Playstrong Physio & Personal Training

Playstrong Physio & Personal Training Dedicated to all ages & fitness levels achieve their goals-maintain an active, injury-free lifestyle

16/06/2026

Cutting through the BS. Fat loss isn’t complicated

One meal a day used to make me spiral.

Sometimes it wasn’t even a meal.

It was a bar of chocolate.

“That’s it. I’ll start again on Monday.”

I’ve always been fit. Football fit, anyway.

But I never really looked like I trained.

And that’s the part that frustrated me.

I was working my ass off, training constantly, but I didn’t look like someone who trained.

That killed my motivation for years.

The truth about fat loss is that it’s a bit boring.

You have to give up some of the fun stuff for a while. The drinks, the meals out, whatever your thing is.

It’s a sacrifice.

And while it’s absolutely worth it, I disagree with people who say it’s easy.

It’s not.

Losing weight is simple.

Get yourself into a calorie deficit.

What’s difficult is having the discipline to repeat the same behaviours over and over again, even when you don’t feel like it.

There’s no secret.

No silver bullet.

No magic workout.

If you want to get into proper shape, you need to master the basics.

That’s what I have done. And I continue to do.

Now it’s a case of sticking with them long enough for them to work.

15/06/2026

He thinks you have to do complicated things to get in shape.

He being me… and I did.

At the time I thought machines were for beginners.

Then I realised something more important:
you need clarity before complexity.

Know what you want.
Set short and long-term goals.
Build a proper plan.

More than a year ago I put that into action.
I made a plan.

First I got shredded.
Then I eased the intensity and stopped tracking for a while.

But by then I understood my weight well enough to manage it without obsessing over it.

Here’s what I learned:
you don’t need complicated training to get in shape.

In a fat loss phase especially, injury risk is higher.
So keeping things simple makes sense.

Machines are a great tool.
Much Lower risk, easy to progress.

That’s just my approach
I just add weight, build muscle, repeat.

Top week for me, capped off with a bit of grub.That’s probably the thing I miss most when I’m on a cut. Not having as mu...
14/06/2026

Top week for me, capped off with a bit of grub.

That’s probably the thing I miss most when I’m on a cut. Not having as much food. The diet itself is manageable and definitely worthwhile, but the food noise can be a bit relentless at times. I suppose that’s just part and parcel of the process.

Busy week in the clinic. More classes on the way, and I’ll be starting Pilates in a couple of weeks too, with a bit of reformer thrown in.

Football-wise, I’m just training at the minute and lashing into the gym on the side. Looking forward to the season kicking off again.

The World Cup is on as well, which probably means I didn’t time this cut particularly well 😂 Could definitely do with a few extra pints.

Especially now that the sun has started making an appearance again.

Anyway, that’s enough from me for this week.

See you next week 👊

13/06/2026

Today’s session involved a bit of extra conditioning since I’ve no game this week.

The focus was on speed, speed endurance and making sure I don’t stagnate while I’m out.

I started with some box-to-box work before moving onto shuttle runs with and without the ball. I finished off with some longer sprint efforts to round things out.

90 minutes on the button.

Tough work, but well worth it.

At the minute, it’s all about building capacity, staying sharp and putting myself in the best position possible for when I’m back playing.

Got to admit, I’m missing football.

Only a few weeks to go now.

Performance Cut: Week 3- A Timely Reminder That Progress Isn’t PerfectThis week was a reminder that progress isn’t alway...
12/06/2026

Performance Cut: Week 3- A Timely Reminder That Progress Isn’t Perfect

This week was a reminder that progress isn’t always perfect.

I wasn’t planning on having any drinks this weekend, but a family party came up on Saturday. No big deal. I had a few pints and enjoyed myself.

The problem came afterwards.

On the way out, I spotted some chips, chicken tenders and battered sausage.

I’ll have a little go of that I thought.

Normally I wouldn’t think twice about them, but this time I did. One handful turned into a lot more, and I had no real way of tracking what I’d eaten.

That wouldn’t have been too bad on its own.

The mistake was treating Sunday as a normal cheat meal afterwards. Looking back, I probably didn’t need to do that.

It’s not a major slip-up, but it’s a good reminder of how quickly one unplanned decision can lead to another.

The positive is that despite that, I still had a really good week.

Energy levels are high.
Training is going well.
Strength is holding up.
Hunger hasn’t been much of an issue.

That’s largely because I have systems in place that help me manage it.

My average weight this week was 64.7kg, which is down 0.4 kg from last week. This morning I weighed in at 64.4 kg. Also down by 0.4kg

For context, the leanest I’ve ever been was 59kg for a photoshoot. I’m not chasing a specific weight this time around. The goal is simply to get leaner before I head away and see where I end up.

Six weeks to go.

See you next week 👊

11/06/2026

Cutting through the BS: building muscle is not complicated.

That doesn’t mean it’s easy.

The difficult part is doing the same things over and over again. And allocating the right amount of time.

