I haven’t been posting for a while as I decided to take a break from Bodybuilding. I have been working on other athletic skills as I did in 2008 when I learned to kickbox. This year I have been Crossfitting so I have been having gymnastic and Olympic weightlifting lessons. I am making slow progress but I hope that these will only add to my athletic look as I think a combination of a weightlifter and gymnast must be one awesome dude!

I have enjoyed a relaxation of my diet somewhat. I have kept on with my training and supplements but I have been having more treats than I would have when preparing for a contest and far more carbs.

I will try to clean the diet up again after New Year although I am only 89kg at the moment. I like to stay below 90kg for a good balance of size and leanness.

I will be posting more often in the New Year so stay tuned

John

I notice Ian hasn’t posted a blog today or yesterday so I thought I would help.
Ian had some terrible news this week. One of his clients and friends passed away after battling cancer. I met him myself just a few weeks ago and he was a lovely fella. This has really shook Ian up as I know he has been a support for David as well as trainer and friend. Our workout yesterday began somewhat subdued but I know Ian as usual took a negative and turned it into a positive by channelling his grief into his workout.
We trained legs yesterday. Simple as usual but my hamstrings are tight and sore today.
The session began with Leg Extensions and Leg Curls supersets, 5 sets of 10-15 reps. The last 2 sets to failure. Quick pace as usual with Ian, Chris and myself just rotating.
We then did 3 sets of front squats. Just chance to catch our breath when we were under the bar again.
Then onto legs press. Smooth controlled reps with squeezing on each rep. 3 sets of 15 were killers.
We then moved onto the outside landing and did lunge walks., about 3 minutes non stop.
Finish was straight leg deadlifts with dumbells. I didnt have much left at this point but managed to squeeze out 3 sets of 10.
Nothing new but the intensity and technique Ian and Chris use makes every workout count. That is so important. Never waste a workout.
I hope Ian doesn’t mind my post. It is just a testament to the guy and his positive attitude.

Sorry I havent posted for a while. I have been sulking due to picking up an injury playing a game of footie with the the kids on the field.

I have had a sore heel for months since my Gladiators audition last year. I thought it was my achilles but in retrospect it appears it was the plantar fascia. 2 weeks ago I sustained a tear in my foot. It was agony for a few days and put me right off training although I did manage an upper body session.

After 3 sessions of physio it is much improved and although I still get pain when walking or trying to run, I can start weight training again.

Diet going well. Just got my delivery of VP2 and XGF today so managing to keep focussed. Diet at moment is
Oats/Whey/Udo’s/Goji Berries
XGF and nuts
Chicken/Salad/Udo’s/piri piri
XGF and Nuts
Chicken/Veg/Udo’s/Piri piri
Scrambled eggs

Plenty water and green tea plus my 3 cups of coffee per day. We all need some vices.

I will post my training schedule in next few days. Trying one of Ians Growth weeks this week with just 3 sessions. Hard not training, especially today when I had a spare hour at gym and just sat and read a book.

Following on from my Strongman session the other week with Jamie Allonby I had a taster of Olympic Lifting yesterday.
I have done power cleans, Hang cleans, push press and dumbell snatch for years but never really trained with anyone to assess my technique.
Yesterday we just did 5 x 5 on the clean. I had my grip changed (much like my first golf lesson), was told to start the move with the bar further away from my shins instead of touching like in the deadlift. Both these things felt strange on the first couple of sets but quickly became more natural. I then added a kind of front squat into the move. Not quite olympic style where they catch the bar low down and drive up but it certainly got my lungs going adding a front squat into each clean.
We were only used 60kg for all 5 sets but by the end I felt that my technique was much improved. Next week we will refresh and add a bit of weight.
We then went onto kettlebell snatch. We did singles first. 5 reps each with 20kg, 24kg, 28kg and 32kg. Then 1 set of 5 with 2 x 20kg’s. I will have to get the gym to buy some more 24, 28, and 32’s so we can do double arms with them.
Good session. Felt energised afterwards and even did some cardio last night!