(The Physical Freedom 1:1 Coaching Program is open for just 2 more days! If you have been following the results of myself & clients, are inspired to not settle anymore, and are ready to get your Physical Freedom back then now is your chance! The program is explained in detail in this link and will answer all your questions! Click here)

I foam rolled religiously for 10 years.

All the way up until I was forced to retire from things I loved to do at 25.

I thought it would:

Break up these 'muscle knots' I had everywhere

Help me overcome this constant tightness/stiff I felt

Allow me to recover quicker from sport/activities

Save me from feeling like the tin man

Ultimately, I thought it would help me get more mobile.

I thought it would give me my Physical Freedom back.

To improve my quality of life, and get back to sports/activities I loved to do.

Oh how wrong I was.

But I didn't question the 'experts' back then.

I didn't question the 'mainstream'.

So I foam rolled every day like I was paid to do it.

When I only seemed to get short term relief, and no long-term change....

......I thought now it's time to take it up a notch.

I'm 'tough'.

I have a high pain threshold.

I'll do 'whatever it takes'.

I'll go to that pain cave if it means I can get my Physical Freedom back.

I'll live there daily if I have to.

I'll do what others won't.

Just as long as this all pays off.

I bought Kelly Starrets "Becoming a Supple Leopard" (Should have been called "becoming the tin man")

I did the banded dislocations for my joints.

I smashed myself with lacrosse balls into my back and neck.

I dug 20kg plates & barbells into my quads and groins.

Sweet Lord above I don't know if I've ever felt pain like that since.

But this will get me more mobile!!!

This pain isn't all for nothing!!!

.......................right?!

Like most lessons I have learned in life.

It has been from following a strategy through to the end.

You have to go to the extreme to see that there is no light at the end of that specific tunnel.

The light you thought you saw, was just the train coming to take you out.

From putting 100% of my effort & focus into foam rolling and the likes.

I got slapped in the face with a harsh truth.

THIS ISN'T WORKING.

I've done this shit for 10 years.

Harder than 99% of people are willing to go.

It's clearly not working.

The only way to go further here is go under the knife.

And that was always going to be a last resort for me, rather than first port of call like it can be in the healthcare industry.

But then again, what else is an orthopaedic surgeon going to recommend?

An approach that addresses your whole lifestyle in a non-invasive way?

No, he'll recommend surgery.

As that's his job and what he is trained to do.

You're not surprised when you go to a baker and he suggests you buy bread.

Don't be suprised when a doctor recommends pills and a surgeon recommends surgery.

If I could appear in a vision to younger Marcus on his bedroom floor.

Foam rolling his hamstrings at night before bed.

Foam rolling his quads in the morning as he listened to a podcast.

I'd lay out the main problem for him and why this approach isn't working.

Shatter the illusion he was living under.

Wake him up from the hypnosis of the mainstream.

And I'd give him the solution he so desperately wanted.

Treating Symptoms Over Root Causes (The Downfall of Our Generation)

Let's say it like it is.

Our generation is entitled.

I am entitled.

You are too.

We have it much easier than past generations.

In fact, we are living in the most opportunistic time in the history of the world.

I'm writing this from Bali, as I travel Asia pursuing my passion and living the life I envisioned 7 years ago.

(Read this article if you want to see the 3 Steps to Designing the Life You Want)

It’s my first time ever in Asia.

I see old women working on building sites in this heat. I see them slogging away in the rice fields.

I saw a man working on the top of a building site with a box on his head for a hat.

Most of you reading this can't comprehend how lucky we are to have been given a good hand in life.

Seeing this reminds me, and emboldens my mission.

I have been given this amazing opportunity to go after the life I want, and I won't waste it.

People would give their left arm for the life & opportunities we have been given. I would encourage you not to waste it either.

This entitlement issue bleeds into our attempts to get our Physical Freedom back too.

Rather than put words in your mouth, I'll just speak from my own experience.

I expected things to be 'fixed' for me.

I thought if I just pay the person for the 'thing'.

Then the thing will 'fix' me.

That's how life works right?

Nope.....but that's the illusion our generation is sold.

That's the entitlement we are brought up with in this social media age.

We don't do things that are NECESSARY TO BECOME EMPOWERED and in control our life.

So that we can actually figure out the answers ourselves.

