As men across the country grow moustaches for Movember, professional endurance coach Matt Warnock makes the case for going one step further. Here, he explores how committing to a race could be the catalyst busy fathers need to unlock transformative health and longevity gains.
Every November, men across London start growing questionable moustaches specifically to get us focused on and talking about men’s health. It’s a brilliant cause and an absolute necessity. In fact the numbers behind it are sobering.
According to Movember, sadly more than 133,000 men in the UK die early every year, and a boy born in 2021 can expect to live for almost four years less than a girl.
With this in mind, for this Movember grow the moustache but then take it a step further and sign up for something that challenges and scares you a little!
The Busiest Dads Are Often the Fittest
Today, the case for moving our bodies more has become indisputable and we can safely say that there is no limit to the benefits of cardiorespiratory fitness in terms of lowering the risk of death. Cleveland Clinic researchers followed more than 122,000 UK adults who’d been referred to them for a treadmill fitness test and the results couldn’t be clearer. The fitter people were, the better they performed, of course. But the risk of death to those with the lowest fitness was considerable at five times higher than that of the fittest.
The movement message is clearly spreading and today, gathering pace. In 2025, Ironman reported a 10% year-on-year increase in registrations for its long-distance triathlon events and more than 1.3 million people tried to enter the 2027 London Marathon, setting a new world record.
Moving more isn’t just about the body. In a study of 1.2 million adults, people who exercised consistently reported about 43% fewer poor mental health days each month. The sweet spot was around 45 minutes, three to five times a week; with team sports, cycling and other aerobic activities coming out near the top.
So what’s holding us back?
The Problem Isn’t Knowledge – It’s Time & Prioritisation
The problem isn’t knowledge, it’s time. We prioritise being good at our job, a great dad, a good partner, a good mate, a good son or brother and our own health quietly slides further down the list. So, how do we reverse this trend?
In my experience, the most reliable fix isn’t a gym membership. Personal trainers and health coaches are always shocked by how few of my athletes drop out in comparison to their own clients. I think it’s because the athletes I coach don’t have the hazy, hard-to-measure goal of “getting fitter”. Each of them has a north star: a solid date in the calendar that’s coming, whether they’re ready or not!
My advice – go pick an event that excites and maybe slightly scares you: the London to Brighton Ride, the Great South Run, the Richmond Park Half Marathon, the T50 London Triathlon or the Blenheim Palace Triathlon. Suddenly that Tuesday run doesn’t feel optional!
How to Get Started and Get Results Fast
Whenever I work with a new athlete, we begin with a hard, honest look at their week. Where is there time available, and where can hours be found, claimed or clawed back? A lunchtime swim? Running home from work instead of sitting on the Tube? A weekend ride with friends that doubles as their social life?
Next up is a round of testing. Thanks to advances in sports science and technology, I can now provide tests at athletes’ homes or on the running track that used to cost thousands and could only be performed in specialist and expensive sports labs.
Taking VO2max as an example, this essential measure of cardiorespiratory fitness, once used exclusively in endurance sports, is now seen by clinicians as one of the strongest indicators of health and longevity. About a quarter of people coming to me for VO2max testing today aren’t athletes at all, but just want an insight into their overall health and wellbeing. Best of all though, your VO2max is highly trainable with the right plan and guidance.
These give me critical and accurate insights into a person’s individual strengths and weaknesses and their physiological profile and metabolism, so that I know exactly which levers to push to get the best results. No guesswork.
Then I introduce one powerful, simple habit that you can use. Every Sunday evening, book next week’s training into your diary like meetings. If that 60 minute slot on Tuesday lunchtime says “run”, it happens. It’s non-negotiable. Not because you suddenly have bags of willpower, but because that starting line is coming in fast over the horizon.
The proof that it’s possible is that many of the athletes that I coach are high achievers: C-suite executives, senior police officers, entrepreneurs. They tell me how training quickly becomes a habit and one that doesn’t drain them but gives them an escape and an energy that powers every other area of their life. They’re more present with their kids and partners than they ever were before.
One athlete I coached, Roberto, was a CFO who travelled constantly. He averaged around six hours of training per week. But by using advanced testing and the latest coaching methods, after 12 months of consistently showing up, he finished a full Ironman in 13 hours. The secret wasn’t more hours; it was making every hour count.
So, if these challenges look like something that only other people could do, you should know that they’re not and that they’re for you too! Start small, turn up and you’ll be shocked at what changes. When someone starts training six hours a week, that magic VO2max number I mentioned can rise by as much as 25% in just six months. In my experience, a complete beginner can realistically finish a half marathon, or even a half-Ironman triathlon, within 12-18 months of our initial meet.
Eliminating Guesswork
As a coach, I lean into the latest technologies to provide athletes with a broad range of metrics and the fastest and most efficient track possible to good health and fitness. This allows me to train athletes in a way that works personally for them, removes all guesswork and guarantees success – and importantly – that builds confidence quickly.
I’ve put my personal coaching tech stack together based upon years of experience – of seeing what works for individual clients and athletes at every level of fitness, what’s critical and delivers optimal results at each and every moment of recovery and fitness training.
Together they deliver end-to-end support for athlete development and monitoring across all key training dimensions in aerobic & metabolic profiling, Cardiovascular / Cardiac health, hydration and thermal management, local muscle oxygenation, analysis of Biomechanics, movement & gait and strength, balance & force production, through stress, recovery & readiness tracking and workout delivery & session prescriptions.
A first assessment with the Frontier X2, the VO2 Master and CORE sensor gives newer athletes a safe, personal starting point, a VO2max health benchmark, and a heat dose that suits them. Using Beoflow to track recovery during the first weeks of training ensures the training load is well pitched and not pushing the athlete too hard too soon.
So grow the moustache. But this year, pick a finish line too. Pay the entry fee and then note your first three sessions in next week’s diary as non-negotiables. Tell your mates and your kids about it. They’ll be proudly cheering you on at the finish, and you’ll be left with memories and health gains that will last long after the moustache has gone.
If you’re ready to dive into an endurance event but don’t know where to start, I’m offering London Daily News readers the chance to book a free 20 minute fitness audit. Tell me more about your background and your goal event and I can help you lay out a plan. Book here: tricoachmatt.com/audit
Matt Warnock is an endurance coach who applies the latest exercise science to everyday amateur athletes. He has coached more than 100 triathletes, runners and cyclists, from first-timers to Ironman World Championship qualifiers.
