Daves Gym Blog

Diary of a Meathead Traveller: Part VIII: Hollywood, Huntington and San Francisco

2013-08-22T16:50:00.000+01:00

Flying across the Pacific and landing in the good old US of A marked the beginning of the end of both my travels and my goal to complete eight weeks of the WS4SB program. I can't really remember my exact feelings about returning home after such an epic nine and a bit months however, on reflection I certainly wasn't sad. After revisiting the comments from those two weeks it's clear that I was becoming tired from the training.

Covering so many miles in Australia, coupled with the crossing of the international date line, had definitely left me playing catch up with my sleep and as a result, struggling to perform 100% in the sessions. My brilliant proof reader commented on the less jovial tone of the previous blog so therefore, I will nip in the bud, as they say, all this melancholic writing and instead regale to you some of the singular tales from my time spent with our cousins across the pond.

Let me start with a bonus pack anecdote about my first gym experience in LA, a stone's throw from where the pavement bares the evidence of many a forceful grope by the rich and famous. The kind gentlemen at the desk let me in for free after I told him I felt I hadn't tried hard enough to get a complementary 'welcome to LA' session. The good start was short lived as I lost the $20 dollars I had taken in the event said receptionist didn't take the bait whilst getting rid of some unwanted poundage in trap two of the men's; a definite argument for having pockets in all gym shorts, as keeping money in your under garments never leads to anything good…

Hopefully, somebody 1 rep maxed the world that night and as a reward found the money whilst realigning their bowels, to make for what was unequivocally the best day ever for them. Although, I have a feeling that more than likely it ended up in the hands of one of the many chumps that were dangerously littered all over the gym. The gym itself was easily the biggest gym I have ever been to, the end point of the equipment visible wasn't the wall but the horizon beyond which I'm sure the mechanical ocean continued.

Unfortunately, as I just alluded to, the people in there for want of a better word were, mediocre. Instead of all the freakish looking juiced up gorillas and plastic chested porn stars I expected the place was full of a staggering amount of averageness. In fact for some patrons I would go as far to say that most would give any of the Dave's gym anti-heroes a run for their money. In case you are wondering whether you are an anti-hero: if you don't do legs, yeah that's right, you made the cut! It may be worth noting that I was training at 10.30pm and it could easily be that the A team reserve the gym for peak hours, leaving the rest to fight over the antisocial shifts but, that kind of "in the interest of fairness" attitude just isn't doing it for me at this current moment and so I stick to my theory that no one who knows what they are doing uses that facility.

An example perhaps will demonstrate more clearly the level of incompetence I encountered. Whilst preparing for my 5 rep max bench my peripheral vision picked up movement to my right. Three benches across there was a man preparing for his second set of the night, one hindered kilos, having easily dispatched 60kg as a warm up for set 1. Readying himself for the ensuing battle as only the finest samurai know how he methodically adjusted his armour. A tweak of the bandana, a few crucial back and forth twists, and calculated hoist of the belt, followed by a flick of the trousers to create slack about the knee. No spring could be more coiled. Obviously my set was ruined and as you can imagine my only wish was for him was pain.

What followed was the single best gym fail I have ever witnessed. The bar was lifted with a real but sadly cliche gusto, the quivering elbows however confirmed everything I already knew. Rep one was a whopping eight inches of movement. Rep two: a more impressive twelve. Rep three is where the wheels and indeed the plates started to come off. Understandably under the circumstances things happened fast, there, being no way I could stop the noise of barbell on sternum. Indeed, by the time I had hurdled the three benches to aid the man he had already tipped off one twenty plate and he was deep in the motion of tipping off a second.

After helping him re-rack and establish whether he was fit to continue life, let alone benching, he did the impossible and refitted the plates for a second attempt. I was duly summoned for the unbelievably arrogant third set and I can honestly say it was the best guns workout I've ever had. I remember pondering during those massive bicep curls whether he had left the clips off on purpose, so that he knew he could get out from underneath the bar, but I just couldn't believe that he was both that clever and that proud to not ask for a spot in the first place. I did mention that he should probably take it down a fraction and to my surprise my advice seemed to have found its way through, although I continue to not hold my breathe.

With all this said, I did take something from the whole experience besides sore abs from all the held-in laughter. His final action, although mostly for show, was surprisingly inspiring if looked at the right way. He simply patted the bar with a gloved hand as you would an old friend and I swear mouthed the words "not today, not today". All be it in an astounding amount of delusional self belief he perfectly summed why most of us are going to the gym.

The need to always make the lift, to come back and have another crack, the desire to simply be better. When I bent the light to make the picture more appealing this bellend was, for the briefest of moments at least, not the anti-hero to poke fun at but The Hero, and all I want to say to him now is "I'll see you at the bench on Monday at 5pm".

I did mention in my previous blog that I would offer my thoughts on why my progress pictures weren't quite showing the improvement u had hoped. Turns out I lied on that one because I'm ending this blog right here. I will reveal my insights before this saga kid done but not before I've told you all about Rhonda. She was an American classic.

Thanks for reading
- Matt

Week3 MEUB- LA-LA Fitness

Complex: 8x cleans/military press/front squat/good mornings/rows/deadlift 1min rest repeat x3

Close grip Bench 224lbs 3rep max
D/B bench 45lbs 2sets max reps
D/B rows 80 lbs s/s Seated D/B powercleans 17.5lbs 4x12 90s rest
B/B shrugs 224lbs 4x15 90s rest
Hammer Curls 35lbs/30 lbs 4x12 90s rest

Finisher: 5 burpees + 40m Sprint walk back recovery x10

Comments: training at 10.30pm is certainly different. Many entertaining people to watch. Disappointed with the bench press. Have realised that having the accessories improve means Jack. 2 more weeks and then real strength program can begin. Finisher was good, at least I feel fitter.

DELB Huntington Beach Pete's Landing Fitness

Complex: 8x cleans/military press/front squat/good mornings/rows/deadlift 1min rest repeat x3
Broad jumps 8x3 30s rest
B/B reverse lunge w/ knee lift, front leg raised 94lbs 3x10 90s rest
Hex bar RDL 224lbs 3x12 90s rest
Swissball crunches 4x15 90s rest

Finisher: 5x20s Sprint 20s rest on spin bike + 1x50 medball slams 12kg

Comments: should measure the jumps as they feel good. Used hexbar just because it was there. Random finisher because I ran out of ideas.

Rest day: drive to San Francisco

UBR San Francisco SF Fitness

Complex: 8x cleans/military press/front squat/good mornings/rows/deadlift/press ups 1min rest repeat x3 Barbell bench 60% 135lbs 3xmax reps 2min rest (15/10/12)
Wide chins s/s D/B reverse fly 4x 8-12 90s rest
D/B military press 22.5/17.5kg 4x12 90s rest
D/B shrugs 40kg s/s rope triceps extensions 3x10 60s rest
Barbell holds 3xmax time 90s rest

Finisher: s/s ab roll outs with 24kg k/b swings 20/50 15/35 10/20 5/5 no rest.

Comments. Very tired and laboured. Haven't been sleeping well since arriving in USA. At $15 a session though I can't afford not to finish and not get my money's worth.

LBME San Francisco ST Fitness Complex

8x cleans/military press/front squat/good mornings/rows/deadlift/press ups 1min rest repeat x3
Box Squats 15" 5rep max 275 lbs>3mins rest
RDL 3x10 225 lbs
Abs circuit: sprinter sit ups, v sits, toe touches, reverse crunches 10reps each 1min rest repeat x3

Finisher: no dice

Comments: even more tired after another bad sleep. Cut out the lunges again due to fatigue. Less weight on squats as lower bench. No finisher because too tired.

Rest day: Alcatraz
Rest day: drive on highway 1 Pacific highway.

Premier League Predictions 13/14

2013-08-16T07:55:00.000+01:00

With the Premiership season about to start again tomorrow, here are my predictions for the upcoming season (note: all predictions done before the season, before the end of the transfer window):

Champions:Chelsea. Can't look past the Mourinho factor (and the fact they have the best attacking midfield trio by far). Combining the squad inherited from previous seasons, and the return of "The Special One", there is only one place the trophy is going this year, and that is to Stamford Bridge.

Top Four: Chelsea, Man City, Man United, Spurs (special mention: keep Bale, and they will be genuine title contenders).

Relegation: Hull, Crystal Palace, Stoke.

Top Scorer: Robin van Persie. Would have gone for Suarez, but seems like he's spitting his dummy out, and for being the world's worst human being, has a lengthy ban at the start of the season.

FA Cup: Hard to call as depending on the luck of the draw, but I'm going to be bias and predict Man United to break their long barren run in the competition and give Moyes a trophy in his first season.

League Cup: Liverpool.

Champions League: Real Madrid, with or without Bale.

Europa League: Either a first round Champions League drop out, or I have a sneaky feeling Swansea City will do something very special this year.

PFA Player of the Year: Eden Hazard.

PFA Young Player of the Year: Logically, this should be Eden Hazard as well, but I'll be adventurous and go for Wilfried Zaha.

Surprise Package: Norwich City. Leroy Fer is an awesome signing, and Ricky van Wolfswinkel will bang in some goal (as well as having the best name in the league). I also believe Southampton will finish in the top half, against the odds.

Keep your eye on....: Ross Barkley. Could be a late contender for the England World Cup Squad (if they even make it...). Also a special mention to Ravel Morrison, touted by Sir Alex Ferguson as the best player from the United academy since Paul Scholes. Lots of off field troubles saw his early exit from Old Trafford, but now seems to by knuckling down, and could be a gem for West Ham this year.

Flop of the season: Raheem Sterling.

By,

Rhodri Williams

Day 2 and 3 workouts. Surrendering any responsibility.

2013-08-07T15:08:00.002+01:00

I've been lifting weights for 29 years now - which I reckon puts me in the intermediate category at least. In all that time I have never had a trainer or a coach on hand to help guide my progress. I've always done the planning of my programs by myself. This is probably exactly like you guys do it as well. The problem though is that I'm a moron (you're not. You're really smart. Good looking too.), and my programs always include stuff I want to do and not the stuff I need to do.

Now, however, that planning process has been plucked from my sweaty little grasp by my training buddy Rhod. It's curiously liberating not knowing what's coming next. I don't even know what the point of this program is. I don't even care. All I now have to do is show up at the allotted time and be awesome. How easy is that? I should have done this years ago.

Here are the past 2 days sessions. They were horrible. I felt sick. I would not have chosen to do this to myself. But it's exactly what I needed.

Day 2.

10 mins cardio.

5 mins mobility.

Clean complex: 1 power clean, 1 push jerk, 1 split jerk. Work up to 4 heavy singles.

Tall snatch - 5 sets 2 reps. Focus on speed.

WOD 1 - 3 rounds for time of: 8 DB snatch each arm and 5 ball slams.

Rest 1 min then do ...

WOD 2 - 3 rounds for time of: 12 KB swings and 5 box jumps.

Day 3.

10 mins cardio.

5 mins mobility.

Front squat - work up to 2 heavy(ish) sets of 5 reps.

Clean pulls - work up to a heavy single.

Behind the neck push jerk - work up to a heavy single.

Thanks for reading,
Dave Carter,
Dave's Gym,
Cardiff.

16 weeks to transform into an Iron Juggernaut. Day 1.

2013-08-05T15:34:00.000+01:00

Welcome to the start of a new 16 week program. Rhod has come up with this little beauty and it promises to be fairly brutal. The main goal of the program it to increase strength and power (there happens to be quite a bit of Olympic lifting in it) while also pushing the fitness and conditioning hard.

There are bits of 5/3/1, Crossfit and other such nastiness incorporated into it and I hope to record, film, write about and share the whole thing with you.

This first workout is a Strength classic and forms the foundation on which all the other sessions build on. If you are a little shaky on your lifting technique get a trainer to refresh you and remember that solid form is way more important then massive weights and shoddy lifting tekkers.

WARM UP

5-10 mins Cardio.

MOBILITY

Use a foam roller, follow our drill or do De Franco's Agile 8.

WORKOUT

Squats - Work up to 2 sets of 5 reps.

Snatch grip deadlifts - Work up to a heavy single.

Push press - 5 sets of 3 reps.

Pull ups - 3 sets of max reps.

Some ab training.

Check out the demo video:

So Day 1 is nothing too mental. Just a nice full body strength session. However tomorrow is a completely different story...

Dave Carter,
Dave's Gym,
Cardiff.

Diary of a meathead traveller Part VII: last weeks down under.

