Services
Our coaching program offers individualized fitness, nutrition, and mental training for military, police, and special forces candidates, as well as weekend warriors. We will work 1-on-1 with you based on chosen trade and goal, selection and assessment dates, and individual strengths and weaknesses.
Customized Training Plans
Movement Assessment
Movement screening, targeted mobility, and technique development to reduce injury risk and improve resilience.
Energy Systems Development
Including running, pack marching, and general physical preparedness.
Strength Development
To ensure structural balance and readiness for the demands of your selected job or selection.
Work Capacity Development
Specific work capacity development tailored to your present or upcoming demands.
Personalized Nutrition and Recovery
Individualised Nutrition Coaching
Nutrition strategy, meal planning, and habit development targeting recovery and resilience.
Lab and Blood Reviews
Blood test and functional lab investigation reviews that further personalize nutrition, recovery, and supplementation recommendations.
Targeted Supplementation
General and targeted supplementation recommendations for increased training outcomes, and physical and mental resilience.
.jpg)
Mental Skills Coaching
Mental Resilience Lessons
Lessons from a veteran-turned-psychologist on mental resilience concepts, including psychological flexibility, micro-goals, hardiness development, and mental talk skills.
Daily Practices
Mental skills are developed daily in every training program, and tailored to the #1 vulnerability in most special forces pipelines: mental toughness.
ABOUT COACH DAN
The Man Behind the Fit to Fight Training Method
Hey, I'm Dan. I have been studying, experimenting, and coaching different forms of training and nutrition for over 12 years. Before starting my coaching journey, I served in the New Zealand Defense Force for 6 years as a medic. I then left the military to pursue a career in professional fighting, competing at the professional level in Muay Thai and Mixed Martial Arts across Australasia and South-east Asia. In my pursuit to understand strength and conditioning, I have applied my practices first to myself, achieving a sub 8:00min 2.4km, completing several ultramarathons, and Squatting 240kg, Deadlifting 220kg, and Bench Pressing 160kg at 75kg.
However, my passion is coaching, and I have been in the trenches coaching in-person and online a wide range of clients, including Olympic, Professional, and International level athletes, general health and fitness, and injury management goals. My specialty is coaching tactical fitness, including helping individuals to pass fitness tests, crush SOF selections, and help excel within given trades.
I have an wide and deep education and accreditation background. I have completed undergraduate degrees in both in Exercise Science and Health Science, and have a Doctorate in Clinical Psychology. I also have more industry-training accreditations than I can remember, including OPEX's Coaching Certification, Precision Nutrition's Level 1, 2, and Stress and Recovery Courses, mentorships in Functional Medicine, and a Fellowship in Functional Psychiatry.
Being a coach/nutritionist/psychologist who specializes in tactical environments has enabled me to boast incomparable success rates in my coaching practice, including a 95% success rate for general armed and emergency forces (NZARMY, NAVY, AIRFORCE, POLICE, FENZ, etc), and a 80% success rate for special forces candidates (NZSAS, AOS, etc).
NZARMY Soldier
“I was having a really hard time building my fitness after getting pretty sick. I had always been fit enough to pass my fitness tests worth training before. Despite training consistently, I just wasn't recovering and my cardio wasn't improving. When my fitness tests expired, I wasn't able to pass them, which caused me a fair amount of stress.
I was getting frustrated with not getting anywhere on other training plans that I had adhered to. I was a bit skeptical that I wouldn't see any progress or that my plan from you would be "run 5 km" day after day. Which really wouldn't have been helpful.
My biggest breakthrough was keeping up with my mates in group PT sessions and not always feeling overly anxious to train (I would literally lose sleep about upcoming PT sessions). Also, learning that cardio doesn't have to be a punishment.
Regarding measured results, I've hit strong passes on all of my fitness test and passed everything required of me. I've also started being able to run longer distances, which is cool because I've never been much of a runner before. Non-measurable goals: I'm MUCH more confident in my physical ability which impacts my confidence in myself in general
I would recommend Dan to anyone with a specific goal in mind, or anyone who might not be seeing progress with the training they are currently doing. Although my goal was very cardio specific, I wasn't expected to run long distances or do high intensity cardio sessions everyday, at the start the sessions were actually relatively easy, it was more about building a solid cardio foundation."
NZSAS Candidate
"Before working with Dan I was trying to figure things out by myself. While I was seeing slow progress, it wasn’t enough for me. Simply put I wasn’t training smart.
Like all who pay for anything, I was initially skeptical of the cost and needed time deciding if the investment was right for me. Trust takes time to build and it’s hard to jump in blind to a premium service. The biggest breakthrough was building lower body strength fast, and with good form.
Specifically this was adding 35kg on back squats and 40 kg on the deadlifts. All while keeping the cardio in tune. Having a pro in the corner gave a lot more confidence that I was doing the right things towards my goals and picked up on many great physical and mental tools.
I would recommend this type of physical and mental training to anyone with big enough goals and dreams to justify the investment towards it. Dan’s a pro, you will train hard and smart with someone experienced and motivated to see you get there."
SOF Operator
"I had a decent understanding of how to train and what was required of me but I was concerned that I would either push myself too hard and get injured or under train because I didn’t know how to program training blocks properly.
I was skeptical because I didn’t know if a coach would truly understand what I was required to achieve and what level of fitness was required of me.
The biggest breakthrough for me was seeing the benefits of progressive overloading especially with the endurance work. Also, doing endurance training for time not distance meant that I was able to stay in the prescribed zone. But it was mentally challenging because no matter how fast I went I still had to do the workout for a specific time.
I improved my strength, especially in my lower body which helped me carry heavy weight for longer durations. My overall endurance with weight improved significantly without burning myself out.
I would recommend Dan to anyone who is training for a physically and mentally demanding selection course or sporting event. It is also beneficial for anyone that wants to improve their physical fitness in general."
APPLY FOR COACHING
Due to the time-intensive nature of my coaching practice, I only work with a limited number of clients at one time.
If you are interested in being coached by me, please fill in the attached form.