We don't:

• Take ownership of our problems (we outsource them to 'experts')

• We don't look INSIDE to solve (we look OUTSIDE to blame)

• We don't educate ourselves on what's really important like our body, mindset & life (we learn Maths, English & Geography instead)

We have no:

• Tools & blueprint on how to look after the only body we will ever have

• Have training/guidance on how to cultivate a strong mindset for life

• The steps to build the life we want (we are square pegs fit into the round holes of society)

And we can never break free from this.

Why?

Because all we dig are SHALLOW HOLES.

And as a result, we loop in average progress and learn NOTHING.

A recipe for not getting to where we want across body, mindset & life.

I've been there for most of my life.

Digging Shallow Holes

While my above life example was painful (in all senses of the word. I think barbells into the quads would be a good torture technique. You'd have prisoners singing like a canary)

It showed me how you actually FIND OUT THE TRUTH.

This is the benefit of 'digging deep holes'.

If you 'dig shallow holes' and only pussyfoot around with the proposed solution........you will never know if it could actually work or not.

If you just foam rolled the odd day. 10 mins here and there.

You'd think that it was your lack of consistency that was the problem.

But for young driven Marcus who thought he was going to be a professional soccer player, consistency wasn't a problem.

And because I WAS consistent.

Because I did dig a DEEP HOLE with the foam rolling approach.

I was able to finally see that it does fuck all long term.

After this, when I started:

• TAKING OWNERSHIP of my own body, instead of outsourcing it to 'experts'

• FOLLOWED THE RESULTS of people who had lost their Physical Freedom but now had amazing mobility

• EDUCATING myself on how the body actually works

I was able to see how absolutely flawed foam rolling really was.

How it literally does NOTHING it claims to do.

And how most of the world are being decieved and held back from the progress they really want.

The questions to ask yourself is:

"Are you here for the short-term gratification, or the LONG TERM DOMINATION?"

The 'shallow holes' = short term gratification

The 'deep holes' = long term DOMINATION

I went for the quick fix’s and short-term gratification most of my life.

Now, all I do is DOMINATE.

If an approach isn’t going to get me LONG-TERM PROGRESS in an area of my life now, get it out of my face.

If your sick of the short-term gratification and want to DOMINATE and get long-term progress too, keep reading.

Foam Rolling Doesn’t Improve Your Mobility

What does foam rolling do?

Long story short: Fuck all to be honest.

But we'll go through the long story to shatter the illusion for you once and for all.

And if you want to still foam roll by the end, of course you can.

But now you will know exactly what it CAN AND CAN'T do.

As we are all led to believe it does things it absolutely does not.

It's literally false advertising.

Deception & Disappointment

One of the biggest deceptions of the fitness industry in our generation: the foam roller

It got out into the mainstream - even when it has been disproven with science since.

But this is the reality: once something 'gets out into the mainstream'.....it's EXTREMELY hard to take it back.

(For example, the RICE method is outdated by about 20 years at this stage. You still probably think 'icing & resting' injuries is a good approach, but it's not. The creator of the RICE method even came out to say he was wrong, but we don't hear this of course. That doesn't hit the mainstream. Read this article to see how I put this to the test when I recovered from a broken leg & torn ankle ligaments in less than half the recommended time. No RICE method or 'rest'. I was back to the gym and Jiu-Jitsu in 9 weeks, when I would have only been coming off the crutches if I followed the 'experts' approach.)

The reality is the vast majority of people are wasting SO MUCH TIME on foam rolling, when they could be putting it to much better use.

For me personally, I foam rolled for 10 years.

End results = forced to give up sports/activities I loved.

5 years not foam rolling and FOLLOWING THE RESULTS = more mobile than 'experts' ever thought possible for me.

I have:

• Hit the front splits and pancake.

• Nearly every position possible for the human body.

I can only imagine the stuff I'd be doing now if I realised this 10 years sooner.

But the best time to plant a tree was 20 years ago, the second best time is TODAY.

The Myofascial Release Scam

Brace yourselves.

You know the main claim of foam rolling?

That it is myofascial release?

That it:

• Breaks up 'muscles knots & adhesions'

• "Releases fascia"

• So that we can somehow become more mobile???

.................yeah, it doesn't do those things.

Literally no evidence for it whatsoever.

But hey, who needs evidence behind something to hit the mainstream?!

With good marketing and a naieve uneducated audience, you'll be laughing all the way to the bank.

For those who want to dive deep like younger Marcus.

Scouring the internet dissecting everything I could find.

Here is a good resource on this. The article I read years ago that debunked the myofascial release scam for me.

But I'll cut to the chase and just share the screenshot of the conclusion in the article.

If that looks like Egyptian hieroglyphics to you, here is the conclusion in plain English:

How ironic is that?!

