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ROSS EDGLEY: KING OF PERFORMANCE

We caught up with Ross Edgley, the World Record holding athlete famous for ultra-marathons and sea swimming, to talk about Gym King's new Stoic collection, what it really takes to compete in endurance sports and how anybody can reach their own goal - if they love what they do.

THE STOIC RANGE

Drawing from personal experience, having pushed past the boundaries of conventional sports science and conventional sports psychology during his Great British and Icelandic expeditions, Edgley embraced stoicism as the ultimate tool for endurance: "all of a sudden there are things outside of your control. So it was the ancient Greek philosophy of stoicism that I found was amazing as essentially an operating system for the brain...And it just teaches you to control the controllables and to accept the uncontrollables."

Inspired and designed by Edgley with Gym King, The Stoic range is a collection of hardworking fitness staples crafted in soft and stretchy fabrications made for endurance, performance and comfort that celebrates the stoic mindset. Each piece boasts a compass design with the words mindset, discipline, resilience and gratitude around it encouraging wearers to welcome challenges and pursue greatness.

His mission was clear, he wanted to create clothing that was more than just garments, the designs are crafted to unite wearers with a distinct, tribal energy.

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"It's not just a clothing range. It's created a tribe of like-minded individuals. And that's what I love...it's more than a hoodie, it's more than a vest, it's more than a t-shirt anybody wearing - it is a practitioner, a follower of stoicism. I think that's what I love, that when we're in the gym now, you look around and if someone's wearing the Stoic collection...there's almost like that brotherhood."

WHY GYM KING?

Gym King was Edgley's very first sponsor, they've supported him through all of his expeditions and he puts it all down to the unwavering belief they have in him: "Put simply, nothing beats belief. Put really simply, Gym King believed in the impossible. And that is something that I continually try to do with every single swim. I just want to basically pioneer new swims that nobody thinks is possible."

It's this shared belief between the brand and Edgley that helped to cultivate the Stoic collection. Mindset, discipline, resilience and gratitude are the four pillars Edgley relies on for training: "If you are adhering to those, then you're setting great foundations for anything and everything." If you are willing to believe in the impossible "it has to be based on these four pillars."

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"To quote Einstein, "Adversity introduces you to you"...Endurance and athletic adventures can look different for everybody, as long as it's outside of your comfort zone."

TRAINING FOR ENDURANCE SPORTS

Starting out on your training journey? Edgley's advice is simple: "start just outside of your comfort zone...If you can comfortably run 5k, then it's got to be a 10k, like I said. If you can comfortably do a half marathon, it's got to be a marathon. And if you can do a marathon, it's got to be an ultra. That's where it is. So wherever you start, it needs to, you start just outside of your comfort zone, wherever that may be." But he also is keen to reinforce the role enjoyment has in training too: "...enjoyment is the best weapon to make sure that you adhere and stick to a training plan. So my best advice is if you love running, if you love swimming, focus it around that. If you don't love it, you won't stick to it."

Gym King's collection brings comfort and style to every training session and Edgley believes that is vital to great performance: "I think you have to feel good training in it. You have to look good as well. I think aesthetically that has such a profound, often intangible effect on performance if you just feel and look good in it."

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"When your body says stop, but the goal says keep going it's basically ... doing this equation between grit and quit. And to make sure that you get out, I always say, make sure your reasons to continue are bigger than your reasons to stop."

FIND YOUR OWN PATH

And finally, when it comes to carving out your own path, Edgley's words of wisdom are: "Find something that is specific and unique to you...whatever it is, just make sure it's very specific to you and it has a very, very special, specific meaning to you."

Wherever your path may take you, Sports Club has the performance wear to help you get there.

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"I'm... such a big believer in somebody doing something [that means something to them]. Find something that is specific and unique to you. I always say I love events where people turn to me and say, 'I'm going to run the entire Jurassic Coast because it's a place where my family have walked for years.' ... I think we've kinda lost that."

ROSS EDGLEY: KING OF PERFORMANCE

We caught up with Ross Edgley, the World Record holding athlete famous for ultra-marathons and sea swimming, to talk about Gym King's new Stoic collection, what it really takes to compete in endurance sports and how anybody can reach their own goal - if they love what they do.

THE STOIC RANGE

WHY GYM KING?

TRAINING FOR ENDURANCE SPORTS

FIND YOUR OWN PATH

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