Year in Review - 2025

2025 was a fun year for me, an epic year, I dabbled with kettlebell juggling, guided again by Jared Thomas a master in the sport, started running again and began my foray into competitive mace swinging. I found my niche and it invigorated my competitive spirit.

Competitive mace swinging

Last year Jared challenged me to do the impossible, which back in July 2024 was to swing my mace continuously for 100 reps. Then he pushed me to 300 daily reps and hinted that it would soon be possible for me to do more and more.

With each new barrier broken, I would discover whole new possibilities and the world of competition mace swinging appeared on my horizon. I’d already missed the inaugural King of Swing competition held at Valhalla Training Academy but in 2025 there was a new comp on the block and this one was right up my street as it allowed for 360 swings - my preferred move with a heavy mace.

It was a half marathon mace event held at Fitworks run by hannahcamdenpt and required me to swing the mace for 30 minutes continuously. My training plan basically involved swinging my mace for longer and longer each week. I was supported by The SteelMace Dojo - the original King of the Swing who gave me advice and tips on training and technique.

This first competition was initially planned to be a small affair but ended up having 15 competitors, almost all of whom featured regularly on my IG feed. It was so nice to meet up with these people who I’d followed over the last few years.

Mark Wildman

I’ve been dabbling with Mark’s club programs but I came out of the first mace comp in Feb really fired up to train for King of the Swing and I chose to use his programs to help get me there.

I went all in and purchased a few of his trademark programs. His staple clean & press and kb swing programs, the TGU mastery course which is renowned due to it being a TGU course without any TGUs! And his mammoth Basis of Strength, 2-handed club program.

I’ve interleaved them, Tetris style with my DIY mace plan and have a 6 day per week schedule that would lead me up to the King of Swings comp and beyond.

I’ve since developed a Mark Wildman inspired training website (warriorworkout.fit) that provides a year’s worth of progressive planning inspired by his Nerd Math formulas - give it a go if you want short progressive sessions, tailored for your needs.

Wolf Run

Can’t believe I actually started running again….

I’ve done this event 4 times before but very much felt my wolf run days were behind me until the old gang started to assemble themselves again. I saw the group forming and expanding and got a massive hit of FOMO so started gate crashing Lynn’s training plan.

I hit the start line full of regrets, totally fearful of the task ahead, but with the first couple of obstacles behind me I couldn’t hold the grins back.

This was such an amazing day and even though my training didn’t seem as successful as I’d hoped - it got me around the 10k course relatively comfortably.

Lynn had a fantastic day too. At 62 and with a bionic new knee, she’d also put obstacle running behind her but she came out of retirement and rode roughshod over those obstacles. She dragged and pushed me up and over many of the challenges and her new knee held up to some substantial jumps. It’s inspiring.

Sandbag Training

A few years back my trainer at the time (Kirsten) used to program sandbag work all the time and I hated it. Sandbags are brutal and unforgiving.

For some reason I have had a resurgence of interest in them this year. Initially it was triggered by chat on the amazing Mark Wildman Discord channel but later I was influenced by Cody of TheStoneCircle.

I read both of Cody’s sandbag training manuals and started my own high rep challenge program, performing high rep box squats with a starting sandbag of 35kg. I kicked off with 50 reps and added 5 squats each time I performed the routine.

It’s the strength to succeed in any situation, the strength of a truly useful person. Someone capable of contributing when the going gets tough. Like the mover who built his strength lifting heavy, awkward furniture, or the stone mason who spends his days hauling stone by hand, sandbags give you the undeniable strength of one who has embraced strength as a way of life. (Cody - The Stone Circle)

Humble runs

After the wolf run I wanted to try and maintain some of the running progress I had gained during the prep for the event. I hadn’t reached impressive levels of running prowess, I was running extremely slowly but I had managed a single continuous 25 minute run and that was a skill worth having.

I thought about trying to push through 2 running sessions a week but given I could barely manage that in the run up to an event, I was unlikely to find the required motivation. Luckily Tim Shieff (from Tim’s Gym community) was in the middle of an experiment of doing what he called low ego or humble runs. For him, that meant short and slow runs - not runs that impress others or gain kudos on Strava. He was going out everyday and performing 15 minute barefoot runs at a zone 2 pace and that’s something that really appealed to me.

I didn’t do them everyday, nor barefoot but I would regularly start my morning dog walk with a 15 min run/walk around the perimeter of the park.

The Stronger Human

I’ve been a member of Nsima Inyang’s Skool group called The Stronger Human for the whole of this year and beyond. You may know him as the co-host on Mark Bell’s Power Project podcast.

Nsima is an accomplished powerlifter, a black belt BJJ athlete but more than that, he is an opened minded participant of all things movement related. He shares his passion for rope flow, juggling, kettlebell juggling, mace and club swinging and so much more.

He has formed a really inclusive community of people who like to experiment and play and encourage each other to move. It has been the perfect place for me to hang out in this exciting year of new movement possibility.

King of the Swing II

This was the main event for 2025 and it did not disappoint. I arrived at Valhalla to find an army of bearded, tattooed giants all primed to go berserk.

I don’t often feel small but it seems I make for a rather diminutive viking.

I still pack a mighty punch and know how to summon my inner Valkyrie when mace honour is at stake. I came away wielding the axe bestowed to the top female mace athlete and felt puffed with pride and warrior spirit for the rest of the year.

Kettlebell juggling

If you like camaraderie and a touch of danger - this is the sport for you.

I spent quite a few months exploring the strange world of kettlebell juggling under the tutelage of the amazing Jared Michael Thomas. I was inspired by the fact that the World Kettlebell Games were coming to London in 2025 and I wondered if I might just be able to compete in the amateur division.

The sport has it’s own challenges - it’s often painful and has certain space requirements that can accommodate flying chunks of steel and I never really found my true groove. Then I literally shot myself in the foot which added to my fear of dropping the bell and the competition went out of the window.

It is incredibly powerful to throw a kettlebell above your head and catch it though and I was absolutely honoured to spectate at the Kettlebell games and meet the most welcoming bunch of athletes I’ve ever come across.

Sword play

I discovered heavy swords at the end of the year and now I have the new task of learning how to weild them like a true warrior.