The Netmums Podcast - S19 Ep3: Gladiator Matt Morsia on fitness, family and raising resilient children

Episode Date: June 23, 2026

This week on The Netmums Podcast, Louise Burke and JB Gill are joined by Gladiator star, author and dad-of-two Matt Morsia for a thought-provoking conversation about raising healthy, resilient and active children.Best known to millions as Legend on Gladiators, Matt opens up about the career-ending injury that shattered his Olympic ambitions, the resilience that helped him rebuild, and how becoming a parent has shaped his outlook on health, fitness and family life.Matt shares why he believes physical activity deserves the same attention as academic achievement, explains the habits he thinks set children up for long-term health, and tackles some of the biggest debates facing parents today – from childhood obesity to food, exercise and the pressure to get it all right.The conversation also explores the importance of role modelling healthy behaviours, encouraging children to try different activities, and helping them develop perseverance without pressure.Whether you're a fitness fanatic or simply trying to get the family moving a little more, this episode is packed with practical takeaways and plenty of food for thought.In this episode: Why resilience matters more than talent Should PE be treated as seriously as literacy in schools? How parents can encourage activity without creating pressure The reality of screen time and inactive lifestyles Why role modelling matters more than lecturing The simple changes families can make to become more active Creating a positive relationship with food and exercise Matt's new book, FITNESS UNLOCKED, published by Sphere available now in Paperback, audio and ebookRead more expert advice at Netmums and join the conversation on social @Netmums.JB and Louise would love to hear your parenting stories, questions and dilemmas. Email [e-mail] and you could be featured in a future episode.The Netmums Podcast is brought to you by Netmums, trusted by parents, backed by experts.This episode is sponsored M&S Teacher Gift Cards. You can buy cards or e-gift cards online.Proudly produced by Decibelle Creative.Picture credit: Nicky Johnston

Before we get into this week's big parenting conversation, can we just talk about the class WhatsApp group right now? You know the one that crops up towards the end of a big term? It starts with a calm. Shall we do something for the teacher? And within a minute, it's absolute chaos. You know it. The class rep is spiraling, someone's suggesting a handmade scrapbook and someone else says, no gifts, please. And someone's chasing £3.50 from 28 parents.

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And I'm Louisville. is Burke from Netmums. We're your two parenting podcast hosts who are living and breathing all things family, chaos and I want to say fun. What else, J.B.? Well, I mean, we're right in the thick

of school summer term, which actually I think is one of my favourite terms at school, especially with the kids. They're doing so many sports. Kiara actually has just started doing cricket, which he absolutely loved. Nice, nice. So amongst all the dancing and other bits and pieces,

both her and ace are very very. very much fully involved in sports days and athletics meets. Summer season is upon ours. Exactly. Which is really interesting because, of course, today has a little bit of a theme that goes up with that, doesn't it? Absolutely. Today's episode comes directly from you guys, the parenting community, which is great because whenever we feature this guy on our socials, it always sparks a huge reaction

across our parents, across our community. It's brilliant. Love it. It is brilliant. I know very well. I've worked alongside him. I'm sure many of you will have seen it over on the Apprentice Christmas special. But we're talking strong opinions here, strong kids as well, and how we as a community can raise healthy families in the real world.

And he's gladiator's legend. He's a dad of two. He's an author of Fitness Unlocked as well. It's Matt Morseya. Whoop, whoop. Hey, Matt. Got a love a gladiator's legend. Star, big, big fans in this house.

How are you guys? You're good? We're very well. Yeah. Yeah, really good. Matt, I want to talk to you because obviously for a lot of families out there, they see you as legend. They see, not just the Lycra, but they see the physique. Sorry, that was on for the mums. The physique, the confidence. And I'm thinking, I look at you and, you know, impressive. And I have to think, like, is this a lifelong dedication to sport and fitness for you? And I asked that question, partly knowing the answer, because obviously I've done my research before this podcast, but it's not all been plain sailing, has it for you? And there's been some low points and curveballs at times in your career. Do you want to talk about, like, how you've landed here as legends, as legends, sorry, part of the gladiators?

Okay, yeah, so I, like you said, I've always, I think, just inherently always being quite sporty. I mean, I come from a fairly, I don't think even sport is the right word, just doing stuff, do I mean, not even necessarily sport, just like, I think, I'm 40, right? I think most people, of my age and above, as kids, that's what you do, right? You just go and do stuff. That's like, you know, gaming wasn't as much of a thing. So when I was younger, I always was just active, like, I don't know, climbing trees, playing football, whatever, I ride my bike. Exactly, exactly, yeah. So I've always. done that. I was a footballer. Then I was a track and field athlete. Whilst I was doing that,

I started coaching athletics in school. So that was my kind of first foot in the door of like education system, I guess. I got, I did athletics for almost 10 years, got to a good level competing internationally. I hurt my back and had to stop. At that point, I started YouTube and social media. And this is going back like 13 years now. I'm one of like the original fitness. You were pivoting before pivoting was a thing, right? Yeah, I love a little pivot. Love a little pivot, yeah.

I mean, to tell you, that was more, I almost just fell into that, to be honest, it wasn't even. I think a lot of people, a lot of people think that are deemed to be successful or that are, you know, doing something cool or unique. I think people think that that person is always, you know, they've always thought they're going to do that and they've always dreamt of doing that. And that's, yeah, they were really confident that was going to happen. I wouldn't say that's the case, you know, in a lot of situations. I mean, with YouTube, I basically, I stopped athlete. Like, I was a triple jumper, right, long a triple jumper. And that was what consumed me.

I did it. You know, I thought about it all day every day. I trained every day. I wanted to go to the Olympics. I got injured. And then I just had this kind of gaping, you know, hole in my life where, you know, this thing that I literally consumed me was taken away from me. Yeah.

And a huge blow, I imagine, as well. Yeah. Yeah, I think, yeah, it was. I mean, I kind of, without getting detail, triple jump is like just a ridiculous sport. If you're looking for a sport to destroy your body, triple jump is top tier. It's just the amount of impact and force that your body endures is just horrendous.

So my back was in a bad way for a couple of years, and it just got progressively worse. And then it was a point where it was like, I couldn't. Every time I did a triple jump specific training session, I couldn't walk for about four or five days. I couldn't stand up straight. It was really bad. So it was kind of, I kind of, I kind of,

I kind of saw it coming. How old were you then? I was, 20, 27. Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Yeah, again, triple jump. Like, they've done studies where when you,

so triple if you're unaware, right, triple jump as far as you can, you jump as far as you can. But then rather than landing in a sandpit, you land on one leg on a hard surface and do it again and again. The amount of impact, it's like 12 to 13 times your body weight

just goes like, it's the equivalent of jumping off a two-stop. rebuilding and landing on one leg when you land the hop phase. So your back and your joints just get hammered. And in my last year, my back was in a bad way, but it was like, I don't know, I felt like like it was now or never. So I really pushed it. I really ramped up training.

