SHOULDERS & BICEPS AT EVOLUTION GYM TRAINED BY Ms JONES

Tues 27th Dec 2011

What better way to finish the year off than a shoulder & bicep session at John Hodgsons EVOLUTION GYM, Rochdale, put through my paces by the legendary Kimberley Anne Jones. Was a total change for me used to dishing out the orders to Bodster & Spartan but today i was on the receiving end. One to One ass kicking under the extremely watchful eye of Ms Jones. The kit & equipment is second to none at EVOLUTION GYM & always made to feel welcome by John & Paul. Usually its John thats unleashing hell on me but he was having a week off & since Kim was up in the area i was the lucky one. Kim truly is the A-Z of bodybuilding exercises & her eye for detail is absolutely amazing. The things she picks up on, sees is truly awesome you can almost hear her brain ticking away as i was doing the exercises. Anyway by the end of doing delts using 5 specialised movements to hit the targeted areas my shoulders were toast!
After shoulders i was taken through 4 different movement for biceps all of which hit the muscle like a bunsen burner! By the end of the session i was sure id grown by 10ft in width!
After having my recovery drink, showered & changed we met up with John & Mikey Smith, a top 3 British finalist, & hit Frankie & Bennys for food. mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm.
A great meal with some of my best friends & mentors. An absoultely fab day in all apart from the drive home my arms felt like lead :)

WELCOME TO THE GUN SHOW!

Great arm session with the boys tonight. Triceps first, starting with rope pushdowns, a couple of warm up sets ending with an all out set with a couple of forced reps & a triple drop. Then it was on to single cable reverse extensions 1 warm up set then 1 all out set with a couple of forced, all done with good strict form. Now they were pre exhausted onto close-grip press on the Smith machine. Always feel these better after pre exhausting so my chest doesn't take over. Ended these with a couple of negatives, a great training partner is essential & im lucky enough to have 2 of the best. Wayne is crazy strong on triceps, well hes crazy strong full stop but even he was feeling it by now. We finished tri's off with 2 sets of bench dips. Haven't done these in a while & we forgot how good they were!
Biceps began with ez curls 2 warm up sets then an all out set with forced & a drop set. These are done very strict & instead of leaning back when tired we lean in to make it extra hard & again essential to have a good training partner who knows when to step in. Next up was 2arm incline curls, these are harsh & Wayne hates them. Infact so does Bodster. Hard to imagine its just a little over a year since Bodster tore his bicep off. The guy is a true warrior & hes getting his weights up now to decent poundages while his fishing wire in his arm holds it in place! 2 sets of db hammer curls  & 1 drop set of cable curls was enough to toast our arms. Job done roll on quads tomorrow!

Training alone on chest day

I knew in advance i was training chest alone today, not a bodypart i like training alone, infact training without Bodster & Spartan sucks but I love training so much i still really enjoy it & always push to the max with a little help from Craig the manager always willing to lend a hand.
Still maintaining my strength which is good, maxed out on the 1st exercise, Incline db press with 40kg for 6 reps & 1 forced. Ive always loved this exercise & i have always felt it in the right place.  I see SO many people using poor form on chest exercises, using their front delts, hunching their shoulders forward, locking elbows out. All in a quest to get the weight from A to B! Need better chest development? Retract them shoulder blades lift your ribcage right up & DON'T lock elbows out.
Anyway following the presses i used one of the Hammer Strength machines for2 sets, the last set bring a drop set. Then flat DB flyes & finally 2 sets of pek flyes with a triple drop. My chest always gets pumped after the 1st warm up set so i always end up with a crazy burn.
Recovery drink straight in then roll on back day tomorrow!

Leeds & legs

Sunday was a great day at the UKFBB Leeds qualifier where there was a112 competitors! Wow! The place was buzzing & it was a great atmosphere. Kay & I spent most of our time helping my good friend Karen Mariller (Showtan) backstage glazing the competitors after she'd tanned them. It was great to catch up with a few people & there were some great physiques onstage battling it out for a place at the British finals in 2 weeks.
We got home late & my usual Sunday night cheat meal was a XL Burger King bacon & cheeseburger whopper..oh & half of Kays which she couldn't eat :)yum.

Today was back to the drawing board hitting calves & quads with Bodster. As tired as we both were we were both really strong tonight. Using Musclefury's NITRIC THUNDER is a huge advantage especially on leg day. We hit seated calf raise, toe press & standing calf raise on the hack machine. We like doing them on here we just feel it on the calves more. Then on to squats where we both hit personal bests. For me doing squats has always been really dodgy due to my back problems & so ive mostly always done front squats. But since working with my biomechanics coach ive been able to do them pain free for the 1st time in years! We then did leg press, 2 sets, hacks ass in the bucket for 2 sets & finished off with a crazy burn on leg extensions. Bodster & I were on the Hizoos!! Killing it my buddy awesome sesh!

