Bodybuilding Contest Day

Show time

2nd place in "Toned- Figure" for my first bodybuilding contest

Elvis hair, fake tan and an attempt at "side-chest" pose

The final week of my bodybuilding preparation phase has fast approached and what was intended as a 3-month prep phase rapidly turned into a 12-month prep phase. Admittedly, dragging that out was mostly my own doing. A strong desire to prep myself and have this is as a learning experience above anything else, inevitably means mistakes are made and it is a much longer process. It has however been one of the biggest and best challenges of my life. I have lived so far outside of my comfort zone for this entire period, but it has been one of huge growth and transformation. I placed 2^nd in my category (Toned-Figure) but more important than the medal and the physique, I have found a confidence in my own skin, which is nothing about the body. Bodybuilding to me is not about gaining perfection, it is about overcoming limits, dealing with adversity and striving to be your best both mentally and physically. In this respect it is not so different from any other sport or challenge despite it’s mythical narcissistic reputation. I have been inspired and motivated by many along my way, all of us very imperfect just trying to do a little bit better and giving something back in return.

An important nutritional lesson

Nutrition to bodybuilding is like wheels to a bike. You’re not going to go too far without having this in place. It is however a mine-field of information with regards to type of diet, supplements, nutrient timing, etc etc. My main learning from all of this is the importance of understanding one’s own body and what works at different times. But the results are well worth that investment, because if you get it right the process can be a lot more joyful than if you don’t! Other people’s programs should rarely be copied, but they can serve as templates or guidelines. Individualising training and nutrition programs is necessary and the use of case studies now in sports science is becoming a lot more credible as it highlights this need. Humans are not the same and therefore we respond differently to the same stimulus.

In bodybuilding, body composition is crucial, so the best one can hope for (as a non-steroid user) in a period of calorie deficit is minimising muscle loss and maximising fat loss. Common sense would suggest utilizing the smallest daily calorie deficit would be the best strategy for maintaining muscle mass, so this was my approach throughout. It is however slow progress and very much challenged my usual impatient temperament for fast results.

The biggest mistake I made was trialling a Ketogenic diet; a very low carbohydrate, high protein diet. It can work for a select few but I can vouch this did not work in anyway for me. I simply did not have the energy, stoicism or the will to train at the intensity I needed, to make the physiological adaptations I had in mind. I lasted a week and promptly surrended to that idea after I was reduced to tears by a shoulder press machine, using 30% of my usual weight. Yes, this sport is certainly a teacher of humility and grace. From there on, I kept my carbohydrate levels consistent at between 120g-150g/day. I didn’t carb cycle or implement cheat meals, I just slowly plodded away at a macronutrient split of 50% protein, 30% carbohydrate and 20% fat. Every week I would take progress pictures and these would serve as a really good (private!)  tool for visualizing change. You start to get a feel for portion size and how your body responds and you can move away from strict use of measuring scales and body fat analysis, but certainly in the beginning this was necessary to install good habits.

The final week

Now this is a treat. Essentially the essence of this week is to deplete glycogen, re-load and dehydrate. The end result is to have musculature that is “full” and “dry” which really shows up muscle definition. It is not however for the faint hearted. It was probably the hardest week of my life and with benefit of hindsight I’m not sure I’ll repeat it either! This is a very brief outline and by no means will work for everybody. It’s a formula that needs to be individually tweaked. Training was designed to deplete glycogen stores so was based around high volume training with little rest between sets for: back, chest, arms and shoulders, followed by 30 mins interval training directly after lifting weights.

Tues, Wed, Thursday: Carb depletion days; 40g carbs per day.

Friday, Saturday: Carbohydrate loading; 150g cooked weight carbohydrate with each meal (5 meals per day). I ate sweet potato, white potato, white rice and oats as staples. Let me tell you, eating carbohydrate after three days of depletion is like all your Christmases have come at once! It most certainly is the small things in life. Salt is removed from the diet at this point.

Sunday: Competition day 3pm. Rice cakes and chicken until 1pm.

Hydration/dehydration: 8 Litres  of water Monday to Saturday morning. Last sip of water 2pm on Saturday. This is double what I had been drinking for the duration of my prep.

Saturday 8pm - 250ml dry white wine and 1 shot of gin. As one can imagine, this formula is going to induce a bit of intoxication. Bearing in mind, this was performed on my own in a Premier Inn in the midlands, I will be vague about the exact details of what happened behind closed doors but it unfortunately involved a lot of singing and dancing and discovering shocking red faced “selfies” on my phone the next day. 

Red eyes and dry white wine in a Midlands Premier Inn (before it gets bad!)

On waking to contest day I felt horrible but I did look contest ready. Skin tone and muscle definition was exactly as I had wanted, so a 12 hour window really can make all the difference. This takes competition “peaking” to a whole other level where what you eat and drink hours and minutes before stage time can make a huge difference to appearance.

