this episode she speaks candidly about her journey from her childhood and into the fitness industry and the realities that often go unspoken therein, namely the “silent crisis” of presenting as if healthy while actually experiencing disordered eating that she’s observed in women’s spac...

Najinder Devgun is a financial advisor and money matters podcast host whose understanding of worth changed following a major life event. In episode 25, Naj explains the concept of "financial trauma" – what it is and where it comes from – and gives us easily actionable tips and real-life moments to implement and think on. After experiencing a health crisis himself, Naj understands what it...

Jack Mann is a level-4 certified coach with four years of experience, 18-months of those in PureGym in Sheffield. I’ve put trust, time and money into two of the people I mention in this video and treated the third with a healthy dose of scepticism. I now follow none of them based on their dogma, lack of science to support their “science-based” branding, and, in two cases that I’m aware of, frankly...

From quitting his corporate job to living in Guatemala for a few weeks with "Big Mama" and becoming immersed in Latin America – the travel, the music, the people – this episode with Peds is full of the stuff you can’t script, including the sounds of the most formal lost cat search party you might imagine...what did happen to Bonito? We chat leaving home and learning a new language to bui...

Sophie Godwin is a former BBC Good Food writer and food stylist and now a private chef and co-owner of multiple London-based businesses. In this episode, recorded just three weeks before Soph’s second son said hello to the world, we discussed the importance of making mistakes – both to prevent inaction and to engender learning – as well as what it’s like to run multiple food business with her husb...

Since episode one, I’ve spoken with 19 people, edited 22 episodes and posted this, the twenty-first, putting us now in a pool of 68,000 podcasts…rather than the daunting ocean of 6.8 million. Episode round-up: 12–20 Lindsay Bowers kicked off the second run with a stoma and unbeatable mindset, talking us through her Guinness World Record attempt, which she of course went on to smash. Watch episode...

From naughty kid to ultra athlete, Rhys Morris has a knack for tackling hard things every day. In this discussion, I’m convinced you’ll be convinced by Rhys to “book the damn race”; from his charity runs for Cameron’s Cause to how he kept on going after them, his love of numbers to find structure in chaos, what contentment might eventually look like (how do you top a 100-mile run…you do a 200-mile...

Helene Garnett is a former UK, European and 2x World champion Thai boxer. On the eve of her 51st birthday, Helene and I discussed what it means to be a Nak Muay and a winner and also how one loss in particular turned her into a better fighter. I ask: is it ever too late to start? and when do you call it a day? And Helene talks us through the changing bests that come with both age and menopause. He...

Dr Logan Collignon is a writer and senior lecturer in contemporary literature at The University of Sheffield. Logan’s research interests have centred on critical theory and the cold war and have also sought to bring in pop culture from Stanley Kubrick’s films and Stephen King’s writing to Batman and the X-Men. In this discussion we discuss why being “a” human is a “myth”, how our obsession with th...

Naomi Watson is a yoga teacher with over one thousand hours of teaching practice across the world. She’s currently based in Edinburgh and has recently qualified as a yoga therapist. I probably would have gotten into yoga at some point but it definitely helped that my first experience was when I was studying for my masters, signed up to the free yoga class as a way to work on my fitness outside of...

Marina Georgallides is a baker and content creator whose recipe series “Eat like a Greek”, “Protein Packed” and, my favourite, “OnlyCans” have garnered her millions of views and likes as well as hundreds of thousands of followers online. In this discussion you can expect to learn how Marina turned her passion into a distinct online presence and project and stayed sane throughout as she takes us th...

Sayem Ahmed is a seasoned marketeer, holding various roles in tech, marketing and content creation, specialising in writing, consulting, and social media management. Sayem’s also one of my coaching clients. In our end-of-block catch-up, we look back at 12 weeks of training and dieting and re/learning what it’s like to be (in) a body in the world. From identity to perspective shifts, the importance...

Seth Mullan-Feroze has watched over 3,450 films. He lives and breathes cinema and, before he shared this love with the world, he was an online fitness coach. In January 2022, Seth was an online coach who worked hard and kept to himself. He was a major inspiration to me just getting into coaching online at the time. I was keen to improve my physique and see how real-life coaches operated outside of...

David Forrest is a Professor in Film and Television Studies at The University of Sheffield. In this wide-ranging episode, you can expect to learn what the contemporary depictions of the working class, Northern man in film got right, and why they were able to make waves in British culture as they did, what drew David to running and how he bought into the parkrun ethos, the construction of masculini...

Lindsay Bowers is a head coach supporting people through stoma life, with a particular focus on their physical and mental health. In this episode, Lindsay introduces us to her Guinness Book of Records DEKA Fit event coming up, her multiple surgeries and how she used to take her fitness for granted, how her body image and confidence has changed through medications, operations and training, as well...

Fitness & Thinking is a weekly podcast and newsletter centred on five pillars of wellness. Hosted by yours truly, Jack Mann, an online coach and published poet with a master's in Psychology, F&T gets into the physical, mental, social, spiritual/emotional and financial experiences of being. In episode 11, we look back at the first run of themes and guests, some of which have already materia...

Dr. Maria Balaet is a Research Associate in the Department of Neuroimaging at the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, King's College London. Following her talk on "The Science of Psychedelics" in Sheffield in July, I had a number of questions to ask Maria, and knew if she did come on the podcast that I'd have to provide the show's first caveat. SO here we go...

Lucas Hynes is a champion Brazilian Jiu Jitsu player on the UK national circuit and practicing BJJ coach. From working your way back to fitness, to finding your best whatever level you’re at, as well as the history of BJJ – both the Gracie version and the historically more representative version! – this episode is essential for fans of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, self-improvement and anyone concerned tha...

Maddie is a yoga teacher, life coach, and, as of this week, podcast host based in Sheffield. In this episode, Maddie talks us through the Japanese concept of "ikigai" in the context of finding one's reason to get up in the morning, what it means to be "aligned", the Western need to be productive, her origin story as a mind-body teacher, and so much more. This was the first time that Maddie and I h...