Author name: Aaron Buchan

I’m Aaron Buchan, and I’ve spent over 20 years honing my craft, delivering more than 40,000 personal training sessions and nearly 20,000 team training sessions. Through this extensive experience, I’ve witnessed firsthand what truly works for achieving long-term fitness success. While many trainers claim to have the “secret recipe” for results, I’ve found that the foundation lies in three key pillars: posture/mobility, technique, and what I call “physical intelligence.” These pillars are essential for consistent progress and avoiding the common pitfalls that can derail even the most dedicated individuals. Pillar 1: Posture and Mobility Understanding and improving posture is the first crucial step in any fitness journey. Posture isn’t just about standing up straight; it encompasses a wide range of factors, including pelvic position, spinal curves, core function, shoulder movement and stability, glute strength, muscle length, and overall movement patterns. These elements are the foundation of how your body moves through space, affecting everything from how you squat, bend, lunge, push, pull, twist, and walk. When posture is out of alignment, it leads to inefficiencies in movement and increases the risk of injury. For example, if your pelvis is tilted incorrectly or your spinal curves are exaggerated, it can lead to compensatory movements that put undue stress on your joints and muscles. Correcting these issues requires a commitment to mobility work, stretching, and strengthening exercises that target the specific areas where you may be lacking. However, many people tend to skip over these foundational exercises, preferring to jump straight into the more exciting aspects of training. This is a mistake. Without a solid base of posture and mobility, you’re setting yourself up for potential setbacks down the line. Pillar 2: Technique Once your posture and mobility are in check, the next pillar to focus on is technique. Proper technique is essential for making progress in your training. If your technique is off, you’ll be unable to safely increase the weight or intensity of your workouts, which means you’ll hit a plateau. One of the biggest challenges I see as a coach is clients who want to load up the weights before their technique is perfected. This is a recipe for disaster. Lifting heavy with poor technique not only limits your progress but also reinforces bad posture and movement patterns. Over time, these faulty patterns become ingrained, making them harder to correct. It’s said that it takes around 20,000 repetitions to reprogram a faulty recruitment pattern—so imagine how much more difficult it becomes if you’ve spent years lifting with improper form. This is why I emphasize the importance of “homework”—practicing the movements and drills that will help you improve your technique outside of our sessions. By doing so, you’ll be able to progress safely and effectively, laying the groundwork for more advanced training in the future. Pillar 3: Physical Intelligence The final pillar is what I refer to as “physical intelligence.” This concept goes beyond simply knowing how to perform an exercise; it’s about understanding how your body moves in space and having the awareness to correct your form in real time. Physical intelligence involves the ability to control your motor patterns, recognize when something is off, and make adjustments on the fly. In my experience, physical intelligence varies widely among clients. Some people, particularly those with a lower training age or those who have never been taught proper movement patterns, pick up on it quickly. Others, especially men over 40 who have spent years following a bodybuilding mentality, can struggle with this concept. They may be strong and muscular but lack the coordination and awareness to move efficiently and safely. Developing physical intelligence requires patience and practice. It’s about breaking down movements, understanding the nuances of each exercise, and gradually building the mind-body connection that allows for fluid, controlled movement. This pillar is often overlooked, but it’s critical for achieving long-term success in your fitness journey. Conclusion I’ve seen time and time again that these three pillars—posture/mobility, technique, and physical intelligence—are the key to unlocking long-term fitness success. While there are certainly other factors that contribute to your results, these foundational elements set the stage for consistent progress and injury-free training. If you’re serious about reaching your goals, take the time to master these pillars. Don’t skip the basics in favour of the more exciting aspects of training. By building a strong foundation, you’ll not only achieve better results but also enjoy a healthier, more functional body for years to come. Book a consultation with me today and let’s assess your posture and movement