Where were we last Friday?

Last Friday we were lost in the intensity & atmosphere in Grants Gym Darlington, all 3 of us in our Leg Day bubble where everyone else in the gym (& it was busy) just seemed to be invisible & the noise was just our 3 voices & breathing! We were all up for it, beginning with calves; seated calf raise then toe press on the leg press machine. They were on fire!! We then moved on to hammies with BB stiff legged deadlifts, lying leg curls where the boys can use the stack for reps on this machine so i had to come up with a way they were hurting too! It helped we did stiff leggs 1st. Then we moved on to extensions, toes on the negative part, going slow to feel the inner tear drop & oh we felt it ok!! Frog hack squats were next followed by 1 legged squats where our 1 foot was raised on a bench behind so its kind of like a lunge, gripping weight too. Spartan the freak he is thought he'd hold 40kg on his last set to failure, impressive to watch. Bodsters will to never give up was awesome too & by the end of sissy squats we were shot down!! Now next leg sesh is the last 1 all 3 of us will be together for a while as Spartans leave is up so i will conjure up something gruesome for the battlefield. Theses training sessions are fantastic & I love the way we push eachother to places where many wouldn't go. But we have to do things others don't to achieve things others won't.

THE A TEAM ARE IN BUSINESS!

Training right now is awesome! Bodster & Spartan make up the crazy team in the Gym. Spartan is on leave for 3 weeks (hes a Para) so the 3 of us bounce off eachother & motivation is through the roof. These guys are the best training partners ever & are priceless in my progress. Monday we switched to delts & tri's Tuesday back & calves. Records were broken & effort was maxed out in Grants Gym Darlington. Atmosphere is always brilliant & just what you need for a hardcore workout. Single hammer rows with 100kg a side; boom!! We finish with deadlifts rather than start with them. Hyperextensions 1st then 2 sets of heavy deadlifts to finish our backs with. We don't do the usual powerlifting style we keep constant tension on the target area, the lower back, so lower to mid-shin level & rather then hyperextending at the top we come straight back down with no rest, causing an extreme pump in the lower back. Roll on leg day on Thursday!

Bio-mechanics assessment at EVOLUTION GYM

Monday 1st August another trip to John Hodgsons EVOLUTION GYM in Rochdale. Had a great back & calf workout, high rep day & a great pump. Afterwards my 2nd appointment with Rachel France, a UK Bio-mechanics coach whom i first met at the British Grand Prix. Rachel assessed me back in June & not surprisingly the movement in my pelvis, lower back & shoulders was pretty rubbish. Without my pelvis functioning properly im not getting the maximum use from my body which affects training & development. A lot of my back pain has been a result of my dysfunctional pelvis & so i had been carrying out the recommended exercises on a 4x daily basis since my 1st assessment to improve this. I can categorically say that (touch wood) since ive been doing these exercises & freeing up the sciatic nerves in my back ive had no lower back pain since! Ive been able to deadlift & squat again.
So my 2nd assessment showed quite a bit of improvement but still more work needs to be done before i move onto the next stage. I strongly recommend a visit to their website at least, ive got a link on my site, go visit it & see what they do. Together with my deep tissue massage i swear by them, the results are fantastic & ive noticed a difference in 2 short months, imagine what a year could do! Thanks Rachel!!

Chest & bi's with the Mighty Spartan

Friday last session of the week with my bro Wayne the Mighty Spartan. As always we had a great battle; pity Bodster couldn't join us but wow what a sesh. Spartan is a para & is going to compete next year when he comes out the army after 14 years serving his country. Watch this space cos hes 1 strong warrior! I was hitting personal bests on a few things that day & despite my bad arm managed to incline db curl 17.5's in strict form yee ha! Not really about the weight for me im not a powerlifter but always nice to see them weights increase without sacrificing form. Chest growing nicely. Boom! The mighty spartan I salute you :)

Taking it to the max at Grants Gym

Just smashed legs with Bodster at Grants Gym Darlington. Wicked session pushing eachother as always. One crazy session starting with calves, standing calf raise followed by seated. Then moving on to hamstrings, new weights lifted by both Bodster & myself on stiff legged deads. Must have been powerlifter Dans wrist straps that give us extra strength :)
Bodster was real annoyed with himself on leg press, not sure why as he did 20 plates AFTER going to failure on extensions. He then went crazy on the last exercise Smith machine squats punishing himself with not a triple drop but a quadruple drop!!Thats how we roll!! By the end i had nothing left in the tank, jelly legs & satisfied id give everything. Bring on Chest & biceps tomorrow!