I was just laughing.

Going from pissed off and annoyed, to just laughing.

I foam rolled for 10 years, because I BELIEVED that foam rollers are breaking up adhesions & muscle knots through this 'myofascial release'.......

.......when the reality is ACTUALLY that:

"You cannot change the structure of fascia, because it is tougher than Kevlar"

hahaha Christ. Fuck me.

Talk about being misled.

I remember googling that specific point and finding some mad statistics.

Ones that showed the force you would ACTUALLY have to put into the body to change the fascia.

Let's see if I can find it now.

Shweet, here we go. This is the one I remember reading.

It would take more than 8,000N of force to change 1% of the fascia.

But yet we are led to believe a foam roller or a physical therapist is changing it?!

How do you feel now about your ‘myofascial release’ tools now?

My mind was blown.

I kept reading & researching. Diving deep down that rabbit hole.

And one after another like dominos, all the things I believed on the body from the mainstream were shattering.

I’ll tell you one more important one: 'muscle knots' don't even exist either. (that’s in the article too).

It's just words humans made up to 'describe the feeling'. There is no actual 'knot' in the muscle.

If you scanned 2 people (one with 'muscle knots' and the other without ‘muscle knots').....there would be no difference.

So it's essentially the way we FEEL.

It's coming from the brain and the nervous system.

This made so much fucking sense to me when I eventually found this information.

Coming from someone who has felt tight and stiff most of my life.

Instead of searching and smashing these 'muscle knots' each night, I finally understood that there is no such thing. They don’t even exist.

It’s a dead-end approach.

It's just giving me temporary relief yes, but it will NEVER give me the long-term progress I want.

I thought this was the highway to my Physical Freedom………when in reality it was just a cul-de-sac.

Through more education, I knew that I am tight and stiff FOR A REASON.

The body doesn’t just do shit randomly.

And when I learned about the root cause of why we get tight and stiff.

It changed my life forever.

THAT is the path to my PHYSICAL FREEDOM.

The fallacy of the foam roller was shattered for me forever.

And all the 'treatments' out there started to be sorted into different categories on what they could actually do for my body.

Things were starting to finally make sense after 10 years of confusion.

Instead of looping, now I was learning.

Passive vs Active Interventions

You can split ALL treatments/training on the human body into these 2 categories:

1) Passive Interventions

2) Active Interventions

Once you understand this, your bullshit detector has been upgraded by 90%.

'PASSIVE Interventions' are methods where YOU ARE NOT CONTROLLING YOUR OWN BODY......someone is moving/doing something to your body.

Examples:

• Chiropractor

• Osteopath

• Physio (if they just do manipulations/stretches on the table)

• Massage

• Dry needling

• Foam rolling

You get the point.

You are lying there doing nothing. And someone does something TO you.

'ACTIVE Interventions' are methods where YOU ARE CONTROLLING YOUR OWN BODY.

Examples:

• Mobility Training

• Strength Training

• Yoga

• Pilates

These are all ones where you are training your own body.

So why is this distinction between 'passive & active' interventions important?

Because of this CRUCIAL point:

"PASSIVE INTERVENTIONS DO NOT CREATE LONG-TERM CHANGE IN THE HUMAN BODY"

Read that a few times.

Let it sink in.

Passive interventions, do NOT create long-term change in the human body.

To make long-term changes in the human body, we need to ACTIVELY TRAIN IT.

This is a very important principle of the human body called 'progressive overload'.

We overload our body (through ACTIVE methods), and then our body adapts (changes) based on the stimulus (training) we gave it.

You already know this.

Maybe not in the 'technical terms', but you know it in real-life examples.

For example:

• Strength training
  (You know you need to go to the gym and train your body consistently over time to get the long-term changes you want)

• Fat loss/muscle gain

  (You know you need to have a training plan along with a nutrition plan and work consistently to achieve the result you want over time)

We all get these examples, but yet when it comes to examples of mobility and getting our Physical Freedom back.....

We think we can just go and lie there DOING NOTHING.....get cracky back in the chiropractor, and we will somehow get the long-term change that we want with our bodies?!

Can you see how ridiculous & flawed that is?! How it doesn't make any sense in terms of how the human body works?!

One final example to drive this home for you.

IF that was possible (passive interventions creating long-term change in the body)....

Then we could:

• Get someone to lift the weights FOR US in the gym as we completely relax our body.....and expect to get stronger & more muscular over time

Imagine that?