After the first round, I knew what I needed to do, not go so hard on the first run still push the bike and come home strong on the second run, I held back on the first run not pushing the limits too hard, sometimes watching other competitors run away from you at the start can be hard but I’m ok with that in my mind I’m thinking ill catch them on the bike, running a solid 20mins 5km was still good for me, but coming into transition my hands were so cold I couldn’t get my helmet done up and wasted about 10-20sec heading out on the bike I noticed I didn’t see as many people bunched up together due to the staggered age group starts which for me didn’t give me as much opportunity for free speed sitting behind and weaving around when passing, I got my head down and pushed its out, I didnt seem to have the punch I usally do on the bike but gave it my all, the second transition I wasted more time getting my new shoes on and had the lases way too tight but got them on and headed off for the last 2.5kms run, finished off the race with the exact time 1:03 as last race, but definatly know what i need to do for next one to perfect every thing. Next race final round of duathlon I’m getting very excited for the start of the triathlon season with the first race at Westlake in late October. My Ironman training has been going very well the last 4 weeks with some heavy loads especially on the bike around 400-500kms per week, I’m very conscious of not running too much as 2 years ago is when I had multiple stress fractures in my metatarsals so only running 3-4 times a week at this stage, swimming is very strong ATM and I know ill be able to dominate the swim times come the first triathlon. MASSIVE THANKS TOO Kangen water Infinit (use “perform” code to get your discount on products) Sportitude I arrived with plenty of time to get organised. As I did my warm up run, I felt that everything would be alright today. (nearly wasn’t) I found a good position for the start of the race and hit my pace quickly.  I’m always amazed at how fast some runners are as I watched them racing back for the 2nd lap as I just started out.  My run went smoothly and I negotiated the track and other runners well. I found I could pick up the pace in the last lap without too much effort. The transition didn’t take long.  I jumped on the bike and looked down to place my feet on the shoes. I looked up, oops, a parked car directly ahead, sharp turn to miss it by a few centimetres. My heart rate spiked. Now to get the feet in my shoes –  best done after the corner. But my foot came off the shoe and it went spinning, I looked down to get it level again. Looked up, oh no, going off the road, sorry spectator, yikes a parked car. I visualised the crash I didn’t want. At the last second, I managed to jump the front wheel back onto the bitumen. Crisis averted.  Phew! The rest of the bike leg went so much better. The second run didn’t seem to take long and I pushed it to the end, with an overall 2 min improvement on last race. Lyn Humphries Though the forecast said cold, Sunday morning provided nice conditions to race.   I arrived on time, racked my bike and set up ready for Duathlon 2 at the Weir.   After a warm-up run and dynamic stretches, I still felt heavy in the legs.  I brushed this aside – it will be what it will be. I had done the sessions, but a stressful week at work (and watching the Olympics late at night) have played a role.   It was Start Time, so I set myself up mid-field in the women’s age-group wave. There was a short count down and we were off. I headed off at a steady pace. Making sure I didn’t blow up too soon. I could feel my heart rate was too high so modified my pace and kept good form.  I decided again, like Duathlon 1 that it was a day for no metrics – just went by feel. I kicked a little harder, passing others along the way.   I had an okay T1. For some reason I couldn’t clip my helmet quickly, but with my shoes on my bike, as soon as things came together, I was off to the mount line. My mount was a little wonky, but once on the bike it was feet in shoes – get into position and start steady. I pedaled strong throughout, powering out of the corners as instructed by Aaron. There was a bit of congestion on this short circuit so ‘not’ drafting was tricky at times.   I was feeling okay as I clicked through the 5 laps. I didn’t want to make the same mistake of Duathlon 1 and made sure I had enough time to get my feet out of my shoes at the last turnaround. My dismount went to plan (and T2 was good). #keepworkingontransitions   With running shoes on, I took off at steady pace to settle the legs. Only two laps this time, so pushed home with what I had.   I finished happy and satisfied with my effort, form and result. 1:17:32 (first in age group 1/5) 12th female overall.   Though I had heavy legs, my body gave me what it had on the day – and no metrics was good.   As always, thank you Aaron for the training program. Though this was slower than Duathlon 1 my body gave me what it could on the day.I trust in the process and a swimmer can run. 🙂 Amanda Carne