Any trainer or coach can make you tired. Heck, even my mum could train you and make you tired. Feeling exhausted after every single workout is not a sign that you’re training well. It’s a sign that you’re pushing too hard, limiting your results, and accumulating fatigue. Strive for progress and improvement, not building tiredness. When people come and see me, I explicitly tell them that they should not feel dead in the session, especially early on. They come to see a coach or

Yes, you know all the sleep hacks. You’ve read all the ‘cutting-edge’ sleep info. You know to put your phone down at night, to have a dark room, and to go to bed at similar times. What you need to understand is that good sleep, like good training, involves problem solving. It doesn’t have to be complicated. But, (again, like training) you can’t simply throw all the best practices at the wall and see what sticks. If you are training hard, but not paying attention to your slee

A common issue new members come to me with is this: “I just feel tight all the time.” I’m going to be direct, because anything else would be a disservice... Unfortunately, the things we do day to day can create issues in our bodies, whether we are sedentary or doing more physically demanding work. Sitting 10 hours a day at a computer - pains in your hips, back, neck and shoulders. Laying bricks 10 hours a day on site - pains in your hips,back, neck and shoulders. The point be

We are lucky enough to live in a fabulous area, in a beautiful country, where there is plenty of green space, large roads with (sometimes) not too much traffic, and overall, it's very safe, clean, and well maintained. I know many of you get outside often - be it running, cycling, walking the dog up big king, or just generally walking around the area. As busy Mount Eden professionals, we get many perks from living here. Cardio exercise, and movement itself, is very valuable -

Fitness watches have been THE fitness equipment buzz of the past couple of years. Apple watches, Fitbits, Garmins etc. They tell your heart rate, your resting heart rate, how ‘ready’ you are for training, track your steps, and often give you sleep info. Then on top of that, there are the variants designed to focus specifically on your sleep. A lot of people have one of these now. The problem is when, the stats take over. What started out as a way of helping and improving you

James was lucky enough to receive his first international powerlifting call up for Team New Zealand in October, where he was selected to compete in the Masters 1 category at under 105kgs. The event was held in Christchurch, and was his first international. (Even though it was, in New Zealand). You can check out his recap video from Thirds media below: Placing 2nd Bodyweight 102.9kgs TOTAL - 645kgs Squat - 242.5kgs Bench Press - 140kgs Deadlift -262.5kgs James unracking a 242.

Fitting in training is always the hard part. The biggest issue our Active Lifestyle members face is simply their lack of time - managing a business, a high powered job, and often a family and pets, means that the most difficult thing for most is how to actually fit their training sessions in. Life can seem impossible, and adding that training time into that mix, almost unattainable. This is one of the reasons our members do so well with our sessions - a 30 minute personal tra

One of the most important things we do at The Active Lifestyle in our personal training sessions is to educate our members on how to get the best out of their daily lives; to improve their overall health outcomes, mental health and reduce pain. What we do in training sessions is obviously of the utmost importance, but what about the other hours of the day? A factor that simply cannot be ignored is 'NEAT', which stands for Non Exercise Activity Thermogenesis . It's a fancy way

Happy New Year to you all, I hope you have had a wonderful Christmas and New Year. We are nicely set up at our new home in Kensington...

James Schofield. Updated 1 December 2025. On Tuesday 26th October 2021 I was an interview guest on Radio Hauraki on the Matt and Jerry Show ( @mattandjerryshow ) covering the subject of how best to train your glutes for maximum growth. Dealing with an apparent male Kiwi phenomenon of NAS - No Arse (Ass?) Syndrome. Here is the full interview clipped from the full show - J ames Schofield Interview on Matt and Jerry Show Radio Hauraki October 2021 Scroll down for more in depth

Are you keeping up with your water intake? One of the first things that affects me in lockdown is the lack of routine and so my water intake drops off. So here's a call to arms to drink more water! According to the Galpin water equation you should be having... BODYWEIGHT IN LBS (if KGS, multiply by 2.2), DIVIDE BY 30. = The amount of water in oz you should be consuming every 15 minutes of exercise. For me this is approximately 200ml every 15 minutes. So as you can imagine, it

Hey everyone! While we're stuck in lockdown it's important to keep moving! Try our complete Lockdown mobility follow along video now....

The Terminal Knee Extension is a great exercise for those of you looking to keep your knees healthy. The aim of the Terminal Knee Extension is to really fire your quadriceps muscle and make sure that it is activated and ready to do stuff! The hamstrings also fire to help movement of the knee joint. Performing 15-20 on each leg is perfect. I use it in my warm ups as prehabilitation whenever I train, especially on lower body days. It can really help to remove knee pain by stren

There are many ways to be 'in the moment' but the most important one is to start by removing distractions.. Read on to learn more. Get...

Tips to eat better for life and get to your goals! Here at The Active Lifestyle we're all about self improvement in all aspects - and...

We all know by now that training is one of the most important things you can do for your overall health, longevity, and life fulfilment....

One of the most profound changes that has happened to me has been discovering (through Huberman Labs podcast) NSDR, or 'Non Sleep Deep...

A very important exercise we use with all our members is the band pull apart. This simple movement can relieve pain in your upper back,...

The two most important tips we cannot repeat enough, that so many people don't adhere to, are simple - Drink more water, and eat more...

Congratulations to the Auckland Grammar Colts who won 7 out of 7 and became 2021 Cricket National Champions. I had the pleasure of...