Some guy holds your arm with his 2 arms and is doing the bicep curls FOR YOU, as you completely relax.

And you think you are going to create the long-term changes in your body that you want?

It's just not going to happen.

Why? Because there is no PROGRESSIVE OVERLOAD.

We are simply not speaking the language of the human body.

Would you be surprised if that happened? You wouldn’t.

You would see through that straight away (“ehhh no, I have to train MY OWN body in the gym. You can’t do it for me”).

But then you just go and lie on a table or a foam roller and expect that to make long-term changes to your body?!

It’s a complete contradiction.

We need to adhere to the PRINCIPLES OF THE HUMAN BODY.

We can’t just accept them in the strength training realm….and then throw them out the fucking window in the “chronic pain/Injury & mobility realm?!

……..but yet that’s exactly what we do.

Because we don’t know any better.

The only way out is:

• Taking OWNERSHIP of the only body you’ll ever have

• Sharpen your bullshit detector by upgrading your critical thinking

• Educating yourself on some basics of how the human body works

Hence why I write these detailed emails each week packed with examples/analogies to bust myths and sharpen your bullshit detector and critical thinking.

Along with education on how the human body actually works.

Get on the Right Path

The reality is that if we want to change our bodies long-term.

We need to STRESS our body, and then our body ADAPTS and changes.

That is how the human body works.

For strength training, for mobility training, for EVERYTHING.

A real-life example outside of training:

When we get the flu, our body has this 'stress' on our immune system, and then it will 'adapt' and change based on the stress.

Our body will change and become better at fighting that particular flu in the future.

This is why we get vaccines - they give you a small dose of the virus (stress to the body), so that our body will ADAPT (change based on this stress)…….so that we get the changes in our body that we want (more resilient to the flu in future).

It’s the same process for mobility, for strength, for health, for everything. That is how the human body works.

Humans are one of the most ADAPTABLE species on the planet.

This is how we have survived up to now, got to the top of the food chain, and conquered the WORLD.

But our bodies can only adapt to the STRESS THAT WE GIVE IT.

Lying on a foam roller or a chiropractor table doing nothing, and expecting to get great long-term results with your mobility is the biggest fad going.

Zero science or evidence behind any of it. It’s as real as the tooth fairy.

Once you understand the difference between passive & active interventions, you can never be fooled by this again.

What Does Foam Rolling ACTUALLY Do?

Let's not throw out the baby with the bathwater here.

I wanted to completely debunk the fallacy of the foam roller for you.

As its a waste of time if you don't focus on progressive overload through 'active interventions'.

But if you are focusing on active methods to elicit the changes you want in your body over time (whether it's strength or mobility training).

Then you CAN use 'passive' methods alongside that if you want.

For example, you could:

• Get a mobility program that utilises the principles of progressive overload to address your current movement limitations, and get your Physical Freedom back over time (Addressing the ROOT CAUSE for long-term change)

• Use passive methods like foam rollers/massage/chiropractors etc for short-term relief in the meantime, as you work to overcome your chronic pain (Treating the SYMPTOMS, as you work on the root cause)

The active interventions = the 95%

The passive interventions = the 5%

So you can still use the passive interventions if you want, just don't miss the forest for the trees.

In other words, don't miss the BIGGER PICTURE of how the body works. And how you get long-term change over time.

It comes from active interventions.

If you were like younger Marcus before doing:

• 80-100% passive intentions

• Messing around with random shit on YouTube etc for the active interventions

Don't be surprised when you have no results to show for it.

1 year or 10 years, it will be the same outcome.

I can guarantee you that because I did the 10 years.

I'll leave you with a final word on the passive interventions.

I heard somebody say this, and I thought it was a great way to categorise them:

"Passive interventions are just a WINDOW OF OPPORTUNITY to work on the active interventions"

For example:

• If you are in so much hip pain that you can't do 'active' mobility training.....maybe some 'passive' foam rolling/massage/dry needling/chiropractor etc might ease the pain (by treating the symptoms)

• So NOW, you can actually start working on the ‘active’ interventions to improve your hip mobility (addressing the root cause)

I hope that is a lot clearer for you now.

On what foam rolling and these other passive interventions can and can't do.

A New Perspective

With insightful information, come new perspectives.

With new perspectives, come better opportunities.

With better opportunities, come unforeseen choices.

And it's these new choices you couldn't see before, that will get us the progress we want over time.

My purpose is to create windows where there were once walls for people.

Tear down the walls holding people back, and build a window so they can see through the panes of glass to the TRUTH.

