From seizing Afghan compounds to thriving behind bars, Ant Middleton has faced many battles. Throughout them all, he discovered that – more than any physical superiority – mental strength was his greatest weapon. MH spent a day with the former SBS sniper to learn from his bulletproof mindset. He was more than happy to unload
When Ant Middleton talks to you, you listen. Not because he’s screaming in your face, or probing you for psychological weaknesses. And not because he’s dealing out the physical “beastings” for which he has become notorious on Channel 4’s SAS: Who Dares Wins. It’s because he wants you to be a better version of yourself. He wills it, even. And it’s hard to ignore.
At the age of 38, he has lived more lives than most. He signed up for the army at 16, serving in the Royal Engineers in Northern Ireland and Macedonia, then joined the navy and the Royal Marines before entering the Special Boat Service (SBS), in a military career spanning 15 years. He has climbed Everest and captained a team of average men across 4,000 miles of the Pacific Ocean in a rudimentary rowing boat. He’s a Sunday Times bestselling author of two books and father to five children. He has been in prison.
Today, though, he is with Men’s Health at Farm Fitness in Essex, an outdoor training facility not too far from his family home in Chelmsford. It’s a rare break in his diary from the commitments of his current speaking tour, Mind Over Muscle, a bustling schedule of back-to-back live shows across the UK, from Glasgow to Brighton. His book First Man In was behind only Michelle Obama’s memoir in the hardback bestsellers list for 2018, and he is primed to launch a series of day camps, which promise to help you “reach your full potential” through testing experiences and workshops.
He has spent a long morning with MH, grafting in the soggy cold of early spring, repping out rope climbs, pull-ups, dips and deadlifts without complaint, chatting easily with the crew between shots before snapping into focus for every effort.
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