Chris Peden MSc - Strength & Conditioning Coach

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Chris Peden MSc - Strength & Conditioning Coach

Performance Coach to Professional & Amateur Endurance Athletes
S&C Decathlon CMA CGM WT Team
Click the link or DM for Coaching enquiries

30/04/2026

Back to where it all started.

Royal Navy PT course. 2004 and a much younger 21 year old version of me, driven by nothing more than a love of sport, fitness and a curiosity about what the body could do.

Back then it was merely a selfish pursuit for the career I wanted in the military. No methodology, no philosophy, just passion and the discipline the Navy had already built into me.

But a lot has changed since this photo.

Those early experiences helped shape my career.

But it’s everything that came after…

The environments I’ve trained in, the standards I’ve been held to by those around me, the challenges, the doubts, the moments that tested me.

All of it laid the foundation for what I do now.

The passion is still there. But it’s changed. It’s no longer just about me, it’s about helping others realise what they’re capable of.

Helping them achieve things they didn’t think were possible.

High performance is what drives me now and as cheesy as it might sound, being a coach is what I was made for.

From circuit training in the Navy to WorldTour Cycling.

From basic fitness to Elite S&C.

Same passion. Different purpose and it feels like I’m only getting started 🖤

23/04/2026

Being back on training camp with the team ahead of the Giro got me thinking about the only camp I did as an amateur, 14 years ago.

I remember how cooked I felt within days. My ego wouldn’t let me admit it though. You’re on nice roads, beautiful weather and a million miles from the UK. So you want to make the most of every single day.

Although I will admit one day did completely break me. An hour into a headwind out of Club La Santa and I thought f*** this, I’m turning back and going to the gym. If you’ve been to Lanzarote, you know 😂

I came home run down, picked up a bad chest infection and ended up out of training far longer than I’d have liked. Among other things, it ended my season.

Now on my third camp with Decathlon, I’m watching something completely different. Similar long days, similar accumulated fatigue, but these guys have been built for it. Consistent volume, gym work, nutrition, all the details that matter for high performance.

And this is one of the biggest mistakes I see amateur athletes make. They come back from a camp trying to replicate what a professional does, doubling or tripling their normal training load and then wonder why they’re wrecked, ill or injured.

By all means go and enjoy the sunshine and ride with no distractions. Live like a pro in the small details, sleep, nutrition, recovery and have a small bump in volume. But don’t try to match what a WorldTour rider does in a training week. It won’t end well.

I guarantee you’ll still have an amazing week on beautiful roads. Just not a week long suffer fest and I wish someone had told me that 14 years ago.

So if you don’t want to make the same mistakes I did and you’ve got an event or goal you’re building toward and need help knowing what to do and when, comment or DM me UNSTOPPABLE and let’s get to work

20/04/2026

This day humbled me… A LOT

8 months back on the bike after a 6yr break. Stronger legs than I’ve ever had and I genuinely thought that was enough and I’d complete this event with no troubles at all.

But I never and it wasn’t enough.

Too much weight and my aerobic capacity was nowhere near the level it needed to be for the pace I thought would be ok with.

Lap after lap my body told me the truth of what was needed pretty quickly.

But I finished.

Not pretty. Not comfortable. Every kilometre hurt in a way that cycling provides when being underprepared.

I drove home with my tail between my legs but I didn’t quit despite the demons in my head and thats what mattered to me in the end.

Because I think sometimes it’s easy to throw in the towel when things are tough or aren’t going your way.

Here’s what it confirmed for me as a coach. Strength without fitness is a liability in endurance sport. In some cases, sometimes the other way round too.

I wholeheartedly believe that being strong as an athlete is important but there’s no point in just being strong in the gym if you still get dropped because your body can’t handle the demands of everything else.

The two have to be built together, not traded off against each other.

Getting stronger will always support your endurance performance and keep you healthy as an athlete but you have to find the balance of how you manage them both.

Your aerobic work should always be the higher priority. Yes even as strength coach who wants you in the gym, I understand this.

It’s why my programming continues to get results with everyone I work with.

Want to learn how I programme strength alongside endurance without one killing the other? Comment or DM me UNSTOPPABLE to find out how I can help improve your endurance performance this year.

14/04/2026

Why your Legs always feel heavy after the Gym.

A lot of Endurance Athletes stop going to the gym completely as they end up carrying too much fatigue from strength work that’s meant to be helping them.

But the problem isn’t necessarily the gym, it’s because they’re doing too much.

Endurance athletes know that volume is important and often think that the same applies in the weight room.

More gym work = better adaptations.

But it doesn’t, too much volume is your enemy and will conflict with how you perform in sport.

Now if you struggle with this, don’t worry, you’re not the only one as it’s extremely common.

But you have to understand that your legs are already under chronic load from your sport training.

Every training session is accumulating fatigue in the same muscle groups you’re then trying to hammer in the gym which is making things worse.

The key is doing as much as necessary, not as much as possible.

The gym is there to help you raise the capacity of your muscles to produce more force and handle higher training loads with less fatigue.

Not just layer in more unnecessary fatigue.

That means less exercises, less sets, less reps and reps executed with high quality, high intent and with very minimal drop in form.

I often get questioned if what I prescribe is enough.

Until they’re not sore like they used to be and start getting faster.

Heavy legs aren’t a badge of honour because you’ve crushed yourself in the gym, they’re a sign you need to be smarter with your programming.

Let me know if this resonates 💪🏻

strongerisbetter

10/04/2026

I’m no longer here to completely dismiss band work, I’m here to make sure it’s not the whole story of the only training you do outside of your sport.

In the right context they have their place and are 100% necessary. But if it’s the only thing you do, you’re placing a ceiling on what you can become.

Let me know your thoughts below. Or if you’d prefer, my inbox is open for any questions you may have on this topic.

08/04/2026

16 years of friendship forged through a love of cycling and a will to try and defy the aging process. So what’s better than another dodgy selfie for the memory 😂

This might also be the first time we’ve caught up without me driving to Surrey or London 😆

We’ve trained together, raced together, worked together and drank copious amounts of coffee together.

I’ve helped Henry get into Strength Training and he’s helped me get back into Cycling after a six year hiatus.

From the early days of when WyndyMilla Bespoke Cycling first started to wearing the colours of Out Of Thin Air Racing it’s been a bit of rollercoaster. But it’s a ride I wouldn’t change

Address

Portsmouth

Website

https://linktr.ee/CPeden

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