And it was going really well. But it was like, you know, as I was getting better and stronger and faster and whatever, my back was getting worse and worse and worse. And it was just a point where it just got, you know, it was like, I can't carry on doing this because it was, you know what I mean? It was just massively impact. Outside of training, my life would be lying on a sofa because I was in so much pain. my back was so wrecked.

So I stopped athletics. And especially my wife who suggested, why don't you just start making YouTube videos? And I had nothing better to do. So I thought, you know, why not? I was working. At that point, I was working in schools. I think I was a learning mentor,

which is kind of like a TA, basically. Okay. And even then, it's funny because I then went into teaching. And when you're a teacher, the first thing everyone says is, do not have any social media presence, right? And I'm there. At that point, I'm like,

And you're all over YouTube. That's literally making videos. Yeah, yeah. And that was, which was, so I was fortunate, actually, that my head teacher at the time, he was a really cool guy. And he was, I don't know, very understanding. And he, I don't know, just really laid back and was happy and really supportive of me doing that. I think a lot of heads almost understandly wouldn't have been.

Do you mean? And I think at that time, because I was, I was teaching, if he'd said, look, you've got to, you've got to stop YouTube. You can't do it? I would have done. I would have just, because I thought I was going to be a teacher forever. That was it, do you what I mean? Fortunately, he didn't. And he was really cool, he was really supportive.

And then within I had about five years of just ridiculous YouTube graft is working, you know, 20, 30 hours a week getting like 100, 200 views in the video, making zero, you know, literally no money at all. For some reason, I persevered. And then, yeah, it was year kind of five, things just started snowballing. And within a year, I'd left teaching and was, you know, a few million followers and was a YouTube. Yeah. I mean, let's not underplay that because what you went through, I think, when that sort of Olympic drawings, dream ended, it's something that I, you know, I can definitely identify with because my little boy, as you know, plays Academy Football. And, you know, I look at, you know, at around this time,

he, thankfully, he's got another year, so he's going to be playing next season as well. But for a lot of the kids around him, some of them have been dropped or, you know, they've gone through that, that phase, I guess, in life where part of their dream perhaps has come to an end. So for you, when your Olympic dream was no more, so to speak, how did that shape the way that you, think about resilience now, especially being a dad. How old are you when you became a dad? So my oldest is nine, so I would have been 30. Yeah, 30. Yeah, yeah. So just before that. So then how did that experience then shape the way that you view resilience? I think like, I don't know, I guess I'm a very kind of all in kind of person, right? So if I,

If I start something, I'm not interested in doing things half-hearted. If I start something, I think it has its pitfalls, but I think it's a good way to be. I think if I do something, I want to be the best at it. I want to commit to it. You throw everything at it. If you're going to do it, you might as well do it, right? That's what I'm like. So, yeah, I mean, mate, when I, when I stopped Afflex, I had a good six months of feeling sorry for myself and being a...

Do you know what? Part of it, weirdly, was almost a bit of a relief because I think, look, I was a good triple jumper, but I was realistically, you know, I was never, I wasn't, all tracking, all athletic disciplines, like in terms of, you know, sprinting, long jumping, all those, all those events, it is 99% genetic. Like your ability to be the best or world class is to turn biogenetics, right? Like a sprinter, all the best sprinters in the world were born with the ability to be a sprinter. You might not realize that, but you can't, you know, if you're not a good sprinter, you can't become a world-class sprinter. It's not the same as, there are sports where you're born.

you can just train for hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and hours and become the best, right? Athletics, it's not how it works. The top guys and the top girls are born that way, right? You've got to realize it. You've got to train hard to realize it, but it is a genetic, you know, it is a hereditary thing. And towards the end of my career,

I kind of had that realization where it was like, I was killing myself, I was training, I couldn't physically train anymore. I was in so much pain, and you'd get a 17-year-old in the US come out of college and just jump further me. And I was like, are you kidding? You're kidding me.

But it's just, it's a real. really good lesson in the power of genetics. Yeah, exactly that, exactly that. So, weirdly, even though on the surface, that seems a little bit kind of almost depressing that, you know, you can train as hard as you want, but some people, in the same way that someone could be born to be seven foot tall, right? And someone else is five foot five. You can't train to be taller. That is what it is. Do you mean? But at the same time, I think it's, once you make that, and this is off a tangent, right, but once you make that realization, I think it's quite liberating and quite empowering because it's like, do you know what? It sounds really clear.

cliche, but focus on yourself, focus on being the best you can be at a thing because me trying to be a better, a better triple jump than that 17 year old with ridiculous genetics is unrealistic. I can't do that. I can't change my muscle insurgents and the length of my legs. I mean, it's not going to happen. So all I can do is beat what I've done before, try and be the best version. I mean, I think that's a really good thing that I took out of that is that as much as it's good to have role models and things, you know, other people you want to try and be better than or emulate, ultimately, you can only control yourself and you, You have, everyone has, you know, yeah, a bit of a ceiling to what they can achieve.

So just try and be the best version of yourself in whatever it is that you do. I think that's really good advice because obviously the temptation at that point is just completely give up, which some people do as well. Yeah, like, what's the point. Exactly, yeah. Yeah, but I guess that's where what Jay's saying is, like, there's clearly some resilience in you and dedication and, like, you've got an idea of what you want to be. And obviously, you mentioned your wife as well, during. that time and it was brilliant that I imagine that you had her support and then you went on fairly soon after that to have a family and I want to talk about life in the more see a home because I've seen all the pictures on Insta of your lovely home and I've seen I've seen missed the kids as well but

you mentioned before you've got Luca who's nine and more how did you put moreo is that Maori as in you got hurt and you say Al put an M at the start Mao Mara okay and he's five and and I can see I see your posts where they hop into the ice tub with you and the sauna and they're having a swim. What is it like in the walls? And I know your wife's like super fit. She's got amazing physique and strength. All of you, very impressive, take my head off.

Obviously, it's not in my genetics. So, you know, pans up. That's my excuse. That's defeat. Go on. That's a defeatist. You just said it. You said if it's not in your genes.

You can be a version yourself, ma. You can still be a more jacked version. version of Louise. Come on. I do try. Look, I went for a run this morning in the rain, right? I push myself. I will run. So I will run, which is the best version of myself, but my genetics won't take me to a marathon. That's what I say. Yeah. But anyway, less about me more about you. I want to know about them. We'll see a house. I want to know about your kids. What is, is it a, are you all very competitive in your house? Have your kids got like little gladiator pom-pum? where they're doing some cheerleading. Are they huge fans of viewers' legend?

