Tom Mellors - The switch, ice hockey, bodybuilding, HYROX, mental health, and why normal was never the goal - F&T42

Tom Mellors is a personal trainer and HYROX athlete based in Nottingham.Episode 42 might not be the answer to the universe but it goes much further than the gym. We get into the courage to be disliked, what it actually takes to build rapport when your peers are still figuring out how to talk to people, and the real differences between UK gym chains.Tom talks about his ideal client, knowing when it's time to leave a coaching relationship, and the lessons he's picked up outside the traditional fitness world.Then things get interesting. Ice hockey takes us somewhere most fitness conversations don't — what it means to genuinely put your body on the line, and how that changes your relationship with risk and resilience.From there: the psychological challenge of coming back to "normal" life after bodybuilding, whether sport is a cheat code or a mirror to meaningful relationships, and normalising mental health conversations in environments that haven't always made space for them.We also get into race mentality — the switch, the kick, and what it feels like when it clicks — a mindset Tom's seen that genuinely concerns him, the tension between creativity and fitness performance, and why the past has already happened, so now what.Tom's linksThe courage to be disliked, Fumitake Koga and Ichiro Kishimihttps://www.instagram.com/tmellors.pt/Fitness & ThinkingForget six packs – we look at six pillars of fitness: physical, mental, social, spiritual, emotional and financial.The newsletter goes out on Wednesday mornings and I’m going to play around with when and where episodes go out.Let’s shoot for YouTube on Wednesday evenings, and Spotify and Apple on Thursday mornings.Follow on IG: https://www.instagram.com/fitnessandthinking/Want to help? I’m looking for an editor/producer and a social media manager.Get in touch: [email protected] to work with a lifestyle and fitness coach who thinks bigger than the gym?Email: [email protected]