Ben Coomber Radio

In life, in sport, in the gym, is winning the goal? Dr Josephine Perry is a sports psychologist and coaches young athletes from the age of 8, right up to 80 year olds still trying to achieve their goals. And while we all have goals, how do they take shape, and what is the definition of achieving them? When we then set out to achieve a goal, what then holds us back, fear, a lack of confidence, the comments of others, a lack of preparation? Dr Perry has just written an awesome book called “I Can: The Teenage Athletes Guide to Mental Fitness”, except the book is for all, its simplicity and approach is brilliant, for young or old, and I loved this interview. If you are goal driven, or want to be more goal driven, or want to achieve more, this show is for you.Check out Dr Perry at: https://performanceinmind.co.uk

Most people would say they wish they had more confidence, with many claiming some people are just naturally more confident, but is this true? Surely we are all confident at some stuff? Two people wrote into the podcast which formatted what we feel is a deep dive into developing your inner confidence, refining your ability and character, how to know what ideas are good and which are the bad ones, and use a few examples, one being how to write something, like a blog or a book or to start a project when there is procrastination and fear, another example with weight loss and how we focus on BIG often disempowering goals that make us question our ability. The reality is, most people would say they would love to be more confident and trust themselves, and we hope this podcast goes some way to helping.If you’d like to take the £1 FA offer we spoke of, here is the link: http://bit.ly/fa1offer

Caffeine, something 99% of us take, multiple times a day, but what is the science behind it, what is the perfect dose, how does it affect our sleep, how does it affect performance in the gym, in training and sport, and when can it be bad? Find out, alongside Tom and I jumping down a few other rabbit holes…!Want to get our Caffeine white paper? Awesome, grab a copy here: https://btn.academy/pages/nutrition-report-caffeine

Stress is in all our lives, but how deep does it go, how does it affect us, and are we aware of all the stressors in our life? Having coached for 14 years now, I've seen and worked with a lot of stressed people, and there are common character traits of the 'stressed' person, thus, we could argue that stress isn't real in some respects, but it very much is, because life is happening all around us and pushing and pulling us constantly. In this solo podcast I cover the many forms of stress in our lives, how to potentially look at it, how to solve or alleviate it, and how to hopefully become, less stressed. Enjoy.

Right now, and at many points in our lives, things get difficult, and its often tough to see a way out. This podcast was spurred by a great question sent into the show which started simple on the surface, but Tom and I found a way to go down a deep rabbit hole and look at life challenges, goals and what happens when we can't achieve them, where self-awareness only gets us so far with our own problems, why you should never stop at one diagnosis if you're not happy, how to solve our life frustrations, and more. If you fancy joining Tom for his Sweetener webinar, here's the sign up link: https://us02web.zoom.us/webinar/register/5816153025060/WN_8p8jqgBIRUG0zRkNKSdJcg If you want to write into the show email bencoomber@gmail.com subject line ‘Podcast’

Stress and fat loss have long been connected, some point to a direct effect, and some to an indirect effect, after all when you look at the research stress and obesity are directly correlated. But physiologically, what direct effects could there be, and what effects could there then be indirectly? Tom and I fire up the mic and dive down the rabbit hole to explore all the ways in which stress can hold back your fat loss efforts, getting geeky, then zooming out to look at the wider picture. Stress is something we all have, BUT, the devil is in the dose…. and the response….Want to learn more about nutrition? Visit: www.btn.academy

Is sugar addictive? People often quote their addiction as a real thing, but we don’t eat sugar, we eat food with sugar in it. So is sugar addictive - or is it the sugary foods, the tastes, the flavours, that make it addictive? Before we talk about sugar and whether its addictive we need to speak about the problem solving process, as this podcast was spurred from a nutrition talk I did where someone put up their hand and said “Ben, how do you solve sugar addiction”. It turned out that wasn’t the problem, so we start with the nutrition problem solving process, then discuss the dynamics of sugar, carbs, and how and what we eat, and its affect on our bodies.Enjoy this show? Awesome, please subscribe and give it a share

“Food is thy Medicine” is a famous quote, but is it true, or could it actually be a harmful phrase that alienates the nutrition industry from the medical industry? In our industry we often complain that modern medicine isn’t holistic enough, that it doesn’t treat the whole person, but this is unfair, and modern medicine is actually doing the work it needs to do to save lives. Join Tom and I as we go down the rabbit hole and explore how this feeds into the Healthism debate, where ‘how’ we approach anything changes everything, why the EatWell plate positions balance in the way it does, why ‘diet systems’ prevail over a wider balanced nutritional approach, and why much of the blue zone healthy ageing data is over simplified in its message to us living a long and healthy life.

Breathing is something I think we all take for granted. But with stressful lives a modern reality, anxiety at an all time high, asthma being a common respiratory condition, is it time we drew more focus to the breath and how it affects our physiology and psychology? Patrick McKeown, author of 8 books on the topic, joins me to discuss all things breathing, oxygen, why Co2 is the unsung hero, how breathing actually affects our body and mind, how you can test your breathing with the BOLT score, and more. A thought provoking show around an action we perform 10-20,000x a day, and something that is a personal interest of mine having used a breathing technique to cure my asthma, and still using it as part of my Long Covid recovery.Check Patrick out at: https://oxygenadvantage.com

Omar Meziane’s CV is seriously impressive. He’s worked with England Rugby, England Football, Chelsea FC, The EIS (English Institute of Sport), the Spice Girls... I could go on and on and on, there is so much he’s done. We first met each other via our mutual friend James Haskell, who Omar has now co-written 2 books with - Perfect Fit and Cooking for Fitness. Today I finally get the privilege of chatting to him about his career in sport as a chef working with the worlds best athletes, how he views food and how simple it can be, whether he’s more Jamie Oliver or Gordon Ramsey in the kitchen, which spice girl is the angriest as well as his new food business www.Tweakd.uk and much more.Check Omar out @o.meziane top lad, was a pleasure chatting with him.