The truth that will set them free.

If you want long-term progress with your Physical Freedom, you NEED to actively train your body.

There is literally no other way around it.

No matter what bullshit is being spun about this fix or that hack.

You need a training plan that utilises progressive overload in a smart, strategic way for your current movement limitations.

I have outlined for you the 3 Steps to Regaining Your Physical Freedom.

And I have explained in detail how I get clients there through the Physical Freedom 1:1 Coaching Program details.

Now it's up to you what you do from here.

Your old decisions got you here.

Your new decisions can get you out of it.

My Week

EDUCATION:

Books:

Paperback: Beyond Good & Evil (Friedrich Nietzsche)

Audiobook: Letting Go (David R.Hawkins)

Podcasts:

The Koe Cast: How to Network with Millionaires (and build a name for yourself)

Diary of a CEO: E214 - Jesse Lingard Reveals the Dark Reality of Being a World-Class Football Player

Jocko Podcast: #376: Exploring Murphys Laws of Combat with JP Dinnell

BUSINESS:

The Physical Freedom 1:1 Coaching Program is currently open for 2 more days! Links below!

The Physical Freedom Program Details

Client Testimonials

Coaching application form

Coaching:

• Physical Freedom

• Mental Freedom

• Lifestyle Design

PERSONAL:

General Life:

2nd full week in Bali is finished! More work on my passion & purpose, training, learning, great food & weather……can’t complain! Life is good. For those looking to design the life they want, here is the blueprint: 3 Steps to Designing the Life You Want

Fun:

1) Went on a private tour of Ubud last Sunday! It covered:

• Balinese House Compound visit

• Sacred Monkey Forest Sanctuary

• Tegalalang Rice Terrace

• Tirta Empul Temple

• Tegenungan Waterfall

Great trip! Really interesting learning about Balinese culture & traditions. And I also made a few friends along the way too ;)

2) Monday: Met up with client & friend Eoghan, and his girlfriend Edel! They are at the tail end of 6 months of travelling across South America & Asia! I am in Bali for another 2 weeks before I go to Phuket, so our paths happened to cross here in Bali for a few days before they move on!

3) Tuesday: Met up with Eoghan for 4 hours. Eoghan is 7 months into the Physical Freedom Program and now we are working in Mental Freedom & Lifestyle Design modules for him to work on. Like I tell every client - I will help you as much or as little as you want! If you want my life’s work, across body, mindset & life…I will give it to you. Nothing gives me more purpose than turning my past pain into others future PROGRESS.

I only realised a few days ago that I am actually flying to Phuket next Tuesday :O…..thought I had another week or 2 here somehow haha. Time is flying. So I booked:

• Full day tour to Nusa Penida & Snorkelling with Manta Rays (Sunday)

• Mount Batur Trek with Hot Springs at top (Monday)

and I might do surfing on Monday too. Pack a few things in before I head off!

TRAINING:

Goal: 4-6 sessions

• STRENGTH: 3 sessions

  - One Arm Chin Up session

  - Upper (Push)

  - Legs

• SKILL:

  - 1 Hip Hop Dancing Class

• CARDIO:

  - 1 Aerobic Base session

Yes, you read that right! Hip Hop Dance Class haha.

I was going to join Muay Thai classes……..but then I saw “hip hop” classes on the sheet………..and I felt the FEAR. And like most things in life, the fear POINTS YOU WHERE YOU WANT TO GO BUT ARE AFRAID TO. I have wanted to learn to dance for a few years now. I learned small bits of breakdancing from my friend & YouTube, but I said someday I will pay someone to teach me. And what better time than NOW Marcus?! And so I went! Bit nervous beforehand, but the class was great! For all levels. Signing up for a few more before I go! Then I’ll do Muay Thai in Thailand instead. I mean what better place to learn Muay Thai than where it originated from?!

That’s it!

You know what foam rolling can & can’t do now.

It’s useful to detach from any emotional attachments to ALL methods.

Once you do this, you can see them all as TOOLS.

And you just pick the right tools for the right job. That’s it.

That’s all I do now.

I have been attached to certain methods before, but this emotional attachment clouds your judgement.

Be the skilled craftsman and use the tools that are the most EFFECTIVE for the body you are trying to create.

Anything else is just complicating the matter and holding you back from the results you want.

Enjoy your weekend! :)

Commit to doing one thing next week (no matter how small), that will small gain your way toward the life you want.

All the small gains add up MASSIVELY over time ;)

Don't Settle,

Mark