I was however so dehydrated even the water in a small bowl of porridge went straight to my stomach. I was like a walking sponge and I’m sure even a digestive biscuit had more moisture than my whole body. My eyeballs were so dry that once I had applied fake eyelashes, which resembled wings, I was completely incapable of sight, making driving somewhat of a challenge. I can conclude that this is not a fun process and completely detrimental to any kind of performance or strength as was found out back stage trying to warm up and get a little “pump” in my muscles. I think I managed about 3 reps using a resistance band and then had to sit down under a table with a Mars Bar. Once the adrenaline (and Rum!) kicked in for the stage, I was fine and enjoyed every minute of my hard earned opportunity to free style it, strutting to 1980’s dynamic foursome “En Vogue”.  The changing room post contest was awash with Cadbury’s chocolate and pork pies but I have never looked forward to fluids so much in my whole life. If I had to munch on any pork pie crust I would have surely asphyxiated, so in true celebratory style I settled for…water and electrolytes!

This process was monumentally challenging and a huge learning experience, which has only added to my curiosity not sated it, so I shall be continuing this intrepid voyage. I was absolutely emphatic that the competition process not rob me of my soul or destroy me of my health. I enlisted the help of a bespoke nutrition service called Mealtek for the last three months; I wrote articles for them about my progress in return for food! Through them, it was nothing but a hugely positive experience. I was able to complete a MSc in Strength and Conditioning with distinction, successfully create a PhD opportunity, work and train to a really high level, none of which would be possible if I had to spend time prepping my food. 

A week later, despite some man flu, morale is high and more surprisingly I have no food cravings and find I’m actually eating just as well as before - but because I want to, not because I have to. It did however take 5+ days to rehydrate properly and look vaguely normal. Day 2 and 3 post show saw me looking more like a pufferfish than human because water wasn't sitting at all well in my system. 

I am missing my prepared meals slightly! but also when you remove something, you can have appreciation for what you have learnt. The good eating habits I have learnt along the way are actually hard wired into my psychology now and it is a lovely feeling to adopt new positive habits. My body hasn’t rebound and actually looks better than the day of the show – most likely that is due to the removal of pressure and the introduction of much needed sleep and recuperation. I’m entirely grateful for the opportunity to do a bodybuilding contest – it is amazing what you can learn from conflict, hard times and difficulties. Good nutrition kept me sane, healthy, functioning and performing and has given me an appreciation for how to do things the right way.

The evolution of my own thoughts about training have also prompted me to start a new blog about the "mindset" of training, which I had to cultivate whole heartedly though this.  I have no doubt become a healthier happier person through this process and that above anything else is the thing I most want to share with others.  Link coming soon....

Finding your philosophy of training

With accumulating training age and just age in general! I find myself getting more and more interested in mind-set and developing my own training philosophy. The science of training methodology is of course interesting, but it's the application of this knowledge that keeps me constantly entertained and tinkering.


In fact, I believe there are no real mysteries in program design. Within our current knowledge of muscle physiology, leverage and mechanics, there are not actually that many variations of exercises and training parameters that we know work for hypertrophy (I talk about muscle growth because bodybuilding is currently my area of interest). The challenge can lie in individualising and application of knowledge to oneself or an athlete - and that is where things can get tricky because people are humans, not machines.  This is where I believe self awareness and cultivating a strong intelligent mindset is vital and can make all the difference to achieving a goal. We already know what  programs the great athletes use but yet...the number of people that make it to top level sporting success is infinitesimally small. So, success is so much more than the sum of the parts.

This post is about a few little truths and mental tools that I have learnt along the way. They were hard lessons learnt but ultimately have made my life much easier and I hope there will be some value in sharing these.

What does your sport give to you? 

My chosen sport at the moment is bodybuilding and to me, it is about physical and mental mastery rather than aesthetic beauty. That is my journey with it. My body over the years has acquired injury and illness and sometimes quite frankly it gets really tired! Bodybuilding is a surprisingly creative sport, it is about sculpting a body. It isn't a performance sport as such, like power lifting  - so absolute weight lifted is not important. You therefore have control over the "what" and "how" of your training. It allows one to get creative about overcoming obstacles like injuries; as there is usually a way to work round it.
I love the sport for these exact reasons - there is never an excuse, because most obstacles can be overcome. You can train on your own time, with or without a training partner - there is a lot of freedom within it. It also teaches you about focused concentration (mindfulness), about really understanding what you are trying to do and connecting with body parts. In this respect it is actually the perfect tool to practice mindfulness in sport, something I have been playing around with to good effect. Low and behold I find this articulated superbly in the following documentaries 1) Generation Iron and 2) Kai Greene - a New Breed Volume 1.