2013-07-18T15:15:00.002+01:00

Completing the first block of WS4SB had left me four weeks and just one block away from completing short-term goal No 3. Along with that upshot there was now an opportunity to shake up the program a little bit. Structurally it remained the same, however, substitutions and alterations to the order of some assistance work were made. The most significant change enforced was the selection of new strength exercises. I wrestled with the idea of turning to deadlifts, although eventually settling on box squats, reasoning that they would help combat my sticking point in the middle of my movement pattern.

Personally, being militant with a program for four weeks makes the training a joy following those alterations. I find the change in stimulus recharges my enthusiasm levels and makes for a new feel in both during and after a work out. Dan John said it plainly when he remarked: "everything works, but only for about six weeks". Incidentally, if you haven't read his book 'Never let go' do so immediately. When used correctly, change is a powerful mechanism, helping to put off training plateaus that have adverse effects on both physical progress and general enthusiasm.

Really, Dan John is talking about whole programs, trying to wake up all of those who have been doing the same five-day split for years and have made little or no progress. He wants people to swap splits for complexes, long distance for sprints and volume for strength, in anticipation of plateaus and eventual bad Qi and unbalanced chakras. I heeded the big man's words and changed up exercises two weeks before the six- week marker, only because I'm keen and because coach Joe said I could.

Key:

BOR-bent over row
D/B-dumbbell
RDL-romanian deadlift
B/B-barbell
S/S-superset
ROM-range of movement
DOMS-delayed onset muscle stiffness
SDPC-seated dumbbells powercleans

Week1

MEUB- Byron Bay
Dynamic warm up + mobility
Amped warm up + mobility 10mins

Close grip Bench 100kg 4rep max
D/B bench 22.5kg 2sets max reps
D/B rows 35kg s/s Seated D/B powercleans 6kg 4x12 90s rest
B/B shrugs 80kg 4x15 90s rest
Hammer Curls 15kg/10kg 4x12 90s rest

Finisher: 5 circuits of 10 x lateral jump burpees + 10 x med ball slams 7kg

Comments: need to set scapula better during close grip bench. Single arm row surprisingly hard. Hammer curls are nice change to regular

DELB Brisbane First Class Fitness
Amped warm up + mobility 10mins
Broad jumps 8x3 1min rest B/B reverse lunge w/ knee lift, front leg raised 30kg 3x 10 90s rest
RDL 100kg 3x12 90s rest
Swissball crunches 4x15 90s rest

Finisher: 5 circuits of 15 battle ropes + 3 Turkish get ups each side. w/ 30s rest

Comments: great to change up the exercises. Swiss ball crunches hurt a lot. Got a nice cut from RDLs on my shin so must be doing them right. I'd go as far to say that 30s rest on the finisher was far too much. I must be getting fitter.

Rest day: Brisbane art museum

UBR Brisbane Fitness First
Amped warm up + mobility 10mins
Barbell bench 60% 60kg 3xmax reps 2min rest (22/15/12)
Wide chins s/s D/B reverse fly 4x 8-12 90s rest
D/B military press 22.5/17.5kg 4x12 90s rest
D/B shrugs 40kg s/s rope triceps extensions 3x10 60s rest

Finisher: 10 x 20s Sprint 20s rest on the spin bike.

Comments: 1st day not taking the kindle I forget to do the grip. Idiot. Bench feels great. Shoulders a little disappointing that I can't complete three sets with the same weight. Finisher was mentally hard again. Anaerobic work is not pleasant.

LBME Brisbane Fitness First
Amped warm up + mobility 10mins
Box Squats 18" 5rep max 70-80-90-100-105-110-115kg>3mins rest Aquarium/B Walking lunges 3x12 25kg
Glute ham raises 2x10 + 1x10 cable pull-throughs
Abs circuit: sprinter sit ups, ab roll outs, cable twists 10reps no rest

Finisher: burpee pyramid 10-1 with 40yard run in between each set.time 4mins

Comments: box squats feel completely different. 18" is probably too small an ROM. Lunges getting easier, time to increase weight. Glute ham raises near impossible. Nice to be able to change the abs up.

Rest day: Fraser island swimming in lakes

Rest day: Fraser island stroking dingoes

Measurements After Week 5Neck 16
Chest 43 1/2
Left bicep 15 1/2
Right bicep 15
Left forearm 13 1/4
Right forearm 13
Waist 34 1/2
Hips (including ass) 43 1/2
Right quad upper 25 1/2
Left quad upper 25
Right calf 16
Left calf 15 1/2

http://danjohn.net/

There are only two ways to travel the east coast of Australia, either south to north, or north to south. If you haven't worked it out by now we were chasing the sun and the warmth north, hence the Gold Coast being our next destination. Melbourne was my favourite city down under but Brizzy would place second on that crucial of all lists. Aesthetically, it isn't particularly pleasing, although the new development across the river has a new feel; it rather has a Cardiffian familiarity that I enjoyed.

The high street is reminiscent of Queen Street, although inclined instead of flat, you have fashion disaster chavs (called bogans by the locals) and all the pubs and bars have that old brown decor that Weatherspoons love so much. As luck would have it, there was a gym opposite the hostel and because it was privately owned I trained there simply to satisfy my nosey nature, forever on the look out for ideas to raid and plunder. As you can see from the gym diary Fitness First were there and did get rumbled again but, the sales guy was such a push over that the encounter didn't produce a worthy anecdote.

Again their facility was immaculate, leaving me to wonder once again how the Cardiff branch has ended up the way it has.

Week 2
MEUB- Airlie Beach Extreme Fitness
Dynamic warm up + mobility
Amped warm up + mobility 10mins

Close grip Bench 100kg 5rep max
D/B bench 22.5kg 2sets max reps (forgot to do)
D/B rows 35kg s/s SDPC 6kg 4x12 90s rest
B/B power shrugs 100kg 4x15 90s rest
Hammer Curls 15kg/10kg 4x12 90s rest

Finisher: 5 burpees every 15s for 5 minutes.

Comments: Despite being knackered from am overnight bus ride I managed to improve the bench by 1 rep. Scapula stability was much better. Rows felt more comfortable and even the rev flyies increased in weight. Complete shock to have a great session, must be the Monster I had beforehand. Power shrugs incorporate ankle extension. Forgot to do my max sets so as punishment did the burpee finisher. Full chest to floor burpees, I thought it would hurt a lot. Turns out I'm fitter than a butcher's dog so will amp it up next time.

DELB Airlie Beach Extreme Fitness
Dynamic warm up + mobility
Broad jumps 8x3 1min rest
B/B reverse lunge w/ knee lift, front leg raised 35kg 3x 10 90s rest RDL 100kg 3x12 90s rest
Swissball crunches 4x15 90s rest

Finisher: 5 circuits of 100m rows + 3 Turkish get ups each side 20 kg.

Comments: good stability on the reverse lunges, learning to brace abs for all reps. Disappointed with RDL as my grip failed miserably. Finisher was good. Rest day: sailing and snorkelling in the Whitsundays.

UBR Airlie Beach Extreme Fitness Complex
warm up- power clean/military press/front squat 8/6/4 reps 30kg Barbell bench 60% 60kg 3xmax reps 2min rest (20/10/9)
Wide chins s/s SDPC 4x 8-12 90s rest
D/B military press 20/15kg 4x8-12 90s rest
D/B 40kg s/s D/B triceps cable extensions 3x10 60s rest
Finisher: 20kg kettlebell left arm swing/clean/clean+squat/clean+press, change hand, repeat for 5minutes

Comments: idiot forgot to do the grip again. Also got superset mixed up. Still enjoyed the session. Bench reps lower as I slowed the tempo of the downward phase of the lift. Same failure achieved, different route to get there. Enjoyed both the finisher and the warm up, thanks Dan John.

LBME Airlie Beach Extreme Fitness Smallwood complex
warm up 30kg Box Squats 19 5rep max 80-100-120-130-140kg>3mins rest Front squats 3x8 60kg
RDL 3x10 100kg
Abs circuit: sprinter sit ups, v sits, toe touches, reverse crunches 10reps each 1min rest repeat twice.

Finisher: no dice

Comments: did intend to do some wave training with the squats. 19" box isn't really a squat but I'll continue with them as an experiment and test my full back squat then. Did front squats because Dan John said lunges are gay. Was short on time so no finisher today.

Rest: fly to LA

Rest: mentally prepare for muscle beach.

After Week 6
Neck 16
Chest 42
Left bicep 15 1/2
Right bicep 15 1/2
Left forearm 13
Right forearm 13
Waist 33 1/2
Hips (including ass) 42
Right quad upper/mid 25
Left quad upper/mid 24 1/2
Right calf 16
Left calf 15 1/2.

It's now time to stop beating around the arbusto as they say in Spain and talk about the elephant in the room. You've all been thinking it, probably weak with laughter after every post. For those too kind, innocent or indifferent to have noticed, here is the spoiler for you, I haven't really changed that much physically since starting WS4SB. SHOCK!!!!!!!!!!

Even the measurements I have meticulously taken cannot offer any refuge from the physical evidence. My weights have gone up and I unquestionably feel better than I did six weeks before however, where's the six pack at? Where is the transformation? The good news is I have figured it out and I'll let you read all about next time but, for now I'll just say this: Muscle Beach I'm coming for you!

Thanks for reading,
- Matt

Summer Special Offer: Six Months Gym Membership for £99!!!

2013-07-17T19:23:00.004+01:00

That's right! It's time for the Dave's Gym annual summer promotion! Get that beach body, throw out the spare tire, and prepare for awesome overload.

For a limited time only we're offering six months unlimited use of the gym facilities, including a free personal training session with one of our qualified instructors, for less than a hundred quid! Marvellous.

That means you can use any of the gym facilities (not classes) from 7am to 9pm weekdays, and 10am to 4pm on weekends. Combine that with a top-notch personalised training and nutrition plan, which you'll get after your free 60 minute PT session, and you have everything you need to go from beach bum to beach buff (or beach beauty....or buff beach beauty, the world is your oyster!)

NO joining fee.
NO contract.
NO excuses.

Get down to Dave's Gym and snap up this limited time offer before you miss your chance. For £99 cash up-front (effectively £16.50 a month!) you really can't go wrong!

Come down to the gym:

Dave's Gym
160-162 Cottrell Road
Roath
Cardiff
CF24 3EX

Or give us a call on 02920 460232, or even email us at enquiries@daves-gym.co.uk for more information.

Summer won't last forever! Get on it!!

Dave's Daily Workout.

2013-07-05T16:21:00.001+01:00

Rhod and I have finally started training again. It's been about 2 months of rubbish, unstructured, occasional sessions but now we're back on it...again.

The plan is to spend the next two weeks doing some GPP (General Physical Preparedness) as a way to get fighting fit.

Today's workout -

30 mins cycle.

Skipping, press ups, squats, lunges for 3 rounds.

Mobility circuit - a bizarre mix of De Francos agile 8 and some yoga stuff.

Southwood - cleans, presses, front squats and bench. 3 rounds of 8,6,4 reps.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone

Dave's Daily Diary

2013-07-05T10:17:00.001+01:00

I slept in this morning, all the way to 9, which is unheard of round these parts. Now, 9am may not sound like much of a mega snooze-fest to you, but as I'm up at 530am for the rest of the week it feels almost decedent. I don't have to be in the gym until this afternoon and so I plan to spend the morning out in the garden. However, first I need breakfast. I need a breakfast fit for a lumberjack.

What we have here is 5 eggs, 2 slices of rye bread, avocado, rocket, beet root, tomatoes and fresh chillies from my little chilli plant. Om nom nom.

Diary of a meathead traveller Part VI: Wollongong & Byron Bay

2013-07-01T14:05:00.001+01:00

Having listened to all the surfing and skate boarding lingo we could handle, we brought our time in Bondi to an end. Being far from the beach was never part of the plan, so naturally, we swapped the touristy sands of Sydney for the vast expanses of the Wollongong coastline. Those of you who have been lucky enough to travel in Australia will now be asking why, or indeed where is Wollongong?

Answering the latter first, Wollongong is 50 miles south of Sydney by train; the former is slightly more interesting because it involves Dave's Gym. Aleks Dummer, is a Dave's gym lifer, whom has recently upped sticks to the convict isle after having decided on a previous migration that Japan is far too polite and formal for her liking. When we heard that she was not far from Sydney, plans were made for a visit. To narrow it down for those of you who are now checking your internal members database, Aleks is…- well she's Polish. On a more serious note it may jog your memory when I say she was undoubtedly the one having expletives hurled at her, both in my kettlebell class and Dave's Thai class for being bone idle. If not in a class or in a squat rack, you could always rely of her presence at the front desk distracting anyone who was trying to look busy behind the reception.

