In episode #25 Tom McAdam speaks with team Jamaica weightlifter, coach and spoken-word artist Chloe Whylie.

What does it take to compete at the highest level in olympic weightlifting? Having transitioned from coaching and powerlifting to competing at the World Championships in weightlifting in just 4 years, Chloe is the perfect person to provide an answer.

Having overcome enormous challenges along the way, Chloe's story provides lessons for anyone seeking elite-level performance in any field. Chloe is an athlete; but it has been her mindset that has propelled her to success.

In this wide-ranging conversation we discuss:

* Chloe's famously impressive squat numbers

* Chloe's early years and getting into sport from the age of 4

* Leaving home at age 15

* The period of depression and personal losses that ultimately lead Chloe to weightlifting

* Finding a way out of depression through strength training and sport

* Chloe's powerlifting career and how she got incredibly strong (200kg+ back squat)

* Why maxing out won't get you strong and how to strength-train properly

* The importance of sport and physicality for young girls

* How and why Chloe transitioned from powerlifting to weightlifting

* How Chloe dealt with a string of serious injuries: a broken hand and a slipped disc that lead to drop-foot, severe muscular atrophy and pain.

* How Chloe used counselling, yoga, meditation and deliberate routine setting to deal with a prolonged period during which she was unable to train during lockdown in 2020

* How Chloe lost 15kg bodyweight: the importance of vegetables, nighttime protein for recovery and knowing when to eat carbohydrate and protein.

* How Chloe performs at the highest level on a plant-based diet.

* Working with Giles Greenwood and how he helped Chloe overhaul her lifting technique to rely less on pure strength

* Joining team Jamaica and Chloe's experience competing at the World Championships

* Chloe's goals for her lifting career

We hope you enjoy the conversation!

Find Chloe on instagram @whyliecanlift and train with Chloe on her website www.weliftandwelive.com

Follow Basis London on instagram @basis.london and find us at www.basis.london

In episode #24 BJ Rule speaks with Basis London co-founder and coach Tom McAdam. 

What is health? What is performance? What is well-being? What are we really trying to work towards in training and in life and how can we get there? These are the questions that come up as Tom and BJ chat.

Through a discussion of Tom's personal story and interests within the world of training, health and well-being we touch on a wide range of fascinating topics:

* How Tom went from working in investment banking to PT to opening a CrossFit affiliate

* How CrossFit put athletic performance on the map for the average gym goer and why this was such an important shift for Tom

* How Tom's pursuit of performance lead to disordered and obsessive behaviour surrounding training, nutrition and lifestyle

* The role meditation played in helping Tom resolve disordered behaviour, find true well-being and improve relationships

* Tom's view on what meditation is, how it works and the story of where he has taken his practice in the 5 years since starting

* Tom's take on breathwork for athletic performance and finding calm: the Oxygen Advantage "breathe light" exercise and the importance of carbon dioxide tolerance

* How becoming a parent during the pandemic changed Tom's attitude towards training and health and how he approaches exercise now

* What's the deal with nasal breathing running? The physiology of breathing.

* The BOLT (blood oxygen level test) and the MBT (maximum breathlessness test) from Oxygen Advantage and what they tell us

We hope you enjoy the conversation!

Follow Basis London on instagram @basis.london and find us at www.basis.london

In episode #23 Tom McAdam speaks with Basis London co-founder, coach and trainer BJ Rule. 

After 22 episodes, it felt like the right time to introduce the coaches behind Basis: BJ Rule and Tom McAdam.

We begin with BJ's story and how he got to where he is now, covering some 25+ years of experience coaching people and athletes and teaching group  classes. We discuss lessons learned and mistakes made over that period.

Then we open up a conversation about the topics and themes in health and fitness BJ is currently most interested in, including:

* Why "the basics work" is a guiding principle for BJ in training and nutrition

* The fundamentals of resistance training and aerobic training and how to apply them

* The modern origins of physical exercise as a concept and the reduction in opportunities for movement

* What’s so wrong with the “punish yourself” mentality to training

* The way progressive overload works

* Fundamental human movement patterns

* BJ’s passion for the Hampstead ponds and cold water dips

We hope you enjoy the conversation!

Follow Basis London on instagram @basis.london and find us at www.basis.london