What was really interesting about these films was more a glimpse into the mind-set of these world class professional bodybuilders.
They all appear to be big thinkers, but Kai Greene is the athlete who demonstrates his philosophy very publicly. He speaks freely and articulately about mindfulness and being in the present moment. I don't believe it is unusual for bodybuilders to think these concepts, I just think these thoughts are kept locked away privately. The growth of social media platforms means that athletes can't hide away to easily. They are encouraged to connect with their fans and so we have a chance to see more of the personality behind the bodies or performances.
Whether these athletes talk publicly or not about it, what seems to be evident in all the top Mr. Olympia athletes is the level of focus and attention in training. The consistent ability to concentrate in the "now"; to remove attachment to the past and to forget about the future and associated anxieties. This is likely a theme amongst all world class elite athletes - the ability to concentrate and not get distracted.

Actions speak louder than words - a true indicator of one's belief system

I believe one's unconscious belief system, the ideas they truly believe about themselves are the real drivers of a person's thoughts and ultimately actions. Hence the lovely phrase "actions speak louder than words" - very simple and very true. It can be very illuminating as you can not hide from your beliefs. It can be the reason for unexpected success against all odds, or the self sabotaging of relatively easy goals.

If your choice of goal is not in alignment in some capacity with your unconscious belief system, then there will likely be troubled waters along the way. This is where honesty comes into play and either changing the belief system or changing the goal.

The sport of bodybuilding doesn't allow you to hide. It uncovers your authentic self more rapidly than any other sport I have ever done. I have changed my goals along the way because I have been forced to be more honest with myself. At the beginning of this journey 7 months ago,  I would have been happy to just get up on stage, but the goal has evolved to wanting to actually place in my category. Therefore, it makes sense to choose a federation, a date and a category that supports this. Quite honestly, I had no idea of my unique time line for body transformation when I started. No idea how to "shred" or diet to optimise fat loss and maintain muscle. Many many mistakes made; but things unfold and you realise your own natural pace. My own personal preference is for a longer prep phase, very gradual calorie reduction and higher intensity workouts over high volume.

I have at least found that being completely honest and realistic has helped buy me peace of mind and full commitment to my goal, as they are somewhat aligned. To also be honest enough to say how important the goal is and what I am (and am not) prepared to sacrifice for that.

Obstacles are not that important....

Just like someone's life history is interesting of course and is the source and explanation of habits and behaviours but actually it's no more than just a story. I personally think it is the attachment to the story that can create problems. Getting caught up in obstacles and losing perspective on their magnitude prevents attention on the thing that actually really matters, which is the end goal or the journey to get to that end goal. That allows one to make skilful decisions about coping in the present moment. 

What you put attention to grows.....

I learnt the lesson of "target fixation" when I decided to spend a year jumping out of perfectly good aeroplanes (skydiving) in the USA. You will inevitably ALWAYS land where you put your attention. So if you're looking at a cemetery or a road or electric cables in attempt to avoid them...that is exactly where you WILL land! Lesson learnt! Obstacles inevitably come up, that's just the nature of life but you have control over how much attention you give to those - minimal attention!!

The 24 hour rule

Another little trick for coping with adversity, failure and obstacles is the 24hr rule. An effective trick my boxing coach used to tell me about. You have exactly 24hrs to indulge in whatever behaviour you deem necessary to cope with a failure or success - cry, shout, hit (non-human's or animals please)...walls will do, gloat, boast, glow...whatever it is but after that 24hr window of opportunity has past, it is time to get back to work again.  It's a way of expressing natural emotion but getting it out of your system so you can get on with the job in hand. It works a treat and it is something I use to deal with pretty much everything.

A small lesson in mindfulness

The idea of mindfulness I talk about a lot. There is nothing particularly esoteric about this concept. No mention of god or spirituality, it is plainly a method of practicing "being in the moment" - so call it what you will, but I believe it is an absolutely essential tool for performing and actually just existing and living fully.


Having the ability to control thought and emotion is such a powerful skill - to have the simple understanding that thoughts are NOT reality. Thoughts pass; they ebb and flow with mood. What you think at the beginning of the day is not the same as ending the day. They change depending on whether you're hungry, need the toilet, are tired...any number of small things. To attach too much meaning to thought can be exhausting and disillusioning. Mindfulness is just a really simple effective tool in practising awareness. It's observing that thoughts and thinking will and do happen - which is natural and healthy but it's also about just as quickly letting them pass by again, without attaching too much meaning to it. It is essentially the same as the 24hr rule but in a much shorter time frame (momentary) and not acting on it!!


I recommend the following book; the author talks very simply and effectively on the topic and introduces small tasks that can be completed easily over 8 weeks.