But I digress…

Honestly though, Aleks along with her family; husband Nick and son Frank, were simply fantastic hosts and we had a blast for five days, revelling in all the comforts of home that we had sorely missed over the previous months. Aleks was the first friend from back home I had seen on my travels and it was great to chew the fat on all the old and new gym gossip, interspersed with tales of travelling shenanigans.

Definite shenanigans here

In amongst all the catching up there was still a regiment to adhere to, which meant that facilities had to be sort out. Duping Fitness First (FF) into giving me free sessions had now become my rason d'etre as it were; therefore I was looking forward to the thrill I would get from getting one over the Wollongong branch. So desperate was I for my fix, I was even willing to coerce others in order to maintain my perfect record. Aleks made the call to FF and arranged the sales talk for the afternoon.

After a short bus ride into town I confidently walked up to the front desk as punctual as it is possible to be. It all happened so fast after the initial pleasantries, it wasn't until after I had left the gym that I realised the possible ramifications of what had transpired. I went Full Monty with my cover story, this time posing as Aleks' husband. In order for me to sound convincing under a barrage of questions from the sequined jacket wearing receptionist, I gave at length, the entire back story of their recent emigration to Australia. It worked, sort of.

Despite my Brannagh-like performance, Ms Sequins proved not 100% convinced and, as I found out later, called Aleks whilst I was training. Unprepared for this eventuality, Aleks filled in superbly saving my blushes, however, one feels at the cost of her ever using that particular FF anytime in the near future. To be honest, the Uni gym she now uses is much cheaper and closer but I'll be the first to admit that I doubt these advantages outweigh my indiscretion, not yet at least.

Aside from all my fraudster antics I had a particular good session in FF Wollongong, for the briefest of moments it was the best session ever. My bench pressing was going superbly well, the weights literally flying up. For my last set I had 110kg on the bar and all but stood on the bench preaching and praising Joe Defranco as a miracle worker. Alas, I should have listened to Richard Dawkins, there are no miracles - I had simply not realised I was using a 12.5kg barbell… In my defence, it was the same length as a normal 20kg barbell but that is of little consolidation against the embarrassment I felt at my arrogance. Karma! I hear you shout. I think Mr Dawkins just calls it stupidity.

Week4

MEUB Wollongong Fitness First
Amped warm up + mobility 10mins
Bench 97.5kg 5rep max
D/B bench 20kg 2sets max reps
BOR 62.5kg s/s Rev fly 7.5kg 4x12 90s rest
B/B shrugs 80kg 4x15 90s rest
Curls 15kg/12kg 4x12 90s rest

Finisher: 5 circuits of double battle ropes x15 + 3 Turkish get ups each arm 16kg

Comments: Bench felt more solid, was able to set scapula better. Guns have improved surprisingly. Shrugs were textbook if I do say so myself. Finisher was good and I think they are working for fat loss.

DELB Wollongong University
Amped warm up + mobility 10mins
Broad jumps 8x3 1min rest
Bulgarian split squat front leg raised w/ D/B 14kg 3x10 90s rest
RDL 3x12 90s rest
Hanging knee raises 2x15 swissball crunches 2x15 60s rest

Finisher: 5 circuits of 10 burpees with lateral jump over step + 20 kettlebell swings 16kg

Comments: should really measure the jumps over the next four weeks. Landings still good. Split squats lighter but bigger range of movement (ROM). Swiss ball crunches are harder than they appear.

Rest day: beach day in Wollongong

UBR Wollongong University
Amped warm up + mobility 10mins
Barbell bench 60kg 3xmax reps 2min rest (20/17/15) Wide chins s/s face pulls 4x12 90s rest
D/B military press 20/15kg 4x8-12 90s rest
D/B shrugs 40kg s/s D/B triceps extension 30 3x10 60s rest
Plate pinch grip 10s hold 10s rest 3x3 20kg plate

Finisher: 10x20s Sprint 10s rest on the spin bike

Comments: bench reps performed faster. Felt different not sure if that's better? Increased weight on shrugs, also performed these more explosively. Again, not sure if this is better or not? Finisher was ugly.

LBME Byron Bay
Amped warm up + mobility 10mins
Squats 5rep max work up 75-85-90-95-100-110kg >3mins rest
D/B walking lunges 3x12 25kg
RDL 3x10 100kg
Abs circuit: sprinter sit ups, v sits, toe touches, reverse crunches 10reps each 1min x3.

Finisher: 10 x 20s sprints 20s rest rower

Comments: squats at 110kg were filthy but my ego is well massaged from the effort. Walking lunges up in weight again so all good. Increased ROM on Romanians felt better, hopefully DOMS tomorrow. Abs getting slightly easier so will change up for the next four weeks. Finisher was mentally tough, glad it's over. Rest: beach walk to most easterly point of Australia

Rest: reading, reading, reading, reading

Measurements After Week4
Neck 16"
Chest 43"
Left bicep 15.5"
Right bicep 15.25"
Left forearm 13.25"
Right forearm 12" and 7 eighths
Waist 35 Hips (including ass) 43"
Right quad upper/mid 26.25" 22"
Left quad upper/mid 26" / 20.5"
Right calf 16 Left calf 15.5".

I bloody love this photo

I completed my first block of WS4SB in Byron Bay, having to pay $15 for the privilege due their monopoly on facilities in the area. Reflecting on that first month I have to conclude everything went swimmingly well, the amount of weight lifted each session increased, movements were well grooved and I had even changed shape a bit.

At least according to the measurements! I suggest I owe a lot of the success to the GPP phase I had completed in Asia, which had given me a solid foundation, without which I would have surely seen far less gains and improvements than I did. Westside for skinny bastards was proving a success, and despite not mutating into a 17st behemoth I can say with confidence that I am just that little bit closer to achieving my goals. Surely, that is all that matters.

Thanks for reading.
Matt

Three gyms, One contest. Cardiff Weightlifting League’s inaugural competition.

2013-06-27T16:52:00.000+01:00

Date: Sunday the 16th of June
Gyms: Daves Gym, Dragon Crossfit, Cardiff Crossfit.
Location: Dave’s Gym aka the Home of Champions
Competitors: 16 men and women, seeking immortality as the chance to solidify their status as Cardiff’s First Olympic lifting champion.

Platform of glory. Lets do battle.

Greetings fellow lifters! Just a brief little entry regarding last weeks weightlifting competition. Firstly the idea behind setting this league up is to try and encourage people in our gym to try something new and to provide regular competitions to train for, effectively giving our members a training goal. The majority of our team including myself have only been practising the two lifts for no more than a couple of months, so going into the comp there was plenty of room for improvement.

For those of you unaware of the sport, Olympic weightlifting or ‘Oly Lifting’ as it is affectionately known by its aficionados is a sport consisting of just two lifts the Snatch and the Clean and Jerk. Both lifts were devised as a way to get the most explosive outcome the human body can achieve by getting a barbell from the floor to over head as quickly as possible. The clean and jerk achieves this via two movements, the snatch accomplishes this in one.

Lidia Valentin snatching 112kgs

It was a sunny slightly overcast morning atop Dave’s Gym. Competitors started making their way in. Two at first, then four. Before we knew it, we were engulfed by a sea of beards and colour coded deadlifting socks. The crossfitters had arrived.

Each of the 3 gyms were required to bring with them a team consisting of 3 men and 3 women. The Daves Gym team consisted of James Lewindon, Dino Hodzovic and yours truly representing the men’s while Emily Broadhurst and Verity Eaton represented the Women’s.

Leg shot! The Daves gym team. Pre contest pump (me on the left)

Having been given a good six weeks to train for the event I felt confident yet cautious. I personally have toyed with Oly lifting in the past but never did it with an eye to compete. Having recently recovered from illness, my training was non-existent, my strength had all but diminished and my motivation to train was at an all time low. This was my chance not only to get back in the game, but to give myself something to train towards. Having something to train for, a goal if you will has always given me motivation to train. Cold rainy days where motivation is low and cant-be-arsedness is high gave me purpose to gather my things, swallow a man-up pill and get to the gym - for every work out missed is one workout subtracted from my goal.

But enough about me, on to the contest.

James Lewindon with an 80kg jerk.

The meet began with a motivational pep talk by head trainer Matt ‘Atlas’ Richardson aka ‘the Anomaly.’ His speech was not unlike the final speech in 300, just with more muscle. Competitors were given a chance to warm up, foam roll and stretch. Crossfitters were given a chance to play with their PVC pipes. Competitors were called in one by one to weigh themselves. This was necessary as we were to be ranked using the Sinclair System which is a formula used in weightlifting to normalise a lifters performance by gender and body weight.

As mentioned earlier, weightlifting competitions comprise of two lifts, the Clean and Jerk and the Snatch with three attempts at each to achieve the biggest total weight.

The first lift was the Snatch and this ran with an ascending bar whereby each competitor could come in and out on whatever weight they chose for each of their 3 lifts. The same format applied to the clean and jerk which followed.

The Top three competitors for male and female are as follows:

Laura from Dragon Crossfit came in third. Weighing in at 58kg she achieved a total of 100kgs managing a 45kg snatch and a 55kg clean and jerk.

Laura setting up before her snatch

from far left trainers Dan & Matt with myself and Dino.

Angie from Dragon Crossfit came second, weighing in at a petite 57kg she came out with a 110kg total comprising of a 50kg snatch and 60kg clean & jerk.

Jess from Cardiff Crossfit won the ladies with a 115kg total at 58.5kg bodyweight. She left with a 45kg snatch and a huge 70kg clean and jerk. Great effort from all of them.

On to the mens - Ryan of Cardiff Crossfit came in third. With a beard that would make Dave himself green with envy I expected a lot from him, and believe me he did not disappoint. Weighing in at a solid 90kgs his total was an impressive 215kg comprising of a 90kg snatch and a 125kg clean and jerk both of which were accompanied by celebratory proclamation of victory in the form of a YEAAHH!!

Lee from Cardiff Crossfit came in second totalling with 210kg. Weighing in at a lean 85kgs, he threw up a 90kg snatch and got a 120kg clean and press. Notice I said press not jerk. For one reason or another he never managed to drop for his jerk. unfortunate as this would have brought his total higher. Having said that, a 120kg push press is pretty impressive!

And finally coming in first is Daves Gyms own Dino Hodzovic. Dino was a last minute recruit for the Daves Gym camp. Having recently come off a bulk he hadn’t toyed with Oly’s for a good few months. Reluctantly he agreed to step up and bring some heavy artillery to our team. I for one felt easier having him there as my lifts were nothing to brag about. Weighing in at 102kgs he snatched 100kgs and clean and jerked 135kgs to come away with the big W for team Daves.

An interesting side note, having opened with a 130kg clean, Dino panicked on the jerk and ended up push-jerking 130kgs.

Daves Gym's own Emily finishing of a 32.5kg snatch.

With little experience among the Dave’s Gym lifters, watching more proficient competitors was a crucial chance to see different styles up close. I for one found it very useful, not only watching heavier lifts, but little things like how they set themselves up before an attempt, even watching how they warmed up proved an invaluable experience to add to my mental training library.

Verity finishing off her snatch (insert inappropriate joke here)

That being said all of the team performed admirably with some new personal bests. Hopefully this will inspire not only our beloved members, but anyone who takes their training seriously to have another solid month of training and to improve on their total in the next comp, which will be hosted at Dragon Crossfit.

Thanks for reading, and remember, if you cant finish the jerk, don’t chase the snatch. (couldn’t resist)

Danny Dakhoul,
Over & Out

BOOM!!!

Diary of a meathead traveller Part V: Koh Lanta, Kuala Lumpur, Melbourne & Bondi

2013-06-18T07:00:00.000+01:00

Koh Lanta was the perfect place for me to begin my new life as one of those sober people. Thai New year is done and dusted by mid April and the west coast begins its green season (low season in layman's terms) becoming ghostly quiet. There are times of the day when you wouldn't be surprised to see tumbleweeds, desperately racing each other to wave down the few remaining tuk tuks that still run fares. One upside of this quietness, distraction is hard to come by. Days are spent relaxing on the beach with intermittent breaks for food or maybe a zip around on the scooter.

