You're listening to the Ricky Long podcast CrossFit in 2014. And again hand on heart. I was the guy that took the piss out across that I was that guy and I think a lot of that came from a level of insecurity with this factor of there's this new thing that's potentially taking clients away from me as a level 3 PT. So I think that's that's where a lot of that stem from you know, so we know there's aThing with them with that which was which was quite interesting and then actually kind of had that that realization of so I take the piss out of CrossFit quite a lot, but I've never actually done it I should maybe go and do it and then I can really take the piss out of it and I wouldn't do the fundamentals course, they finished it with a with a really short time wrap up believe it was a nine-minute amrap throwing some air squats and some hot sauce and maybe some shoulder to a bed in it. And it put me on my ass like this. It was one of those where I'll go and do CrossFit. I really fit I'll be able to do this row error and I just got my shit handed to me like badly and I just remember guys. I really like that. Like I've really enjoyed it and then it came it came this idea of you know, there's always something to learning process. Doesn't matter how good you are at what level you're at. You can always be better. You can always be strongly you can always be fitting you can always be faster. So there's always something you can do to make an improvement on you are listening to the Ricky Long podcast where International Fitness entrepreneur Ricky Long answers your questions and interviews Fitness leaders on training nutrition and mindset Ricky is a fitness industry expert having been helping people achieve their fitness goals since 2002. We talked everything fit. Enos business and group exercise to help you on your fitness journey. This episode all directly long podcast is a jump live special jump alive is or one-day conference event, February the 8th of 2020 in Glasgow Village hotel and this episode is by one of our event sponsors strength lab. Mr. Hugh Davis you Davis corner of the strength of which is a CrossFit facility and Bird Island in Fife in Scotland who Davis is a long Omri longtime friend of mine and he's actually had a massive massive impact on my life both personally and professionally a lot of you will know who Davis from Les Mills land. He Davis was a trainer presenter for Les Mills UK from 2010 and we go into great detail about some of the things that she did give us not just did with Les Mills, but some of the impact Les Mills had with Hugh and his life and then know what he does in regards. CrossFit running his own box and being a CrossFit athlete himself and his own right? So you're going to hear us chat a lot then gone back and forth between CrossFit land Les Mills land little bit of chat about jump 4.2 and jump live, which is the event. I want to invite you to tickets are still on sale at the time of recording this it is Tuesday the 14th of January. There are 34 tickets sold meaning I can still sell 16 tickets. If you want your name on the list, if you want to come in here hear you speak if you like what you hear during this podcast. I would love you to come and see if you live if you like the sound of my voice. I'm not even being able to listen to my voice and see my calves and face at the same time. I won't be naked but you get what I mean. We're also going to have Tim Meadows ER and I'm going to take a chance as I say this. I'm not gonna announce the third and fourth speaker's here. We're going to have because I'm not sure when this podcast is going on. No, and I'm not sure when those if it will be before or after the announcements of the other speakers, but what I can tell you is we got world class speakers in the room. We're going to have world-class Les world class lessons education world class group fitness enthusiasts and instructors in the room and it's going to be one hell of a great day. We're also sponsored by revive cooking who are going to be they're able to give us samples of some of their Absolutely delicious brownies. Just general Sweet Treats in general. You want to love that all the stuff that idea of and revive cooking have on show so by all means enjoy this podcast Always written on pop has sponsored by putting for sport. You can check out putting support www dot but it for sport.com specialized equipment for screws and also sponsoring my Iron Man, which is in May of this year. Please enjoy this episode with you drop some messy. Search for everything in it. Enjoy. Introducing hold the podcast my good friend mentor and one handsome lovely, man. Mr. Hugh Davis. I've it. How you doing, buddy? I think there's only a couple of those statements that are actually factually correct, but definitely the handsome one is correct. Yeah. So we're adding on here hasn't met you ill do a full introduction of himself in just a minute, but Hugh is I'm going to lead with this the 141st. Fittest man on the world as decided by CrossFit. He runs his own CrossFit facility in not crooked am burned Island in Fife that I get that right? Yeah. That's right. Yep, too many names of places over there and a lot of people listen this will probably know Hugh from Les Mills land which was in a former life of few. So hopefully I didn't butcher that too much. So tell the listeners a bit about yourself. Yes, so I am I'm currently according to the the end of the cross that open. I'm the hundred and forty first fittest 35 to 39 year old in the world. And on the 6th fittest man in the UK and that same age category, which is kind of cool. Yeah, it's been a long time trying to for that. So that's that's been really really cool. As you said. Yeah. I'm a box owner of a box only here in Thailand. We've been a we've been open as a box for since 2017 and over the course, we've just grown and grown and grown. Grow. Yeah. Yeah. I used to be a Les Mills trainer in a former life. I was a trainer for I believe seven years. I definitely came onto the team in January 2010 initially and I believe my last presentation was the London live event, which I think was I want to say June or July 2016 or 17. 2017 and dinner dates myself and had yet when nowhere 2016 could be 16 you could be 16. But when did I come to live with you? Was that January 27 10 I think so. Yes. Exactly. Yeah, it was that year. Yeah. It was later on that year. Yeah. I think it was June 17. That's a lot. Yeah a long time ago. But yeah, that's nearly a World Cup, you know work outside. My like kind of goes in World Cups every four years. So that's nearly one third world cup away or an Olympic cycle depending on Times Good times. Yes. I'm Stephanie. I mean I'm On the no no, I'm a coach there. I'm a personal trainer. I've been in Industry now for too long. Let's think 40. I think I've been in the industry now for 16 years started when I was 18. I used to play semi-professional rugby, unfortunately, but injured through rugby and kind of fill into the fitness industry from there. It was a local Legend Center. Give me my first opportunity as a as a little too and then from there that I was really lucky there actually because they kind of did a government-backed scheme that allows you to further your qualifications on. So from there. I actually did my exercise to music my old school exercise to music ironically. I still remember the routine I used then what song did you use our it was a mix of they got that? AG bus, I still remember the first song was I think it's Madison Avenue Don't Call Me Baby find out if I don't see it was definitely don't call me baby whether it was kind of the artists is Madison Avenue for yet. Definitely. Don't call me baby. Not embarrassing at all. Don't worry not till the the teaching of aerobics was was very interesting. I don't I never actually changed my routine in the entire. Career in heavily inverted commas of teaching aerobics. I went off the idea of well, if it was good