What's happening in there? Yeah, I think like, I mean, I'm definitely very competitive, which I think it kind of ties into what I said about just being, I guess, kind of quite, almost, I guess, obsessive. I think a lot of sports people are the same, just obsessive. So I, like I said, if I do something,

I need to be the best, I need to finish that task, right? My wife is, I'd say she's not, No, she's, we actually, we actually balanced each other out well because she's more, she can, she's a great multitasker. She can do, you know, so she can be. Of course. Watching a TV series and reading a book, which I can't get my head around that, right? I'm the opposite. If I'm doing a thing, if I'm watching a series, I'm finishing the series.

We'll watch her for a series. She's like, oh, should we start this? Well, obviously not, mate. We're in the middle of us doing. So I think we've balanced each other out in that sense. Because I think I, you know, my tendency is, you know, I'll be doing some work or a task. And we need to go and do something. I can't tear myself, well, I've got to finish that thing I'm doing, right?

Which, I like said, in some aspects, is great and it's a really useful life skill to get stuff done. But, because I notice my kids have, like, my oldest Luca, he has exactly the same thing. He'll be doing a drawing or reading a book. He has to finish the chapter or finish his drawing before. Do you mean? That makes sense. It's like you literally pains him to pull him away from, which I think is a good skill in a sense that, like I said, you know, in the business world, and just generally and just being proactive and getting stuff done.

But also, I think it's good to have an element of, you know, you need to be adapt. You need to be able to, you know, go and do something else and do two things at once. So I think as a marriage, I think we work quite well in that sense because we kind of, yeah, balance each other out. And it sounds like. I think we just like, I don't know, we just like to do cool stuff and have fun. And I think with the kids, it's, yeah, I think I think a lot of it as well is just, you know, we, they see us doing stuff. And I think they. I was just back to say, you modeled the behavior.

Nature versus nature, yeah. But hearing you talk there about sort of modeling behavior in the house. whether it be, you know, everyday test or fitness. Do you think it would have been different if you'd had girls? I don't think so, no. I think, I mean, you don't know, but I'm pretty sure that, like, I don't, you know, I don't ever and would never force my kids to do stuff. You know, I'm very, going back to what, you know, what we said earlier about, you know,

if something doesn't work out. I'm a big believer in not putting all your eggs in one basket. I think as a, you know, I have friends that did sport for me. a really young age. And I think it's a really fine balance between if you want to be the best at a sport, you've got to really goal in from a young age. But at the same time, if that doesn't work out, where do you go from there? So I think it's really important.

This is what I try and do now is I just have various, you know, multiple things that you're focusing on so that if one isn't going so well, you've got something else to fall back on. So going back to my kids, you know, I don't want to force them to go and do this sport or go and do that thing exclusively because if it doesn't work out, I think. think you attach your sense of like whatever self-worth to, you know, for example, football, well, I'm a footballer. I'm going back to me, being athletics, I'm a triple jumper, that's it. I am Matt Morse, the triple jumper.

And when that doesn't work out, so I'm just a failure, you know, I'm done, do you mean? So I think it's really important to encourage, and it's what we do is our kids to try loads of different things, even things they wouldn't think to do or maybe things they don't instantly love, just, A, to try different stuff and see what you enjoy, but also so that you have, you're not just, you know, like I said, putting everything on one thing because, you know, your preferences change and your abilities change and all these things grow and develop. It's important to, yeah, do you know, not just to stack everything on one thing.

But I could go back to that. I think with girls, I think, yeah, I mean, I don't, I think, I think, you know, the way we are would probably be the same. And so I imagine they'd be, you know, equally swinging around on the rings and doing weird stuff. Yeah, well, you've got a strong role model with your wife, haven't you? So it's female in the house. Yeah.

What sort of activities have you done with the boys and have they pushed back on any of that you've suggested for them? Yeah. So they, so Maro's younger. So he's not, you know, he just does whatever Luca does really.

Yeah. He doesn't do any kind of, you know, organized sport outside of school yet. We're kind of getting to that point now. And I'm like, oh, because at the moment,

I try and go to all of Lucas football matches. And I know there's going to be a point very soon where they're both playing at the same day. And that's going to be, I don't know what I even do then. Do I mean? Yeah. I'll consider that is very, I know.

Damn it, mate, I need two of me. So I know that's coming. But with, you know, Luca, I mean, they both love football. Luca is obsessed with football. He does tennis. They both play a lot of chess. I don't know, just whatever's, like I said, whatever's about they'll try the hand. Mara just basically, you know, is Luca's shadow.

Yeah. But I think they've not been, I mean, are we trying, as well, I think, you know, in terms of not forcing them to do stuff, one thing I will, we will both do. And we try to instill this is like, Like, not just, you know, don't, I don't want to force them to do stuff at the same time. I don't want to encourage and allow them just to give up easily. Like if they try something and it isn't immediately a thing they love or something, you know, not greater. I think it's quite common for anyone, but particularly kids, if they're not good at something, they don't want to do it, right?

They don't want to expose themselves to failure. So I think we try really hard to install that perseverance. I mean, yes, you're not the best at this, but like give it a go, ride it out for a bit and see how you get on. so many things I've done, I haven't been great at, you know, YouTube. I was going to look at my first year of videos. They are the worst, most cringy videos ever. But I didn't, you know, I didn't just give up. I continued.

I persevered and it got me to a good place. So I think part of it is just, just do it. You know, force yourself to go. I think that's a really important life skill is, you know, some, you're going to have to do things you don't enjoy. But going back to resilience and the ability to do things you don't necessarily want to do or don't necessarily love doing is. is also a really good skill to instill in them, I think.

I think that's just why I wasn't asking about the girls to be like stereotypical, from a stereotypical point of view. I was just asking because it's a fact that girls are more likely to drop out of sport when they get to secondary school, which is a really sad fact. I've got three girls. They've all played football or played football clubs cricket. And I would be gutted. I can see a little bit in the 13-year-old now she's pulling back.

bit from those field sports, which is really gutting. So that's why I was just asking about girls and sort of, I guess, chiming in with Jay's question there about the prospect. I feel like a large part of that would come from role models, right? In the sense of that I think if you look at the mainstream media and even social media, a lot of kind of male or boys role models are sports people, right? Men that are footballers or, you know, whatever, boxes, whatever it is. I think there aren't as many female.

I think, whereas I think for lots of female role models might be, I don't know, like maybe. The lionesses are great. I think it's definitely we're addressing the balance somewhat. There's still a big deficit in that. Yeah, for sure. Once that's addressed, I think that will make a big difference. Because if you're a young girl now, I still don't see a huge number. And it's not, you know, it's no fault.