In essence it's a schedule built for a gym monkey, eat, train, eat, beach, eat, sleep, repeat. With 10 days to kill until our trip down under only an idiot wouldn't make the most of this gift from the training gods.

As I confessed last week the layout of this blog will become somewhat repetitive over the coming editions. Even the most avid fan, of which I'm sure there are vast numbers, is at risk of getting slightly bored of seeing the same workout repeatedly written down, therefore, I hold no grudge if you begin to pay less attention to that section. However, the key word there is 'less'.

The comments at the end of each workout do provide a concise summary, including the improvements and general feelings about the session. Obviously if you are reading purely because of my ability as a raconteur, the hilarity of my anecdotes and couldn't care less whether my bench improves, or indeed whether my calves a growing (they aren't), then the statement above doesn't apply to you. You may carry on.

Training diary.

Key:
BOR-bent over row
D/B-dumbbell
RDL-romanian deadlift
B/B-barbell
S/S-superset
ROM-range of movement
DOMS-delayed onset muscle stiffness

WEEK2

MEUB Koh Lanta
Amped warm up + mobility 10mins

Bench - 92.5kg 5rep max
D/B Bench - 20kg 2sets max reps
BOR - 62.5kg s/s Rev fly 5kg 4x12 (90s rest)
D/B Shrugs - 35kg 30kg 4x15 (90s rest)
Curls - 12.5kg 4x12 (90s rest)

Comments: most chuffed with the improvement in bench both in reps and weight. This mainly due to better technique, confidence and effective warm up sets. Form lost on 3rd & 4th set of BOR but ego got the better of me. Still suck at curls.

DELB Koh Lanta
Amped warm up + mobility 10mins

Broad jumps - 8x3 (1min rest)
Bulgarian split squat front leg raised w/ D/B - 12.5kg 3x 10 (90s rest)
RDL - 100kg 3x12 (90s rest)
Hanging knee raises body weight - 4x15 (90s rest)

Comments: landed the jumps much better today. Increased weight on the Bulgarians as felt more confident with the movement. Lacked mental toughness on the abs. Must be at least willing to push harder. Grip still terrible.

Rest day:
Motorbike cruise around Koh Lanta. Walking on the beach.

UBR Koh Lanta
Amped warm up + mobility 10mins

Barbell bench - 60% 55kg 3xmax reps (2min rest) (18/20/12)
Wide chins s/s face pulls - 4x 8-12 (90s rest)
D/B military press - 20/17.5kg 4x8-12 (90s rest)
B/B - 70kg s/s D/B triceps extension - 25kg 3x10 (60s rest)
Plate pinch grip - 10s hold 10s rest 3x3 15 kg

Comments: bench going well. The reps a little different from last week but still I feel an improvement in technique. Chins were horrible, they are the bane of my life. Amazing how much easier I find barbell shrugs to dumbbells of equivalent weight. Grip was worse today. May have to do with the heavier Romanians from the other session.

LBME Kuala Lumpur Sports TOTO fitness centre
Amped warm up + mobility 10mins

Squats - 5rep max work up 60-70-75-80-90-100-105kg >3mins rest
D/B Walking lunges - 3x12 20kg
RDL - 3x10 100kg
Abs circuit: sprinter sit ups, v sits, toe touches, reverse crunches 10reps each 1min x3.

Comments: Happy to have increased both squats and lunges. Squats were very slow on the last set. Grip still an issue for the Romanians, using a split grip for two sets. Forced myself to do 3 abs circuits, hellish.

Rest:
walking and shopping in Kuala Lumpur

Rest:
fly to Melbourne

Measurements After Week2
Neck - 16"
Chest - 43"
Left bicep - 15.5"
Right bicep - 15"
Left forearm - 13"
Right forearm - 12.5"
Waist - 36"
Hips (including ass) - 43"
Right quad upper/mid - 26/21"
Left quad upper/mid - 26/21"
Right calf - 16"
Left calf - 15.5"

If you didn't already know, Australia does things to your wallet and bank balance that only the purest bread of football wag can achieve. On a daily basis you spend much of your time saying things like "what the f#!k" and "HOW MUCH for this basic commodity, which you have no right to charge over two dollars for?" I can't say that I wasn't prepared, fellow travellers had already put the fear of God into me about the expense, but that still doesn't help one when Fitness First are charging £17 for a day pass.

The solution to this problem presented itself whilst in Kuala Lumpar. TOTO gym and their exceptionally smiley reception girls where only too happy to give me a taster session for free, thus an epiphany occurred and fortunately it didn't hurt this time. I was simply to fake interest in joining every gym I would use in Australia and I'd have more free sessions than I could shake a stick at. The first freebie in Melbourne was a sinch, my online pass worked a treat.

The next day I downloaded another with a different email address but the law of Sod made it so the same bloody guy on the desk. I tried my best to be aloof and nonchalant but, cracked spectacularly fast under the politest and shortest of interrogations. A quick change of tact to doe eyes with puppy dog face and the second freebie was secure, sucker. For session three I created a full blown alias. I signed up online as a Mr Conrad Black and immersed myself in character before arriving. I passed through the sales pitch with flying colours, gave them a terrible signature and I was away again. The gym used in Bondi was an independent establishment and as a result offered a reasonable day rate, I had no qualms parting with my $10 to support these guys, well it was that and the fact I couldn't find a Fitness First near by.

Not what you need after a heavy legs day, I lost count after seeing a guy go into what I expect was cardiac arrest

predominantly a boxing gym the weights were in a small out house outback. The Thai class made me feel close to home.

Normally I wouldn't miss a chance to bash Fitness First but, in fairness in Oz their gyms are fantastic. The layouts are great and all the equipment is well maintained. All the ones I visited had full sets of kettle bells, slam balls, battle ropes, hammers etc and this provided the inspiration for a change to my training. I felt that after two weeks I could now handle a little extra work but I didn't have the time to dedicate a whole session to conditioning. Doing a 5-10 min finisher after each main workout was a happy medium but, unlike the finishers in Asia I could now use cool equipment as well as body weight exercises. Please do not get confused between a finisher and true conditioning.

Conditioning is something done specifically in order to improve a certain attribute required for a particular sport, finishers are predominantly non specific. Personally I use them as a tool to improve mental toughness. The finishers in my program are randomly thought up, depend heavily on equipment availability and have one criteria, to make me think about quitting halfway through. It is by no means a perfect science and I do not always get it right but, there is fun in the randomness, something I believe is important when you follow a regimented program for the majority of your time in the gym. In the near future due to my most audacious goal, play pro rugby, I will have to do some actual conditioning, when that time comes the finishers will be greatly cut back or may even disappear completely.

Week3

MEUB-Melbourne Fitness First Richmond
Amped warm up + mobility 10mins

Bench - 95kg 4rep max
D/B bench - 22.5kg/20kg 2sets max reps (12/15)
BOR - 60kg s/s Rev fly 7.5kg 4x12 (90s rest)
Barbell - 80/70kg 4x15 (90s rest)
Curls - 15/12.5/10kg 4x12 (90s rest)

Finisher: 5 circuits of double battle ropes x15 + 3 Turkish get ups each arm 12kg

Comments: felt very tired today due to flying over night to Melbourne. Weights didn't go up and were even reduced in some cases. Found recovery between sets difficult. Was happy with the finisher but got a terrible stitch.

DELB-Melbourne Fitness First Richmond
Amped warm up + mobility 10mins

Broad jumps - 8x3 (1min rest)
Bulgarian split squat front leg raised w/ D/B - 15kg 3x 10 (90s rest)
RDL - 100kg 3x12 (90s rest)
Russian twists with barbell - 4x15 (90s rest)

Finisher: 5 circuits of 10 burpees with lateral jump over step + 10x6kg med ball slams 30s rest

Comments: very happy with broad jump landings. Bulgarians were hard with 15kg. Movement was slow but controlled. May lighten the Romanians to increase the sketch as I never get DOMS. Happy with the finisher.

UBR-Melbourne Fitness First Central
Amped warm up + mobility 10mins

Barbell bench - 60kg 3xmax reps (2min rest) (17/13/12)
Wide chins s/s face pulls - 4x12 (90s rest)
D/B military press - 20/15kg 4x8-12 (90s rest)
D/B shrugs - 35kg s/s D/B triceps extension - 30 3x10 (60s rest)
Plate pinch grip - 10s hold 10s rest 3x3 (2 10kg pinched together)

Finisher: 5x20s Sprint 20s rest on the rower.

Comments: no surprise that the bench numbers remain similar week to week. The weight going up still though seems small consolation to not doing a million reps. Felt good to man-up on the triceps. Finisher was rushed due to lack of time. Anaerobic work done nonetheless.

LBME Sydney- Bondi kick boxing gym
Amped warm up + mobility 10mins

Squats - 5rep max work up 60-70-80-85-95-100-105kg (>3mins rest)
B/B Walking lunges - 3x12 50kg
RDL - 3x10 105kg
Abs circuit: sprinter sit ups, v sits, toe touches, reverse crunches 10reps each 1min x3.

Finisher: 5 x 20 kettlebell swings 20kg + 1 Turkish get up each side

Comments: squats felt good despite not improving on the max. Changed to barbell lunges due to lack of space. Felt like glutes were pulling off the bone. Abs still piss poor. Finisher was better done than last time.

Rest day:
walked from Bondi to Cugee beach, roughly 10km. Also walking round Sydney monuments.

Rest day:
more walking around Sydney taking in the sights

After Week3
Neck - 16"
Chest - 44.5"
Left bicep - 15.5"
Right bicep - 15"
Left forearm - 13.25"
Right forearm - 12.875"
Waist - 35"
Hips (including ass) - 43"
Right quad upper/mid - 26.25" / 22"
Left quad upper/mid - 26" / 20.5"
Right calf - 16"
Left calf - 15.5"

That's enough for today I think, thanks for reading.

- Matt

Dave's Diary - Father's Day.

2013-06-17T08:28:00.000+01:00

Death to nature. Death to the trees.

For the past 9 years of me being a father we've never, beyond a hastily scribbled card, really bothered with Father's Day. In fact, up until the the early part of the 20th Century, nobody bothered with Father's day. Apocryphally it was a cunning marketing wheeze by Hallmarks, the greetings card Goliath, as a way to sell more cards in what was traditionally a quiet part of the year.

But this year the kids did me proud. It all started with that rarest of Carter household occurrences - a lie in. Four days a week I open up the gym in the morning, which means getting out of bed at 0530 and spending the first 5 minutes of the day rubbing coffee granules in to my eyes in a doomed attempt to wake up.

This morning, however, I was allowed to slumber all the way to 0800 before the kids, barely able to contain themselves, exploded in to the bedroom with coffee, cards, gifts, Zoe and a very excited Labrador.

Although my kids are only 9, 7 and 6 years old respectively, if their gifts are anything to go by I suspect that they are starting to get a handle on what makes their old man tick. In package number one, from Max my youngest, were three bottles of beer; Boilermaker, Doombar and Barry Island IPA. From my daughter Jocelyn I had a new frying pan with which to cook meat. Conrad, my eldest got me a new pair of work gloves and some wickedly sharp secateurs. Beer, cooking meat and outside manual labour - Best gifts ever!

The day kept getting better. For breakfast I had curry, made from scratch with my new pan and home-grown chillies. After breakfast the kids and I took the dog out for a lovely long walk on the beach which, because it was raining ever so slightly, was almost deserted. The kids ran round in circles, the dog ran circles round them and I upset a random film crew by shouting things like "Jim! Leave that poor cameraman alone." or "Max! Leave that poor cameraman alone." at the top of my voice every time they tried for another take. No idea why they were filming but they probably won't be back in a hurry.

After coming back from our walk I headed out into the garden while Zoe, my Mum and one of my sisters entertained the kids and prepared a lunchtime feast of roast chicken with all the trimmings. Man-heaven.

I've been spending a lot of time in the garden this year. My kind of gardening has little to do with Petunias and Daffodils but more to do with chainsaws, axes, hammers and fire. We had 8 enormous fir trees in the back garden that were over 50 feet high. They blocked out the sun and were only ever going to get bigger. So two weeks ago I got a tree-surgeon in and over two days we chopped them down. The garden was destroyed (along with my shed) and covered in what must have been over 20 tons of lumber and broken branches. It's taken until now to be able to get to the point where I can see an end to it.

Shed's dead baby. Shed's dead.

So I spent most of the day moving logs, chopping wood and then I made a massive fire and burnt everything I could get my hands on. As the fire died down and the evening wore on I sat down on a log with my kids, had a beer and watched the flickering flames. Good day.

