PODCAST · sports
Consistently Above Average
by Andrew McGahon
A series of Podcasts by Andrew McGahon largely linked to the sport of Brazilian JiuJitsu, with the scope of expanding off into something else in the future. For those in the world who have slightly higher aspirations than normal, but seemingly lack the cutting-edge attributes of the high performers, Consistently Above Average is tongue in cheek for those currently happy in the 51-70% range. Wondering what life might be like in the higher bracket.
Episodes
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An Announcement for 2027? Why Are People Not Competing - LISTENER INPUT
Starting this episode with a little bit of tentative information for something happening in Q1 2027 guys and girls. I'll leave the surprise to listen to it. The rest of the episode is entirely filled out with statements and beliefs of people who are JiuJitsu practitioners in Ireland and why they...
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80,000 People and Nobody Was There for a Fight
I had to break ranks, to Jiu-Jitsu listeners from abroad. I'm sorry, but last night I witnessed one of the greatest sporting moments to ever happen in Ireland. The confusing thing is, it wasn't the sporting moment aka the main event, that made it the greatest sporting moment. Dig into that idea...
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The State of The Union - Consistently Above Average Edition
It's kind of like being stuck at a crossroads, but you know that if you do take the right exit or junction at the crossroads then it'll be the single best decision you've ever made in your life? What is the best way, what is a useful way, what could be a helpful way. What is the right way to try…
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The French Holiday Based - Polaris Reflection Episode
Recorded in the middle of the night in a room terrified of waking people up above and beside me. This is episode 54 of Consistently Above Average. Following the public shame, humiliation, embarassment, betrayal and possible hyperbole. I have fled to France after losing on Polaris nearly 2 weeks...
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Californian Experience from IBJJF Worlds 2026
Hey, thanks for waiting. Jetlag drove me to planning this episode, maybe I should consider not sleeping more often during regular weeks and we could get some more podcasts out. I went to California and wanted to give you the low down or experience of my first IBJJF Gi World Championships. It was...
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"It's Good To See You" - "It's Good To Be Seen!" - ADCC European Trials Thoughts
I don't know if it's because i overcame potentially the most lethal dose of flu ever recorded in the history of mankind this week but I might have turned into a bit of a hater this episode. Alternative episode title could have been an A-D-SEE-SEE esque title because well and truely I have to be...
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They Are Charging HOW MUCH To Watch a TOURNAMENT???
Honestly guys, the title speaks for itself. One topic this week, we deep dive it, A podcaster shouldn't tell you they are lost for words but my word...
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From Las Vegas, To Lisbon, To Dundalk
Honestly it's been that long since I released an episode I think it would be disengenious to try and come up with an episode title that would make you think...oh what. a lovely nuanced thought out discussion and podcast episode. It's back, 2026 is the year it works or goes bust. I'm hoping for…
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Use This Christmas to Try Become The Thing Put in The Shop Window
Unfortunately, the show was delayed due to some legal complications that we address very early in the show. Lessons have been learned, and I promise all of the listeners that it won't happen again. It's the week before heading off to Las Vegas, but just after that is Christmas, where training is...
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Exploring The Great Sport of Hydrox + Irish JiuJitsu Sport Recognition
HYDROX Dublin 2025 is here, one of the biggest events on the sporting calendar. Over 15,000 hybrid rockstar athletes are taking to the turf in the hollowed halls of the RDS Arena in Ballsbridge DUBLIN 4. Finishers patches, event t-shirts, medals and podium photos all up for grabs this weekend,...
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My Roman Europeans Experience + NoGi Cross Training Date Announced
This is such a terrible time to be writing a podcast bio when your alarm is going off in 5 hours to drive to Dublin for the IBJJF Dublin Open but here I am. I'm not even going to ask ChatGPT to correct the spelling and grammar on this one either. It's a debrief episode on my experience competing…
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Competing on Your Birthday in Rome - A Thought.
A lot of my training partners competed very well during the week and Team Torres has a new European Champion. We had put a lot of good work leading up to this tournament. I just felt like it was important, for me in some capacity to record and release this episode before I competed today. I turn…
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The Best Way to Come Back to JiuJitsu, NoGi Europeans Next Week + Goujon Origin Story
So, Episode 44 of the Consistently Above Average podcast is here. There's a big No-Gi Europeans next week that everybody is very excited for, I think, just under 3,000 people competing in Ostia in Rome next week and weekend. I believe across all divisions this is going to be a breakout tournament...