This is the media's fault, right? this is an issue with society is that they're not, you know, there's not a level playing field in terms of what we see. So, therefore, by definition, there are less female athletic role models that are, you know, put on a pedestal. And so I think it's natural that girls maybe wouldn't, that's not something that they think

either they want to do or they can do because they're not seeing it as much. Like you said, it's way better now than say 10 years ago, but there's still work to do there. I think there's some physical, I mean, I could talk about this all morning, but we won't because we've got all the stuff to talk about. But there are physical issues as well, I think, with girls, and that when periods start coming into play and sort of... Yeah, that makes sense.

Stuff like that. But even that, you think if you had those female role models, they could explain those things, right? And they could make it more relatable. Absolutely. I agree. I just said that. I think most people wouldn't even be aware of that.

So I think, like, the fact that's not out there, again, stems from a lack of people that are saying, this is what it's going to be like, this is normal, this is what I had. And I did, do I mean? I think, like, that just comes from, you know, those figures that couldn't tell you that stuff. Yeah.

Or even if like a female sports star talked about how she dealt with her periods during her teenage training days and things like that would make it really like so that would be really honest and relatable information. Anyway, we'll come back to that campaign another time.

I want to talk about when we've had you on our socials, Matt, which I think you'll be aware of because it sparked quite a lot of comments in the past, which is all, I think, healthy. It's like everyone, all those opinions should be out there. And for those that aren't aware of those posts, Matt has spoken out in the past about childhood obesity and how we should normalise it and also PE being as important as literacy in schools, not more important, but as important.

Yeah. Is that fair? Yes, that's what you're saying. That's what you said. Just make sure I've got it right. But it did strike a nerve with a lot of our community and it triggered always. lot of comments. Yeah, it really did. I've got some of them here with me. To be fair, to be fair, a lot of parents did agree with you. Well, should we, the one I think you're going to talk about,

Jay, is about, you said that if a child can't jog for a few minutes or do 10 press ups, we should treat that like a literacy issue and step in early and intervene. Sorry, to interrupt that. No, no, no, not at all, absolutely. And one of the responses from Supernanny herself, Joe Frost, was that it should be treated with the same priority today especially. She said movement agility, so moving activity, agility, team work, all those sorts of things are great for children, which I'm pretty sure everybody would agree with. Laura Swales as well, she says,

I think it's a little dramatic to say he would rather his kids couldn't read, but I do think he's got a very valid point. Some things my little girl learned in school are so outdated and pointless and I think the time could be better spent with life lessons that will set her up for a positive, healthy and successful future. We've had messages from Charlotte Webb as well. She says, I think it would be useful to teach nutrition as part of PE at school to break the cycle of uneducated parenting. If the child isn't getting the correct info at home, teaching them at school becomes vital,

and they can then make changes for themselves through school and any future generations at home. I mean, there's been so many, so many. There was so many. Obviously, there were some people that felt didn't feel quite as strongly as you do, Matt, as well. and they voiced their opinions as well. But I think when they were voicing their opinions, the themes that I sort of picked up in those disagreeable comments were more about it's not actually down to schools.

This isn't a school issue. And I'm not saying you were saying that particularly either, because obviously this was just a couple of quotes in isolation. I don't think you were saying that at all. But it is down to educating parents as well and what goes on in the home, which is what we've just been. talking about really, isn't it?

Yeah, yeah. What would you have to say about all those, that sort of that hot topic of conversation? Yeah, I think, I mean, I think straight away, I actually don't think it's really that controversial. I think when you, if you, if people take, you know, listen to what I'm actually saying, I think 99% of people would and have agreed to what I'm saying, right?

I think it was taken out of context in the sense that I obviously, you know, both of my kids are great readers. They're really far ahead of where they should be. We spend a lot of time everyday reading with them, right? It goes about saying, I want them to be able to read. My point was, how is that not, how is a child's health not given the same, anywhere near the same level of importance as they're ready to read them? And what I was to try and, I guess, exacerbate my point.

I said, if it's like life or death, I would rather, and I stand by, I would rather my child was healthy and was, you know, of a healthy weight and a healthy level of cardiovascular fitness, then could read. not being able to read is not going to cause them to die 20 years early. Do I mean? So if I had to choose those two things, that is what I would choose. However, luckily you haven't got to choose those things. We live in a world where, you know, you can do multiple things.

And so it just needs to be given more significance. And also, I think, again, another take that context, I think people think I'm like bashing schools. I've worked in schools. I've worked in school for 10 years. I have loads of mates that are teachers. Like teaching right now is horrendous. The conditions that teachers are working now, it's unprecedented.

ridiculous. It's like they are given nowhere near enough money. They're given nowhere near enough appreciation. They're given way too much to do. Every year it gets worse and worse and worse. There are people in the government who are making the decisions about education that have never taught before, which is absolutely farcical. So, you know, they have a very rough time. So I'm not saying they need to do more. I'm just saying it's about changing priorities. So for example, rather than spending 20 minutes a day in assembly, how about you go and do a run? Do you mean, there is, there is no way. I love that idea, actually. Do you mean?

Like, I think such a brilliant, like, such a no-brainer to me. Like, you know, I know everyone's busy, but you're not telling me you couldn't find 10, 15, 20 minutes in a day. Of course you could to do a little bit more activity. I think the thing for me as well, that just to highlight sort of the positivity of what you're saying, is that the kids in general spend a lot more time at school than they do at home. And especially in a busy household, if you've got two parents who work and just say, you know, your kids are going to sort of after school clubs or whatever else because, you know, parents,

both parents are at work or whatever. You don't have that flexibility to be able to come home early or whatever to be able to go to a club or do an activity and you spend the bulk of your time outside of the home. So to then come home, I'm, you know, not in the same way because, of course, my kids do a lot outside school. But, you know, if I do my normal week, my children are out, not at home until probably about seven or eight o'clock at night, just generally. And so if someone else has that lifestyle

with lots of people who do have that lifestyle, it's very difficult to have that, I suppose, that focus at home when they spend them, you know, eight hours, sometimes more in a school environment. Yeah, 100%. And it's not, and the thing is, you know, prioritising it more in school,

it's not easy, it is hard, but just because it's hard doesn't mean you shouldn't do it. Do you mean, that's not an excuse to, you know, oh, you know, it's going to be really hard for it from my school to make sure this kid loses a bit of weight and gets healthier. Well, tough. That's still your job. isn't it? You're still as a school, as a teacher, as a head. Your job is to prepare those

children as much as you can for their adult life and allowing them to leave school five stone overweight. You haven't done that. You've failed enormously. And if that child has spent hours every day doing chemistry or doing religious studies or whatever it is, I would argue, you know, pretty strongly that that is not a good use of their time. They could have been spending that time. We're talking again, 20 minutes a day, just doing a bit of cardiovascular activity. And it's two things, right? On the one half, on the one side, it's like enjoying sport, enjoying activity, enjoying exercise, playing, you know, playing sport, having a good time and finding things that you love. Yeah.