Thanks for reading,

Dave Carter,

Dave's Gym,

Cardiff.

Bournemouth Classic 2013

2013-06-12T15:47:00.003+01:00

After getting the powerlifting bug at the WSA Welsh Champs I decided to enter my second competition 3 weeks later. With only a couple of weeks to prep for the next comp it was decided that there was no time for deload, instead treat the Welsh as a training session for the Bournemouth classics. This meant coming in to squat the day after competition. I had actually only popped in to the gym to use the internet when Owen 'The real deal' Hubbard strolled in and explained the need to squat. So I had 2 weeks of training and a week of deload before the next comp.

My new training schedule was simply brutal. Having had little direction for my training and gone on holiday for my prep for the Welsh I found the 5 days a weeks tough.

Monday - Squat

Tuesday - Bench

Wednesday - Dead

Thursday - Bench

Friday - Squat

With limited time we started in week one with 5 reps and worked down to single reps by end of week 2. If you have read previous blogs you will be aware that I am/ was keen on HIT training. I would only ever train a body part once a week or longer if need. Now I was training around 80% of my 1rm 5 days a week. The first week was the hardest then gradually I adjusted. By the end of week two 200kg felt nice on my back and flew up out the hole for 5 singles.

With a week until comp and openers hit it was time for a deload. Thankfully in this federation I could be be up 93kg, at a svelte 91kg I had weight to gain so did not need to drop water or carbs. (Dropping water for my last comp was a bad idea, I was cramping before the 1st round of deads).

The Team

This time the Dave's Gym Power lifting squad was stripped down to Owen Hubbard, Max Semple, my self and mini Clug providing emotional support. We left for Bournemouth a day earlier to give us time to acclimatise and get a good sleep before weigh in. The drive down was fantastic as car journeys go. Lush rolling Doreset countryside set the back drop for endless lads banter about weights, girls, lifting, DOMS and tour stories of old, Cracking stuff. We arrived at the Lamb Inn at 4.30pm , dropped off our bags and headed straight for the beach. Tops off. After a lavish 2 course diner at the local harvester we headed back to the B & B to settle down for the night and prepare our minds for the epic day ahead.

After a modest breakfast (each of us handing over sausages to Dan Clug in fear of missing the weight class) we headed to Bournemouth Uni Athletics Club. An impressive facility with an Athletics track that would prove vital in the coming hour.

Welsh Powerlifting is a different experience to competitions in England. In Wales there appears to be an abundance of units everywhere competing and spectating. This is not a bad thing just an observation of the varying tone and atmosphere. If anything we where greeted with open arms, so much so Dan was asked to compete. During the weigh in he was asked by the head judge 'Do you lift' His response was a perplexed 'yes' "whats your 1rm squat?' Dan '160kg?' Get weighed in then' Before you could say 'Get lifting' young Clug was signed up to compete in the 73kg class. In other news I weighed in bang on the money at 93 kg, Max was well in the 125kg class and Owen was 200g over his weight. This spurred on an impromptu 1500m run to drop weight. I have seen this man squat but never run.

Once weigh in is nailed then comes the wait. With 3 hours before warm ups began we stuffed our faces with sweets, croissants, baguettes, and tang fastic sweets. Basically anything that would give us a shit load of energy in the coming hours. The trick here is to eat but not too much the last thing you want is to be puking on the platform.

Warm up

As the warm ups began the tension starts to reduce as you become more comfortable around you fellow lifters. I find the best way to stay focused is to not worry about the lifts going on around you but instead maintain a state of constant readiness. Not too alert but not too relaxed, just enough to be able to turn on your game 60 seconds before your lift. As the competition picks up so does the camaraderie. I have mentioned this before in the previous blog post but the atmosphere between your competitors is awesome. Everyone one cheers regardless of the weight or outcome of the lift. As my lifts get closer my behaviour becomes increasingly ritualistic. Music, water, chalk, vaseline (dry lips is key for a successful bench) what ever works for you.

The lifts

Having had a few weeks of Powerlifting training under my belt I felt more prepared than before. I had learnt some useful skills. The grind, essentially knowing when keep pushing and fighting out of the hole until eventually you go up. Learning to pause, hold at the bottom of a rep no touch and go. With more preparation and one competition behind me I felt more content in the warm up room, dropping my warm up sets to save energy.

I managed a 220kg squat, 250kg deadlift and a 150kg squat. All 1rms which flew up I'm not sure how but they felt really good. Hubbard broke an unofficial world record with a 185 bench smashing his weight class. Max dominated the 125kg's securing his 100% record and young Clug hit 1rms holding his own in his first comp.

Jubilant after another great weekend of competition, we headed back to South Wales via Burger King. The British Classic awaits.

Owen is aways ready to squat

Coffee with Clug

Bench Press Day - Sorry it's been a long time :(

2013-06-10T13:20:00.002+01:00

It's been a loooooooooooooooooooooong time since I've done one of these, but now I'm back and plan on doing this a little more regular then once every blue moon.

At the moment our training is a little bit limited as Rhod has destroyed his ankle and can barely walk yet alone squat. Also, I've been plagued with injuries and decided to take the past 2 months off serious training.

The moment of injury captured for all to wince at

But we're back!

Here is what we did -

Bench - 5 x 5
Bench to blocks with pause - 5 x 3
Bench with bouncing bells of bedlam - 5 x 10-15

Thank's for reading,
Dave Carter,
Dave's Gym,
Cardiff.

Handstand Workshop 23rd June 12 - 3pm

2013-06-08T16:39:00.001+01:00

If you fancy learning some gymnastic skills make sure you sign up for the handstand workshop at reception. These are a lot of fun and are suitable for all levels.

Diary of a meathead traveller part IV: Thailand and Westside for skinny bastards

2013-06-02T11:07:00.003+01:00

As a backpacker Bangkok usually means one thing, debauchery. If a twisted mind conceives it, this city of sin can almost certainly provide it. Should you want a midget ladyboy with 3 legs to pleasure you, whilst you agonisingly sift through the oceans of tat along Kosan Road, indulge my friends. However, should you want to find a reasonably priced gym, within which you can embark on a path of righteous muscle building glory, you better get yourself to the airport, because it doesn't exist. There is certainly more to Bangkok than Kosan Road, but I certainly wasn't about to become the black sheep and be the first to actually prove this theorem. This meant I was stuck paying over five British pounds sterling for a gym with no squat rack, although in reality, I had bigger problems on my plate. I was going teetotal...

Koh Lanta gym. Another overpriced establishment. Luckily my charm was adequate enough to get a discounted price for 5 sessions.

As I mentioned in Part III Don Det was my last hoorah where drink and all things naughty are concerned. For the best part of 7 months, not a day had gone by without me wetting my teeth with liquor of some description. My actually daily consummation would be impossible to work out so I'll throw out a ball park figure of around 6 pints of lager a day at the point of starting; aside from the small issue of the extra 1800 calories this adds to one’s diet, there are also drawbacks to training whilst continually on the cusp of a hangover...apparently.

It was clear from the get go that in order for me to continue to make progress both physically and mentally, this paradoxical time of plenty had to end eventually. My goals from Part I clearly state sobriety, therefore it shall be so, or at least attempted. Besides, with the winds of confidence blowing in my sails at becoming a non-smoker, coupled with my enthusiasm from the GPP completion factor (legit gym jargon there), this would be 'no biggie'as the kids say. I can now happily report that, hand on heart; I am deep into my second month of judge-like behaviour. To my utter surprise it really hasn't been that hard. Goal setting has become my magic bullet it seems, the very key to my success, in the short-term at least.

I can't really explain intelligently why this is in my current state of comfort. I am writing this on an overnight bus in Australia, which ironically after having travelled in Asia for four months, is about as comfortable as trying to pass a kidney stone. The best I can manage is merely to say; "Try it yourself." It doesn't even have to be about the gym. Try it, honestly, and feel the power of the almighty list. Go on, I dare you.

That's quite enough backslapping for one blog so without further ado let me introduce you to my new (although technically old) baby. She is called 'Westside for skinny bastards III' and it is with her that I have chosen to dance with for this next phase of training.

The program itself is the brainchild of one Joe Defranco of the USA and is very handily available as a free PDF download (http://www.elitefts.com/ws4sb/ws4sb.pdf). Mr Defranco is highly respected on all shores of this watery rock and has been sharing his knowledge of training through various media outlets for many a moon. At the root of the program is the famous Westside barbell method designed by Jim Wendler and his crew. Crucially, it accommodates people who are not yet grand masters in the art of ironworks, or noobs as they are known in the trade.

The original Westside program is aimed at powerlifting and despite being beautifully simple in its layout it is just too demanding on the noob, particularly for the lower body. Defranco has tweaked the program by raising the priority level of hypertrophy (muscle growth), an important part of newbie training, whilst still maintaining the core principle of strength in major lifts. The result is a conjugated program that non-powerlifters can utilise to become big, strong and athletic. It should be said in the interest of fairness that there are lots of good programs out there, all with their own professionals to endorse them. By choosing WS4SB, I'm not saying this is the best, or indeed the only one to attempt.

Defranco's Gym

Here are the reasons I rate this program.

It's a conjugate program based around strength and size.
It's balanced both in upper/lower and anterior/posterior movements.
It promotes athleticism rather than just static strength.
It has built in variety that keeps it fresh and plateau free.
It's explained well and laid out coherently.
It has all major movements incorporated.
It can be easily adapted to include speed work as well as in season training.
It's free.

I have had personal experience with this program before, using it both for myself and former personal training clients and I know that it works. The beauty of the program lies in it ability to satisfy all desires of the newbies' psyche as well as making the most of their bodies ability to adapt to knew stimulus. Explaining the science behind WS4SB would no doubt bore a lot of readers but below is a link about hypertrophy for those keen to saturate themselves with further knowledge.

http://www.t-nation.com/free_online_article/most_recent/the_hypertrophy_specialist

All travelling meathead blogs from now on will have my workouts posted at the end, as well as the comments that I write to accompany them. As a special bonus material, strictly for your viewing pleasure and comedy value, I'll also put up the progress photos that I have taken at the start of each week along with the body measurements. Weighing in each week would have given me even more data however, it is just not practical to carry around scales whilst backpacking; weighing in should be done at the same time each week, preferably on the same scales to reduce error. To maintain blog consistency and to keep things interesting I'll also continue to share anecdotes from the numerous gyms I have been using.

Training diary

Key:
BOR-bent over row
D/B-dumbbell
RDL-Romanian deadlift
B/B-barbell
S/S-superset
ROM-range of movement
DOMS-delayed onset muscle stiffness

Week1:

Max effort upper body (MEUB)
-Bangkok Buddy Gym

Amped warm up + mobility 10mins

Bench 90kg 3rep max
D/B bench 20kg 2 sets max reps
BOR 60kg s/s Rev fly 5kg 4x12 90s rest
Shrugs 60kg 4x15 90s rest
Curls 12.5kg 4x12 90s rest

Comments: enjoyed benching again. Need to maintain trunk stability and glute activation during sets. Try to enjoy curls more.

Dynamic effort lower body (DELB)
-Bangkok Buddy Gym

Squats warm up + mobility 10mins

Broad jumps 8x3 1min rest
Bulgarian split squat front leg raised w/ D/B 10kg 3x 12 90s rest
RDL 90kg 3x12 90s rest
Hanging knee raises body weight 4x15 60s rest

Comments: enjoyed the jumping although need to stick landings rather than try for distance with no control. Lock off glutes at top of Bulgarian squats. Stop checking myself for form every rep. Except, your grip is weak. Except, you have no abs.

Rest day:
Beach baby!

Upper body repetition (UBR)
-Koh Lanta Thailand

Amped warm up + mobility 10mins

Barbell bench 60% 54kg 3xmax reps 2min rest (15/15/12)
Wide chins s/s face pulls 4x 8-12 90s rest
D/B military press 4x8-12 90s rest
D/B shrugs 30kg s/s D/B triceps extension 25kg 3x10 60s rest
Plate pinch grip 10s hold 10s rest 3x3 20kg and 15 kg.

Comments: enjoyed the session. Felt good throughout. Understandably weights decrease as sets progress, hopefully will see muscle endurance improve over the next month. Biceps DOMS are still hanging around.

