This hero is doing an Olympic-sized triathlon with a huge tree on his back

When you're looking for a fitness challenge you might be tempted to try a marathon or even a triathlon.

But Sports Scientist Ross Edgley always has to take it one step further. If he's doing a marathon, he has to do it pulling a 1.4-ton car (yes he really did pull a Mini Cooper 26.2 miles around Silverstone Race Circuit in a day). If he's going to scale the height of a mountain, he will do it climbing a rope (yes he really did conquer the 29,035ft height of Mountain Everest using just his arms). He even ran more than a marathon a day throughout August, completing 1,000 miles...barefoot and with a weight pack on his back. So when the opportunity to do a triathlon came up on the Caribbean island of Nevis, he was obviously going to have to crank it up a notch...you know, to make it a real challenge. Ross decided to do the 1.5km swim, 40km bike and 10km run with a 50kg tree on his back. https://www.instagram.com/p/BKIYKfWB4I7/?taken-by=rossedgley&hl=en Obviously he's calling it the tree-athlon, because who could resist the opportunity for such an epic pun? Why is he doing the Nevis Triathlon on November 12? He says 'To bring global attention to their pioneering advancements in green energy as they look to become the world’s first carbon neutral island - even tapping into previously unused volcanic energy as a source of power.' His training has been absolutely insane for it - obviously part of it has included dragging a huge tree around. Ross explains how he has trained for it and the strength and conditioning ideas we can take from it for our own training.

What are the strength and conditioning principles that have gone into your training to complete this?

This has required a real fusion of strength and stamina. Since the weight of the tree tests the muscular endurance and strength of your entire body - specifically the spine and core. When fatigued (again specifically around the core muscles) breathing becomes shallow which in turn negatively impacts cardio-respiratory endurance which is your ability to deliver oxygen to the muscles. So the simple ability to breathe during a 1.5km swim, 40km bike and 10km run becomes infinitely harder. Not just because of the weight, but how the body works in unison. Too often we compartmentalise the body, but carrying a tree for a triathlon forces you to analyse it in its powerful entirety. https://www.instagram.com/p/BKGGEk9BsvN/?taken-by=rossedgley&hl=en

What areas of your strength and fitness does it test when you’re racing with a giant log?

What’s interesting is fatigue is basically amplified in every area. So I’ve already spoken about cardio-respiratory endurance and how your lungs and heart struggle to keep up with the demands of the triathlon. But equally muscular endurance kicks in far faster in your arms during the swim, legs during the bike and calves during the run. Lactic threshold, which is that burning sensation in your legs when you feel you need to stop, will hit you like a tonne of bricks far sooner. Also muscle glycogen (the body’s store of carbohydrates) will deplete and leave you wondering where all your energy has gone far sooner into the race. https://www.instagram.com/p/BKAijs5htOR/?taken-by=rossedgley&hl=en

So how exactly have you been training for this?

This is the biggest (and most interesting) problem I’ve been faced with. Since training for a triathlon with a tree is completely different to training for a triathlon. Not harder or easier, just different. Biomechanics, equipment and physiology all changes when you add a tree to the swim, cycle and run. So to train for this I’ve had to embrace the SAID principle (Specific Adaptation to Imposed Demands). Don’t be fooled by the impressive sounding acronym - as usual it’s not complicated and just means you adapt specifically to the demands you place on your body. If you want to improve your cardiovascular system, just find something to tax your heart and lungs and do it repeatedly. If you want to get stronger, simply do the same with your musculoskeletal system. Flexibility, speed, power and the list goes on. Do more of whatever it is you want to specifically improve. Yes, triathlon training will help. But tree-athlon training is better and more specific. So I’ve basically taken a triathlete’s systematic/periodized way of training and adapted it. https://www.instagram.com/p/BJmzlkHBZ3b/?taken-by=rossedgley&hl=en

What effect has it had on your fitness and your body composition and why?