enough to pass my ATM and it's good enough just to keep going with it. And that routines to me in great stead for a couple of years. I went through another couple of Jim's home movie from a from alleged Center into homes place which then got taken over my Virgin active from version active. I then moved to David Floyd and that's where I discovered, Les Mills. Unser the Lesnar side of things again, it was very much a kind of fall into it. So the things I think if I actually go back through my time with the fitness industry, it's been a long course of my you just kind of fell into that. I think I'd been there a week and the exercise to music manager at times it so you've done your ECM. Oh, yeah, you know teach it now and again but of aerobics, of course, so next week you on your body combat module right now. I'll tie. So yeah. I had no idea what body combat was had no opportunities actually to go and even experienced a body combat class at the time because there wasn't really any we're in luck because the did it so showed up and just kind of hoped for the best. It was actually with Dave cross Dave did my very first body combat module and I remember leaving that module just thinking this this is incredible this I want to take this as far as I possibly can. Absolutely fell in love with it. I love I fell in love with the idea of The fact that the choreography was given to you therefore you are able to change things on a regular basis. Therefore people were getting great workouts on a regular basis. I loved and totally was was fish hooked into this idea of you know, what lesson all stood for the values and and everything like that top body combat as I'm sure those of you that have done done initial module training when you don't really have anybody to help you off the back of it. the first few teachings are shaky to say the least So eventually got myself through that went and did my RPM module did my opinion module with the gentleman called Matt would if he was then moved believe you actually moved to New Zealand. From there went and did my body pump module. So my body pump modules actually a massive fight to get put onto it. So David Lloyd at the time we're doing really cool things about trying to send people and modules transom people are modules and I was really Keen to try and progressed my listeners career and it was around this time where I was starting to be Mentor myself from Dolores. So I was going in that was those of you that don't know Dolores Douglas her feedback is Is incredible it's very to the point and it will absolutely change you if you ever get an opportunity to go and teach your Dolores I highly recommend make dirt. Hmm at this point. I was wanting to to progress my little bit further and saw an opportunity with pump for that went on my pump module with these and yeah from there. It's than just kind of all rocketed off the back of that was fortunate enough to go through boot camp in January. T10 was taken on board off the back of that which I still am convinced. It's more down to luck and judgment because everybody that came through that boot camp the same time as me was far more experienced in the levels world than I was at this point. I actually haven't been teaching for a very long period of time it's all combat 31 was my first module RPM 35 as my first module pump 67 I believe. My first module so you hadn't been teaching Les Mills for long at all and then went through the through the training percentage ER so, you know scientists shadowing at that record least 25 50 75 100 did the same threw something through my presentations not long after being put onto the team was when CX works. It was was taken as a concept. They did a two-day workshop in the UK at the old London office with Corey where basically he ran through a two-day module in a day. And then on the second day we were given points to present back and and then I was taken on to the sixth in that way. What else have I done? Would Les Mills. I've been fortunate enough to present on two DVDs. 6:17 or 622 both very very different 617 was go to New Zealand and wound up being just the three of us teaching. So myself Corian done, which was frightening to say the least, but I definitely not quite as frightening as 622 which was I believe it was the first time they filled up filmed outside New Zealand, maybe the the second time they found outside New Zealand, which was in Sweden, which was a very different very different feel but really cool people listen to this. A lot of people will know you from Les Mills land and It's clear that you still speak about Les Mills with such affection and passion and love. I mean, I know that but it's really really clear and how you speak with it. So what was it? You said that you fell in love with body combat at the start which might surprise a lot of people that you Davis ever did combat let alone that he loved body combat. But what was it through your teaching career that kept you motivated kept you loving it kept it. You know for you that is where you want to be. Initially, it was actually it fits in with the idea as to why I chose to move into the fitness industry as much as moving into the fitness industry was a little bit of a fallen you do at some point make that that very much that decision to fall into something and the reason that for me that I got into the fitness industry was really simple. I wanted to help people. I wanted people to be able to be healthier to be able to live longer and to be able to be injury-free and then That I was doing this as a doing this to the best of my ability. I believe as a little turn there's a level 3 PT, but I really saw an opportunity through Les Mills with this idea of actually You know, if you Peter you only have so many hours a week that you can PT and then that so many hours. There's only so many people that you can help if you work off the idea of a 40-hour working week as a PT with people in front of you. You're only going to be able to help 40 people and this this was at the time there's now, you know this idea of online programming and everything at the time of being a an initial level 3 wasn't even a thing. Yeah, and I wanted to help as many people as I could and so group The size as the way of doing so for me the fact that it might take on the values was this idea that actually there's Mills was was in the business of wanting to help people wanting to get the fit to wanting to get them healthier and wanting them to live longer. I took that and saw a huge opportunity because in this in this 60 Minute time blocks, I have rather than you know, being able to help one person. I've actually got a room full of of 10, 20 30 40 people that we'll come back on a regular basis that are starting to get fit to the Arsenic it healthier. I think that's really I think people forget that generational thing. Yeah, I think you know one we're all guilty of it, you know, you'll turn up to teach a group fitness class. So there's no class circus class, whatever it is and you know, you would get pissed off by the stupidest of things like something trivial like, you know, the microphone not working the battery's not being there or you can't get your normal car parking space and you have to walk further to the gym and just think about what happened to me yesterday and people forget that the members and Don't you do not care about that. Like, you know, they don't care about your day. They're there for you damn for that 60 Minutes or however long the class is and I think that's very very powerful kind of Wages said you were aware of that from the start and throat. Yeah, and it's you then start to have hopefully you would then start to have that focus and that external Focus then all of you know, what can I do to make this the best our then of people's lives are the best estimates for the best 45 minutes depending on one else in that class. What can I do to make this the best? X-Men time they can work for you know