•  Mindfulness - a practical guide to finding peace in a frantic world by Mark Williams and Danny Penman.

•  Jon Kabat Zinn also talks eloquently on this subject. Lots of videos on Youtube

In short....

Thoughts and actions are derived from our belief system. Goal setting feeds into this and that is why it is important to truly know what you believe at the deepest level. The practice of mindfulness or concentrated focus is absolutely invaluable to fully applying oneself to focused training but it also brings about an awareness of unconscious habits that may not be helpful. I believe it is these sorts of skills that can be transformative both in and out of the gym. They are tools that can help create a more meaningful life and I am all for that!

A holistic approach to sport: Mind - Body - Bodybuilding

Mindfulness in an extreme sport - contradiction or a necessary requirement? 

Earlier this year I went to the World Athletic Centre in Arizona for a coaching intern program.
I watched track sessions and I watched weight room sessions of some very very good Olympic gold medallists.  Essentially there was no exercise or drill I had not seen before and that's the interesting thing. The genius is then... bringing all the components together of a program, so that the sum of the parts is so much greater than just an exercise program. I believe part of that success is the coaching philosophy and the attitude instilled in these athletes. Part of that philosophy was making sure, that athlete had a phD level of understanding of the sport and they understood smart training where quality is actually a determinant of quantity and not the other way round.
Installing an attitude, mindset and an ethos to athletes is really really important for success and a meaningful life. Overcoming limitations and hurdles, coping with failures and successes requires an athlete to be listened to and understood and this level of communication provides a vehicle for transformation and progression.

Lessons learnt from coaching that can be applied to one's own training

Having a deep level of understanding has helped me immensely in my training. Sometimes lack of progression is about mental blocks rather than pushing harder. It's about resolving internal conflict. Understanding others and gaining more compassion and empathy allows me to change my behaviour in training. Understanding hardwired habits and how to change them is part of the job. A coach can facilitate those changes by enforcing repetition and habit, but actually you can do it oneself if the awareness is there.

I wonder if there is value in treating yourself as another person - going outside of yourself momentarily, because you don't then have that emotional attachment to ego. Asking, "what do I need to do today" rather than "what do I want to do today". Being really honest about behaviours that hold you back. Most of the time we actually know this already!! and then having the balls and courage to change it by just reinforcing new habits. Changing behaviour is about being conscious of it and then repeating a new habit - EVERYDAY. It's the consistency that seems to be key in the reinforcement. But it needn't be hard. It just requires a bit of attention and perhaps the support of a good friend to kick you up the ass.

There are 3 things I have really had to embrace:

1. "Fasted" training - No breakfast running/jogging/walking/lying on the ground!

2. Preventing overtraining

3. Well timed, consistent intake of smaller meal portions.

None of these things I particularly naturally polarise to. Of course, what is one person's nemesis is another's pleasure. But just "doing" EVERYDAY....works when it comes to changing behaviour.  I may not love it but I certainly don't hate it and that is a great place to be - neutral! I always question extreme resistance to something. It is usually symptomatic of something bigger.

Understand sabotaging behaviour patterns

“If I get my athletes really mentally healthy…maybe they wouldn’t be making certain mistakes – well-being is crucial” Dan Pfaff (Education Director - World Athletic Centre)

I love this idea. It's sort of chicken and the egg. Which comes first? Healthy body or healthy mind?
Of course both feed into one, it's an ever turning treadmill. But a REALLY healthy, self aware mindset can identify and resolve unhealthy behaviour and attitudes which can sabotage progression.

Lessons learnt from training elite "trained" individuals

I have been competing and training myself for nearly 20 years and training others for nearly half that time. So lessons have been learnt - lessons will continue to be learnt. But what I have realised is....people are different and respond differently to different things, hence the need to individualise. Similarly, there are a million different programs that could deliver the same result.

I'm going to talk here about "trained" individuals, because I work with young elite track and field athletes and there are interesting lessons to be learnt from this cohort.

As an athlete gains training years, things change. There is more of a requirement to fine tune; subtlety of movement becomes important.

I realise my role as a coach for these individuals is not so much about the exercise choice but HOW that exercise is performed. Subtle changes in hand position or foot position can make a big difference. The difference to transfer of strength from gym work into the sport could also be as simple as understanding a feeling of movement and doing it with a different kind of intention. This is where words that evoke a sensation or create an image can be really powerful.

In this environment and with these athletes I have to go down a deeper path. One where I need to really watch and listen to them, understand their psychology, motivation, limitations, fear and overcoming these. I also have to help create and destroy perceptions, amongst many other things.