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Irish BJJ Invitational Review + My Own Double Standard(s)
Last week I closed off the podcast letting you know that I reached out to the Ireland BJJ organisation with some questions, both about the Emerald Cup and their evening event, the Irish BJJ Invitational. We discuss the response, we go through the email I received, and we talk about the evening...
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Shamrock Cup Debrief — Em-Dash Outrage + The Elephant in the Room
I promise, I genuinely thought it was called the Emerald Cup for the first six minutes. Sorry about that. I'm holding myself to a public declaration of weekly episodes again. If I miss one, everyone who likes and reshares this podcast will win $100.* This week’s episode is a single-topic deep…
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What's Been Happening? CJI Recap, Reactions and Fallout.
It's been 43 days since I wrote a podcast bio description after recording an episode and I do admit I missed it a little bit more than I thought I would. Quick catch up and chat about what's been going on the last little while and why there's not been an episode, hard to act like everythings…
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Chris Leddy talks - 2 Major Back Surgeries, Irish Message Boards, and Developing as a Coach - Ep 40
Chris Leddy is a Brazilian JiuJitsu Black Belt, He runs https://martialartsbray.ie/ alongside his brother Adam, He's also an instructor with David Gray Interactive https://www.davidgreyrehab.com/courses/Interactive Chris has been training JiuJitsu since the late 2000s after befriending Darragh...
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The Consequence of Going Viral at a Coldplay Gig + Next Podcast Guest Announced
It's a shorter episode this week but the whole world is now aware of some random CEO from an American company and the alleged HR worker who may or may not have been having an affair. At a wider look, it's insane to think something that's happening every day, with little to no consequences at all...
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Five Tournaments in the One Weekend + How boards.ie predicted the future...
Episode 38 is here! boards.ie was once the old stomping ground of the Irish Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu community—people posting under usernames, some knowing who was who, others just faceless trolls. The internet hasn't changed much in that regard, and neither has the tendency for people to complain…
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Why Shawn Mendes was lying - there's plenty holding us back.
Audio-only return of Consistently Above Average – Episode 37. In this episode, I talk about the recent absence, where real life basically jumped right in front of the car that is this podcast and forced a little break. This is one of two episodes dropping this week, so keep an ear out for…
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Dan Lukehart aka "TrumpetDan" - Building Brea JiuJitsu, Media Coverage in JiuJitsu + Coaching at the Highest Level - Pt 2
This is part two of a two-part conversation. The full, uncut version (around 3 hours) is up on YouTube. Dan Lukehart is a third-degree BJJ black belt under Beneil Dariush, owner of Brea Jiu-Jitsu in California, and co-owner of IBJJFRankings.com. He’s known for his deep understanding of IBJJF…
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Dan Lukehart aka "TrumpetDan" talks the creation of IBJJFRankings.com, Prestige of IBJJF + How They Could Improve. - part 1
It’s been a while since the last episode, but trust me—this one’s worth the wait. This is part one of a two-part conversation. The full, uncut version (around 3 hours) is up on YouTube. Dan Lukehart is a third-degree BJJ black belt under Beneil Dariush, owner of Brea Jiu-Jitsu in California, and...
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The Irish Open 2025 + The Power of Nostalgia
The Irish Open has come and gone, the biggest day in the calendar year in the Irish Brazilian JiuJitsu community. I assume this will be the first of two episodes on this topic because I would welcome people getting in touch to let me know what they thought of the whole thing. Since recording this...
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The Metro Appreciation Episode, IBJJF Masters Europeans + Rome Open Chat
We've kicked off episodes with some wild topics before, but I didn’t think the 100-year-old plans for a Metro in Dublin — complete with a hub at Dublin Airport — would come up this soon. After a three-week hiatus, I’m back following a run at the IBJJF Masters Europeans, the Rome Spring Open, and…
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Cage Warriors 188 - They're Somebody's Son
Andrew McGahon recapping a Mixed Martial Arts event I attended last night was not on the trajectory of plans for this particular podcast but here we are. Perched in the back row of the cheap(est) seats in the venue armed with a red and black pen and a notebook I took my mate from Dundalk for a…
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The Brazilian JiuJitsu - Professional Wrestling Pipeline + Listener Questions
It’s WrestleMania Weekend, and the WWE is now part of one of the most valuable sports entities on the planet—TKO Group. This powerhouse also includes the UFC under its umbrella, along with a soon-to-be-launched boxing league. Dana White has announced a major investment into the sport of Brazilian...
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What Do You Actually Want?