It’s not fancy to say, but the hard part is repeating the same training week in, week out.

Repeating the same diet week in, week out.

Avoiding stagnation and avoiding injury.

Those are the difficult aspects in my opinion.

From there, your training isn’t actually that complicated. You just need to be patient.

For me, I need roughly 2,500–3,000 calories per day and heavy strength training.

Typically that’s 5 exercises and 5 sets per exercise.

Different muscles require different stimulus though, whether that’s your chest, biceps or legs.

It would be far less complicated for me if I didn’t play football and just walked on a treadmill.

Far less injury risk. Far less taxing on the body and on my joints. But that’s my decision and 1 that I wouldn’t change.

From then it’s about tracking your data, keeping it logical rather than emotional, giving yourself enough time, and using the right methods so you can actually see yourself and your muscles grow.

It might not sound fancy.

But I’m not here to sell you fake s**t.

I’m just here to tell my story and the truth about what it actually takes.

10/06/2026

Today’s physique session 💪

Just upper body today.
The last few weeks I’ve been carrying a back issue, a bicep injury, and a wrist injury, so I’ve had to make a few modifications along the way.

The back is still a bit grumbly, but the bicep and wrist are both improving nicely, which is good to see.
This session was also a little different from normal because I’m currently in a calorie deficit.

Right now, I’m not as focused on pushing intensity as hard as I normally would.

Started with bent over rows:
11, 11, 11

Really happy with these. I’d been struggling with my arm on this exercise recently, also at the same time it is pulling on my back so they’ll be out for next session.
Next up was the machine shoulder press:
5, 4, 3

A little less than I was hoping for. I ran out of gas towards the end, but I was pleased to be able to go heavier.
After that, I switched things up from my last session.
I did a Smith machine chest press:
11, 5, 4

This replaced the dumbbell chest press. Happy enough with it and, most importantly, no pain.
For arms, I went with reclined dumbbell bicep curls:
12, 12, 12

These are improving every week. Previously they were one of the most irritating exercises because of the injury.
I also did rope tricep pushdowns:
12, 12, 12

No pain at all on these, so happy days.
Finished things off with some abs:
15, 15, 15, 15

Not the strongest session I’ve ever had, but considering the injuries and being in a cut, I’ll take the progress. Next week some changes to help with the back.
Stay tuned to find out exactly what.

09/06/2026

Football fitness is different.

Been playing football since I was 6.

I’ve always been one of the fittest.
One of the fastest.

Even at 42, I’m still sharp.
That hasn’t happened by chance.

Your marathon training?
Your gym training?

It won’t cut the mustard for football if it lacks intent and intensity.

It’s not enough to just train.

It has to be the right kind of training.
With the right level of intensity.

Now, your preferences do matter.

Some people train in the morning.
Some in the evening.
Some fasted.
Others after they’ve eaten.

That’s all fine.

Because consistency is non-negotiable.

Minimum twice a week to maintain.
Minimum three times a week to improve.
For a minimum of 3 months.

But don’t confuse preference with taking it easy.

The boring, predictable approach often lacks urgency.
It lacks intensity.
It lacks the mindset needed to push yourself.

You won’t get fit by cruising through sessions.

You won’t get faster.
You won’t get in shape.

By taking it handy.

08/06/2026

A fat loss phase is probably my least favourite time of the year.

No getting around it.

Last year I spent 4-6 months dieting to get super lean. I liked how I looked, but if I’m honest, I stayed in that phase longer than I needed to.

Less food.
Fewer dinners out.
Fewer drinks.
Always thinking about calories.

The Biggest Mistake I Made During My Last Diet

Looking back, the biggest mistake wasn’t the diet itself.

It was not having a clear finish line.

This year I’m starting earlier than I think I need to for my holidays.

That gives me plenty of time to deal with anything unexpected instead of rushing the process.

The goal isn’t just to get lean.

It’s to stay strong, perform well and keep an eye on the things that matter for football.

The plan is simple:

• Slowly reverse out of my current surplus
• Create a calorie deficit
• Aim to lose around 1kg per month
• Monitor performance daily
• Review and adjust each week

Weight loss might be quicker at the start due to changes in food volume and digestion.

After that, it’s about being patient.

Week in progressAnother week down in “sunny” Dublin (Yeah… it’s been rain all week, no surprises there)Work’s been getti...
07/06/2026

Week in progress

Another week down in “sunny” Dublin
(Yeah… it’s been rain all week, no surprises there)

Work’s been getting busier again — a few new classes starting up soon.
Some focused on osteoporosis, others on arthritis, plus a bit of S&C work mixed in too.

Looking like a busy couple of months ahead with clinics and classes ramping up.

Outside of work — caught up with a few friends over coffee which was nice, especially after not seeing them in a while.

Had a family party last night too… so I’m definitely feeling that one this morning 😂

A few games of football during the week as well which was good to get back into.

And now it’s back to the gym — pretty much full throttle again.

Also played a bit of Footee… great fun, except for my occasional spooned shots 🙈

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