and by doing that by having that, you know, what can I do to make make people fall in love with this in the same way that I do? That's what keeps people coming back and when you get people coming back, that's what allow me then to bring that back to that that initial focus of I want to help people. I want people to be fit. I want people to be healthier if people keep coming back to my classes will be able to do that. Why are people going to want to come back to my classes? Because it's the best 30 45 60 Minutes of their day and I can make that as much fun as possible. I've luck. More kind of really Les Mills questions here before we move on slightly. Did you know that they are finally changing CX works the less no score. I did see that. Yeah, I did see that. That's been a long time coming. Absolutely. Yeah, and we still don't know nothin about it. Although that it might happen this year. It's a thing that might happen. I mean I still remember where and what is now six what it was initially cx30. Yes. So because people ask me this all the time on module training, why is it called CX works? I my first of all I roll and sigh and smile and just answer I've Why idea but you can tell people know what was it originally called. So it was initially called cx30 and those of you that our instructors. Are you remember from back in the day the initial five key elements? So you remember the choreography technique coaching connection and fitness. What was then called Fitness magic how how they managed to shoehorn this in but basically the way that we used to do was to have this big visual of cx30 of what the logo was at the time and to try and get people all into this idea of you know, remembering what the key elements we would shoehorn in the key elements into this logo. My understanding is the reason it change from 6-8 to CX Works how they came up with the idea of CX works. I am with you in the same boat. I honestly have no idea by know initially it was there was a potential lawsuit with P90X because the logos were very similar which then prompted the It's just sex Works core cross links for the C X's is my only you know, those of you that do teach CX we talk a lot about slings. That's where I can see where they've got the CX from The Works your guess is as good as mine, but CX or throw Les Mills core certainly a much more fitting name for it and certainly much more accurate days before it was well so off the back of this podcast. I know a lot of instructors are going to message me and probably quote parts of this podcast about there's no score there was so just put everyone on the picture at the layers Mills USA trainer Summit last year. There was a video of Kylie talking to the group which was posted on social media with Kylie's permission with Les Mills has permission and it's I think it's about nine minutes and she spends around about four minutes chatting about there's no score and in that four minutes he speculates That so it's definitely going to be called as well score and she speculates that they're made they are traveling different versions. So there might be 20 minute version 30-minute version 40 minute version. What we know is it's going to be cold as no score. The rest is all guesswork. So if anyone messages May or screenshots as an Instagram and says Ricky Long said this you never said that it's all just speculation and all we will do is encourage speculation because it's fine to do that social media. I'll just simply blame the fact that I've been after this was going for so long. So I'm just going to blend you a hundred seven minutes. So I'll attention is good attention, right? So moving on just very very quickly from Les Mills is you Let's talk about the strength lab and Crossfit. So what was the transition for you? Because of already spoke about you obviously have this clear affection even know but Les Mills and know you run your own box your own CrossFit units the strength lab and you're obviously so dedicated CrossFit yourself. So talk us through that transition. So I think the best place to start is actually why I started CrossFit which was another fall into story. I think I've no I was very guilty of of the old bro split days, you know Monday chest. She's laid-back Wednesday's together, you know some that you need those days, you know some days you just need a little bit of fluff and pump and just need to get involved. Yes, and I'd General I do remember, you know that the body building in heavily inverted commas split I used And for me, I just got incredibly bored with it. I've been doing it for a very long period of time and I think certainly when you use that as a split you are very limited in what you can do and there's only so many ways that you can you know divvy up. In a flat pull down rows of various forms pull ups except for etc, etc. Before you're doing just the same thing over and over and over which has certainly was and for me, I found CrossFit in 2014 and again hand on heart. I was the guy that took the piss out across that I was that guy and I think a lot of that came from a level of insecurity with this factor of there's this new thing that's potentially taking clients away from me as a level 3 PT So I think that that's where a lot of that stem from you know, so we know there's a whole thing with with that which was which was quite interesting and then actually kind of had that that realization of so I take the piss out of CrossFit quite a lot, but I've never actually done it I should maybe go and do it and then I can really take the piss out of it. And I went through to it to a box in Edinburgh and I did a fundamentals course. So those of you that are not aware most boxes throughout the UK will generally run a fundamentals course, which will take basically break down the fundamental movements of CrossFit to make sure that you're able to move safely so that when you move into a class environment, that's not everything is totally alien, so it's almost a stepping stone into the class. So to just to give you better tools when you get to the class, you know, if crossfit's That you've never done before and your coach is telling you that you need to be hitting to hang. It's got such as a 30% you you're not going to know what that is. Whereas the fundamentals course really does help to bring that together. So you either from the old CrossFit study fundamental? No, I think it's very much a box by box thing and it really does depend on I think a lot of it is down to the box size down two members. Ship size, etc, etc, etc. So, for example, if you've got a large box with a with a big membership base your potentially trying to coach 20 people within a class because the movements are certainly the Olympic lifting movements are so complicated. You're not going to be able to coach people effectively through that. So something like a fundamentals course where you can start to break the movements down for people. They have a basic understanding as to what they should be doing, which then allows you to coach the That little bit better is really useful generally for I would suggest smaller boxes. They probably won't know the fundamentals course simply because there's not a requirement to for example in our box. Currently, we tap our membership water aerobics classes at people because of that that allows us to spend more time with people because we're able to spend more time with people. We don't feel a fundamentals course if necessary simply because if you know if I've got eight people moving out I can coach I can move around those eight people effectively moving down when we when we start to expand and we have bigger and busier classes fundamentals or something certainly something that we will look at just just a people with their Journey with this idea of actually, you know, you can go and do something that breaks down with the movements are so that when you go into your first class, it doesn't feel quite as scary. Because there's