Girls on Tour

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What a fantastic weekend ive had! Kay & I drove all the way to Kent to visit Kimberley Anne Jones on Saturday & we were also joined by our great friends Angie P (Angie Roche) & Doctor Angie (Angie Dawson)
We trained at CRAYFORD WEIGHTS & FITNESS which is an awesome gym, full of Hammer Strength,  huge range of free weights & every machine you can think of. Topped off with a very welcome atmosphere, staff that are very friendly & knowledgeable & I must mention the ladies changing room/shower is like something to rival the Hilton! I had a great workout, chest & biceps then spent forever in the changing rooms before we all headed out to a Turkish restaurant nearby where the food was like wow!!

It was brilliant to catch up with my crazy friends & my abs hurt i laughed so much. I think the waiters were quite surprised by the amount of food a table of ladies ate especially when we asked for more bread!! We even stopped by The Bridges Pub owned by UKFBB Judge & IFBB Pro Sarah Bridges & her husband Bill for a diet coke afterwards & another catch up.

Sunday was even better than Saturday. We all went to the War & Peace memorial exhibition where we met up with Harold & Karen Marillier. Harold has been working on the restoration of his German tank & boy what a large smart soldier did he look!

Can you imagine Harold a current IFBB Pro sleeping in an old style one man tent for 3 nights then driving a tank that is built to fit 4 sized "normal" men in! We were so proud of him, the day was brilliant & very interesting. Of course we all had fun with the tanks & messing about in the sun. I was sad to leave & as usual it went so quick.

Long journey back up north but all worth it & can't wait to we all meet up again soon.

CRAZY LEGS & WEEKEND AWAY

Thursday 4.30 was crazy high rep leg day with my training partner Bodster & we were joined by Carl who was brave & mad enough to come back for more after training legs with us last week. With the reps higher in the 15-20 range but still to failure made for white hot burns from the waist down. Most people start their leg sessions with squats; not us, we finish with them. On the smith machine, ass in the bucket, no locking out, oh its great fun!! Always a great atmosphere in Grants Gym Darlington, Craig & Don were hitting their legs too so the banter was on! Until we decided we were feeling too nauseous we shut up quick. Credit to Carl he BIKED home after! WOOOAAHHH!! Respect or madness!!

Ok now its Saturday & I usually use today as a rest day but my wife & I are off to Crayford Fitness Centre in Kent to visit where chest & biceps is on the menu. A long way to go but visiting the legendary Ms Kimberley Anne Jones who's house we're staying in tonight & tomorrow meeting up with Big Harold & Karen Marillier. Us crazy cats are driving but we're going to have fun & lots of pit stops along the way. Will be worth it to catch up with lots of our wonderful friends.

TRAINING ALONE ON BACK DAY

Today i knew i was training alone so had to get fired up. That's easy for me, motivation is never a problem & managed to have a great session with the weights increasing even on high rep week. Arm was sore on Hammer Pulldowns & bentover rows but still didn't seem as painful as last week, fingers crossed. I began the session with calves as always, 15-20 reps, seated calf raise followed by Standing calf raise. Must get my feet looked at, i have very high arches which puts added pressure on the balls of my feet then with my hours spent walking during day & training to failure on calves im sure ive got crushed bones!!! Ha HA!

Last nights cheat meal was at a new Japanese restaurant in Darlington. The food & service could not be faulted but we won't be returning too soon, for me the choice was limited & the price pretty high. BUT the steak was good! If you like sushi & fish its the place to go, i prefer my steak & chicken. Next week we're going to a Turkish restaurant in London when we go visit Ms Kimberley Anne Jones at her gym. Can't wait.

Weekend

Friday was chest & bicep day with the Bodster. We were in the land of the Hizoos (ok thats our smack talk for saying we were "in the zone") We ended "light week" on a high & I managed to get through biceps without too much pain. Severe tendinitis on my right bicep & forearm has been limiting my selection choices but hopefully more sessions with my miracle worker physio Dorothy will help it heal up eventually. Dorothy (D) is a legend & does regular fascia stretching & deep tissue massage which is EXTREMELY painful.
SAturday  & sunday well deserved rest days & a cheat meal at Frankie & Bennys with my wife was very nice; pepperoni pizza followed by brownie sundae. Yum!

LEG DAY

Thursday is always leg day for me & this week was "light" week. When i say light it's actually heavy, just the reps are in the 15-20 range so its heavy relevant to the reps. Its SO exhausting!! Bodster & i were true warriors, it was rather funny when he got angry AT the leg extension as the pain was crazy. When it comes to a burn, our hams, quads & calves felt like volcanoes!!
All this after walking the streets carrying my heavy mail bags. Love it.
My visit to Evolution Gym yesterday gives me extra motivation.
Our smack talk on leg day is compulsory, just incase anyone was thinking of joining in; prepare for a load of off the wall banter to get fired up!

TRAINING AT EVOLUTION GYM

Had a great workout today, shoulders & tri's pushed by John. Always learn something new when at Evolution Gym but all boils down to the same things - technique & all out intensity. 40 mins & we were done but nothing left in the tank.
Get refueled now for tomorrows leg sesh with Bodster. Can't wait!