Australian Hiker | 032 – Interview with Fitness Guru Joe Bonington from Joe’s Basecamp

032 – Interview with Fitness Guru Joe Bonington from Joe’s Basecamp

Episode Overview

In this July bonus episode we talk to Joe Bonington, from Joe’s Basecamp in Sydney. Hiking is not just about equipment, you also require a degree of fitness to ensure you get the best out of your planned adventure. We were lucky enough to interview Joe and talk on what you need to do to prepare, fitness wise, for your hikes and other outdoor adventures. You can easily hear Joe’s passion for helping his clients come though in the interview and we both left his facility feeling invigorated and we didn’t even do any exercise!

About Joe and Joe’s Basecamp

Joe Bonington is the founder and owner of Joe’s Basecamp Gym, located on Sydney’s Northern Beaches in Brookvale. Joe developed his passion for wilderness adventure and the outdoors growing up in Lake District in the UK, Britain’s largest national park. His father, Sir Chris Bonington, is generally considered one of the world’s eminent mountaineers, and while Joe dabbled in these activities he didn’t follow in his father’s footsteps. This family background and his upbringing did help him develop a love for the wild places on earth, the distant cultures and nature in general.

Joe’s background in Strength and Conditioning Coaching, and his love of the great outdoors has seen him lead treks to the Annapurna region, Everest, Kokoda, Kilimanjaro and Bhutan. He has been working with individuals for almost 15 years to do this and the opening of his gym in early 2015 provided a unique fitness facility to help ordinary people achieve their goals. Unlike many gyms and personal trainers, Joe’s aim is to not just get people fit for the sake of it but to help them unlock their full potential, and help them achieve things and undertake adventures they never thought possible.

Joe has worked on a number TV shows for various networks as an outdoors expert and a Strength and Conditioning Coach. He has featured in articles for Australian newspapers and magazines, and currently contributes a regular column in adventure magazine ‘Wild’ being recognised as a fitness professional that has actually done what we are all trying to achieve.

Joe has a number of clients who are undertaking some pretty amazing adventures such as international multi-stage trail runs (such as running across the Sahara), summiting Everest (and many other mountains), swimming the English Channel or solo kayaking the length of the Clarence.

While most of us may never aim to achieve these lofty heights, Joe and his staff also coach ‘average’ people to achieve their own personal goals that includes everything from trekking and bushwalking the Overland Track in Tasmania, the Kokoda Trek in Papua New Guinea, as well as treks in Nepal.

The overriding philosophy of Joe’s Basecamp is based around the belief that, in everything in life, it’s not the destination but the journey that’s most important; something that Joe and his staff aim to help their clients achieve.

Take aways from the interview

Use hiking poles – they will save your knees!
Don’t use plate weights or kettle bells when pack training (training with a weighted pack), this isn’t good for your back and it’s not realistic. Instead you should load your pack up gradually using the items you will be carrying on the trail
JERF – Just Eat Real Food
Experience is knowing when to stop
Plan – a dream without a plan is just a dream
Strength and conditioning is a science you apply to a particular movement or sets of movements
GPP – General Physical Preparation
Everyone should do strength training

Find this episode on iTunes at Australian Hiker podcast

Find this episode on Stitcher at Australian Hiker podcast

Listen to this episode on Soundcloud

Joe’s Basecamp. It’s easy to find your way there

As you enter the gym one of the first things you see is a wall full of client goals. It’s hard to hide from your own goals when they are written up for all to see

This image shows just a small part of this large gym

Joe explaining the Adventurer’s Club. This club forms part of the gym area and on the third Friday of the month members who have done something adventurous, talk to other club members about their experiences