“Never skip leg day” gets thrown around a lot — and for years it was aimed at the people who trained chest and arms twice a week and ignored everything below the waist. That created some genuinely awful physiques. Over the last decade the tide has turned (helped massively by more women getting into training, where legs are often the main focus).

There’s a strange snobbery that sometimes creeps into the fitness world. People can look down on those who train purely to look better — to be leaner, more muscular, more defined. I think that’s a massive mistake.

We all train for different reasons. Some people chase strength. Some want better fitness. Others want longevity, pain-free movement, or mental clarity. And yes — some people simply want to look better naked. None of these motivations are more “valid” than the others.

Training to failure means taking a set to the point where you physically can’t complete another rep with good form — not just when it starts to hurt.

For example, during a dumbbell curl, you keep lifting as the rep speed slows down, your arms shake, and finally, no matter how much you grit your teeth or shout, the dumbbells won’t move another millimetre. That’s true muscular failure.