And it's also, it's like, you know, there were lots of kids that when I taught, there were kids who weren't strong academically. But because the way that the curriculum set up, they were just told they were a failure, that constantly failing things and being told they weren't good at things. And actually, they've gone on to be successful adults. So the way the curriculum is set up is just, it's one, you know, splinter set of skills. you don't comply, you're told you're a failure for 10 years, which is ridiculous. So you're given maybe some of those kids a chance to be good at something and to experience success and, you know, being better. That's one half of it. The other, and that's different. The other half of it is the actual medical objective thing whereby, if a child is heavily, heavily overweight,

ideally they would enjoy their sport. But if they don't, tough. Your job, again, as a parent and as a teacher is to, if you need to, you make that kid do it. You know, if a kid refuses to brush the teeth, you don't accept it. You make them do it, right? If a kid doesn't want to get dressed, you make them do it. If a kid does all these things in life. If a kid refuses to eat, you're going to make them eat. All these things, you wouldn't hesitate to make them do it. If a kid can't read, you wouldn't just accept that. You would make them do it, right? This should be no different. If a kid, otherwise you're a lat, you know, a kid, whatever, 11 year old child is not old enough to make a decision about the next 50 years of their life in terms of their health. So

you need to make it for them. And if that means forcing them to do five, 10, 15 minutes of running in a cardiovascular activity every day, then that's a tough thing you've got to do. Do I mean, that's, and I don't, if you dispute that, I just think you're wrong. I think you're wrong. And I think you're, you're part of the problem, I'd say. But some parents, of course, listening will, by default, feel like they're judged. you know, they've got busy lives as well, they're at work, their school runs, activities, lots of different things going on. And I think, obviously, you'd probably agree,

it's not just 100% responsibility on them, you know, it's also school, it's also society and how sort of that's portrayed in the media and so on and so forth. How do we have this conversation without it turning into sort of blame or shame, which in its own right can sort of allow people to sort of draw back? Yeah. Yeah, I think that's really important. I don't think it needs to be any blame.

I think it's just about identifying where there is, you know, again, if a child, like I taught in secondary and primary, in primary, if a child couldn't read, it's not about digging out their parents. It's just about, right, how can we rectify this? We've identified an issue. How can we fix it? Yeah, it's like you want to support the parents, right? You support the parents.

And unfortunately, some parents don't want to be supporting. If a parent's not on board, you know, then you take it into your own hands and you do as much as you can as a teacher. Like you said, it is, you know, parents and schools, I'm. are both accountable. I mean, parents probably more so because they are literally the primary caregivers, but they're both, you know, I think going back to the thing, oh, you know, schools, it's not, you know, it's also down to the parents. If you're, if I'm a teacher, it's still, you know, it's, it's, um, I think it's irresponsible just to say, well, it's not my job,

it's their parents job. You're, you know, you're allowing, you're facilitating that to happen. So I don't think it's about blaming. I just think it's about, you know, you've got two ends of the spectrum, right? You've got, oh, these parents are horrible, let's blame them and you've got let's completely pretend let's bury our head in the sound and pretend it's not a problem let's you can be in the middle right you can just say this child you know is is in really bad shape they this is not going to set them up for their adult life let's we've identified that now in the you know in the in the nicest safest safest most positive way possible let's fix it but the old the priority is fixing it not you know trying to kind of tip toe around it and

yeah tread an egg shells because i think that's the problem i think people in this day and age are so scared of offending people. No one wants to make any hard decisions and any hard observations. And then what happens is you get a situation like we've got now where it's just, it's completely acceptable for your child to be heavily overweight and no one does anything about it. And I think that's, that is mad. Well, I want to come to that. Because what you just said there around what happens within a school, I think what you touch on is it's important, sports important in school because of skills, teamwork and a physical education. And then And secondly, there's the strength aspect as well and be fit and stronger.

And then there is, like you've just said, then, the sort of very tricky issue of weight. And we do have to talk about it. It's silly, you know, it's not some wise to, you know, ignore that part of the conversation here. Because we do have a problem with childhood obesity in this country, which is hugely sad. But there's, I guess from a parent's point of view, this is. where it becomes quite tricky. Because if you're, you don't want to be forcing your kid who might be slightly overweight to do exercise and it turning into a pressure or an argument around their weight, which then might have repercussions on their mental health as well. But Matt, you yourself have been very open about your experience with like disordered eating as well.

haven't you? And you've had your challenges when it comes to eating or working out the right foods and the right when to eat them and in what quantity and sometimes in the wrong quantity. So you understand that pressure as well around the weight side of it. Yeah. So I think with me, this is more like, I guess it's a niche, but actually it's not, that's like a sporting thing. So basically when I was triple jumping, as a triple jumper, you need to be as light as you possibly can, right? You're trying to run really fast and jump really fast. So it goes about saying the lighter you are, the further you're going to jump, right?

Because you literally have less resistance. Now, it's the same in any sport that requires, so any sport that has weight categories or any sport where you're required to have a certain body type. Yeah. It is scarily prevalent. Eating disorders are literally, like literally more common than, more common than not. I think, you know, a huge number of. That's scary.

It is scary, yeah, and it's scary. And it's scary, but at the same time, it's, I don't know, it's like, if, because, because in my situation, so basically my, like, so what I experienced was, as a triple jump, what I would, and this is going back a long time before I had the level of understanding I do now. So I was doing it in the wrong way. I was basically, I was trying to get light. So I would, during the season, I'd be, you know, I'd compete on a Saturday.

Monday to Friday, I'd basically starve myself to be as light as I could. I'd compete on the Saturday. And then I would just binge. that I'd have one meal, right? It turned into like a 24-hour period of seeing as much as I could because that's how your body works. If you deprive yourself that aggressively, as soon as you say, right, you can have one thing, you just go, you go mad, right? Go through. And I'll do that, you know, for the whole four-month athletic season. Now, a large part of that is, again, that lack of understanding because, you know, there are ways to go about, you know, there are ways you can

lose body weight in a sustainable and safe way. And I wasn't doing that. I was doing a short-term fixed, which is what's wrong with all of the kind of the weight watchers crash diet culture. That's why it's so bad because it only ends one way, right? So, but still, you know, using the other athletes, other sports as an example, it's so common because if you are doing a sport for five, 10 years and you need to be a certain body weight, it is almost impossible to not experience some kind of eating disorder. Like, disordered eating by definition just means having an unhealthy relationship with food. And I think probably a majority of people, especially sports people,

have that, right? Because it's just as soon as you tell yourself, yeah, as soon as you tell yourself, you have to, you have to eat this, it's inevitable that you're going to at some point, you know, you're going to encounter that. Yeah, because in the same, you know, have I said to you, uh, don't. I have the same problem with wine. If I don't, if I, say, I can't. There you go.

