Meet Will McAuley, PerformancePro strength and conditioning coach. His wisdom and philosophy suits us perfectly and, most importantly, works for our clients.
Wills trains a wide variety of clients with fitness programmes tailored to their individual goals including specific rehabilitation work, general strength, increased sport performance and improved body composition.
We caught up with Will between sessions to find out more about him and his approach.
Life before PerformancePro
Will was born in Dublin and has always loved sport; what’s more he reckons he’s pretty much tried his hand at every sport under the sun. Despite his passion, Will admits to loving food more than sport when he was younger, so he was heavily overweight,
“I was over 120kg after my final exams in secondary school. But thankfully, the turning point came when I joined a gym that summer before starting university. I immediately took an interest in proper training and nutrition.”
A few months later, Will was working in the same gym on a part time basis while studying for his degree in Linguistics at Trinity College, Dublin. After he graduated, he started working full time there and progressed quickly from front of house desk staff to Instructor, Assistant Manager and finally Senior Consultant.
It’s clear that Will has always had both drive and determination. Having risen through the ranks working at the gym in Dublin, he was ready for a new chapter,
“I was feeling very stagnant in my role at the gym and I was keen to learn more. I decided to return to my studies and get a Masters in Strength & Conditioning at Middlesex University.”
So, thankfully for us and Will, this decision brought him to London.
Will and PerformancePro
Initially Will hadn’t planned to work while doing his Masters; he wanted to focus on his studies. But when his course director circulated a job opportunity from PerformancePro, Will was keen to find out more,
“PerformancePro’s ethos is in tune with my own philosophy on training, nutrition and overall health, so I thought it was somewhere I would really enjoy working. The emphasis on using an evidence-based approach and consistently educating the coaches is something that really stood out to me. This has helped me enormously in my studies too.”
After just a few months, Will was very much a part of the PerformancePro team,
“The best thing about working at PerformancePro is the people: our clients and my fellow coaches. We all share a common goal, and that helps create an atmosphere of hard work, but without anyone taking themselves too seriously!”
And away from the gym?
Of course Will is still a huge sports fan, following football, basketball and tennis closely and he enjoys watching films both old and new. It’s also good to know he’s still a self-confessed foodie at heart too…
“I love going out to eat in different places, but I’m equally happy to stay in and watch Great British Bake Off!”
Will’s fitness
Will trains 4-6 days per week and likes to keep his own regime quite simple, using the exercises that give the best return on investment,
“My own training is simple, hard and effective as that is what suits me. I’ve been training for Olympic Weightlifting since September and I’m aiming to start competing once my degree is finished.”
Top 3 Do’s
- Be consistent – the best plan in the world will fail unless executed consistently.
- Enjoy yourself – the process should be as enjoyable as the results you get from it. If it’s torture then it may not be worth it in the long run.
- Judge your actions by their result – whether you want to lose weight, run faster, or fix a bad shoulder, your methods are only as good as the results they produce.
Top 3 Don’ts
- Do too much at once – utilise the minimum effective dose ie. the minimum you need to get the desired result. Doing too much too soon will burn you out and leaves you with nowhere to go if it doesn’t go to plan!
- Try everything at the same time – doing everything at the same time will make it harder. Stick to one goal at a time and dedicate everything towards that.
- Go to extremes – Should I go Zero Carb? Should I fast every other day? Should I train twice per day? Stick to more moderate approaches that breed consistency and that you enjoy.
Inspiration
When it comes to seeking inspiration, Will’s approach is also wise and philosophical,
“I look for and listen to those that have taught or coached people to be successful, not just been successful themselves. The best performer is not always the best teacher and can often be successful in spite of their methods, not because of them.”