It's a fairly simple question for episode 30 this week. It could be about any one thing, or many things. Just realise that depending on who asks you this particular question, including yourself there's a chance that the answering is going to be different. I think it's important that moving…
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The Story Behind My Favourite Photo – NoGi Europeans 2022
Earlier this week, I posted a photo that got a lot of interaction and feedback. It was taken moments after the NoGi European final in 2022 in Rome. I've been sitting on this photo for a couple of years, and when I was deciding what to feature in this week’s episode, I figured it was time to share...
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Staying on Task When the Rest of the World Is Falling Apart
This week has been a little bit mental, on many fronts. But I have to say I think the reaction to everything is even more mental. I've had the blinkers on for a couple of years now, and I really think you should consider it as well, for the sake of yourself.
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The Great Open Mat U-Turn: Honest Assessments and Your Mastermind
27 is a very dangerous number, so please keep the thoughts and prayers coming for consistently above-average performance over the next week, as we hope to make it to 28. I might have taken a bit of a turn on the open mats. I still love them, but maybe I don’t need to see them as much, if you know...
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Struck by a Meteor: Starting with Beginners or Mixed Classes & Sauna Etiquette
I really hope it doesn't become a trend to start episodes with facts about the date in question, but after hearing what we discussed in this week’s episode, you’ll probably agree with me. I've seen people start jiu-jitsu by jumping straight into mixed-level classes, and I've also seen people…
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"Post Training Clarity" + Regional Irish MMA Chat
After a week off, I'm back in the hot seat with a wonderful episode discussing the now trademarked 'Post-Training Clarity' effect that many of us experience throughout the week — a feeling we should never take for granted. I was also commentating on a local MMA show last weekend, IUR FC. I've…
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The Lost Valentines Episode, "Superfights" + Sub Culture Review
Sometimes things don’t go as planned, and I’m happy to say that I decided to pull the plug on what would have been an overall boring and potentially troublesome episode. We have to keep in mind the huge, impending sponsorship deals that don’t yet exist in the podcasting world—but we’ll keep...
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Unifying Ability of JiuJitsu? Sub Culture Debut + A Week of Anniversaries.
There’s been some great feedback from the last episode or two, and I just wanted to double down on a couple of points—especially the ones about how terrible you all are at jiu-jitsu. Please enjoy and send messages accordingly. There’s also a thought process about the unifying element of jiu-jitsu...
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Darragh O'Conaill: Training Environments, IBJJF Europeans, and What It Takes to Win at the Highest Level
After last week’s episode, I posed the question online: Is Irish Jiu-Jitsu regressing? This was based on the results at the IBJJF European Championships in Portugal. In this week’s episode, I’m joined by Darragh O'Conaill, head coach of East Coast Jiu-Jitsu Academy and co-owner of Nexus Alicante…
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Question - Has Irish JiuJitsu Regressed? IBJJF European Debrief + Storm Update
In this episode, I feel like I’m doing the opposite of clickbait. The question in the title? I don’t fully agree with it—and neither did the person who originally asked me. But it's still worth considering. It's worth taking a moment to play devil’s advocate and think about how things could be...
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Video Episode Reaction + Thoughts, Lisbon - Same City, Different Person?
First fresh episode of 2025! I say it in the episode, but thanks to everyone who enjoyed the last episode specifically, and thank you very much if you're back to give it another go. I'm heading away tomorrow to the European Championships. I kept that one under wraps, but even when preparing for…
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Kieran McGeeney talks Brazilian JiuJitsu, Athlete Development + The Want of Always Doing More.
If you want to watch the video episode for this podcast you can find it here on our brand new YouTube channel - https://youtu.be/kQVD9dvYdEE I sat down with Brazilian JiuJitsu Black Belt and notable GAA figure Kieran McGeeney to discuss a wide variety of topics including how he got started in...
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IBJJF NoGi Worlds, 5 Days In The Desert + Pre Travel Anxiety
Coming to you from the Mardi Gras "Hotel" and "Casino" in Las Vegas Nevada. I'm flying away in a couple of hours so wanted to run down the week in Las Vegas so far, including the couple of banana skins that was on the way leading up to it. You'll never be worse off not trying, and that's…
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If You're Going To Do Something...Do It Right
I had hoped for this episode to allow me to take a week off and just publish what we recorded last weekend, however I took for granted how annoying of a process it just might be to get everything done the way I wanted to in my head...a good lesson learned that we dip into slightly on this weeks...
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Micro Episode - Video Episode Debut, Long Form Interview + British Open Blow Up.
