Zach sits down with performance coach Lee Elridge, who built his career training elite rugby and Formula One athletes before shifting into the corporate world to coach "business dads." The core idea: stop chasing short-term peak performance and build sustainable high performance instead, because being a dad is a decades-long game, not a single season. Lee breaks down his "big five" foundations — moving, sleeping, eating, breathing, and thinking — and argues that these things are simple but rarely easy, and only pay off when done consistently over months, not days. The conversation gets practical with a CO2 tolerance breathing test dads can try themselves, a framework for resetting between the work-stress environment and the home environment, and two closing challenges: celebrate small wins and actually have fun so your kids want to be around you.
Athletes have short careers and can chase a single peak; dads and corporate professionals are playing a game that runs into their 60s and 70s, so the goal is consistency, not a one-day spike.
How you take care of yourself directly drives how you perform at work and at home — and performing well loops back into wellbeing.
These are the foundations under everything else, and most people skip them chasing flashier "Instagram" tactics.
Going to bed at 10:30 every night is simple; with a young family, work, and interruptions, it's rarely easy. Judge yourself on six-month blocks of consistency, not a good week.
In sports you prepare for the stressful event; in business and fatherhood we let stress happen to us, then scramble. Build a reset (a few deep breaths in the car before walking in the door).
Take the small wins instead of switching off, and be a fun dad — fun is the best stress reducer, and fun dads are the ones kids actually want to be around.
I think that we need to change the mindset of looking at peak performance and think of ourselves as more kind of sustainable high performance.
Take the CO2 tolerance breathing test: breathe through your nose four times, on the fourth take the biggest breath in, then let air out slowly through your nose (mouth shut) for as long as you can. Under 30 seconds is common; aim toward a minute.
Set one fixed bedtime (e.g., 10:30) and hold it consistently — measure yourself over a six-month block, not a single week.
Build a car-door reset: before walking into the house after work, take a few deep breaths and decide "how do I want to be as a dad and husband" before entering.
Audit your "big five" this week: rate move, sleep, eat, breathe, think, and pick the weakest one to improve first.
Celebrate one small win daily (exercise done, kids to bed on time) instead of switching off after it.
Practical skills, real stories, and one thing to actually do this week with your family. Written by a dad in the trenches, not a marketing department.
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