Spirituality meets Bodybuilding

It really made me think what a wonderful tool, sport (and/or competition) is for creating a meaningful life. It teaches one about failure, success, realising one's potential and overcoming self imposed limitations. I use an assembly of mental tools for when I struggle training for my bodybuilding show. I have to face my demons all the time, as partaking in an aesthetic sport is unfamiliar territory. I'm scared about getting on stage, scared about being judged, scared about performing, because actually that's not my natural personality. I'm an introvert with an few extroverted tendencies but you're much more likely to find me hiding in the loo, than being the life and soul of a party. But the confidence you get from facing these things; the accompanying freedom you gain from knowing you can ebb and flow with change is a great thing. 

So perhaps bodybuilding is considered a narcissistic sport but my journey has been one of immense self growth too. 

Can you train pain tolerance?

I have been recently playing around with HIT training Arthur Jones style to really good effect. In approximately 10 days, I have now noticed an ab vein to accompany my 1 ab from 14 mins of weight training 3-4 times a week. All fairly unflattering on me admittedly, but ho hum, this is bodybuilding.
Essentially the format I'm using is 1 set of 5-8 exercises performed to momentary muscular failure. The key is going to failure. I love that failure is a strategy for success in this case - a necessary requirement; this is a good lesson for life! As can be imagined, it is not a particularly pleasant place to be, but being an adventurer.....I like to walk the path less trodden - and sometimes, that means in your own head.

My last post explored the HIT method and the fact that not everybody can work to that intensity. This week I wanted to explore the idea of why not! Why is it so hard to work to that level of intensity. Can that psychology be trained?

The doubled edged sword of "hardness"

It really got me thinking about discomfort, pain and fatigue. As with all personality traits, pain tolerance exists on a spectrum. Can you train it? Can you change perception of pain?
And here in lies the double edged sword. There is a kudos surrounding things that are hard. Accomplishing difficult, challenging hard tasks are perceived as good; it gives one credibility and validity - a sort of virtuousness. There is therefore a benefit to an event or a training session being marketed as "hard" and many races like the Tough Guy take full advantage of this.

But I wonder if this expectation of something being hard can prevent fully embracing the experience?
The demographic of people that are going to voluntarily want to do hard training or a hard race are going to find the difficulty of a challenge, a motivator, but it places a "ceiling" on the effort if you have an expectation it will be hard. In actual fact there maybe plenty more effort in reserve.

My question is: If you remove the expectation, would the effort in an already motivated person be more or less? If you told that same person, the weight they were lifting was in fact heavier or lighter than perceived, would their perception of fatigue change and consequently repetitions of weight lifted (outcome).

A similar analogy might be going to the doctor for an injection. If you are told, it is going to hurt, no surprises for what the perceived pain is going to be.

I believe that embracing that "place" of discomfort relies on being fully present in the situation, as you have no judgement or expectation. It is what it is. Not resisting or avoiding and essentially.....wanting to be there. There are other schools of thought where, re-focusing anger or rage can accomplish the job but I can't help feeling that the outcome of this is a state which is way too emotional. In my experience, there is most definitely a negative correlation between the red mist, focus and performance.

Intensity creates focus

There is a level of exertion which creates focus, where distractibility is minimised. When perceived rate of exertion is low, you can get away with a bit of daydreaming or people watching but at around 70-80% perceived exertion things very much start to change. That moment, you realise that actually you need to concentrate on the task.
An interesting study performed by Professor Nilli Lavie, at UCL Psychology utilised a psychometric test to look at distractibility in 61 subjects. One finding was that all subjects, whether they are generally easily distracted or not - were far less distracted when performing a more difficult task. There was no extra brain capacity for processing distracting information. Although this was not a physical test, I believe that a level of challenge is required for focus and presence and in turn these qualities are good for effective training.

14 minutes 4 times a week

I'm embracing full on, balls out intensity - I'm also reaping the benefits very quickly, considering my total weight training is about 14 minutes 4 times a week now.

My personal motivation to want to go to this "place" of intensity is understanding it is part of the 2.5% effort that gets 95% of results! It is where improvement will happen. But I'm also hard wired to train like this. It suits my temperament. Everybody's unique psychology is very different and I'm fully aware this strategy doesn't work well for everybody. I'm in the the midst of reading the autobiography of Andre Agassi - "Open". The impressive thing about his story is not the titles and wins but the fact he hated Tennis. He always hated it from aged 7, but was made to do it by his father. So there is proof that, it is not a necessary requirement to love your sport. Indeed, you can still do something really well despite not having a natural predisposition for it. It can be trained.

I really do believe you can train pain tolerance, it's just knowing how to trigger the necessary response in the individual. What's going to make them want to do the things they "need" to do versus "want" to do to make them better. That is about understanding the psyche and motivation but where there is a will...there is a way.

Single Set HIT Training - Minimum effective dose

Unfortunately I did not inherit or learn the art of efficiency very well. In fact my temperament is much more "work horse" than albatross. However, when you get older and you are working close to your physical and mental limitations - adapt or die so to speak!