I’ve had to become a lot leaner and more functional. Basically when I ran a marathon pulling a car I had to become a lot heavier (100kg+) so I was able to lean into the car, overcome the initial inertia and get the wheels moving. Now I love to eat and my mum’s an amazing cook, so getting over 100kg (even for my 5ft 9in Hobbit frame) was actually enjoyable. Packing on about 15kg of quality weight. But a triathlon with a tree on the Caribbean island of Nevis is completely different. The sea, the sand and the weather is amazing. But all of that is hard to appreciate when climbing a 5km steep incline, on a bike, with a tree, in 30 degree heat if you’re not lean and functional. Basically the same way any Tour de France athlete, triathlete or marathon runner will ensure their power to weight ratio is on point, I have to make sure I am as light and as strong as possible. If there’s something on my body that I don’t need, it has to go. Right now I’m maybe 8% body fat and weigh 87kg, but I imagine I will get even lighter than this whilst the entire time monitoring performance indicators (strength, speed, stamina). I also grew up watching a lot of Bruce Lee movies and love his training philosophy. Which is why in many ways, I am turning my body into a specially designed “weapon” that’s custom-built for a specific purpose. https://www.instagram.com/p/BKS74nDhQRv/?taken-by=rossedgley&hl=en

How do you fuel yourself to take on something like this and then how do you recover to go again?

I won’t lie I now eat a lot! But it’s also at the point when doing a 100km obstacle race that you begin to eat completely intuitively. You don’t have time to count calories and nutrients, you simply have to listen to the body and understand what it needs to keep going. It’s taken years to achieve this and most people will need a diet plan to follow, but to quote the great American essayist Ralph Waldo Emerson, “The man who grasps principles can successfully select his own methods. The man who tries methods, ignoring principles, is sure to have trouble.” Basically after four years of studying at Loughborough’s School of Sport and Exercise Science and then applying these “principles”, I find I am able to make my own “methods” whether that’s the night before an event, during or after. Basically 'intuitive eating' is an art form and a science. https://www.instagram.com/p/BKQNDhbhuoG/?taken-by=rossedgley&hl=en

Is there any specialist equipment you are using for the tree-athlon?

Yes, absolutely. So the same way I am removing everything unnecessary from my body, I will do the same with equipment. That’s why Focus Bikes have made me a custom-built frame that’s measured to my body. It’s light enough to get up the steepest inclines on the island, but durable enough to carry my weight and the tree. Aqua Sphere and Craft Sportswear have made me a tri-suit, cycling and running clothing that’s light and breathable to cope with the extreme temperatures of the Caribbean if I find myself out in the sun too long. I will be running in the Vivobarefoot Primus Trail shoes since I’ve been experimenting a lot with minimalist footwear which I find is far better when carrying a weight. This is based on research from the United States Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine that studied how walking speed varies with backpack load. Sixteen males walked with a weighted backpack of 6kg, 20kg, 33kg and 46kg and it was found as load increased from 33kg to 47kg, “Stride frequency increased and stride length decreased”. Basically the weight produced a greater cadence (more steps per minute). This higher cadence is, “Likely improving stability and reducing stress on the musculoskeletal system” as the probability of fatigue and injury increase with weight. Which is why (again in theory) running the mileage barefoot — which naturally lends itself to a quicker, "more natural" cadence — might not be a bad idea. Hence the decision to use Vivobarefoot Primus Trail. https://www.instagram.com/p/BLdOh4ShqFL/?taken-by=rossedgley&hl=en Finally, I’m very lucky to work at THE PROTEIN WORKS so my gym bag is never without an abundant supply of whey protein and creatine. But more important than this, it also means I have a protein bakery, sports lab and some amazing nutritionists and developers supporting whatever strange event I dream up. Creating me custom-made, calorie-dense energy bars for the 19-hour-plus stunts, to recovery shakes after each event. This has all been helped by partnering with Red Bull and their sports scientists too, since the longer the event the less it becomes about your physical ability and more about mental fortitude. On this note (and so often overlooked) are neurotransmitters. These are the chemicals that transmit signals from a neuron to a target cell across a synapse within the body. They regulate a number of physical and emotional processes such as mental performance, emotional states and pain response. Virtually all functions within the body are controlled by neurotransmitters since put simply they’re the brain's chemical messengers. On days that you are feeling good, motivated and focused quite often it’s because your neurotransmitters, hormones, and other brain chemicals are working in harmony and are in balance. Conversely when your neurotransmitter levels are inadequate you probably feel sluggish, unmotivated, lose focus easily and ultimately feel more stressed. Understanding this and delving into the science with Red Bull and THE PROTEIN WORKS has helped me understand what’s going on in the body and brain when 15 hours into an event.

How does this challenge differ in terms of the physical demands on your body compared to your other challenges?

I think it’s very similar in theory, in that it fuses strength and stamina into a strange event that requires an abundance of work capacity. But it’s very different in that you need the body to not only adapt to a triathlon, but adapt to a triathlon with a tree. It’s a very strange, very specific adaptation and all my training and nutrition had needed to be tailored towards that.