no two ways about it CrossFit is incredibly intimidating any level. It's incredibly intimidating and the fundamentals course really does help to offset that a little bit Yeah, but yes if across it for me and then I wouldn't do the fundamentals course the finished it with a with a really short amrap. I believe it was a nine-minute amrap throwing some air squats and some have not stopped since maybe some shoulder to a bed in it and it Put me on my ass like this. It was one of those where I'll go and do CrossFit. I really fit I'll be able to do this bro error and I just got my shit handed to me like badly and I just remember going I really like that. Like I've really enjoyed it and then it came it came this idea of you know, there's always something to learning process. It doesn't matter how good you are what level you're at. You can always be better. You can always be stronger you can always Befitting you can always be faster. So there's always something you can do to make an improvement on. I love that idea. I love the idea that you know, I wasn't just going to be going into the gym or go into the box and doing the same thing day after day after day. I started doing doing classes. I love the idea that when I went into class didn't know what I was going to be doing. I didn't know until I got there and had to adapt and got to learn some really cool new movements did the 2014 open with pretty sure the hopes that And you cross the ads. Yeah when I went to the games, yeah, I'm gonna win the open. Yeah be going to the game should be brilliant and I'm sure the workout was an overhead squat chest tube are assembling ladder and I just remembered this inability to be able to do Chester bars and its inability to be able to do overhead squats because my arms just gave up like I just had spaghetti for arms and just couldn't do anything. And just scoring so horrendously on all of the workouts, but it was that thing of you know, okay we go we go again next year. I've got 12 months to make an improvement 12 months to learn these skills will retest and again in a year and then it was 2015 did the same thing in 2016 and did the same thing and yeah up until up until 2019 2019 was the since 2014 was the one open that I messed just simply because It was a big change in the season and the old format used to be that you do the open. If you were top top 40 in your region, you would then go to Regionals. If your top five from regions, you didn't refer to the games that changed it then became it was the top 20 from the open Booth to the games. And then it was they've they've created. I think the best way to put it is a privatized version of The Regionals where bye I had no claim sanction Al's which I think correct me if I'm wrong because you actually you would doing CrossFit long before I was I believe they call it sanction all's right back in the day was Extinction event. Yeah, like back back in the day. Yeah, because it was so small that they're like, I did it 2008-2009. Yeah, but it was still called a sanction. All right, was it called something different? I can't even remember it was that long or what? I do remember is The qualifiers that I did I was either 2008 2009 of I've still got a t-shirt somewhere from lots of free t-shirt. Yeah, there's no there's no one that big lifts of any type in the qualifiers. It was 90% bodyweight movements with kettlebell swings on it or remember that and it was Farmers carry with kettlebells. And that was it like nothing compared to what it is. I'd like it was so basic. I actually made the qualifying. Times where I could have gone to some other qualifier to go to the games at Coach glassman's House, which it certainly isn't they're nice. It's the adherents of all right. Yeah. Yeah that was back there back in the day. I can tell you what it's called Cycles back there. Yeah, my dear. I'm sure somebody again. There's doing CrossFit longer than they will be able to create does MM. Okay, the year 2019 was the one open that I missed just because at that time I was fortunate enough to go and do my first things to them. And to me when I when I started CrossFit, so when I started in 2014, I'd made that that choice of myself with myself of saying, you know five years time. I want to be doing the recent event sexual to the place of regionals and I was lucky enough to qualify on a team to go down to London to do the first strength in depth. Sectional which was incredible and it kind of Link's back to that initial that initial point with Les Mills this idea of you do something you set yourself a goal and then you just chip away at you said it yourself in in time a bit how long 25 free sample 2014 in five years time. I want to be doing a regional. And it wasn't just I think that's what's going to keep me on track and that's what's going to keep moving forward. Within that it was it was the thing. I think everybody within the fitness industry additionally certainly when they start will have this idea of I would love to own my own gym, especially those that work in what we would call a globo gym environment. So those of you that work in in Your Standard wall in heavily inverted commas in your standard Jim's so you're David Lloyd your virgin actives, etc. Etc. Etc. You know, I think every every PT every level to has has wonderful dreams of I want to own my own place. Yeah. I can do it better. I wouldn't do that way. Yeah, you know, I'd be so different and the truth is yes, you will do it very differently. But it's yes not an easy road to go down. But that was that's what then prompted the strength of it was this idea of all I've fallen totally in love with Crossfit and I want to utilize this idea of again. I think I'm still in the fitness industry for the same reasons. I want people to be healthier want people to be fitter. I want people to be living longer. How can I do that? I can do that by my own place went and did my CrossFit level one. Which for those of you for for CrossFit box. That's a requirement. You need to have your what they call your license record must be level 1 holder. And then we were lucky enough to open the shrimp crab in it initially it started off as when me and Sam my wife want me had clock it started off as this idea of I let me just want somewhere. In fact, I started off with with let's just get a couple of kettlebells for the house so that I can train one pocket sleeping and it just progressed and progressed and progressed into this into this monster that it is now we were lucky enough to find a house that had an outbuilding that allowed us to utilize that space for a gym and it still boggles my brain this idea of people come to be coached by us. Like it still baffles me, but people come in like they pay money to come and be coached by me like that still blows my brain completely because it is that simple thing of your but I don't get it. Like I don't know why I'll just have to lie coach you anyway, it doesn't fuss but you have become opinion if this is really cool. It's a nice place to be and it shows that you're valued and it shows that the culture That you and Sam and the facility that you're obviously provide or worth it. We like to think so. Yeah, I know I've been there. So I remember you told me about the house that you were moving into and you give me a wonderfully descriptive description of the ice in a Nando's and Manchester when I cash are so here you're moving into a new house as yeah, we've got this out building and I'm going to have a gym. I just want to look like this and you set up your Etc and then on those don't know if you remember this set them all up. You were made Lindsey. I want to say Phil Harrison was there and you were given us this big description although and in my head, it's just me speak freely. That's when for me it that's when you were like, right CrossFit is serious. Now, I am my life. It's not just High Atrium outside of my group fitness classes it this is becoming part of my life. That's