Author Archives: Neil Maclean-Martin

About Neil Maclean-Martin

Neil is literally the brains and the brawn behind the BeFitApps programmes bringing his years of experience treating some of the world's leading athletes into training programmes that we can all benefit from. He is also one fit bloke who does ultra trail races for a bit of fun!

Taking your cycling strength and conditioning seriously

It’s biking season here in the Alps and with the Tour De France spending four days in our locality we’re getting ready to sample those epic stages and put down our times on Strava before the pros get there! There are many ways to improve your cycling performance, some more widely appreciated than others. The much debated prohibited options that include the use of hidden motors, drugs and blood transfusions continue to grab all the attention. In the meantime under the radar, the elite level Continue reading →

Important life lessons from a 24hour cross country ski marathon

Last weekend I was given the opportunity to compete in a 24 hour cross-country ski marathon in Switzerland (Ski-24).  Let’s get some of the numbers sorted first – there were 61 teams consisting of mostly ten members, there were two solo guys and five teams of three of which we were one, that meant roughly eight hours each.  It was a four kilometre course with about 160m of up and down every loop.  Between us we managed 83 laps which added up to 332km and Continue reading →

How Do I Stop My Quads From Burning When I Ski?

By building your butt muscles, otherwise know as your Glutes! It was core, now glutes are the new black.  Aside from holding up your jeans and attracting shouts of “cute butt”, glutes really are amazing in what they do for us. This is the cool bit, glutes are what allow us to do so many things as humans that other animals cannot do.   Standing,  they have evolved so quickly compared to many other body parts. The pelvis took a huge leap from our chimpanzee cousins to allow us Continue reading →

It’s Just An Ankle Sprain, Here’s What To Do About It!

Ankle sprains are the most common injury in day to day life and when doing sports, most of us at some point have twisted an ankle.  They account for 20% of the injuries seen at A&E never mind all those that are self-managed or simply rested and ‘walked-off’.The question of whether this is sufficient must be asked.  Could anything more be done other than shrugging the shoulders and saying it’s just an ankle sprain. The answer is yes!  The one predictor for injury is a previous injury Continue reading →

Seven Top Tips For Staying Fit On A Long Distance Hike

Getting away from it all and into the great outdoors is one of the greatest ways to refresh the spirit from the hectic demands of modern life. Fresh air and amazing scenery, great exercise and the chance to disconnect are just some of the many reasons that increasing numbers of people are heading in the direction of adventure and finding their way onto hiking trails across the globe. Long distance hiking – or thru’hiking – in particular has been experiencing a massive surge in popularity in recent years Continue reading →

Behind The Scenes At The Volvo Ocean Race

THE ROLE OF HUMAN PERFORMANCE DIRECTOR BLOG POST FROM LISBON I’m in Lisbon and its 5.58am. I have been up since yesterday at 6.30am and myself and the team now have a very full day ahead as the boats we have been waiting for since the early hours are just coming into sight over the horizon.  I am working as Human Performance Director for DONGFENG RACE TEAM and it is not the first time on this edition of The Volvo Ocean Race that I have Continue reading →