To keep the early morning friday listeners happy, there's a very small episode right now with an update. BUT A longer, audio + video episode being recorded in a couple of hours after time of writing + recording. All going to plan that will be online over the weekend. Was set for the British Open...
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Legacy in BJJ vs MMA, Marcelo Garcia Return + Heading Back to Las Vegas
I genuinely started off this episode with the inteniton of being nice and concise and shorter than last weeks but here we are again. Legacy in JiuJitsu I feel is going to be respected and highlighted way more than it is in the sport of MMA and that's something we will jump into and contrast…
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Patching Holes in Your Game + He's Finally Talking About MMA
Two topics for discussion this week. It's episode 15, please ignore the intro and how confident i was that it's actually epsiode 14. There's no do overs here, it's why we are consistently above average and not some elite high end podcast. Patching holes in your JiuJitsu game and how that can be...
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Something Different, Owing Tiredness to Yourself + Polaris Trip
It has been a tough enough week, but I didn't want to do a shorter episode and make some excuse. Instead, I just tired to run / talk my way through it. One conversation heard at the right time, at the right place could have a huge effect that you didn't think possible. We might have had one of...
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What Is A Winter Arc? , Another Year Around The Sun + London Calling
Winter Arc is the meme of the season so far, there'll be multiple other trends between now and christmas that i will miss and go completely over my head, but maybe there is some truth behind the winter arc, let's try figure it out. I need to get up to skills on how to use Instagram best to this...
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Why Is Getting Beaten Up in BJJ Enjoyable? , Rome Decompression, Body Kicks & Burgers
I can't believe I'm writing this on a Friday afternoon, that's insanely off brand. The week after a tournament when you are questioning your life existance, happy to just be trianing for the sake of enjoying training instead of doing 3x per day, Took a seemingly normal diversion of my week and...
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IBJJF NoGi European Debrief w/Jean, Missed Alarms + Airport Transit
The bonus episode. Longer than usual. Recorded in three parts, Sunday Night after dinner, the middle of the night trying to not fall asleep before heading to the airport and sitting at Gat E44. Thanks to Jean for joining me, for the first time but maybe not for the last time. We will have to see...
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We’ve Made It To Rome, Italian Fent + Todays The Day?
Coming to you from Ostia, Rome. Episode 10 of Consistently Above Average is live. The Airport Taxi drivers are clued in to what fares they want to take anyway, Day One is over and done with, Day Two will be kicking off just about an hour before this episode goes live. I am competing today, and it...
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Environment Doesn't Matter For Your Work Ethic, The Real Benefit of Holidays + Diesel Pump Thoughts.
I need to come up with more concise titles for these episodes.... Episode 9 continues on with a more positive twitter discussion than last weeks finished on, before transitioning over to look at the idea of does your environment deserves to influence your work ethic. Everybody is able to train…
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Ego Feeding vs Ego Starving, “The Last Dance” + Algorithm Content
Episode 8, my favourite numbers. Why do you ask? No problem, I'll answer it. Another Week, ANOTHER E-MAIL. What a pleasure. The e-mailler poses (kind of) a two-part question and ultimately concludes they may not have asked a question at all, but I still do my best to make an attempt at an answer....
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ABOUT THIS SHOW
A series of Podcasts by Andrew McGahon largely linked to the sport of Brazilian JiuJitsu, with the scope of expanding off into something else in the future.
For those in the world who have slightly higher aspirations than normal, but seemingly lack the cutting-edge attributes of the high performers, Consistently Above Average is tongue in cheek for those currently happy in the 51-70% range. Wondering what life might be like in the higher bracket.
HOSTED BY
Andrew McGahon
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How many episodes does Consistently Above Average have?
Consistently Above Average currently has 57 episodes available on PodParley. New episodes are automatically indexed when they're published to the podcast feed.
What is Consistently Above Average about?
A series of Podcasts by Andrew McGahon largely linked to the sport of Brazilian JiuJitsu, with the scope of expanding off into something else in the future. For those in the world who have slightly higher aspirations than normal, but seemingly lack the cutting-edge attributes of the high...
How often does Consistently Above Average release new episodes?
Consistently Above Average has 57 episodes. Check the episode list to see recent publication dates and frequency.
Where can I listen to Consistently Above Average?
You can listen to Consistently Above Average on PodParley by clicking any episode. We provide an embedded audio player for direct listening, and you can also subscribe via your preferred podcast app using the RSS feed.
Who hosts Consistently Above Average?
Consistently Above Average is created and hosted by Andrew McGahon.
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