when I realized anyway, Yeah, absolutely. I think and it's certainly initially from the CrossFit was the when I first started CrossFit as much as I wanted to be. active in CrossFit it was it was very much a means to an end. It was very much a fitness routine at the time a supposed to what I would classify as now which is much more than that. I then I believe now it's not for myself. It's not really a fitness routine now. It's It's a step beyond that now whereas before it was this idea of if I go and do CrossFit I can be stronger. I can be fitted on a can be healthier. And for me that allowed me to apply that into a Les Mills classes. So it's this idea of I can be stronger. I can be fitter and I can do that and that allows me to teach my Lesnar's classes better and it is genuinely did certainly for bodypump for me when I started doing CrossFit. It was it was a massive Game Changer. I will fully admit when I first Start teaching body. I didn't teach it and even when I was on the training team, I didn't teach it. In the best way I very much taught as a this is a weight class and we must live Waits and waits and more weights and put more weight on your bar. And it's not it's not about that or believe that I believe it's not about that. It certainly wasn't certain shouldn't have been but some of that was down to my my own competitive nature and the good thing was that with Crossfit allowed me that it allowed me that competitive nature to be taken care of allowed me to get stronger to get It up which then allowed me to actually coach bodypump and to coach my RPM with body combat. My six works that allowed me to coach them better because it was no longer allowed me to take that that internal focus and switch it to an external Focus. So as much as I had this this idea of I want people to be stronger. I want people to be healthier the way that I initially looked at that was okay. Well the way that you're going to get stronger and healthier, especially through something like body pump is you're going to lift more. Hey, come on, let's More left more left this let's look more rather than thinking about it as a longer-term goal with this idea of actually hey, you know, if you're really compliant with this and you come more often and you're coming two to three times a week. That is going to get you stronger and fitter. It's not necessarily a case of you need to be lifting maximal weight every single time. You come into body pump. It just needs to be this idea of you just need to be compliant with it. You just need to do it on a regular basis and that will get you stronger fitter and that really shifted the way that I talk bodypump. They're not only shifted the way that I talk bleep on it shifted the feeling in my class and shifted my class numbers as well because it wasn't it was no longer about this place Waits Waits. It was actually you can come and you can lift weights and you can have fun and you can enjoy yourself in this environment as opposed to, you know, a 60-minute beast. Almost felt bad for asking this question, but I want the know this and people are going to want to know this. Why did you stop Les Mills then cause you've just spoke about hi CrossFit actually complimented your Les Mills teaching professor and it actually give you something teaching Les Mills that you didn't have. So first of all, when did you stop kitchen as well as classes altogether? The 2017 2017? Yes. Yes. Oh, yeah lips so that The end of that Les Mills life. Yeah, that was it. That was my last that was my last class I taught period so whether that was a club that wasn't just a case of like this is my last thing that I'm teaching as a trainer or is it presenter? It was very much a case of this is it like this is where the line is drawn. There is no more Les Mills after this and it was like after that was there was no more Les Mills. There was no more teaching at Club level. There was no more kind of modules or anything else after that it was I'm done. Why was up to be honest? I lost the love for it. It was and I I'm sure as to why but I lost a love for it. And the reason I started doing Les Mills was and the reason I wanted to be a trainer was because I loved it like and I love this idea of I can take I can take my passion. And I can I can bring that to other people and I can I can still hopefully try and install that same level of passion roof fraction of that level of passion with people and if I do that they're going to want to go and they're going to want to teach in and think about the amount of people that then they can go and help that's an incredible thing. Especially when you bring it back to this idea of you know, why do you do what you do? So what is your why And I did I fell out of love with it and whether that was a case of falling out of love with it because my focus was scientist GIF more onto a combination of my own business and my own in heavily inverted commas athletic capabilities. I'm I'll be honest and say I'm not sure about that but for me because I'd lost the love and because I'd lost the passion for it. II didn't want to be delivering s a second-rate product but I but I believe that that Les Mills Les Mills to me is worth way more than that way and it still is but I will still speak really highly of it because you know, it is effective. It does work. But for me where I was at for in terms of in terms of training and being a trainer I lost the loved and I lost the passion for it and to me that was the time when I went. If this is not something that I that I love this is not something that I don't want that to come across when I'm doing modules and when I'm teaching yeah because it's that same idea of if you teach with a passion. People are going to be hooked on that passion. They're going to feel that passion and then from a train that level they can then take that passion back to their clubs and they can deliver that to their members. If you're not teaching from that point of passion you're going to do then I'm then passing that down through the levels of that makes sense. So for example as a trying to find if I feel my feeling was if I'm not teaching from it from a place of total passion for what I'm doing. The instructors are going to feel that They will then water that down as that goes down to their members and their members are then not going to get the best kind of think of the right word experience sort of looking for their members are not going to get the best experience. The people that are coming onto my modules. I'm not going to get the best experience. Therefore. I need to shift this and it needs to become something different like I need to I need to leave. Les Mills because I'm not I don't have that same passion that I wanted it. That's very honest comply they ask you out. But yeah, I think people appreciate that. Yeah, but it and it was either the reason and you know yourself for no and other trainers will know being a trainer is hard work. No, it's a long time away from home. It's a lot of traveling and yeah, it's a lot of hard work and and the end of the day the reason that you're willing to do. Those things is passionate do it because you love it and do it because because you want other people to create that same level of passion back at their clubs. If you are unable to generate that passion, then what are you giving people or you're not giving them everything you could and because of that you're not happy. You're not going to be a delivering the best way possible. While the talk about the present you are a hundred forty first in the world, and I know you have a big event in February. What's that event? What happens at the end of that event? So I don't need we've got in February. It's a three-day event three-day event where I traveled to Norway and I'm taking part. The Norwegian CrossFit Championship was fortunate enough to qualify second for that. So the goal for that is a Podium spot and the idea now is to actually now