Note to self: Learn efficiency and effectiveness.

Variation is key

The theme throughout these last 6 months of bodybuilding training has been VARIATION, so I was researching what I was going to do for my next training block. Variation doesn't have to mean dramatic changes to exercises but rather subtle manipulations to hand/foot positions in exercises and various training parameters such as; tempo, load, sets, reps, rest etc.

Interestingly, William Kraemer (a well known sports scientist - professor of Kinesiology) calculated how many possible ways there were to do a training program, when you consider order of muscles worked, particular exercises for each muscle group and the use of free weights or machines. The number of possible programs was 10 to the power 67. Each, although similar is in fact different. This
explains how magazines can constantly churn out new programs.

I have played around with rep ranges between 3-15+ but will usually vary sets to compensate, so total training volume is roughly similar. I have personally found, I get the greatest and longest lasting muscle mass gains from doing low rep (4-6), heavy load training. There are also discussions about high rep training for hypertrophy as some people have made good gains with this. (Some evidence suggest it may occur through metabolic pathways which lead to up-regulation and production of natural anabolic hormones and growth factors). My personal experience with this kind of high rep training was a really sad, non-satisfying muscular pump, kind of like when you blow up a punctured bike tire that you haven't actually fixed. Whether there is a gender difference or it's genetic, who knows.


Again, I must emphasise individualisation is key with programming because everybody is different. Genetics plays such a huge role in bodybuilding and that should not be underestimated. So at best, a good program provides instructions to take you to your genetic potential. The rest is mind set and nutrition! The use of drugs and dosages again is a factor to consider and a particular training program may well work very differently for an individual who is using a cycle of drugs compared to if he/she is not using.

History repeats itself

I was thinking back through my training history and when I was in good shape. It was probably when I was competing in Thai Boxing and was actually doing about 20 mins total of very high intensity pad work and sparring. This was only because I was banned by my very smart coach! from doing more. I used to do a 60 min run in the morning and then afternoon gym work was limited to about 6 * 3 min rounds of very hard pad work. No weight training. This was a tried and tested method that was found to work really well after discovering high volume training just made me overtrained, stale and ill. This is not a state you want to find yourself in; neither when you are faced with an opponent who wants to smash your face in or when you are lying underneath a heavy barbell.

Arthur Jones and HIT - High Intensity Training

"If you like an exercise, chances are you're doing it wrong"


As an extension of this idea of low volume, high intensity training, I researched HIT- high intensity training, popularised by Arthur Jones in the 1970s but now largely forgotten. Casey Viator, Sergio Oliva, Mike Mentzer, Boyer Coe and Tom Platz, amongst others were all advocates. Essentially it is a single set of a few exercises performed slowly (often using negatives), to momentary failure.

Arthur Jones was a real generalist with very varied interests from wildlife film making to flying planes; he invented the Nautilus and MedX equipment. I'm slowly getting though a periodical he wrote called the Nautilus Bulletin. Very interesting and well worth a read. I always like to read fitness in history; when you bear in mind it is a reflection of the era and the time it was written, it is very illuminative. Nautilus Bulletin

The Colorado Experiment and Casey Viator

Casey Viator ( I am a huge fan) won the Mr America aged 19 in 1971. He trained for 10 months before that competition under the guidance of Arthur Jones.
The Colorado experiment was an interesting case of nature vs nurture coming together. The experiment was conducted in  May 1973 at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado. It was designed by Arthur Jones and supervised by Dr. Elliott Plese. The training was condensed to about 3 sessions a week lasting 33.6 minutes.

Results

Increase in bodyweight: 20.5kg
Loss of Body Fat: 8.1kg
Muscular Gain 28.7kg

The Colorado experiment protocol

28.6kg in 28 days (Casey Viator)

There was a lot of criticism about this experiment and of course it is a n(1) on somebody who had tremendous genetics to support muscular growth. There is also the issue of "regression to the mean", where Viator went into the experiment with a deficit of muscle from atrophy after a car crash.
But still....numbers don't lie and this protocol has been replicated with successes and also failures I must also add (drop outs)! He contested that he was not using anabolic steroids.

The example of Arthur Jones and Casey Viator is a nice one. An example of good synergy. Jones brought the knowledge, and Viator brought the intensity. The two of them together created this tour de force. Casey could really train in a way most people would balk at; he also had great genetics! Arnold Schwarzenegger was an example of someone who couldn't tolerate the method. It didn't work for him. He didn't want to go to that "mental place" of intensity, so instead opted for the high volume route, which did work.

