About
Birger Leys
Physical education teacher, personal trainer and endurance coach. A lifetime in sport.
My story
As a little boy I took my father's racing bike down from the attic and rode it for hours. On those rides I danced on the pedals next to Frank Vandenbroucke on the Côte de la Redoute, attacked alongside Johan Museeuw in Paris-Roubaix and sent Tom Steels home after he threw his bottle at my head in a full sprint.
I was determined to become a professional cyclist.
I became Belgian track champion twice, competed for European and world titles and started the Brabantse Pijl. Sadly I did not have the talent of my idols.
I am grateful that I got to experience the smell of burning rubber and the infernal noise of squealing brakes myself. That old dream left me with a lot of discipline, routines and experience.
My three active sons and my wonderful wife make sure I can dream again. This quartet is at the centre of my life.
I swapped my cycling kit for a pair of running shoes. At first that went less smoothly than my cycling career. I was constantly injured and was advised more than once to stop running. After a very long process of small steps, many downs and few ups, I still managed to run my first marathon after five years. Credit to Kjell De Hondt for his (torture) exercises, expertise and trust.
After a first failed attempt at running 100 miles, I succeeded in the autumn of 2022. I ran for 30 hours non-stop. Something I did not think possible seven years earlier. The feeling when I crossed the finish line was like nothing else. I felt like superman for a moment, only a moment, because the walk back to the car was not very superman-like.
What my injuries taught me
Those years of injuries taught me the most. I know how to build up without forcing it, and when it is better to ease off. I take that to every client.
I am not a physiotherapist and I do not treat injuries. I train people so they get fewer of them, and when there is a complaint I refer them to someone who treats it.
How I work
I am a physical education teacher. My field is movement, and above all: explaining it so everyone understands. Every exercise comes with an explanation, because people who understand what they are doing keep doing it.
I train people as athletes, not as bodybuilders. Even if you do not see yourself as an athlete. Running a business means performing every day under pressure, with too little sleep and too little time. The goal is not to look good. The goal is to keep performing, today and twenty years from now. Getting stronger without getting stiffer.
That is why I train movements, not muscles. Stability comes first, because strength on a shaky base is an injury waiting to happen. We move in every direction, including rotating and sideways, because in real life almost nothing happens straight ahead. And we train speed, because that is the first thing you lose as you get older.
The same idea applies to runners and cyclists. Most of the training is genuinely easy, because that is where you build the foundation. The hard sessions come on top of it, not instead of it. Consistency always beats intensity.
This is my view, not a law. I always explain why, so you can judge for yourself whether it works for you. I coach in Dutch and in English.
Why Leys is More
Leys is my surname, less is more the idea behind it. Most people do not drop out because of the training, but because of everything around it: the bag, the drive, the parking, the waiting.
So I remove all of that. I come to you with all the equipment, at a fixed moment in your week. That way training is something that simply happens, week after week.
As an entrepreneur you have to think of everything and everyone, and you often forget yourself. Running a business is, like an ultra race, pushing on where others stop. More and more entrepreneurs look for that challenge in their sport as well.
It is not about training harder. It is about moving smarter. About progress you can sustain. About getting stronger, physically and mentally, in the middle of a busy life.
Birger Leys
Performance Anywhere
Where I work
Leys is More BV is based in Leuven. I work at clients' homes, at their offices and on their work floors, within 15 km of Leuven. For endurance coaching your location does not matter.