Lower body max effort (LBME)
-Koh Lanta

Amped warm up + mobility 10mins

Squats 5rep max work up 60-65-70-80-90-95-100kg
D/B Walking lunges 3x12 15kg
RDL 3x10 100kg
Abs circuit: sprinter sit ups, v sits, toe touches, reverse crunches = 10reps each 1min rest repeat twice.

Rest day 1:
Scuba diving

Rest day 2:
Scuba diving. Have been a bit naughty and had two cokes. It just helps get the salt out of your mouth.

Progress Report!

Measurements after Week 1:

Neck 16"
Chest 42"
Left bicep 15.5"
Right bicep 15"
Left forearm 13"
Right forearm 12.2"
Waist 36"
Hips (including ass) 42"
Right quad upper/mid 26" / 21"
Left quad upper/mid 25.5" / 21"
Right calf 16"
Left calf 15"

I used to think it was facial hair that made you a man. Then I started getting these again. A beard would be cool though.

Once again thanks for reading. Feel free to leave general comments and questions and either myself or the staff at Dave's will gladly answer them as soon as we can.

-Matt

WSA Powerlifting Meet Report – Part 2: Ruth’s Road Trip with the Dave’s Gym Powerlifters

2013-05-30T15:40:00.000+01:00

Walk into Dave’s Gym on most weekday evenings and you will very easily locate the members of Powerlifting Team. They’re loud, messy, lift the heaviest and arguably boast the best collection of tattoos in one group. Some may feel intimidated; I however love it. I heard on the grapevine they were training for the WSA Powerlifting Meet on 11th May. I decided they needed a girly mascot and therefore invited myself along for the ride. I wasn’t taking no for an answer. Armed with my camera / phone fully charged, notepad and plenty of food, I met Owen, Rogan & Craig at the gym for 7.30 am (ON A SATURDAY?!) to begin the journey to Pontardawe, Swansea.

It was raining when we arrived at the venue in the depths of the Swansea valley but this did not dampen the excited spirits of the team (I think I was the most excited, probably because all I had to do was sit on my backside all day and cheer gratefully). The venue, the Jubilee Club, was literally epic. Totally inappropriate for a powerlifting competition on first glance, but totally appropriate for myself and Dan, the cheerleaders – lots of places to sit and the bar appeared to be open from 9am.

Weigh in’s started at 9am. I attempted to take down the information (hope this is all accurate, guys!)

Craig: 54.8kg
Ed: 77.3kg
Rogan: 81kg
Owen: 81.7kg
Tom: 89.4kg
Max: 134.7kg

Then came the big re-feed and re-hydrate before lifting began at 11am. Here’s a selection of photos of food stuffs being consumed:

Rogan’s almond butter with apples.

Tom’s pizza and coke

Max’s (amazing) brownies. Thanks for sharing these out!

Craig’s mixture of fluids straight out of his lab.

Also Owen eating...something. Not quite brioche at this stage.

Dan and I got into prime position seats to capture all the action of the boys squatting. Unfortunately most of my photos actually suck.

SQUAT:

Craig (56kg weight class):

1. 75kg
2. 90kg (Pictured)
3. 105kg (missed)

Rogan (82.5 kg weight class)

1. 120kg
2. 130kg (Pictured)
3. 140kg (missed)

Ed (82.5kg weight class)

1. 125kg
2. 135kg (Pictured)
3. 140kg

Owen (82.5kg weight class)

1. 215kg
2. 225kg (Pictured)
3. 240kg

Max (125kg + weight class)

1. 160kg
2. 175kg
3. 185kg (Pictured)

Tom (90kg weight class)

1. 190kg
2. 200kg (Pictured)
3. 207.5kg (missed)

There are videos of everyone’s final attempts but they shouldn’t make their way onto this blog as my voice is far too enthusiastic / annoying!

BENCH:
Sadly Dan & I lost our prime position seats so there is little footage of the boys’ benching. I continued to scribble in my little notepad (again, I hope this is all accurate!)

Craig
1. 70kg
2. 77.5kg
3. 85kg (missed)

Ed
1. 85kg
2. 90kg
3. 95kg

Rogan
1. 90kg
2. 100kg
3. 102.5kg (missed)

Owen
1. 155kg
2. 165kg
3. 170kg

Max
1. 125kg
2. 135kg
3. 140kg (missed)

Tom
1. 130kg
2. 140kg
3. 145kg (missed)

By this stage the levels of testosterone in the room were so high it was all very overwhelming for a little person like me!

DEADLIFT
Last lift of the day, which seemed to fly by far too quickly. Once again I attempted to take photos and videos but they didn’t work out too well, unfortunately. I should never venture into a career in photography.

Craig
1. 145kg (counted as a technical fail, but I am told this was due to Craig putting the bar down too quickly)
2. 162.5kg
3. 170kg

Ed
1. 160kg
2. 170kg
3. 180kg (missed)

Rogan
1. 180kg
2. 190kg
3. 200kg

Owen
1. 230kg
2. 245kg
3. 260kg

Max
1. 220kg
2. 235kg
3. 240kg (missed)

Tom
1. 220kg
2. 230kg
3. 262.5kg

In summary this was absolutely a fantastic day. Impressive lifting from everyone, and a wonderfully encouraging environment to enjoy. It was an honour to come along and support the Dave’s Gym Powerlifters, even though I didn’t do a very good job of taking photos and pretty much lost my voice from all the shouting for days afterwards. I may or may not have been inspired to take part in the next WSA competition in August....

Watch this space!

-Ruth

Diary of a meathead traveller Part III: Completing GPP in Laos

2013-05-19T12:00:00.001+01:00

Luang Prabang was hot, really bloody hot. Combined with the humidity this time of year in Northern Laos is a true test for the sweater. It took a good two hours to cool down after a session but as I mentioned last time I was now full of beans and I wasn't going to let a minor heat stroke risk deter me from getting through the next three sessions. The gym I found was in a small shopping annex and was a complete change from what I had experienced in Vietnam. My initial thoughts were one of disappointment for although it had all the essential upper body stuff there didn't appear to be a squat rack.

The gym itself was very small, no bigger than the lifting platform area of Dave's, but empty compared to Vietnam. Some of it even spilt out into the annex thoroughfare. In the hallway was the lat pull down, a low row and out of sight around the corner there she was. Heavy framed and in the dark like the fat girl at the school disco she new I was looking. I had three really great sessions there sticking to the same formula of my previous workouts. There was no running in Luang Prabang due to the heat so I opted again for the burpee pyramid and on one occasion some sprints up stairs that lead to a temple.

None of the shops were ever open in this corridor. I did the finisher up and down this very strip.

Sessions
Amped warm + Mobility
Squats
Romanians
Bench press
D/B floor press
S/A row
Face pulls
3x8 60rest for all exercises

Burpee pyramid of death official time 4mins 38s
Or
Ten sprints up the steps (40 metres) walk back down, rest for as long as it took Paul to do his.

As usual in subsequent sessions I substituted in dips and press ups as well as close grip chins and low rows but always kept the legs the same. Practicing my squats or just squatting is very important to any program I write. You can't beat them, they're great and if you're not doing them then report to Dave immediately so he can lambast you until your ears bleed. I think at this stage I also started doing the upper body as push/pull supersets which worked great for keeping my heart rate up. I should probably confess that my burpees are pretty week but at least I'm consistent with every rep. I hope to beat that time when I next do them. It shouldn't be that difficult as that is slow even be geological time scales.

The stair sprints was an interesting challenge. It was hard and my legs we well and truly jellified but a nice change from longer distance running or burpees. Having a mate do it with me was very helpful. It added both competition as well as teamwork a mix not frequently available to the lone wolf gym goer. Especially in this non specific stage of training I highly recommend devising finishers that yourself and a friend can do together regardless of whether you do the same main session.

Just half way up these because I'm lazy

Rest days regardless of how or what you train are to be taken seriously. Remember you are playing the long game and that more training certainly doesn't always equal more results. I tried to have every other day off during this time, something that was not always easy to do. With no set travel itinerary long travel days can get in the way of training but as mentioned last time things don't need to be too regimented in GPP. Rest when you need rest, train when you can was the theory behind my madness and in no uncertain terms I stretched this as far as possible in both Vang Vien and a week later in Don Det. Those of you that have travelled there will no the drill and most of you that know me well know I love a drink and a party. I'll spare you the details and just say when in Rome.

Maybe I went over the top or maybe it's because I knew where my training was heading but these were to be the last two blow outs of my travels. Especially after all the booze in Vang Vien drinking just didn't have the same appeal. The blog although not started yet I knew was going to happen and this definitely focused me even more.

This guy bearly moved the whole time I was watching. Moon bear Luang Prabang Laos

Vientiane was not the easiest place to find a gym but it does exist. Most locals I asked didn't know of it and due to it being just before Laos New year they were mainly focused on boozing and not helping the helpless farlang (Laoatian for white dude).

After some guess work and another long walk I finally stumbled upon the gym and I was nothing short of amazed. No topless men, clean, well equipped and crucially $2. Even the music was half decent which is really saying something; one of probably three gripes I have about Asia is that nowhere plays good tunes. The squat rack was once again free and the sessions I did were of the same ilk as the previous in Loas. As usual substitutes were made to ensure variety apart from the legs which romained (sorry) the same.

Sessions
Amped warm up + mobility
Squats
Romanians
Close grip pull ups
Military press
S/A row
Press ups
Curls s/s triceps push downs

3x8 on everything with 1min rest

Run home 20mins

These were the final sessions of GPP and on reflection I can say I am very happy with what I had achieved since day 1. Given the circumstances I was consistent and well prepared: I was more confident and in a better physical condition then 12 or so sessions before. I was truly looking forward to Westside for skinny bastards and I knew that far from being tired I would only see more progress in weeks to come.

This is a more equipped version of a gym I decided not to train in in Don Det.

Thanks for reading

-Matt

WSA Welsh champs meet report.

2013-05-18T15:26:00.000+01:00

Last weekend I entered the world of powerlifting for the first time. It was a lot of fun.

The last time I stepped on a competitive stage was at the BNBF Bodybuilding Finals. Despite being proud of my achievements the whole experience left me somewhat disillusioned with the fitness industry. I found the subjective nature of physique competition disheartening. The reason being, you can win or lose if the lighting is not suited to your skin, if your tan is off or the judges have a penchant for a certain look. Put simply five months of tough ketogenic dieting and endless cardio was not worth the level of performance at the end, 10 minutes on stage. Its also a very lonely world having to cancel your entire social life for fear of a potato or glass of wine.

So having officially retired from bodybuilding (similar how Arnold retired from Mr Olympia competition in Pumping Iron!) my training had somewhat stalled having no real goals set for a period of 6 months. It had taken me four months to stop weighing carbohydrates at every meal (having done this for best part of half a year it was hard to kick the habit) and finally I'd come to terms that it was not practical to have striated pecks and a shaved chest. Along with the regrowth of my bodily hair came the return of my love for strength. Now that I was eating normally I felt I could attempt to try recover some of my strength lost to the narcissistic world of the bodybuilder.

At this point I feel it important to interject some balance to my negativity towards bodybuilding. The one benefit after competition was my body weight. I cut from a rotund 106 kg to a competition weight of 86kg. When I returned to a normal diet I levelled off at around 88 - 92kg but never returned to my heaviest weight. Somehow my bodies metabolism was operating at a new lower fixed bodyweight, madness!

Anyway having seen the Dave's Gym Powerlifting gang in action and been inspired by their individual strength and hive mentality I signed up for the WSA Welsh Champs. My plan was to hit my current gym 1rm's of 240kg deadlift, 140 bench, 200kg squat. anything else was a bonus. I was aware that my lifts where no where near perfect (who's are when you push your upper limits?) but with 3 weeks until the competition I decided not to change anything technique wise (continue dead-lifting like a question mark). What I did have to learn as stupid as it may sound where the rules of the lifts. When to start and finish can be the difference between a failed and good lift. A few sessions with Owen 'the real deal Hubbard ironed this out.

With my training sorted and a deload week organised in Holland (basically a holiday), the last thing I needed for my powerlifting transformation was kit. Curiously and disappointingly I gazed in to my old body building kit bag and found that my posing trunks, immac for men and half empty bottle of Jan Tanna had no crossover to Powerlifting. Instead I needed knee high socks, some sort of plimsole (these wu shu bad boys donated by the dutch fam http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Feiyue) and a costume which I now call a singlet.

Competition day

The competition was held at Penterdawe British Legion club, we arrived at 9pm for weigh in.