This era of bodybuilding really fascinates me. Of course, like all sport, knowledge evolves but so does drug use. Bodybuilding today is more chemical than it was 50 years ago, it doesn't make it better or worse but it is different and I think training today reflects that. Effective training is finding that balance between stimulus and recovery. If recovery is better (drugs!), you can use more stimulus and hence high volume training can work very well. I think it is also worth to note that the different categories in bodybuilding are very different. Training for Fitness category (both male and female) is very different to bodybuilding category. In the latter, the degree of muscularity and leanness in competitive physiques is extreme and is virtually unobtainable without steroids. Bodybuilding is an aesthetic sport, so what is deemed desirable is a reflection of the time too. What judges want to see today was different to 10, 20, 50 years ago. The sport, the categories and perceptions of what constitutes a good physique, evolve and change.

HIT Basics

HIT relies on a single set of a few exercises but performed to absolute failure - so a real balls out, gut wrenching effort -that is the key to it's success and use. It relies on that intensity, and not everyone can go there. Arthur Jones believed that most bodybuilders at the time, were over trained from high volume programs, and what they lacked was rest and intensity. What comes with high intensity, is the requirement for adequate rest, so training was spaced out at least 72 hours apart. Interestingly, the same rationale and inclusion of a good proportion of intensity is used to explain the reason for the success of Kenyan marathon training programs. The intensity is what lacks in British marathon training, but the double edged sword of intensity is the need for recovery. Not easy when you also have to factor in high mileage for building an aerobic capacity.

The training concept is interesting. There are various variants of training and specialising for different body parts but essentially the basics are: Intensity, Progression, Form, Duration, Frequency and Order.

• Do each repetition slowly - as an approximation, 4secs concentric 4 sec eccentric, with no rest between. Tempo can vary from slow to super slow (30s for each portion)

• Perform 8-12 repetitions per set. Time under tension is therefore about 60-90seconds per exercise

• You need to reach momentary muscular failure for maximum intensity

• Limit a routine to 12 exercises or fewer

• Train for 3 nonconsecutive days or less per week

• Order of training - largest muscles first and smallest last

• Utilise both single joint and multiple joint movements

• Initiate specialized routines for only 2 consecutive weeks. Wait for 3 months before specialising on the same body part

• Optimize recoverability; train less as you get stronger

• Take a 9 day layoff after each 6 months of steady training. 

Curiosity killed the Cat

So in the name of curiosity and experimentation, I decided to trial this. 

And yes....no surprises it's really tough. It most definitely requires someone to spot you, as you're going to failure (with good form). 

My workout: 

1 set of 4 exercises with 3 mins rest between each exercise. Tempo - 4secs for each portion of the lift. 

Squat, bench press, dumbbell pullover, bicep curl. 

The challenge to the neuromuscular system is immense as you are getting more muscle recruitment. (All or nothing principle of muscle recruitment). Time under tension is high but weight would be dropped roughly by about 20% compared to a set at a faster tempo. 

Above is the description and now let me try and explain the emotion, which I shall sum up with the below diagram

Of course, the translation would be simply "unprintable" but you get the idea. There were "F" and "C" bombs thrown left, right and centre.  I was amazed at the muscular shaking that happens from the central nervous system input. This also caused me to then drop a 10kg weight plate on my foot from shoulder height. Excellent. 

The next day, unbelievable DOMS (delayed onset muscle soreness) which I'm still suffering 60 hours later. So, I can conclude considering I did a total of 360 seconds of exercise - I'm fairly impressed by the level of discomfort induced. There is nothing dignified about the experience but we''ll see what the effects are after 2 weeks. I plan on doing 3 sessions of HIT (5-8 exercises) a week, combined with  6 cardio sessions early morning (45-60mins). 1 day of complete rest.  

I like this concept of the minimum effective dose. At the moment, I'm on a calorie restrictive diet, working and studying an MSc, so I don't have huge reserves of energy or time for the gym. I have to be very efficient and make sure the little that I do, does count i.e efficiency and effectiveness! My goal is preservation (not building) of muscle and losing body fat, so in theory this method may just work! 

I think again, this just confirms that there is no good or bad program (within reasonable logical limits!) but efficacy depends upon many factors including, genetics, recoverability, drug use and mentality. Bring on gene therapy - then I can just stay in bed for a year and eat Rolo's. 

The bodybuilding cutting phase

Expectation vs reality

The prep for my first bodybuilding show has taken about 3 times longer than I had originally expected. Ha...the curse of expectation which I'm slowly learning to bin. My body is going to do what it wants to do - it has it's own agenda and rate of change!