Exactly. Don't touch the wine or wheat Louise. And then by Friday, I am thirsty, right? Yeah. So in that scenario, I would say like, just drink a bit of wine when you want it, right? If you say to yourself, you know, same as in a diet. Some says it's right. I'm cutting out chocolate.

I'm never eating chocolate again. You obviously are. It's unrealistic. All you're going to do is not eat chocolate for a week or two weeks or a month. And then you're going to then eat 4,000 grams of a chocolate. Yeah. So it needs to be done in a sustainable way. But yeah, it is very common.

And it's also, particularly with male athletes, it's a topic that never gets spoken about. And lots of, like I said, there are thousands of. male athletes who suffer from disorder eating who never talk about it. If you know it's happening and you know it's part of the sport, you can kind of, you can accept that you're going through that and you can, you know it's part of a bigger thing. You know,

once you're done with your sport, you'll probably be okay. But it doesn't make it any easier, you know, at the time when you're, when you're experience and that. But you're talking from a very, like that's from a very elite position.

Yeah, yeah, yeah. Like if we were to bring it right down to human level in the home, parenting, families, how do you get that right, that healthy habit towards those healthy habits and attitude towards food rather than creating anxiety or, like you say, control or an obsession around it? Yeah, I think so, ideally. Yeah, 100%. 100%.

And you don't want to like, you know, I have friends now whose parents had them doing, you know, crash diets when they were younger. And that's like, they've set them up for a lifetime of difficulties, right? Yikes. You shouldn't have that, you should not have that mindset as a child. As a child, you should be, you know, you should feel liberal. Like you can do whatever you want and everything's fun and you can, do I mean, you shouldn't have those restrictions and pressures.

I think ideally you would not get to the point, right? If you get to the point where you're having to think about restricting your child's diet, that you've probably been some issues before that point, do you mean? like ideally you would from you know ultimately if you're a parent with a child until they get old you are choosing what they eat right like typically as a young child you literally are buying the food they're eating so that stems initially from you you as a parent build those habits and again it comes back to modeling it right you you show your children how to eat what to eat that that comes from you know that is a learned behavior a child is not born with a desire to eat you know certain

things, that comes, that's a learnt behaviour. So first and foremost, don't get to that point, right. If you are at the point, so let's say you've got a, you know, a parent whose child is overweight and they're concerned about it, I think step one is just trying to, you know, there is activity you can do that is really, really enjoyable. I think any, every child, there is something, there will be some form of activity they will enjoy. I don't believe there's, you know, any child where nothing, no activity they'll enjoy, there will be something out there. So as a parent, find what that is. Do you know, for example, you know, maybe some kids won't like football, right?

But you could go and play five a side football for an hour and burn a ridiculous number of calories. More calories you burn in a three-hour run, right? So that is an example of whilst you're doing that, you're not thinking about doing card. You're just having a fun time with your mate. You're just playing, isn't it? Yeah, you find the equivalent. Yeah. And like I said, you model it as a parent.

As a parent, you model that activity, being active, riding to school, walking to school, walking to school, walking the door, going to the park, whatever it is, find something that your kids enjoy and do it with them and model it. That will be like, you know, step one to try it. Because a lot of the time, yeah, yeah, the being overweight comes from a combination of, you know, not enough activity. And then obviously the really obvious one is just overconsumption of food, which again, that's where I find it frustrating when people say, you know, how come. Yeah, but it is the first. first of almost, it's the quantity, right? Right.

Yeah, the wrong portion. Labelling a food as bad and good is without context is ridiculous, right? Because you can say that pizza's bad, right? But I had a massive pizza last night and I'm perfectly healthy. So you can eat so-called bad food. Just don't eat loads of it and don't eat it all the time. And conversely, you can say an apple is really good, right? If I go and eat 500 apples, I'll probably die.

So you can't say that's good and that's bad without context. And that's a really important thing for kids to learn is what is the actual literal mechanism that is going to make you gain fat? And also, it's just quickly, it's important to point out that when we talk about weight, we mean body fat, right? Because your weight is actually largely meaningless. It can be really arbitrary. You can have two people that have the same number, the same amount of body fat, but one's five kilos heavier. So your weight to an extent doesn't matter. How much body fat you have is what matters.

Do you mean? So when we say, you know, a. child that is overweight. We mean a child that is carrying too much body fat. Because weight by definitely, you know, you can have, I have, I'm, I'm technically, you're going to weigh more than me because you, you're much taller than I am. So I'm technically overweight, right? But I'm, I'm, healthy. I don't need to lose it. I don't need to, I have low body fat. So it's more about how much body fat you're carrying. That is the thing that's going to determine your risk of disease, right? But going back to the, let's just call it weight for simplicity. So with, with, yeah, I think with parents saying

you know, my child's overweight and having issues with like food and thinking about what foods to eat and stuff, it is literally a case of the calories you consume. That will dictate how much weight you gain or lose. Is the number of calories you consume? A thousand calories is a thousand calories. People really, you know, strongly want to not believe that. But that is what it, there has never been any study in the history of mankind that is shown

that different calories mean different things. There were different outcomes in terms of how you feel. So, for example, if you eat McDonald's all the time, you could, you could, yeah, there's studies that have done it. There's a guy that did it. He ate nothing but American junk food. He ate like, you know, Twinkies, all this stuff for a period of time.

And he ended up being perfectly healthy at the end, right? That was in terms of his body composition, his cholesterol, etc. But there will be other side effects, like your mood, your skin, your, all these things, your sleep might be affected. So obviously that's where, yes, eat, you know, whole foods, eat fruit and vegetables, eat all that stuff. That's really, really important. But first and foremost, the number of calories you consume is what will dictate how much you weigh, right? So people get caught up in the exact foods. Oh, should I eat white bread

or brown bread? Should I eat at three o'clock or four o'clock? It doesn't matter. It literally does not matter. What matters is how much you are eating. If you eat, if two people eat, if you get they're person A person B. They're the same person, right, but I'm just splitting them into two here. If they both eat 2,000 calories every day for a week, whether one of them eats those 2,000 calories over five meals or one meal, it will make no difference. It doesn't matter. Whether that person eats half their calories from carbs, the other one does half from fats, it makes no difference. Calories are what will determine how much weight you gain, how much weight you lose. There are little acute differences, you know, in terms of if you eat high carbs, when you eat

a gram of carb, your body holds on to three grams of water, right? So for the first 24 hours, if you eat more carbs, you'll be heavier. But that's water. It means nothing, right? That's acute, and it comes and goes over the long term, it levels out. So anyone that says, oh, I started a keto diet and I started keto and I lost loads of weight. That's not because you cut carbs out. It's because you ate less food. Do you mean? That's literally it. I can tell you a diet that's going to make you lose loads of weight, right? It's called the Quavers diet, eat three packs of quavers a day. you'll lose a huge amount of weight because you've eaten no calories, not because there's a magic ingredient in quaver that makes you lose weight.