To make sure I weighed in at 90kg, I ate less (surprisingly) and dropped my water for 2 days. Also a large coffee and a disabled toilet before hand

helped ensure my official comp weight of 89.5kg. Lifting began at 11am so we all stuffed our faces with sweets and carbs for the next 2 hours.

The competition itself was great fun, despite being a long day it flew past. I will leave the performances and results to the official report from Ruth Davies (coming soon). But I will say that everyone hit PB's, records were broken and we all had a great day out. The camaraderie between competitors was something I had not seen before. Lifting in front of a crowd and under pressure is a real buzz and its definitely something I will train again for. It was great to see lifters of all experience taking part.

Below are a selection of photos and videos in no particular order.

Dave's Gym team

Owen Hubbard

Max Semple

Craig Joyce

Rogan Allport

Ed Harvey

Tom Clugston

Head Cheerleaders

Dan Clugston

Ruth Davies

Clug Life

Diary of a meathead traveller part II: Cambodia Vietnam General physical preparedness (GPP)

2013-05-09T13:26:00.000+01:00

The following account covers the period before the idea to write the blog arose, a time where the call for revolution was nothing more than the drunken ramblings of a traveler living off his past achievements. For all my emotion and over the topness during the call to arms of my first blog, my initial foray back to the gym didn't last long. As I mentioned though this predates my sad truth epiphany and so this was to be expected. Despite falling short seeds were undoubtedly sown at the end of the 1st week in March and it is for that reason alone that I believe it is where this story should begin.

A chance meeting with a very scatty Irishman whilst looking for a hostel meant that along with the information that he was leaving the country after getting his Cambodian concubine pregnant I now knew where a gym was. I hadn't thought about the gym for six months so it seemed merely a novel outing that would break the otherwise monotonous day to day of Sihanoukville life. The best news at this point was that it would only cost 60p a session. For those of you that have ever had gripes about Dave's Gym I suggest you go to the Sihanoukville Colloseum in Cambodia (my name not theirs) and get the reality check that you need. I didn't take any photos unfortunately but the internet doth provide.

http://www.sihanoukville-cambodia.com/sihanoukville-businesses/newb/adidas.html

I bet you are thinking "that's not too bad, there is no reality check here". Let me stop you there. Those photos are extremely generous. When I turned up I didn't even realise that there was a sauna. There were motorbikes inside the gym and everyone to a man despite their physical condition was topless. What's more, it was easier to find my underarm hair at nine years old than two plates or dumbbells of the same weight. I must confess I had to join the skins team as the heat was unbearable. By the end of the session I was a mere dried husk of a man, broken but nevertheless gorging on the endorphins I had long forgotten about.

Session (memory slightly hazy)

Amped warm + Mobility
Zercher squats
Dumbbell Romanian deadlifts
Close grip chins
Straight arm pull downs
Press ups
Dumbbell military press
Ab roll outs

All exercises 3 sets of 8 reps increasing weight each set.

The following few days were painful to say the least but I was glad I had done the work. I can't say much for the session other than I was conscious about correct technique and weight wasn't a priority. Also with it being full body I wanted to have all major movement patterns in there. In subsequent sessions I would substitute in unilateral movements for both upper and lower body. Lunges, single arm rows and single arm shoulder press if I remember rightly.

Three sessions got my pickle well and truly tickled but as so often with the early stages of training the slightest bump in the road can have the wheels off quicker than a cheetah with jet enginelike flatulence. Kampot, a sleepy town near the Vietnam border didn't look like it would have a gym so I simply didn't investigate the matter any further. Pitiful I know but I have nothing to offer in my defence. Again my ego got the better of me and neither a run nor a bodyweight exercise took place. A gym monkey through and through.

It was to be two weeks before I again crossed the threshold of a gym this time in Hoi An central coast Vietnam. The gym had no name and resembled a dog kennel with wire fencing making up the fourth wall. About the same width and half as long again as the dumbbell area of Dave's space was at a premium. Thankfully though there was a squat rack and wouldn't you know it, nobody used it. For the first time in nearly seven months I did some actual bonified squats. With the barbell once again massaging my somewhat shrunken traps I came over all silly and even did a finisher.

Sessions

Amped warm + Mobility
Squats
Barbell Romanians
Bench
Lat pull downs
D/B military press
S/A row

3sets of 8reps 60s rest

Descending burpee pyramid from 10reps with forty metre run in between each set.

In the three separate sessions I did substituted in front squats and close grip chins (assisted of course) but the overall aim was the same as in Cambodia; full body, form, range of movement, short rest periods. The 40 metre distance for the conditioning was dictated by the size of the car park and the finisher itself was a sort of sick reward/challenge for having not smoked for eight weeks. The wheels I felt were back on and a more strategic plan was being formed.

Westside would be next but not before another two weeks of GPP. Slightly off piste here, if you are wondering why there are no guns in these sessions the photos will hopefully appease you.

"Check out these pythons." Curling a Burmese python in central highlands Vietnam

GPP programmes are not supposed to be too regimented. Depending on your starting point this phase can take anywhere from 3 to 6weeks. In my case I was aiming for 3 weeks roughly 9-12session Your main focus should be understanding the techniques of the exercises that you will take with you into a more specific programme later and not how much weight you are lifting. Performing push, pull, upper, lower, single arm, single leg movements in each workout or across the week will stand most people in good stead. Light conditioning can also be undertaken but remember not to spin to many plates at once as you don't want to finish GPP burnt out unable to make improvements at the next stage.

Finally, establishing an effective warm up that both increases body temperature and mobility is also fundamental to GPP. Warm ups are over looked time and time again by gym goers. Just remember that every serious athlete does one and that means you should too.

The last stop on this part of my tale is Hanoi northern Vietnam at Club Olympia. Two embarrassing things happened during my 3 outings but for rather different reasons. The first came about because I erroneously picked the wrong end of the street when looking for the gym and the second because I obviously don't cut the foreboding shape I once did. Due to my gamble not paying off it took me nearly an hour to get to the gym and so on returning to my hotel afterwards I did something no Dave's Gym lifer has ever done. I ran home. At the risk of further calls of Judas! I have to admit I rather enjoyed it. It felt like I'd run for an hour although it was more like 16mins, my calves were like tennis balls and my legs like lead piping but it was a good feeling.

I was so encouraged by this seminal moment that I ran to and from the gym for my next 2 sessions , bloody mentalist that I am. On entering the weights room my eyes strained to see through the sea of topless men, a common feature of this part of the world, for a squat rack and somewhere to warm up. Whilst doing this a local man with good english encouraged me to the upstairs room. He had a peculiar tone to his voice and when I asked why I should bother when clearly all the free weights I needed were in front of me he replied with a very straight face "this is the heavy room". Mortified I left to go upstairs to warm up wandering whether I should just sack it all off and join in the aerobics class next door.

Sessions

Squats working up to a 5rep max
Romanians
Wide chins 3 sets max reps
Horizontal cable row
Press ups
D/B shoulder press
Tricep push downs

The only photo the internet had.

I did the same session on all three visits with exercises following the old 3x8 rule. It doesn't take a genius to work out why the squats where done differently. My bruised ego needed a massage after the heavy room comment and if nothing else I wanted it to be known that I had cock worth measuring. The joke really was on me in the end because 100kg was all I could manage. Despite the realisation that I am no stronger than a school girl I was feeling more confident with each session and I wanted to only improve further in Luang Prabang northern Laos which was to be my next stop.

Thanks again for reading

-Matt

Dave's Gym Method. 4 week conditioning phase. Week 1. Day 1.

2013-04-30T10:37:00.000+01:00

That's not an empty bar I'm struggling with - it has a chained rhino attached to it. Honest.

Q: What's the difference between a professional athlete in almost any sport and your average gym rat? Don't worry, this is not a trick question or the start of a bad joke, but a genuine enquiry.

A: The main difference is that athletes train to perform and not to merely look good.

The thing is that by training for performance they all end up in fantastic shape.

Do you think that anyone of these 2012 Olympic athletes gave a single solitary fuck about the size of their arms/arse/shoulders or do you think that they were more preoccupied in trying to jump higher, run faster, lift heavier or whatever?

My guess would be the latter.

So will jacking in your gym membership (please don't) and taking up volleyball get you in the best shape of your life?

No.

Although doing whatever sport they do contributes to an athlete's shape, where those bodies are forged, molded and constructed is in the training for their sport. And that, my little blogranauts, means the gym.

Make no mistake, every professional sportsperson trains in the gym and lifts weights. Every. Single. One.

Some like marathon runners will probably only do 1 or 2 gym sessions and the focus on those sessions will be strength and injury prevention. Others like shot-putters will spend 80% of their training time in the gym and only 20% actually chucking cannonballs down a field.

So if doing volleyball alone won't get you in to sick shape will doing volleyball and your regular gym sessions transform you into an Olympic God?

No.

The secret (not a very secret secret) of an athletes consistent progression is twofold.

They have a coach, and they listen to what the coach is telling them, and then they follow the advice of the coach as if their professional career depends on it. Which of course it does. Your average gym goer hardly ever gets a proper program from a trainer and if they do it's treated more like a series vague suggestions. One of the problems is the Internet and the ease of which you can get buried under vast amounts of contradicting views and opinions. There is good stuff out there but it's like looking for nuggets of gold in a mountain of shit.
They all follow, almost without exception, periodised programs and don't endlessly slog away at the same, boring gym routine. As the mighty Dan John says "Everything works . . . for 4-6 weeks."

What is a periodised program?

Well, here's the Wikipedia explanation -
Periodization is the systematic planning of athletic or physical training.^[1] It involves progressive cycling of various aspects of a training program during a specific period. It is a way of alternating training to its peak during season. The aim of periodization is to introduce new movements as one progresses through the macrocycle to specify one's training right up until the start of the season

But put in simple terms - Change the focus of your training from time to time.

Let's say you want to be stronger. One of the best way to train for strength (I'm going to be very, very general about this.) is to establish your 1 rep max on the big four lifts (Bench, Squat, Deadlift, Press) and do 5 sets of 3-5 reps with 85%, or more, of your 1RM. Try to add some weight to the bar over the course of the next 6 weeks or so and then re-test your 1RM. Providing you've trained hard, eaten well and had lots of rest you should be stronger.

Simple.

Except it's not quite that easy. This might work reasonably well for a beginner or for a more seasoned trainer that has not done specific strength training for a looooong time. The problem is that strength is not linear and is, sadly, finite. So you can't keep adding a bit more weight to the bar, ad infinitum, and hope that your body will continue to adapt.

The smart trainer would keep the strength training going for 6-12 weeks and then change to a different tack. For example hypertrophy for 4-8 weeks, which is all about making your muscles bigger. If your muscles are bigger, then you'll be heavier and if you're heavier then that will help your ability to apply more force to a static object. Which, with a good strength training program, will make you stronger.

Simply alternating between 6-12 weeks of strength training and 4-8 weeks of hypertrophy will give you infinitely better results then you could possibly get with just regular gym plodding.

And that, in a nut-shell, is periodisation.

It can be simple:

Or complex:

For the past 6 weeks Rhod and I have been doing a hypertrophy program, which has gone well. Rhod has got himself up to his all time heaviest at a massive 82.5kg of throbbing muscle and I'm an ungainly, wobbling 115kg.

If we continued thrashing away at the ol' hypertrophy then it would stop working so it's time for a change.

Rhod has got a football tournament coming up in a month which gives us the perfect reason to head straight into 4 weeks of conditioning.

Here is the workout:

Thanks for reading,
Dave Carter,
Dave's Gym,
Cardiff.

The importance of being earnest: Diary of a meathead traveller

2013-04-29T13:08:00.003+01:00

Some of you will remember me. Some of you won't. Some of you will have cried at my leaving and others will have jumped for joy. Whatever your feelings (if you have joined in the last 7 months you won't have any but that's ok as well) I hope you find this series both helpful and amusing.

I am currently on hiatus, taking time away from the gym to chase the intrepid dream. For the first six and half months I haven't lifted a finger. The first three months was fine, I told myself, "your body could do with a rest". What it didn't need was 20 smokes a day, a shit load of beer etc combined with my idleness as well as the next three and a half months doing nothing. In truth I have been shamed back in to the gym. I simply cannot bare the thought of returning to Dave's back in the shape I was in when I started in 2006. To make matters worse I have realised a sad truth. The lifestyle I have begun to lead while on the road is just a slightly more extreme version of how I behave back at home. At home I drink too much at the weekends, smoke too occasionally to be an occasional smoker and have little concern for what I eat so long as when I get on the scales I'm over 15st stone. The reason I don't have the extremes of behaviour is merely because I am fortunate enough to work in a gym. Secretly I think I can justify this behaviour by being marginally stronger than your average Joe Blogs. Having taken a rather a large step back from it all both figuratively and geographically I can see how pathetic this is.

