On a weekend I love nothing more than to sit down and watch athletics on TV. Last weekend was the World Indoor Athletics Championships in Poland where I watched a strong British performance crowned by Keely Hodgkinson breaking her own 800m indoor world record in just over 1 minute, 55 seconds.
Achievements like this don’t happen in a vacuum - they are the result of hours of training, small adjustments, tight nutrition (plus maybe a sprinkle of good genetics). So what can we learn from Keely - and how can we translate that into business and life to make a big change?
Change 1: Getting Stronger, not just Fitter
One of the most striking things about Keely’s transformation was that she literally bulked up, adding around 6 kilos of muscle (around 15 pounds) through focused gym work to improve strength and muscle. This might seem like a strange idea for an event that involves running half a mile. But Keely and her team clearly realised that she needs power as well as stamina to perform at her highest and that ‘just doing more training’ wasn’t going to cut it.
There’s a lesson there for us - sometimes ‘more time at the desk’ or ‘more sales calls’ isn’t the answer to better performance. We need to look at building robust systems. That might look like using a new tool or software, learning about AI or outsourcing more of our mundane tasks.
Change 2: Smart Cross Training
After a series of hamstring and back injuries (presumably from overtraining) - Keely started cross-training on her bike. The problem was that she wasn’t much of cyclist. So she started doing short rides outside, learning how to ‘unclip’ (stressful for a normally cyclist, terrifying for an elite athlete) and even falling several times. Cycling is now a big part of her training, reducing impact from running and mixing up outdoor sessions with more fun ‘Zwift’ work.
Which made me think about ‘low impact’ strategies that boost performance without wearing you out. It could look like listening to podcasts in your car (easier to do than set time aside to watch or listen at home) or focusing on a few core tasks per day instead of trying to achieve dozens.
Change 3. Intentional, Periodised Training
800m always seems like a difficult distance to me. You’re not really a sprinter but then you’re not a endurance athlete - so how do you train? Keely leaned completely into seeing herself as a sprinter (she’s had success in the 400m as well) by focusing on power, track work and varying her training depending on the seasons. Each day had a specific goal or outcome e.g. power, speed, recovery, track work.
I’ve also taken on this approach (with help from my coach!) for my ultra running where every session has a goal or ‘point’ to it. I might be doing a long run, a hilly trail session, tempo/speed work or recovery. And it all builds up to the event.
You can also apply this strategy at work or life. Going ‘hard’ every day sounds cool on YouTube but what if you focused on doing deep work days, rest days, learning days. Would you get more or less done?
Change 4 - Setbacks as Feedback
In 2025, Keely had some bad injuries that put her out of training and racing for a while. But she didn’t sit at home and mope. Instead that was the trigger for her to change up her training and move over to do more strength and cross training work which has resulted in two world records this year already (and the European Championships later this year to come!)
What if we reframed setbacks as feedback? Got burned out? Look at setting better boundaries. Made a bad investment? Maybe more research and reading would have helped.
Change 5: Don’t Guess the Basics
Keely has been very open about her nutrition, focusing on eating a lot of fuel and focusing on whole foods such as fruit, vegetables, red meat, chicken and fish. Imagine if she just ate whatever she wanted to ‘see what happens’?
Getting the basics right in anything is a sure way to build towards success in life, fitness or finance. When I started investing, I focused on easy index and managed mutual funds and that’s still a core of my portfolio. It gave me the confidence to branch out into other, higher risk things like individual stocks or crypto.
Take Homes: The Final Bit
Here are three strategies you could take on this week to try to emulate Keely’s success. We might not be 800m champions but we can all improve in little ways such as:
Pick one strength habit: Adding in a strength or mobility workout once a week or setting aside ‘learning time’ during the week to learn new skills.
Add one low‑impact habit: A weekly ‘easy’ day or rest day where you turn your phone off or don’t do any planned exercise (I do this)
Design one “hard day / rest day” pair: Try adding one day of deep focus followed by an easier day to recover your brain and body.
What’s one ‘strength session’ you could add to your life this week—business, money or training? Hit reply and tell me.
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