August became the month where strength started becoming performance.
July was about post-surgery strength becoming athletic strength. August took that a step further. The work I’ve been putting into strength, mobility, pulling capacity, trunk control, carries, conditioning and movement began expressing itself across the whole body rather than just through individual exercises.
The biggest evidence came through the number of performance milestones achieved. Pulling strength was a major highlight. I progressed from a spontaneous 6-rep hammer-grip chin-up PSPR to repeated high-volume bodyweight work, including 20 bodyweight pull-ups, 28 bodyweight hammer chins and 30 strict bodyweight neutral-grip pull-ups. I also accumulated sessions of 50 total bodyweight vertical pulls. The real significance wasn’t simply the numbers; it was seeing grip strength, rows, pulldowns, carries, hangs and arm work transfer into genuine pulling performance.
Lower-body strength and power progressed too. My broad jump moved from 6’10” to 6’11”, while trap-bar work reached 170kg × 5, another major PSPR. Pressing also returned successfully, with 80kg × 5 × 3 on the Smith bench after resting and rehabbing my left shoulder.
Mobility and movement continued to develop alongside the strength. Hip aeroplanes became stronger and more controlled, pistol progressions moved from an inclined bench to a flat bench, and Windmill, thoracic, ankle, hip and trunk mobility continued to improve.
But August taught me that performance isn’t simply about pushing harder. There were days with excellent recovery where I could attack the session, and days with poor sleep or low recovery where the intelligent decision was to modify the workload or recover completely. I learned to treat recovery metrics as information rather than the entire story and, more importantly, to listen to what my body was actually telling me.
That became a different kind of strength. I could train hard without being reckless, test myself without ego, stop when technique deteriorated and take recovery days without feeling that I was losing progress.
The GBRS objective also became clearer. Wednesdays and Sundays are now dedicated performance-development exposures, while the rest of the week builds the strength, power, mobility, endurance and work capacity required to complete the basic standards by April, when I turn 50.
August also reminded me that athletic development happens outside the gym. Walking in the countryside, training in the garden, kettlebell flows, kickboxing and time with Julie and the dogs all formed part of the bigger picture. Then came Ben Lawers and Ben Ghlass, completing two Munros and around 25,000 steps. The biggest marker wasn’t simply finishing them; it was recognising that I felt fitter than I did on Schiehallion the month before.
That is what this journey is really about. I’m not rebuilding this body simply to lift more weight. I’m rebuilding it so I can live more life.
Earlier in the journey the question was:
“Can I get back?”
Then:
“How strong can I become again?”
July:
“How complete can I become?”
August gave me another question:
“What can this body actually do?”
The answer is becoming increasingly exciting.
It can pull.
It can carry.
It can jump.
It can climb mountains.
It can press again.
It can move.
It can recover.
It can adapt.
Ten months after emergency Hartmann’s surgery, I’m no longer measuring progress by how close I am to who I was before surgery.
I’m measuring it by what I am capable of becoming now.
Strength is the foundation. Performance is what happens when strength, mobility, stability, endurance, coordination and mindset start working together.
I’m not training to prove that I survived. I’m training to discover what is possible. And the more capable I become, the more life I get to experience.
“Strength for Life”