start to make it again invert context of it. It's possible to do it entirely but it's to start to make more of a living of this idea of being an athlete. So there is this prize money Etc at the end of this. Assuming that get onto the podium. So yeah, the plan is to Podium in turn to start to know to now build myself further as an athlete so far coming up this year. I've got Norway which is my first action of the season. I've got the lowlands which I still need to qualify for. Their qualifiers are released in March belief, which is a sanction of event in the Netherlands. Wrong believe it's of Amsterdam and I plan on doing one other event this year as well sectional level. So with with Crossfit you kind of have different levels of events. So you have local events, which will just be held at your local box you have what I would do to be National events, which are big events that generally don't tend to To attract people outside of for example the UK so a good example of that would probably be something like the castle games is probably a good National level comp where you get a good level of competitor there, but you don't get very many people from outside of the UK. Yeah coming to that event on top of that you then have a sectional level event now sang shil levels of sanctionable level events. I believe there is only 36 of them. It's 32 a plastic over the course of the year and they are held all over the world everywhere from Canada to Brazil to China and Australia all over the shop the way that you qualify for. These is all different some of them you qualify for the open and some of them they run their own qualifiers. So for example for Norway because of my scores in open that allow me to qualify for Norway. However, the lowlands throw down that has its own. All the fire. So that's a set of work apps that need to be done. I believe for the lowlands. It's actually three workouts basically done back-to-back-to-back you film sending get verified and then you find yourself on the leaderboard and then determine whether or not you qualify. Really unfair question but have been debating asking a product a monster. So in 2016, you were six years into Les Mills land life. Yep. And in 2020 your noise six years in the CrossFit land life. Yep compare were you're in CrossFit world to Les Mills world or not compare where you were you are how you feel about your progress. and what you're doing, your impact is a better way of saying it like how you're actually operate in yourself. So I Believe by 2016 in Les Mills land. I had kind of come to an impasse with stuff. So for me with Inlet, there's no sun. There was nothing else left to achieve in terms of like a trainer Journey the way the training Journey works. It's also did work at the time. I certainly can't speak for it. Now you ran an issue? Auto training' Duran tame ones and then she ran into so for me as a trainer I ran initial will do training for all my programs are run em once for all of my programs and I was fortunate enough to be able to deliver in twos as well. So in terms of training there was there was no extra step for me. There was no there was nowhere else that I could go towards in terms of presenting again. I've been fortunate enough to present one of the DVD. I've been fortunate to to do the Live Events and to to go to some really big events been fortunate enough to go round the world that smells like for me at that stage. There was nothing left to do had done everything from you know, teaching Court leads to one to two people and modules to two to three people to doing photo shoots with less pedals, which was quite possibly the worst experience of my life. I remember. Yeah, and I was I did to photo shoots with them and both of them were just equally as well. We're gonna sing about it was it's not body combat texture which Samuel pushed every now and then and your arm just looks about four meters long. I think my arms are up for me good for definition for the crossfitting is pretty shit. It's not it's not built for people with a long lens and tomorrow. I'm a I'm a long-winded individual. But yeah, and it was but it by 2016 I feel I felt like I had achieved everything I could have cheaper than business and perhaps that was part of my losing the passion for it was this idea of actually there is nothing else for me to achieve with this in terms of now where I'm at with Crossfit and and they're very definitely there to divisions with this because there's CrossFit with me as an athlete and there's CrossFit for me as a coach and as a box opener so as a coach and as a box toner I believe we're just getting started. You know, we've been we've been open and we've been a function CrossFit box. Its 2017 this year. We are moving we're moving to a bigger premises. Yeah, which is going to allow us to take on more members. It's going to allow us to help more people. It's very much going to be a We are going to be full. I hate this expression, but we're going to be a One Stop Shop for Fitness, you know, people want to come and get stronger and want to come and get fitter. They come to us whether that's that they want to do that by a class programming via their own programming we can do that. We have the space to be able to have that together. We plan on having massage therapists on board that will allow people to work through take some pain. So we have sports therapists physiotherapists that will be on board again to help people as much as we we can on top of that. We also want to build built on the incredible community that we already have we've been fortunate enough in the last three years to build just a wonderful community of people and we want to bring that we want to build that further and further and further and it goes back to this idea of compliance, you know, if you if you love what you do and you really get on with everything you'll keep doing it. If you keep doing it, you'll get stronger. You'll get fitter. You'll get healthier you'll live longer. So things like Department having chill out space for members and and everything like that where yeah, we can be that One Stop Shop. So in terms of being a box owner and being the coach very much just getting started. There's still so much more. To be achieved because we know the move is going to be a massive thing the ability to be able to help more people is going to be incredible and that's going to keep the dressing keep progressing and then years and years and years down the line. It's been going to be going to be that leaving the Legacy isn't it's the it's the legacy of the German and how we can move forward with that in terms of an athlete. I believe I'm probably preaching my Peak now has a knife. You know, I'm very much a realist when it comes to my abilities being six foot two does not do well in profit. I believe I'm kind of being be able to qualify for sanctioned events and and to compete at that level I believe that's that's me. I have no, you know no ideas of our hay or sorry no ideas anymore. I should say of our hey, maybe I could make it to the games because it's it's a whole other level like earlier about age categories potentially other what's the age categories in the games themselves or each category's just for these regionals and say Charles. So that's sanctions are very dependent on the section itself for the for the games. You've got 18 to 34, which is those of you that watch the games and that the follow the cross again. Season that's where you'll see the vast majority of people. Those are your those are your Top Flight crossfitters? Yeah, your pics age ranges than 35 to 39 42 44 45 to 49 52 54. I believe it goes 50 to 59 and then 60 to 64 and then I think it's 65 Plus. Which is I mean with Crossfit we talked about this idea that CrossFit is for everyone and it really is and not just from a you know, what we would call gpp. So General physical preparedness, you know the needs of athletes and our grandparents different by different