Q3 became the quarter where rebuilding strength turned into building performance.
July was about post-surgery strength becoming athletic strength. August took that further by demonstrating measurable performance across pulling, pressing, power, mobility, grip and conditioning. September then brought those qualities together, showing that strength, movement and athleticism were beginning to work as one system.
The biggest evidence came through the number and variety of performance milestones achieved across the quarter.
Pulling strength became one of the clearest examples of the progression. What began with increasing pull-up volume developed into repeated bodyweight performance, including 28 bodyweight hammer chins, 20 full-grip bodyweight pull-ups and eventually 30 strict bodyweight neutral-grip pull-ups. I also accumulated sessions of 50 total bodyweight vertical pulls and continued developing rows, pulldowns, hangs, scapular control and loaded carries.
The important thing wasn’t simply getting better at pull-ups. It was seeing all the supporting pieces begin to connect.
Grip strength, trunk control, scapular stability, rows, pulldowns, carries and arm strength were no longer separate exercises. They were beginning to transfer into genuine pulling performance.
Lower-body strength and power developed in parallel.
The trap bar progressed to 170kg × 5, while my broad jump moved from 6’10” to 6’11”. Pistol squat progressions moved from an inclined bench to a flat bench and then into decline-bench work. Hip aeroplanes became stronger and more controlled, while unilateral strength, balance and lower-body mobility continued to develop.
Pressing also went through an important progression.
After resting and rehabbing my left shoulder, I returned to Smith pressing in August and completed 80kg × 5 × 3. By September I had progressed that to 80kg × 5 × 5 on the flat bench, pain-free.
That progression means more to me than simply moving more weight.
It represents trust returning to the shoulder and the ability to reintroduce pressing as normal strength training rather than something I was simply trying to get back to.
Grip and loaded locomotion became another important part of the quarter.
Farmer carries progressed from 37.5kg in each hand for 70 metres to 40kg in each hand for 96 metres. Suitcase carries, hangs and trunk work continued alongside this.
Again, the significance isn’t simply the load. It’s the ability to organise the whole body around an external load while moving through space.
Mobility also changed significantly across the quarter.
90/90s, Shin Box work, Windmills, hip aeroplanes, thoracic movement, ankle mobility, pistol progressions and trunk control became part of the training rather than something separate from it.
By September I was beginning to add load to movement positions that previously existed simply as mobility exercises, including loaded Shin Box rotation extensions.
That feels like an important shift.
Mobility is no longer just about getting into a position. It’s becoming about being strong and controlled once I’m there.
The quarter also taught me a great deal about recovery.
There were days when recovery was excellent and the body was ready to attack the session. There were other days where sleep was poor, WHOOP recovery was low or illness meant that pushing harder simply wasn’t appropriate.
The biggest lesson was learning not to treat every day the same. Sometimes the correct decision was to train hard. Sometimes it was to reduce the stimulus. Sometimes it was mobility. Sometimes it was a complete rest day. And sometimes it was simply getting outside and moving.
I learned to treat recovery metrics as information rather than the entire story, while still respecting what the body was telling me.
That became another form of strength. I can train hard without being reckless. I can test myself without ego. I can stop when technique starts to deteriorate.
I can change the session when the body needs something different.
I can take a complete recovery day without feeling that I am losing progress.And I can still pursue ambitious performance goals while doing all of those things.
September reinforced that lesson when illness temporarily interrupted training. The objective wasn’t to force my way through it or pretend nothing had changed. It was to step back, recover, reintroduce movement and gradually rebuild the training stimulus. Then the performance returned.
That is a very different relationship with training from simply believing that more is always better.
Q3 also demonstrated that athletic development doesn’t happen exclusively inside the gym.
Walking through the countryside, training in the garden, kettlebell flows, kickboxing, balance work, mobility, long walks with Julie and the dogs and the Munro adventure all contributed to the bigger picture.
Ben Lawers and Ben Ghlass were particularly important. Two Munros and around 25,000 steps provided a completely different physical challenge from lifting weights. Climbing, descending, balance, foot and ankle demand, endurance and prolonged movement all had to work together.
The most important marker wasn’t simply completing the mountains.
It was feeling fitter than I had on Schiehallion the month before.
That is what this journey is really about. Not simply becoming stronger in the gym. Becoming more capable outside it.
Q3 also brought the GBRS objective into much sharper focus.
Wednesday and Sunday have become dedicated performance-development exposures, while the rest of the week develops the underlying strength, power, mobility, endurance, coordination and work capacity required to complete the basic standards by April, when I turn 50.
The quarter therefore wasn’t about collecting random personal bests.
The numbers have a purpose. They are markers showing that the physical qualities required for the bigger objective are developing.
Looking back across the three months, I can see a clear progression.
July asked:
How strong can I become again?
August asked:
What can this body actually do?
September started to answer a bigger question:
What happens when all these qualities begin working together?
The answer is becoming increasingly clear. Strength can become movement. Movement can become performance. Performance can become capability. And capability gives me more freedom to live.
Q3 has also changed how I think about the body I am rebuilding.
I’m no longer trying to recreate the exact version of myself that existed before surgery. I’m building something different. Something stronger in some ways. More mobile in others. More deliberate,
more educated, more patient, and more capable of adapting.
Almost twelve months after emergency Hartmann’s surgery, the defining story is no longer simply that I have returned to training.
I am developing a broader physical capacity than recovery alone requires.
I can pull. I can press. Ican carry.
I can jump. I can climb mountains.
I can balance. I can move through difficult positions. I can train hard.
I can recover. I can adapt when things don’t go to plan. And perhaps most importantly, I am learning to trust the body again.
That is the real achievement of Q3.
Strength is still the foundation.
But performance is what happens when strength, mobility, stability, power, endurance, coordination, recovery and mindset begin working together.
July built the foundation. August demonstrated what was possible.
September began integrating it. And now the next phase begins.
October marks the transition into Strength & Conditioning.
Not starting again. Building on everything that has been earned.
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”
