Why I’ve Changed How I Train

My issue with powerlifting isn’t that I don’t love or enjoy it. It’s that to be genuinely good at it, it has to become almost the only thing you do.

And that’s never been how I’ve operated.

My entire life, I’ve played multiple sports at a high level simultaneously. In the Army, I wasn’t just doing sport on the side — I was dealing with the constant physical demands of the job itself.

Running ranges, carrying kit, long days on your feet, and lack of sleep. The job alone was physically demanding.

On top of that, I was competing on the shooting team, travelling for competitions, while also doing British Army Warrior Fitness, playing regimental and battalion rugby, going away on training camps, and even boxing at times.

None of that existed in isolation.

Warrior Fitness made me fitter and stronger, which carried directly into rugby. Rugby fed back into my soldiering with physicality, aggression control, and the ability to switch on and off when needed. Shooting involved endless running in boots through muddy fields, which fed back into rugby conditioning. Boxing built composure and control under pressure. Strength training supported all of it.

Everything carried over, even with the job placing constant physical stress in the background.

That’s what I enjoyed. Having multiple things going on. Having different focuses at different points. Being able to rotate emphasis without losing performance or enjoyment.

Powerlifting and bodybuilding, as well, for that matter, don’t really allow that at a high level. To keep progressing, you need to be doing it consistently, year-round, often 80–90% of the time.

And that isn’t just in the gym. Outside of it, you start giving things up.

What’s always running in the background is the question: how is what I’m doing outside the gym going to affect what I can do inside the gym tomorrow? Food, sleep, social plans, stress, and even hobbies all get filtered through training performance.

That mindset never existed for me when I was doing multiple sports.

Back then, I didn’t really care how one thing affected another. Of course it did, but it was just what it was. You adapted. You turned up. You did the work anyway. Conditions were rarely optimal, but performance didn’t require your entire life to orbit training.

In powerlifting and bodybuilding, that level of flexibility doesn’t exist if you want to keep progressing. At some point, everything outside the gym starts orbiting it. Life bends around training rather than training supporting life.

And for most people, this is still happening in a sport that remains a hobby.

I played rugby as a hobby. I did Warrior Fitness as a hobby. I boxed as a hobby. I wasn’t getting paid, even though I was still receiving a wage from the Army. But I could do all of those together, on top of a physically demanding job, and still perform well.

With powerlifting, I have to treat it like a professional sport while still not being a professional.

The cost keeps increasing, but the return stays the same. So, that’s why I’ve changed how I train. And to be clear, I’m not stepping away from powerlifting to increase my social life or avoid responsibility. If anything, my life is busier than it’s ever been.

I’m a dad. I’m a partner. I’m a homeschool teacher.

Five days a week, I’m teaching my son, organizing lessons, planning learning blocks, taking him on trips, meeting with homeschool groups, and building his education day by day.

On top of that, I’m taking him to jiu-jitsu three times a week, training with him twice a week, and making sure he’s exposed to discipline, movement, and structure.

That comes with stress. Responsibility. Mental load. Time pressure.

So the question hasn’t disappeared, it’s changed.

Now, it’s not “how will this affect my training tomorrow?”

It’s “how does my training support my life as a father, a teacher, and a role model?”

I still care about being strong. I still train hard, but my training now has to fit around real responsibility, not the other way around.

I’d rather be broadly strong, capable, fit, and present for my family than maximally optimized for one lift total.

That’s the direction I’m moving in now.

Nat Galloway

Coach, Master Athletic Performance