I grew up playing outside: sports, hiking, biking, tree-climbing, falling, and getting up and trying again. There were books and games and of course school, but moving and being physical and curious has always been present.

In college I studied Fitness and Wellness Leadership while playing soccer and later running track. Classes and internships and honors courses blended with learning how to better train, recover, and keep going.

After college I foot-raced and bike-raced on roads and trails, coached soccer, and continued strength and conditioning in the gym, adventuring outside of it, and a few years ago started jiu-jitsu, which took over my physicality in a profound way.

Professionally I teach, train, program, coach, and listen. I work at Contemporary Athlete, serving as the Programming Director and Head Strength Coach. I love helping people better understand their bodies, build strength they did not know they had, and move and feel and live more confidently and capably.

The following may sound pompous, exaggerated and or overblown. And while the words may invoke those adjectives, I hope those are not the only connotations, and the actions they describe are real: I have hiked solo in snowstorms and run trails in the dark. I have gone deep into the mountains and on my bike and in the gym. I did so with the invincible and unstoppable mindset of a young twenty-something and have since come to respect not only how dangerous some of those efforts were, but also how powerful such experiences are. I still seek challenge and exposure, but with more awareness and slightly less recklessness. I still need physical confrontations with uncertainty and discomfort and consequences — only now I try meeting them with better preparation and perspective.

And all the while I am writing, too. Often about or inspired by effort, the mind and body, nature, behavior, and purpose. Writing helps me internalize what I am learning and integrate what I am doing with who I am and what I may do. In time I came to call my writing, this metaphorical blending of the pen and sword, “physical philosophy”.

I believe:

Experiences > things.

People > products.

Simplicity, practicality, and sustainability matter.

Trust is earned — and it starts with self-awareness, honesty, and ownership.

Nature is non-negotiable.

Fewer, deeper relationships matter more than more, shallower ones.

Disconnection (digital and otherwise) is necessary.

You are what you do. And you are, first and foremost, your responsibility.

We are all evolving and I am too. But some things do not change: showing up, telling the truth, doing the work, and keeping going.

Breathe…

Thank you for being here.

- Ian Ross Cutting