So that's the first thing to understand. And it's one of the biggest misconceptions. The number of calories you consume will dictate how much weight you gain or lose. Then beyond that, you start to layer in other things, right? Like the quality of your food, the amount of protein you consume, those things. But first and foremost is the number of calories you consume. And like I said, when it comes back to the overweight child, literally they need to eat less. Like if you had a dog and your dog was overweight, what would you do?

You would take it for more walks and you'd give it less food. You wouldn't think, oh, I need to give it a green tea at 7pm and do you mean? That's what you do, right? Less food, more activity. Humans are exactly the same. That is your first protocol. Give them less food, get them to do more activity. You know, a combination or one of those two things.

And ideally when you give the less food, the food that they are eating is of good quality. Yeah, exactly. Yeah. And also, it's not even. Sorry, last thing, it's not even less food. It's less calories. Because remember, you could eat. If I was to get a thousand calories of McDonald's and a thousand calories of chicken salad, the McDonald's is this big. The chicken salad is this big, right? You are not, I, I, you will struggle to finish that chicken salad and you won't want to eat for the next six hours. The McDonald's, you'll be hungry again, five minutes later. So it's not about less food. It's about less calories. And you can be sensible with the calories you're consuming. If you need, again, for anyone, if you are trying to reduce a number of calories you're consuming to lose body, body fat, just choose foods that are mass, you know, that are high in mass relative to calories, that are high in protein, that are high in fibre, and they'll fill you up and the satiation is better and you won't be craving, you know, junk food all the time.

Yeah. I think that's really helpful because, of course, you talk about a lot of these things that you've been discussing in your new book, Fitness Unlocked. And to be honest, I think that is the biggest thing, you know, even as someone, you know, I consider myself to be, you know, relatively well clued up in terms of, like, you know, eating and exercising and things like that, it can be really, really, really. really complicated for a lot of people. And I think you've just, you've done well to simplify it there just to say that, you know, the most important thing to focus on is calories or doing

eating less food, but having more activity. But for parents who are listening who perhaps themselves aren't that driven in terms of activity and want their kids to be more active, talking about, you know, the reality of screens and how, you know, gaming and how that's impacted on our society in recent years, how, how can you encourage them, to get their kids into more movement? I think, like I said, it comes from you as a parent, right? You model it, you start that. I think people throw the term like, you know, motivation around,

but I think that's, I don't think motivation as such actually exists. I think when it comes to wanting an outcome, i.e. wanting to be healthier, to have less body fat, that comes to, you know, do you actually want that? That's the biggest thing, right? is that people say, I find it really frustrating when someone says to me, I really want to lose weight, but I can't do it. Well, you don't then, do you?

You don't want to lose, because if you really wanted to, I think you would fight. I mean, I think what you mean is, I quite like the idea of losing weight, but I'm actually not that fuss about it, so I'm probably not going to do it. That's what it, that's what you really mean. And that's fine. You can think that. It's like, you know, free will, do whatever you want, but don't say that you really want to lose weight. Because what I always say, I talk about it's in the book a lot, right?

initially when it comes to getting in shape and training, all you need to do is if you can do three ideally in a gym, but if you've got some bits at home, you can do it at home, three workouts a week of say 45 minutes. That's it. If you do that within six months, you could look dramatically different, right? Dramatically different and feel different and be happier and model that to your children, right? And people, even then, people will say, you know, I can't. I've got loads of kids. I'm really busy. I work two jobs. I've all. all these reasons where they can't do three, three sessions of 45 minutes. If I was to say to that person, I'm going to put a chair in the garden, right, down the road,

I want you to go and sit on that chair 45 minutes, three days a week, and after six months, I'll give you a million pounds. I guarantee you, every adult in the UK is going to do that. They do it, right? They would do it. And the reason why is because they want the outcome. They want that million pounds. So if you're not doing that, if you're not committing to,

exercise and getting in shape, the real underlying reason is because you don't actually want it. And that's fine, right? But I think you need to have, step one is having an honest conversation with yourself. Do you actually want it? Do you actually want to be healthy when you're older for your kids? Do you want to live to a good age and have a nice, you know, enjoyable retirement? And if you want it, then make it happen. Do you mean? Make it happen. Like I said, get to the gym or get that workout in at home three times week, four minutes. Get my book. I'll tell you exactly what to do. I'll tell you literally step by step exactly what workout to do, exactly what food to eat to make it as simple and as easy and as sustainable as possible.

Or even, like you say, to have fun, literally go and play in the park or whatever for an hour or go on a walk with the family. I do think, though, like, Jay, what you're saying there is like the activity side of it, I think personally is the easier side of it. Because without saying like you're going to do loads of squats and weights and stuff, You can always do a walk around the block or a walk to the bar and kick around with the football, right? But I think for families, probably the food aspect's harder because that takes planning. There's a cost issue, you know, often fresh fruit and fresh vegetables is quite expensive now, like four quid for a punnet of raspberries or something like that.

And they're gone in a flash. And so I think the food thing is slightly, in fairness to families, is more of a challenge. but I think it with some clever planning although planning takes time and management and you know everyone's time poor it is it is hard but I know you like in your book what I loved about it was it was very just straight talking no messing this is what you're going to do

you know it sometimes a lot of it's convoluted and it's very straight talking and that's that's one of the big issues is just the misconceptions I think and a lot of it is deliberate It's people that are trying to sell you stuff. And so rather than saying, you know, eat a bit less, cut out some of the junk food, they'll say, oh, if you eat, you know, 100 grams of edamame beams with some honey on and a thing at this specific time, you're going to lose weight, right? It's just people just like to spread bullshit because it's more marketable.

It sounds like you've stumbled across some kind of secret, you know, secret to overcompeted. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. Yeah. The reality is for training and for eating, it is, it's, it's not easy, but it is unbelievably simple. Like getting in better shape and sustaining it is extremely, extremely simple. And it's been the same for the last hundred years.

And that's what I'm trying to do is just explain how simple it is. It's not easy. Like I said, it requires dedication and you've got to lock in and you've got to commit to it. But it is what you've got to do, the steps you've got to take are very, very simple. So I've just tried to, you know, whoever you are, whatever your goals are, whatever your experiences, whatever your situation is, I explain. as a solution. What you need to do in terms of training and in terms of eating to get yourself in better shape.

