After a LOT of consideration, I have decided to try Jim Wendler's 5/3/1 training program. It took a lot of thinking because, after 4-5 months of Faleev's 5x5 training (5 sets of 5: if you succeed, put the weight up 5kg next week), Wendler's approach seems ludicrously light. You see, traditiona...
Continue reading ...
The Good News My powerlifting raining is progressing slowly, but surely. At the end of week eight of dedicated training, my lifts currently stand somewhere around: Squat: 170kg (based on a 7 rep max of 140kg) Bench: 120kg (based on a 4 rep max of 110kg) Deadlift: 215kg (based on a 7 rep max of...
Continue reading ...
Alongside the deadlift, there can be no argument that the squat is the King of Exercises (in weight lifting, anyway). Some even rate the squat higher than the deadlift, but that's a matter of much discussion. Simply put, squats rock. They ravage the majority of muscles in your entire body, burn...
Continue reading ...
Today, I have come to Muscle and Fitenss in Townsville to meet Joel, the mastermind behind Adventurethon. In fact, it was his infectious enthusiasm for the event that got me to upgrade from simply volunteering to help out, to taking part in the Enduro race, being filmed for two TV shows and expan...
Continue reading ...After a day of hiking around Mossman Gorge in the Daintree Rainforest, we have returned to Port Douglas. Here, it is imperative that I perform a feat of strength. For tonight it is the Full Moon. Alas, finding feats of strength in a tourist town like this is not easy. Of hats, there are plent...
Continue reading ...
In training for Adventurethon 2013, I decided I needed some help. Some advice. Some (dare I say it) training. You see, no matter what I do to train for my Enduro Adventurethon (14km of open sea kayaking, 21km of mountain biking and 12km of off-road running) I will be totally and utterly unprepare...
Continue reading ...
What's the first thing that pops to mind when you think "triathlon"? How about when you think "Adventurethon"? How about when you think about the individual sports of kayaking, mountain biking and off-road running? It's probably brute strength, right? Right. That's why, in preparation for my fo...
Continue reading ...What better way to start a new year than with a personal best in the gym? How about THREE PERSONAL BESTS IN A ROW? That do anything for ya? That's levitation, Holmes. Nah, only kidding. I didn't fly. What I did, however, was perform my three best sets of squats ever, one after the other. Befor...
Continue reading ...[caption id="attachment_1541" align="aligncenter" width="640"] Squatting in the name of the Lord...[/caption]...
Continue reading ...
Friends, I have done it! "Done what?", you ask? Why, nothing less than the TEN TON CHALLENGE! Sadly, this is simply something I invented myself and it isn't that hard. Still, it was something to work towards. Essentially, the goal is to shift ten tons of iron in one half-hour long squat session, c...
Continue reading ...
When I got in last night, I sat down on the sofa...and did not get up again. So depleted of energy was my body that I half-sat half-lay in a state of near comatose until, eventually, I summoned up the testicular fortitude to turn on my Xbox...before falling asleep. What marathon of physical exert...
Continue reading ...
Much as people who don't go to the gym like to think of working out as mindless pumping of iron (which it is for some) the reality is that, as with everything, once you progress beyond being a beginner, there is much more to the activity than perhaps meets the eye. It's the same feeling I get fro...
Continue reading ...I'm nearly there!. This is installment three of four in my "I kinda try to train along these lines" guide for anybody interested in how I train. If anybody out there is actually interested, I will eat my own hat. As a man who owns no hats, I'll also have to go out and purchase a hat. This I fear...
Continue reading ...Behold. Now cometh day two of "Sometimes I train like this..." - my attempt to summarise roughly how I like to train on a good week. It is subject to change and outright lies. Today I shall explain the joy of Tuesday, or Tiwesdæg in Old English. This means Tyr's Day, which is lovely. (Tyr bein...
Continue reading ...After Monday night's painful chest and back experience, I decided Tuesday morning needed a shock to get my body going... ...so I did the same again! That's right, just to totally mess with my mind and body, I went back to the gym and did another session targeting the exact same muscles. This time...
Continue reading ...
[caption id="attachment_619" align="alignleft" width="179"] I had no relevant pictures, so here is my enormous drinking horn.[/caption] Good news! Somehow - don't ask how - I have been confusing my body weight conversations (from stone to kg) for the last year or so. I can now say with certainty ...
Continue reading ...Today, I intended to take things easy. Today, I wanted to do a light workout, to make sure I'm full on energy for Tough Guy at the weekend. Today, I did not want to deadlift... ...but that was before somebody told me I couldn't. "You'll never lift that" was the exact expression used. "N...
Continue reading ...