In this marathon show, Tom interviews Dr. Gabrielle Fundaro PhD, CISSN, CHC, former Assistant Professor in Exercise Science, Renaissance Periodisation Coach and Long-Term weight management specialist who now runs Vitamin PhD Nutrition Telehealth Coaching for intentional lifestyle approaches. This conversation is incredible, exploring the Health At Every Size movement, weight stigma, healthism, metabolically healthy obesity, and the idea that diets are harmful and to be avoided. Where do good nutrition, intentional weight loss and the fitness industry fit in the newly emerging anti-diet paradigm? Grab a cuppa, this one goes in deep!Follow Gabrielle on FB/IG: VitaminPhDVitamin PhD Nutrition Telehealth Coaching Website: www.vitaminphdnutrition.comRP 1:1 E-mail Coaching: www.renaissanceperiodization.comBridging the Gap Website: www.btgcomprehensivecoaching.comFB Community (Membership Subscription Required, available on BtG Website): Comprehensive Coaching Facebook CommunityNutrition Coaching Global Mastermind (Bo

2020 - what a year. But what did you learn, discover and realise about yourself and your life? This is what I learnt, and 3 words I am taking into 2021 to live a more purposeful life. p.s. yes I do get the episode number wrong at the beginning, standard!! It's 596.

Pandemic or not, what is the road to AWESOME, the recipe for personal success? How do we break down and assess where we are at, where we want to get to, and the steps needed to get there? In this talk I get you to assess your current level of AWESOME, score it out of 10, then work through 6 core pillars and their scores, and then I go through the 10 biggest areas I feel people need to nail to get to your next level of awesome. For me, being AWESOME is the goal, and I hope this podcast, an audio recording of a talk I've just done for the staff of HSBC, helps. Enjoy.

When we use the term ‘health’, or ‘healthy’, what does this actually mean? Who decides or has decided what healthy constitutes? How much body fat is healthy? How much wine is healthy? What should and shouldn’t we do when it comes to our health? Its a big topic, so Tom and I go down a long and winding rabbit hole of health terminology, politics, socioeconomics, human behaviour, and personal value systems. Its a deep show, but wow, isn’t this an important topic if we want to be healthy…..?

If you’re working out at home, how should you structure it? How would you warm up with limited equipment? What exercises are good, and how do you keep mixing it up? These are all questions I throw at The London Fitness Guy - James Stirling with part 2 of our chat. I also delve into his diet, why his goals are largely focused on maintenance these days, how he used to suffer from body dysmorphia, the difference in what you can achieve between training at the gym and at home, and what is his #1 cardio burner. Enjoy.Follow James on the gram @London_Fitness_Guy

We've been discussing hormones and ageing a lot recently, and the two shows myself and Tom have done recently got plenty of feedback / criticism on female hormones, especially regarding the shifts you get as you age with menopause. So Amanda Thebe, a hormones and menopause expert who's experienced all this herself, coaches it, teaches it, and has written the book on it, joins me on the show to discuss weight gain as you age, the impact of hormones, how Covid19 symptoms are actually a good comparison of how we can be affected physiologically, where symptoms fit into the cause and effect scenario, where goals get merged and shouldn't as health and weight are different, and ultimately, what effects weight gain, hormones or how much we eat...! Enjoy. Feel free to continue the debate by writing into the show via email; bencoomber @ gmail.com Subject line 'Podcast' Follow Amanda online @Amanda.Thebe Find her book 'Menopocalypse' on Amazon.

Had covid? I have, so has The London Fitness Guy, aka James Stirling. In this episode we discuss how its affected us and the effect it’s had on our lives. We discuss how it brought around crippling anxiety for James, deep depression for me, fatigue and lethargy for us both, but importantly, how we’ve recovered and the breakthroughs its both given us. 2020 has been a CRAP year for many reasons, but we now reflect on how is now been the BEST year for us both. Covid wasn’t fun, but in hindsight, there has been gifts from it. In the discussion we also discuss breath work, meditation, Wim Hoff cold showers, exercise management, mindset, how to be successful on your own terms, and more. An incredible show with an incredible guest.Give James a follow over on IG @London_Fitness_GuyJames website: https://londonfitnessguy.com

Taking time off the gym can create a lot of anxiety in people: will this lead me to gain fat? Will I lose muscle? What about strength? In this short Monday show, Co-Host Tom outlines exactly what happens in your body when you stop going to the gym, and how much of a concern it should really be...

With 83% of people living in cities, working in offices, travelling in confined spaces, breathing polluted air, and getting less than one hour of sunlight per day, how connected are we to nature and a natural way of living? Are we happy with our balance? Our movement? Our nutrition? I interview the awesome human that is The Natural Life-Stylist, Tony Riddle. We discuss a re-connection with nature, the balance of science and nature and how we quantify and track our outcomes, getting the balance right with tech in our lives, environmental toxins, the role of sleep in our lives, what we know from looking at indigenous tribes, and more. I personally found this interview truly fascinating, and challenging, loved it. Enjoy.Follow Tony on Instagram @TheNaturalLifeStylist and check out Tony's Online Tutorials - https://tonyriddle.com/online-tutorials/ or consider joining The Nat Life Tribe here https://tonyriddle.com/nat-life-tribe/

Should you take creatine? Who can it benefit? What if you don't exercise? What if you do exercise, but you're not sure if it benefits the type of exercise you do? Well, this podcast will answer all your creatine question, the worlds #1 researched performance supplement. It's not me today, but my brainy co-host Tom Bainbridge, our Head of Education at The BTN Academy.