Stuart Webber, the much-maligned time off majority shareholder Delia Smith and Michael Wynn Jones gave Webber to climb smaller mountains is well known by City fans, but there were numerous other factors that helped the Welshman on his fitness journey. One of them was the opportunity to play on NR1’s hallowed turf, with club chaplain Jon Norman a key figure in that milestone. Webber had already begun the process of losing weight five years earlier, having been unhappy with pictures from his wedding to now-City executive director Zoe Webber. His wife played a vital role in helping him improve his wellness, with Zoe’s presence vital to her husband’s ability to live efficiently on the road.
Webber had already begun the process of losing weight five years earlier, having been unhappy with pictures from his wedding to now-City executive director Zoe Webber. “My trigger point was when I saw a couple of the wedding pictures,” he said, speaking as a guest on the Optimal Health podcast. “I was like: ‘Is that what I look like?’ It was like ‘wow’. Straight after the wedding my wife had to go into hospital for an operation which meant she was going to be bed bound for two weeks. So I booked two weeks off work and the people at Wolves were fantastic. I said to her: ‘I’m going to use this two weeks where I can’t go in my car and watch games, to do the best diet possible and exercise twice a day. “For two weeks I did a long walk with my dog in the morning and in the afternoons I’d go out for a run. It’s so hard, I was running like 1k and I had to stop. But in two weeks I lost a stone, and then I was like ‘I’ve got to carry this on’.”
Webber also benefitted from the environment he was in, with the performance-driven environment of the club’s Colney training base inspiring his attitude to preparation for climbing. He did a lot of pre-acclimatisation stuff because there’s a lot of altitude chambers now where basically you wear an oxygen mask and it pumps in the air which is the same as altitude. “So I did a lot of training with that, we were lucky with that at Norwich to have those facilities. We used them for our rehabilitation, because it improves the amount of red blood cells in your body, which helps recover injury quicker. So the lads who are injured or on recovery sessions do it.
“They control everything they’re in control of, so I’m in control of what I eat, what I drink, how and where I sleep, how I train. I’m not in control of the weather window when we get there. It’s about making sure you’re in the best condition you can be to then adapt once you’re up there.”
In conclusion, Stuart Webber’s fitness journey involved several factors, including playing on NR1’s turf, support from his wife, and the performance-driven environment of the Colney training base. These elements helped him improve his wellness and prepare for his climbing endeavors. Webber’s dedication to exercise and healthy living is an important part of his life, and he has utilized various resources and motivations, such as his wedding photos and elite athletes’ example, to maintain his fitness and health.