by need not buy kind. So for example, an athlete needs to be able to do that he needs to be able to do a burpee improve it quick because you know, the clock says that they have to be able to do that your Still needs to be able to do a burpee or a variant of a burpee because what if one day she gets a barber chair and falls over. She still needs to be able to pick yourself back up again, so it varies and Yeah, so did you know maybe in like the 65 plus range than maybe a shot at the games but I think until then I think I'm not even I'm assuming that it's popular parallel. Yeah, you know that years time. I'll be fine 30 year prior training program starts now exactly. But yeah, and that's it. And that's yes a brief. There is there is something there for everybody in terms of in terms of CrossFit and in terms of me being an athlete. I do feel like I'm not the probably the Pinnacle of where I will be the next step with that is then okay if I'm now qualifying for these events and I'm not competing at these events the next step on that than is being able to Podium. So take the top three finish and then instead of being able to win the events as well. So again, that's those are kind of the where I believe my steps is enough for you guys when you're turning up to Norway or when the CrossFit will Burn workouts are released. What is the one exercise that you don't want the see? They're all fuck for me for me. It's toes to bar. I can't do that never have been able to do that never will be able to do that. And I will never put the work in to be able to do that. So don't give me the flexibility techniques, which I don't I'll be really honest. There's no exercises because I would like to believe that I'm well enough prepared that. There's not an exercise that would ever stopped me in my tracks. And so it's not one of those run like shit. Like I'm not going to be able to do that exercise because the way that my training would like it might rain does work is that that would have that would have been identified prior to that. So I feel so for a long period of time certainly last season handstand steps and ramps were very much in fashion thing in terms of programming. And it was that thing of like shit that comes up at an event. I'm not going to be able to do that. But then you practice that so you just got okay you go away. You see right? Okay, if that's if that's something that you feel is going to be detrimental to your result. You need to go and work on that and for me, that's exactly what I did. I then went away and it was a it was a daily thing. I would spend 10 minutes every day trying to get up and down the steps and ramps just everything. It's all the videos on your Instagram. Yeah. Yeah, there were some interesting videos. I think that was maybe the ones that were successful that was maybe take 1000. Absolutely. Oh, yeah, but everyone knows Instagram is the highlights range. Exactly. It's a constant. It's all about all about the highlights and that was it and and see you. There's nothing that I kind of go. Oh, that's that's not an exercise that I'm not gonna be able to do because I would like to believe I prepared myself well enough and my training isn't a good enough place that like, I don't have that thought process. There are exercises that I am less fond of but a lot of that comes down to Again, it comes down to being a tall athlete, you know things like thrusters. I'm never going to move at the same speed as somebody that's five foot six because I just simply have to move the bath further physics. Yeah stops me from doing that. But at the same time, you know, you could look at it and say, okay. Well, yeah, I can't move the Thruster quite so quickly, but I can I can row a much much better rate than you can because I'm taller therefore, you know Iraq. Older enroll in walkouts beside you and just being completely in awe of how much more powerful your stroke seem to be to my stroke and I was giving it the beans and you were very very comfortable you big tall get you've got have you got have some uses for cross it for my belief is rowing box jumps and warbles are pretty much the only good things for tall people and Crossfit now with that you kind of need to be that like five eight. Eight like that perfect height for CrossFit. Almost me. It's almost me said hey, you know, you get them toes-to-bar done for the game. Sure. I'm just conscious of time for us both Absol finish up with my finisher questions. Obviously, you're going to be common to jump alive and actually shrank lab or very very kindly sponsoring the event and you'll be given a you know a chat just probably a lot of Off you spoke about today. So what? Is there anything else you would kind of could most of the people come to jump are going to be group fitness professionals group fitness enthusiasts. So what kind of training? Strategies do you think benefits the group fitness Enthusiast the group fitness side of things the one who to be mindful of is a few things to be mindful of one in my opinion need to be very mindful of your overall volume and that comes down to a combination of the amount of classes that you're teaching per week what those classes are as well as your training volume. So if it is that thing of, you know, if you're teaching you'll have to let me know number on this. Do you know what the average of classes that people too? Children a week. I have no idea. I think it's varied massively in the last two or three years because of shifts in the industry. I know they're there are still some people her teaching between fifteen and twenty five classes a week, but I would say the average is closer to ten nine. Okay, so let's work off 10. So you say you work at your teaching ten classes a week. The vast majority of those are probably going to be 60 Minutes long. So you need to be mindful of the fact that actually you're probably doing before you've even started your own training. You've done eight hours a week of high intensity exercise. Like that's a lot adding additional stuff on top of that probably not can be beneficial if we look at it in terms of CrossFit perspective. We would look at that as a you know, we look at people's ability to be able to go longer and work. Let's record their engine your engine would probably be in a really good place because you have not just you as a specialist instructor. Not only do you have the ability to be able to export to execute and to be able to teach those classes at a very high level. But you also have the ability to be able to talk what's doing that which means that you are working at a high level at a high heart rate, but your rate of perceived exertion is much lower than could be so I would say actually in terms of in terms of doing engine work. Kind of not beneficial what you're actually doing is funny send up and faced. I recently had a debate with a fellow fellow triathlete. She's also doing there and Iron Man this year and we're just talking about heart rate training and she was she's also a group fitness instructor, but she's getting professional training from triathletes, which I don't argue in any way, but they talk so much about heart rate training and heart rate zones. Yeah. Her heart rate was set very very high when she's training and I said to her that's because a group fitness because you your body can maintain and stay at that higher heart rate at I didn't use the phrase. But at a lower perceived exertion same way I can to talk about engines, you know, I did a podcast in this I turned up and ran a marathon with no run and training because I tell people if you there's a lot of group fitness instructors out there who one night a week or Saturday morning will teach three classes back to back. Back that's three ores that that is harder it on your cardiovascular system than what a marathon will be. I'm not saying the marathon's easy. And anyway, what I'm saying is your system knows how to deal with that. Absolutely. I don't