Despite this indulgence and self loathing I feel a change in the proverbial winds. The break has got me thinking about how much better I would be if I had been just a little bit more serious, a little more consistent. In essence doing all the things I've been telling you lot to do for the last four years. On returning from my sabbatical in the sun I need and indeed want things to be different.

"trust the Scots to represent perfectly my life until my return to gym" Bamboo island

Cambodia

This blog therefore is to keep me honest. To help me leave behind all the apathy of the previous years and to help me build on what I have learnt over the last five (for it has not been all time wasted). It is a way for me to put my head on the block and get rid of the old "do as I say not as I do," attitude. To help me move toward the genuine achievement of completing short and long term goals. I intend this new era of my personal fitness to be transparent so that all may hold me accountable for both failure and success. In the words of some tribal guru magi Yoda type figure that lives high on the wise hills in a
humble cave , "Let us begin."

This is what smoking a pipe from the age of eight looks like in old age. Central highlands Vietnam

Setting goals or targets is not something I have ever done publicly but it is clear that anyone who is successful be it businessmen, champion tiddly winkists or career serial killers, seem to at least make lists. Here is mine.

Short term goals
1) Quit smoking for good
2) Stop drinking until I return home
3) Complete 8 weeks of Westside for skinny bastards
4) Return to Dave's Gym in better shape than when I left

Long term goals
1) Play professional rugby
2) Develop a viable PT business that makes me shit loads of cash
3) Become UKSCA certified
4) Squat two hundred kg
5) Coach elite athletes or athlete

These two lists can be added to, but now they are written they may not be shortened. Total transparency remember. Some of these you may think a little out of reach but then what is the point if these goals are easily achieved. Nothing should be off the menu when setting goals. If one applies themselves fully and comes up short the only lesson to quote The Rolling Stones is "you can't always get what you want," and we all already knew that. The important thing is that the goals are real in the sense that they stir something inside, something that makes you want to get up a grab them.

The programme is going to have to be good to bring this bad boy out of the depths of deepest taboo.

The goals above have that quality and therefore for me at least are worth pursuing. I have actually already started achieving some short term goals. On the 1st of February I quit smoking for the final time after completing the book Alan Carr's easy way to stop smoking. When can you say that you have achieved quitting smoking for good I hear you ask? It's probably easier to re phrase the target to 'become a non smoker,' which I feel that I am. On the day I am writing this it is three months since my last cancer stick and I can assure you the time will only increase. To go along with this early success things are moving along positively with regards to short term goals 2,3 and 4 and it is these that will be the subject of blogs to follow.

Thanks for reading,

Matt

Dave's Gym Powerlifting Team

2013-04-04T14:40:00.001+01:00

What is Powerlifting?

One of many blog entries soon to erupt through the Dave’s gym blog like a menacing volcano destined to cover continents.

Powerlifting combines three static strength lifts into one monumental total of awesomeness. The total derives from the numbers achieved from the one rep max of each lift. You have three attempts at each lift to reach your maximum effort & accumulate a total & the lifter with the best total is victorious. The three lifts are the only three lifts you will ever need to succeed in life. Powerlifting will transform you into a machine that is worthy of Asgard and to lift Thors’ mighty hammer!

Lift one… The Squat

Many attempt, many fail. Those who succeed reach the heights of such prestigious characters as Kratos, Djimon Hounsou & Chuck Norris. Wait… Nobody reaches Chuck Norris. But I’m positive he would tell you to squat.

Squat consists of the barbell, some collars and a shit load of weight… And if you’re good enough some spotters.

As seen in the illustration shows:

The bar rests on the shoulders and the person stands upright with their chest high.

Hips breaks, knees slightly forward and lower oneself into a seated position.

Once the hip joint is below parallel to the knee the lifter stands upright with maximal effort. (Screaming optional) The lift is completed when the bar is returned to the rack.

Lift two… The Bench Press

How much you lift brah?

Unrack the iron. Lower the weight until the bar is motionless on the chest. Wait for the command ‘Press’ then fully extend until the triceps are locked. It is important that the feet are flat and motionless throughout the lift and arse and shoulder blades are firmly placed on the bench. Any movement of the feet or lifting of the arse is considered a red light and a no lift. It is also considered a fail if the bar descends at any point of the lift.

Lift three… The Deadlift

The third and hardest lift... Mainly due to you being royally messed up after a heavy day of lifting! Fortunately it is the least technical (rules wise). The best advice I have been given on how to Deadlift was from the Aussies in the Commonwealth Championships… “Just pick it up and put it daaaaannnnn mate!!!” They also said “zip in and rip it mate” but this made no sense to me.

The lifter grasps the bar and pulls from the floor making sure the chest is high and the back is tight. You are expected to pull until the shoulders are back, knees are locked and hips are pulled through. The lift is complete when the referee commands the bar to the floor under the control of the lifter.

Summary for all three lifts

If the lift is easy, add more weight. Rinse and repeat!

Dave’s Gym Powerlifting team train Monday to Friday around 5pm. Sessions are focused primarily on the competitive lifts.

Monday – Squat (5pm)

Tuesday – Bench (5:30pm)

Wednesday – Deadlift (5:30pm)

Thursday – Bench (5:30pm)

Friday – Squat (5pm)

Anyone interested technique, getting into competition or general compound strength, speak to one of the Dave’s Gym staff for details or come along at 5pm, we are not hard to miss. (Follow the ink)

The lifters

Owen Hubbard, one of the founders of the team...With the most ink and the loudest voice. He owns the bar we train with and he lets everyone know about it! Competes as a junior as a fat 83kg….. ranked 7^th in the world and is British champion.

Records in competition (equipped) include:

Squat – 297.5kg
Bench – 225kg
Deadlift – 260kg

Unequipped lifts include

Squat – 230kg
Bench – 165kg
Deadlift – 255kg

Owen is currently training for the European juniors for Great Britain in April. Hopes to total 800kg with a 305kg squat, 232.5kg bench and a 272.5kg Deadlift (equipped).

Training Song: Slipknot – Pulse of the Maggot

Ben Heaton… The right hand man and cofounder of the team. Ben constantly believes that winter is forever coming and trains for this purpose. Ben has lifted in two competitions so far and is making all kinds of gains! Currently training for the British Unequipped Championships and is also competing in May in the Welsh Powerlifting Championships

Records in competition (unequipped) include:

Squat – 147.5kg
Bench – 137.5kg
Deadlift – 215kg

Ben has recently decided to get shredded and is now in the 74kg weight class, dropping from the 83kg class… And the lifts have gone up!

Training Song: Rammstein – Ich Will

Ed is the other 74kg category lifter in the team and considers himself as quite the director with the camera, however this is not his only strength. Ed seems to have the ability to grind every lift out which will help him in the competition in May.

Ed is lifting in the 74kg class and is hoping for the following lifts:

Squat – 145kg
Bench – 100kg
Deadlift – 175kg

Training Song: 2Pac – Hit ‘Em Up

Max ‘why you no lockout’ Simpson is the next promising lifter. With the frame of a 105kg guy and a bodyweight of 90kg his weights defy all logic. Max is still yet to compete in a competition however is training for the WSA Welsh Championships in May and his lifts are competitive.

In May Max is hoping to lift (Unequipped):

Squat – 215kg
Bench – 145kg
Deadlift – 220kg

If he’s not lifting he’s certainly not loading… You will find him on the bench or eating a milkway bar when it’s his time to load. Watch out for this fiend!

Training Song: High on Fire – Snakes for the Divine

Craig ‘Monkey arms’ Joyce is the resident small guy of the team. Weighing a slender but powerful 56kg he is known for his insane Deadlift’s & has been training for many years however has only competed in a handful of competitions He is also hoping to compete in May and put to shame some guys who weigh doubles his weight!

In May Craig is hoping to lift (Unequipped):

Squat – 110kg
Bench – 85kg
Deadlift – 170kg

If you ever need to be baffled by ridiculous science knowledge or facts… Craig is your man!

Training Song: AC/DC – Highway to Hell

Max Semple (or just big max for short) is the big man of the team. His weight is unknown but in Powerlifting terms he is known as super heavy. New to Powerlifting but is living the dream and is straight into kit already… However it is triple ply which basically means all lifts do not count. He is also competing unequipped in May in 125kg + category but does have his sights on a lower category in the future.

Max is hoping for the following lifts:

Squat – 170kg
Bench – 120kg
Deadlift – 220kg

As you can see max insists on wearing the brightest clothing in the attempt that nobody will realise he isn’t hitting depth...

Training Song: Eminem – Lose Yourself

Rogan Allport has taken his reputation as a rebel to brand new heights and has transferred from Powerlifting to Olympic Weightlifting. Therefore no more will be said about this individual.

Training Song: Greenday – She’s a Rebel

The Lads

Handstand Workshop, Sunday 24th of March

2013-03-21T16:27:00.003+00:00

** HANDSTAND WORKSHOP **

Sun 24th May, 12-3pm, £10

Spend 3 hours with Dan learning how to start developing your basic hand-balancing ability and the drills & skills needed to work towards a technically proficient gymnastics handstand.

You'll learn the progressions required to work up to the handstand safely, how to perform the skills correctly and the basic principles needed to effectively coach yourself to keep improving in the future.

This workshop is suitable for beginners and will take place in the padded Dojo area, upstairs at Daves Gym.

Limited places - book now & pay in advance at the main desk in the gym.

A New Routine.

2013-03-19T10:32:00.002+00:00

Amidst the drivel about gigs and solving the economic crisis there is, upon rare occasion, the odd article about exercise and training on this here blog. Keen and loyal readers (both of you), will have been following, with mild indifference, my ongoing plight - that of the aged iron hoister being prostrated by injury and apathy.

Lifting heavy was wreaking me and I wasn't enjoying constantly having an injury to try to train around. So after much deliberation, discussion and pondering we (Rhod and I) decided to give the Destroy and Flood program a go. You can read about it in more detail here but it is the evil brain-child of our very own Gaz Tamplin and, if how I feel the day after trying it for the first time is anything to go by, he's a twat.

So for the first time in YEARS I'm doing a bodybuilding style program - albeit a twisted and fiendish version of one. It's one thing to train like a bodybuilder but for this to be successful I also need to eat like a bodybuilder.

The key to eating like a bodybuilder (important note: this is how to eat like a natural bodybuilder and not one that uses steroids. Not that I'm knocking those who choose a life of pharmacological enhancement but I really can't be fucked with them) is to eat clean and often and slam in lots of protein.

You also don't want to be shy of carbohydrates or calories. This sort of training is exhausting and tears the muscles to pieces. You're going to need lots of time to repair and mend those mighty sinews.

Protein

Chicken. Beef. Pork. Aardvark. Whey. Eggs. Dairy. Badger. etc. Lots of these about 5 times per day.

Carbs

Rice. Pasta. Bananas. Oats. Potato. Sweet potato. Bread. Don't be scared of the carb. There is no need to fear them. They don't make you fat. Eating too much and not moving around enough makes you fat. As a general rule the brown versions of them are better.

Fat

Extra Virgin Olive Oil. Coconut Oil. Avocados. Oily fish. Butter. Fat is good for you and that is a hard, empirical, scientific fact. Just don't eat too much as it will send your calorie count through the roof.

The First Workout

We got onto a crosstrainer and, over 10 minutes, worked up the levels until we were out of breath and starting to sweat. This is important. Take your time and get warmed up properly.
Mobility time. With both of us having a week off from training we were feeling very stiff and stagnant so lots of this was needed. We did 3 sets on each of the following; Romanians, Bish walks, Goblet squats, Press behind neck and Band pull aparts.
Deadlifts done with the hex-bar and of boxes. 3 sets 5 reps done as a warm up.
Deadlifts done with the hex-bar and of boxes. 8 sets of 5 reps. Each set of deadlifts were supersetted with either Shrugs or Hammer curls for sets of 20-30 reps. Deadlifts DESTROY the muscle. The other exercise FLOODS it.
Bent over rows. 4 sets 5 reps. Supersetted with either Dumbell Pullovers or Curls.

The Aftermath

Bone deep pain in every single muscle. Huzzah!

Thanks for reading,
Dave Carter,
Dave's Gym,
Cardiff.