Dr. Cameron Nichol is a two-time world silver medalist, former Olympic rower, and founder of RowingWOD, a company dedicated to inspiring and empowering athletes to master rowing. Cam started rowing at medical school, quickly climbing the ranks to the Great Britain Rowing Team. He was invited into the Olympic squad just three years after first picking up an oar. Cam went on to win two World Championship silver medals in the men’s eight and was selected into Team GB for London 2012 in the spare men’s pair.
Since the Olympics, Cam has finished his medical degree and is now a practicing doctor in London. In his spare time, he coaches athletes of all abilities and loves seeing them improve with hard work. Cam wants to improve the way we train and believes rowing is currently underutilized as a tool to build fitness in virtually every sport, including CrossFit. Cam has worked with many elite CrossFit athletes, including Games winners Annie Thorisdottir and Sam Briggs as well as Björgvin Karl Gudmundsson, Phil Hesketh, Steven Fawcett, and Sara Sigmundsdottir. Cam’s knowledge from his time as an Olympic athlete, medical doctor, and coach gives him a unique perspective on the world of health and fitness. He believes every human is an athlete and wants to dedicate his career to helping people lead happy, healthy, and fulfilling lives. He believes the foundations are in how we fuel and move our bodies. Cam believes that movement is medicine.
Location
London, UK.
What’s your favorite vegetable?
Broccoli.
What’s your motto?
“There are no shortcuts.”
What’s your favorite book?
Happy, by Derren Brown
What’s your favorite exercise?
Rowing.
What’s your favorite way to center?
Physical tasks.
Cameron’s Daily Routine:
- 5:00 AM Wake up and make the bed.
- 6:00 AM Help get baby ready.
- 6:30 AM Workout.
- 7:30 AM Help with baby and breakfast.
- 8:30 AM Work: calls, meetings, creating, emails.
- 12:30 PM Quick workout and lunch or just lunch.
- 1:30 PM Work: emails, less creative.
- 3:30 PM Dog walk and family time.
- 4:30 PM Work.
- 6:00 PM Family time.
- 7:30 PM Relax or finish daily work tasks.
- 8:30 PM Bedtime.
What gets you out of bed every morning?
Family, work, and trying to make a difference.
What is the most important part of your daily routine?
Waking up early, making the bed, exercising, and coffee.
What about your “O” do you think is unique or special?
Nothing. There are 7 billion people in the world, someone is bound to live a similar day to me.
Whose “O” would you most love to see?
Elon Musk for the sheer absurdity; Jeff Bezos, Ellen Degeneres, Arianna Huffington and Oprah Winfrey for genuine learning.
What is your #1 wellness habit?
Making time to exercise.
What is the best piece of health advice you’ve ever received?
Your daily workout is the daily business meeting with yourself that you can’t cancel.
What is your favorite part of living a healthy lifestyle?
Feeling energetic when I’m doing it right.
Describe your sleep ritual. What time do you go to bed?
20:30-21:30. Face mask and earplugs. I still have bad habits, and will have screen time till late.
What’s your biggest wellness challenge? How do you address it?
Too much coffee, not enough water, irregular eating habits.
Tell us about a time you were stuck in an unhealthy cycle and how you got out of it. What was the main inspiration for positive change?
Too much work & therefore stress. My family brings me back to re-organize priorities.
If you could give one piece of health advice to the next generation, what would it be?
Invest in yourself: sleep, move, eat and think right.
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Dr. Cameron Nichol, MBBS, BSc, OLY is a Rower, Olympic Athlete, and Entrepreneur. Check out Cameron’s work on his website, and follow him on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.