agree with you on that plate because it is that thing of and we'll work it in terms of Les Mills because that's something that we're both familiar with the supposed to kind of free stuff so things because there's a lot of things that could come into that the way that Les Mills This is generally structured is around high intensity interval training doesn't matter doesn't matter whether it's a body attack class or whether it's a great class. It's still based around this idea of high-intensity interval training, you do three hours of hitchhiking and you're honestly going to tell me you're not going to get fitter and you're not your engine is not going to be in a good place and that you need to do additional engine work. Like that's some bullshit by it really like there's no two ways about it. You are going to be fit and it's it, you know, your rate of perceived exertion at high heart rates is going to be much much lower which means that you can function better at a higher heart rate when exercising which means that in terms of things like CrossFit, that's that's what we want in CrossFit. We want you to be able to operate with a high heart rate because what we do Jack's your heart rate up you need to be able to operate with a high heart rate to be able to do that. So, yeah in terms of CrossFit and Les Mills instructors, do they need to Doing additional engine work. No, but do they need to make sure that they're potentially adding in some additional time domains? I would potentially say yes. Yeah. So let's most classes are between 30 and 60 minutes. Correct me if I'm wrong that hasn't changed not yet. However, some CrossFit events are much shorter than that. So you might have an event that six minutes long. Yeah. So do you have that ability to be able to really push that full send button for six? For six minutes something like that would maybe be useful within their training but actually the most benefit that they're going to see is going to be from lifting because that's not necessarily something that they are either a getting enough of all be actually just going heavy enough to be able to get the stimulus to get stronger. I've said all the time, you know, as good as Les Mills classes or for overall general fitness, if you take the two classes where you lift the Sweets, which is great strength and Body Pump. You're still not lifting heavy weights to give you a strength stimuli. Yes, you'll get plenty of benefits from it. So my hack and you know many of spoke about this before is you know, if you've got your Body Pump class or body attack last turn up the gem half an hour beforehand and do some basic five by fives on the squat rack or dead left because that doesn't overly tax your Energy System. It's not to time constraints not taken up a lot of time and then you can go and use your body attack class as your engine work of metcon. Whatever Fraser service. Yeah. Absolutely. All right, I'll drop just conscious of time again. I'll drop my last two questions on to you what items under a hundred points. Have you bought which give you Great Value a diary? Like just as something as simple as head of celery and a pen like it seems like I'm without a diuretic pain. I don't know my ass from my elbow like that. Like if it's not written down I do not know what the fuck I'm going to be doing. So a diary in a pain in terms of other things as well something as simple as foam roll and across ball to make sure that you're able to operate a good in a good rate regularly. Without having necessarily to go ahead and book a massage appointment or something similar like that. I'm also going I will always be Darian pan. I've tried digital Diaries on the phone and all that doesn't work after right now her for the wrong time with the wrong generation. Yes. What is the last book you read and he would you recommend it for so it lasts 2 of 2 books. Actually, I'll give you for that one. So just getting back off holiday managed to get through two books. First one is Jurassic Park Michael Crichton. Just you know, if you've seen the film read the book but goes into into way more detail and things those of you that really enjoy maths and the idea of and physics in the idea of Chaos Theory talks further about that and you start to understand more about the chaos theory and how that impacts in the park and and everything like that. But for me the massive dinosaur nerd and I'm a bit of a science nerd as one it kind of brings us both both the things together. The other one is a book called Relentless, which is by Tim Grover now Relentless or Tim Grover is a sports sports psychology book. It's a little bit shall be an American but if you can get past it being quite a shout in American, it's really good. It's a guy that's what we Kobe Bryant about his mindset and I'm going into going into game. Creating longevity with in his career really worth the wait really weird. That's it. The second time. I've heard that brick mentioned. I'm a great believer. If you hear about a book two or three times kind of in quick succession, there's definitely it's definitely worth a read so of just written up dying because I heard on the podcast. I don't know when it was but it was quite recent. But yeah, I'll definitely look into that. Where can people find you on social to connect to follow. So I'm on Instagram. I'm on Facebook. I don't really do Twitter was think goes on to it for a little while and then I just kind of fell off it because I didn't really get it so you can follow me on Instagram. My Instagram handle is Hugh Davis 85 a spell you weirdly blame my parents for that one so slow. He hates UW and there's no relief data Sir Hugh Davies 8 5, you can also follow the gym. The gym is strength lab underscore. Fit so strengthen our bonds for CrossFit and your thinking on that as the met. I have loved this chat for so many reasons, and I know a lot of people listening to this are going to get huge value. So thank you very much for coming on. You're very welcome and thank you for having me. You are listening to the Ricky Long podcast. I love hideous and I know if you come to jump live you will see why I love you lives. You will probably just see me looking at you Davis with puppy dog eyes and just complete admiration. Hope you enjoyed that episode catch you on future episodes all the really long podcast. Thank you very much for listening. You are listening to the Ricky Long podcast. Where? International Fitness entrepreneur Ricky Long answers your questions and interviews Fitness leaders on training nutrition and mindset. Be sure to leave a review on iTunes. International Fitness entrepreneur Ricky Long answers your questions and interviews Fitness leaders on training nutrition and mindset. Be sure to leave a review on iTunes.
#69 Jump LIVE Special with Huw Davis  Huw Davis is a Crossfit Athlete and box owner based in Burntisland, Fyfe. Having spent over 16 years in the fitness industry working his way through the commercial side of the fitness industry with leading gym chains and being a Les Mills Trainers and Masterclass DVD Presenter Huw now dedicates his time to his own personal Crossfit box and clients along with his own pursuit in Crossfit sports as an athlete. In this episode you will hear:   How Huw became Les Mills Trainer  When Crossfit came into his life  How to prioritise training between Les Mills instructors and Crossfit training  Why it is called CXWORX  This is the second Podcast special for JUMP LIVE on February 8th in Glasgow. I have taken the principles from my world famous JUMP 4.2 programme and packed them into a 1 day seminar and invited some expert speakers along to make it an incredible day for all attending! In this podcast Huw shares his personal story and methodology when it comes to training which we will elaborate on at Jump LIVE. Jump LIVE February 2020 is 60% sold out! This means we have about 20 seats left. You can read all the details HERE and Collect your ticket. 