I am now going into what I hope will be my last and final 12 week prep. I'm going into it relatively healthy, flu free, with a good fitness foundation, so that is a positive. The goal is to maintain muscle mass and reduce body fat (cutting) to allow me to tick the boxes that mean I can compete in physique category. This essentially means a low fat physique with a good degree of muscularity, good conditioning and nice full muscles. Creating this is tricky, it's a very precise combination of cardio, diet, training and probably drugs. In truth, this is where smart dosing of good quality anabolics like Anavar (Oxondrolone) and Winstrol (Stanozolol) probably make a big difference to the quality of conditioning. They allow preservation of muscle mass whilst reducing body fat which is hard to do in women.

I have been unbelievably resistant to successful "cutting" and I was previously blaming it on my body, but actually in all honesty I believe it's because I don't really want to do it. My desire to be 6-8% body fat in truth, is just not very strong. It's also the one sport, where the closer you get to competition, the weaker and less fit you get (calorie deficit will do that!).

I come from a non-aesthetic performance based sporting background, so partaking in an aesthetic sport creates all sorts of mental obstacles. In truth it's going to be very hard to change my values and my core beliefs, but you can create a strategy that is more or less in line with what you do believe. Just as there are things that conflict with my nature doing this sport, there are lots of things about doing a bodybuilding competition that are in line with my values. It is a sport at the end of the day and requires precision training, nutrition and absolute dedication and so it is just a question of tapping into the things that fuel that.

The challenge for me was to see if I could train myself for my first show; to enjoy, learn and grow from the process, both physically and mentally. I had huge help for the first 3 months with program design but then decided to go it alone, as that was more in line with my particular goal of learning about training and nutrition. Having spoken to a number of competitors, I think motivation and desire for doing this sport are so varied, individual and deeply personal.

Motivation and Sport

These two words are so well intertwined. To me, motivation is key to doing things well. You can have the best programs in the world for training but if they are not executed with full attention and intention, it is wasted. So, what ever it is you need to do to create that motivation is a part of optimal training. Some people are very self motivated and train alone and others need a training partner or training group. It's all highly personal what you need to get the best out of yourself. Identifying what it is and being able to create motivation from nothing, when you really don't want to do something is also essential, because often it is beyond the skill of a coach or friend to do that.

Let go of resistance - "fasted" cardio and muscular endurance

I have found unfortunately that the very thing I do not want to do, is usually the thing that is going to make all the difference. For me, that nemesis is 1) "fasted" cardio, first thing in the morning and 2) muscular endurance training (reps of 15+). I literally want to cry at the thought of both these things and I have tried avoiding these, with substitutions of all permutations of late afternoon HITT training (because I like it) but with no real result. Last week out of desperation, I made the conscious decision that I was going to do both these things that I detest, for a 4 week training block. For endurance training this was going to be trisets of +15 reps for a body part, with no rest - 1 min rest between sets.
Leg training might look something like; back squats, walking lunges and dumbbell deadlift as a single triset.

It is really not a pretty sight, watching me try and tie my shoe laces at some absurd hour in the morning. Luckily the only witness to this is my beloved blind and deaf labrador. It is a usual ritual of tripping over on my face before finally facing the park for some early morning running. Actually running is being way too generous of a description...it is more a walk - trot - jog.

The really interesting thing about facing a real internal conflict with not wanting to do something, is once you realise that you are in fact going to do it, you might as well enjoy it. You let go of that resistance and although you may not want to be there, you are "ok" with being there and you just allow it to happen, rather than force it to happen. So, I put on some motivating music or an audiobook and enjoy the ride. Reassessing goals is part of the process here too. The objective is not performance (running fast), as it would have been previously - it is just to keep heart rate at a low- moderate rate for 45-60 mins to aid fat metabolism.
This has actually been an epiphany, not just for training but for things in everyday life, because I tend to fight reality sometimes - wishing I was someplace rather than where I am. I suppose it is a practical way of practicing mindfulness - a useful skill in sport.

So, although resistance training is a great idea, resistance of situations is a really bad idea. It makes everything very very hard. Coping with being in a situation you don't really want to be in is really about just being "ok" with it - being present so to speak and it is never as bad as you think. A week in and I actually quite enjoy my "foodless, sleepless" runs and the beauty of it is, I am starting to see the benefit in a little bit more muscle definition. I don't like this physique or not like it any better but it allows me to tick the boxes I need to for this show.
I was recently speaking to another female competitor. She faced the same battles with struggling to cut weight and revealed she feels so stressed and in conflict with her body. I can't offer scientific explanations for what is going on physiologically but it does seem to be a theme, that struggle, striving and resistance don't work very well for getting results.

Become familiar with what truly motivates

Everybody will experience different challenges in a contest prep and those challenges will be different in each prep. The body and the mind won't always respond the same way and how we want them to, but for me...letting go of expectation has proved immensely valuable because creating calm and enjoyment for me increases motivation.  For others, perhaps it is the opposite. Increasing the pressure and expectation may work better but it is undoubtably a question of finding what taps into creating one's own and ever changing motivation.