And the beauty of it is that I think once you start doing that, it gets easier and easier and easier. It's about forming habits. Yeah. It's about that. I totally agree with that. I totally agree with that. You brush your teeth twice a day every day.

It's not a thing that you debate. Am I going to do it today? You just do it, right? Yeah. And with your training and with your food, you will get to a point where it's the same. It's just effortless. It's easy. It's something you do.

It's part of your routine. And at that point, your kids will replicate that. And then you're going to have a, you know, you're going to have a family of healthy adults and healthy kids that enjoy activity. It's not an arduous, you know, an arduous task that you've got to really think about trying to feel in. And another thing. So before I hand you over to J.B. for a super cool quick fire round. I want to just finish with one last question and I want a nice takeaway. And it's probably already in your head from your brilliant book. But what's one habit that makes the biggest difference long term?

which families could implement? I would say one habit. Just one. I know you've got about 20 probably. I would say the biggest thing is like, I think like finding an activity or when I say activity, I mean literally just going out and doing something, right? Going out and doing something as a family that you do consistently.

Like I think that's really, really important. Creating a new habit. I think, yeah, I think if you, you know, people do a lot of things by themselves or they find things they enjoy. But I think when you have a shared activity, you are more likely to adhere to it. If there's like two or three or four of you're doing that, you know, if you can't be asked or you're busy, then there's more chance that you're going to do it because you're doing it as part of a group. Right. So I think as a family, like find stuff you enjoy doing, whether it, like I said, as simple as going for like a long walk or going for a bike right together or whatever it is and do it consistently. because I just think it comes back, like I said, to forming habits.

And, yeah, I think that can then, you know, when your kids get a little bit older, that can then translate into training together, right? Into, like, my elder son who's nine now, he doesn't properly train, but we've got a gym and the guard, he comes down and me, you know, semi-frequently. And he sees me doing that, and he does little bits here and there. But I know that when he gets a little bit older, that will be a thing he just naturally gets into. And it means that he's going to have more muscle mass and stronger, you know, stronger skeletal

mass and he's going to be a healthier adult and go on to have a reduced risk of disease and osteoporosis and all these other benefits you get from lifting weight. So I think all these things, it's like a step-by-step process. Step one is just finding an activity you enjoy or you can do as a family and embed that in your kids. Yeah, habit is key. I always find that when I'm doing a certain exercise, whether it be hot yoga and I'm in a phase where I'm doing it, I can't imagine not doing it.

And then, you know, I have a couple of busy weeks with work or you go on holiday and you break the habit and then you're like, oh, I've stopped doing it. And then it really is quite to then get back into it. So even though you enjoy it and you like it, you know, the benefits, it's still quite hard to restart that habit. I think as well, I think once you see that, I think once, especially, you know, there are people that haven't exercised properly or haven't trained in a gym, for example, before. I think once you start seeing the benefits and the fact that, you know, the beauty of going to the gym, right, is that you are in 100% complete control. of the outcomes. You know, I used to be a footballer. When you play football, you can be brilliant,

a great footballer, but your team can lose. You can't control that to an extent, right? When you go to the gym, you can literally make, you can change the way you look. Like, you have control over that. And once you, once that penny drops and you realize that, it's like the most empowering thing ever. Because, you know, there are so many people that are stuck in this cycle of wanting to get in better shape or trying to get in better shape and not, you know, failing to do so or not really knowing how to start and feeling like they're, you know, they're stuck. And, you know, they're stuck. they're terrified that it's like, I'm always going to be this way, right? But the reality is that it's not the case. It's not the case.

And it's so, the process is, again, it's not easy. It's hard, but it's so simple. The process of getting in better shape and losing fat and building muscle is so simple. And once you understand that and you start to implement it, it will blow your mind. And it's the most empowering thing. Because you then control how you look and how you feel. And, you know, and literally how long you're going to live for and what the quality of those years. are going to be like, you have control over that. So I think it's a really, really cool, really empowering thing.

Yeah. I always say you never regret a run. You never regret a run. Exactly. Exactly. Exactly. Very true. All right, Matt.

It's time for our quick fire round. If you're ready. Let's go. I'm ready. He was born ready. He was born ready. Okay. School P.E.

Is it good enough or not? No, it's nowhere near good enough. Exercise in the morning or the evening. Which one? for me morning and going back to PE primary school P.E. Secondary in some cases is great.

Secondary is kind of okay. Primary P.E. terrible. Okay, fine. Gladiator's training versus parenting, which is harder for you? That is easy for me, so parenting. Okay. Icebox with the kids.

Is it a bonding moment or borderline madness? It is boardline madness. School should. Test fitness, sorry, like they test reading. Yes or no? Yes, 100% agree. Screen time or outdoor play, which wins? Outdoor play. One activity that you do at home that would surprise people. I am a concert pianist. No. I made that up. I'm not really. Brilliant. That's on that. And I'm going to ask one last question because J.B. got the quick fair round, so I'm just going to have to one last. question. And that is what kind of dad do you hope your boys say you are when they're older?

I think a, I don't know, like a fun, but a fun, caring, supportive dad. I think like being, I think the biggest things as a parent are being, like being kind, being caring and being supportive, right? That's all you can do, isn't it? All you can do is a parent is support. emotional things. Yeah. Yeah. I think being supportive, that's your job, isn't it? Your job is literally to support your kids and whatever they want to do and help them be the best version of themselves in whatever it is they choose to do. And yeah, I guess supportive in a sense of helping them do things, encouraging not to do things they shouldn't be doing. Yeah, of course. Leading by example, etc. Yeah. I could go on. Love that. Love that. Thank you so much, Matt. That was a very full chat. I loved it. It's not having me, guys. That was fun. Oh, well, that is one of those conversations that I think will challenge all of us a little bit.

Absolutely. Sorry, I was miles away there thinking about my exercise regime for next week and which sport I was going to take my kids. I think we all are, to be honest. Well, I don't know about you, but it gave me lots of practical takeaways. and what I liked about him, and I said it on the podcast, he just tells it straight, says it how it is. Nothing's like perfect, no honey-dressled adabami beans in my house, but like really good takeaway advice, what you do to help your kids be more active

and yourself be more active as well. Yeah, yeah, and I think actually what he was saying made a lot of sense. You know, it's not easy because, let's be honest, nothing, no decision you're making up really is easy. But having better, to nutrition and having better health is can be relatively simple. Yeah.

I think Matt was very, very straightforward in getting that across. Brilliant. Another good one, J.B. Yes, indeed. Thank you very much, Matt, for joining us. All right. Take care.

See you soon.