About Garth

Nothing beats active

I was born in Perth, Australia in 1971. An itinerant early childhood, due to the work demands of my deep-sea diving father, lead to periods living in Norway, the Orkney Isles and Malta, before returning to England where I went to school in Derbyshire and Nottinghamshire.

In 1993, following a BA(Hons) degree in Business Studies and French from Nottingham University, I started work on a trading floor in The City of London as trainee stockbroker for the French investment bank Banque Indosuez. In 1997, I moved to CLSA, the Asian investment banking subsidiary of Credit Agricole, where I headed up the European sales desk for Asian equities. The fourteen years I spent in financial markets were both intense and rewarding but sitting at a desk all day, as sedentary as any couch potato, was taking its toll. My thoughts were always on the next time I could get to the pool or go for a run, just anything to get off my well fed backside. The world of sport and exercise science started to appeal more than the next money deal.

I was 36 years old and I knew enough about the physiology of ageing to know that it was a case of now or never. I decided to concentrate on the world of sports science and in 2009 I completed my MSc in Sports Science and Human Performance at Brunel University. Since then I have become a regular contributor to triathlon and cycling magazines, an invited presenter for various coaching organisations, not to mention a father of two toddlers who, incidentally,  bring new meaning to the term ‘endurance training’.

My Specific Areas of Interest

Ageing and Exercise. During my desk bound career I came across many colleagues, clients and friends who were perpetually about to ‘get fit’. When they hit 35 or 40 or maybe 50 that was going to be the year when they stopped drinking, smoking, eating rubbish and from then on their new athletic form would emerge like a glistening butterfly from an ugly chrysalis. Of course it never happened. But that is not the heart breaking part of the story. What is especially cruel about our physiological decline with ageing is that it begins in earnest as early as our mid 20’s and,  if left to continue unchecked on its miserable, precipitous downward curve, by the age of 60, just climbing up a flight of stairs will stop us in our tracks. Alternatively, we could still be running sub 3hr30m marathons at 60 and beyond if only we press the right buttons, and start pressing them early enough. It is this quality of life aspect that particularly intrigues me about the physiology of ageing and exercise because the contrast, for once in life, is truly black and white. For now, at least, aerobic health really is the only true elixir of life.

The Physiology of Endurance Training and Performance. I love training for and racing in a whole range of endurance events such as triathlons, cycling time trials, running races and cyclosportives. I especially enjoy the process of determining the specific physiological requirements of a given race and then preparing for those requirements in as time efficient way as possible. I am not a specialist. I believe in the concept of ‘whole athlete’ or ‘gross athleticism’. This is simply the idea whereby you maintain a high level of all round fitness most of the time – aerobic capacity, strength, flexibility – participate in a variety of sports not just one all of the time – I particularly like swimming, cycling, running, cross country skiing and hiking. This type of all round conditioning ensures that you stay fit and healthy in many ‘directions’. Then, the really fun bit is in selecting a specific event or two as goals for the year, whether they are triathlons, marathons, cycling time trials or whatever. The next step being to research the event and identify the specific training requirements needed. The rest is execution. The process is usually very satisfying and suitable for any sporting polymath!

Garth enjoying a training ride with the great all round pro cyclist Hanka Kupfernagel (5 times World Champion, 3 times European Champion, 35 times German National Champion)

However, I do believe that most enthusiastic age group endurance athletes training for triathlons, marathons etc, do so poorly or at least inefficiently. At best wasting time and at worst setting themselves up for chronic underperformance and injury. Whether preparing for your first 5k run or your tenth Ironman triathlon, the only training variables are frequency (how often), volume (how long) and intensity (how hard). Manipulate them correctly and you improve, get the mix wrong and you don’t. How many age group athletes stay at the same level of performance from one year to the next? The appropriate manipulation and subsequent adaptation to those key training variables is highly individual and should be prescribed as such. One of the driving reasons for putting this website together was to provide a simplified, clear understanding of cutting edge scientific knowledge and to translate it into practical advice for the aspirational age grouper. The other, is to help athletes of all abilities identify, efficiently prepare for and outperform in, targeted endurance events or races. I hope this website will go some way towards achieving those goals.

I am a member of the British Association of Sports and Exercise Sciences (BASES), The American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM), The European College of Sports Sciences(ECSS), The Nutrition Society and The British Triathlon Federation.

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