Next month I am getting hip surgery for an injury I have had since 2012 called cam impingement, where the neck of my femur (thigh bone) is too broad and bangs into the socket of my pelvis. When I first injured it I had a tear in the protective tissue of the hip which was quite painful, unfortunately for me ACC decided this was a pre-existing condition so consequently would not fund the surgery and I have finally decided to have a summer off playing 7s and get the surgery done privately.

Being an amateur athlete since before I was 8 years old ( when I went to my first National Age Group Swimming Championships) I have always strived to be the best I could in any chosen sport; I have represented Southland in Swimming, Soccer, T-Ball, Waterpolo and Rugby 7s, My High School in Cricket, Soccer, Waterpolo and Volleyball, and most recently Canterbury in Rugby 7s back in 2015, this year I played Premier Rugby for Hautapu and Captained the Development side to the championship for the first time in a long time, with the lads only losing only one game in the second round.

This passion for excellence has seen me idolise many an athlete; Danyon Loader, Michael Klim and Ian Thorpe in swimming, Eric Cantona and David Beckham in football to Richie McCaw, DJ Forbes and Jeremy Rodwell in Rugby and Rugby 7s.

A search for what made these athletes the best was how they trained and set goals. To gain the most out of my training I looked to the internet for ways of tacking a holistic and complete athletic approach to training, three figures who influenced my training styles following my injury in 2012 were Sam Ward at Tika Training, Elliott Hulse of Strength Camp and Keegan Smith of RealMOVEMENT Project.

I had injured myself front squatting too much and my range of motion and technique left a lot to be desired. I didn’t want this to be an excuse and limit myself from achieving the best I could be. Through increased movement I have been able to increase my speed, power and strength over a number of years. Unfortunately the time has come where my hip meeting a sedentary job are starting to cause continual pain not only to my hip and IT Band but the related postures and compensations of my body are resulting in niggles throughout the rest of my body.

One of the key messages of Sam is “never being happy with the limits you have”, Elliott is “to be the best version of yourself” and Keegan is about making your life meaningful and world changing. A key of the RealMOVEMENT Project culture is to be accountable;

So today I decided to be accountable and measured my French Power Lifting Ratio, which is one of the measures the RealMOVEMENT Project base themselves against. I have started a new Instagram with my fitness and wellbeing journey and I plan to train towards improving my French Powerlifting Ratio over the next month before October 11th when I have my surgery.

From here I will have a line in the sand of where I was at prior to the surgery. I aim by having good movement and rare chain strength from the three compound lifts I will also be in a good place prior to my surgery. Of course thats not where it ends; I plan to rehab as close to the 5 months as possible to be back in time for the start of next years rugby season, by then I plan to have a French Powerlifting Ratio that is classed as Advanced to Elite even by the time the season starts, so I am the best version of myself.

Check out the video, I wrote a couple of notes on the totals compared to my current bests, since the rugby season has ended I have not been in the gym much but have been doing plenty of handstands and a few Tabata style workouts, I plan to be closer to my 1RMs before my surgery in October and advanced into the Intermediate category. So please add my other Instagram handle and follow my journey.

What Goals have you got? feel free to comment below and share with friends.

Cheers, Stag.