I'm a mother f*cking beast...I wish

“When the sun rises, I wake up and chase my dreams. I won’t regret when the sun sets ‘cause I live my life like I’m a beast”. This is my current mantra. Welcome to the present day. I have been using Stronglifts 5x5 for just over a month now and I feel great. My newbie gains are back, my strenght has gone through the roof and best of all I feel great mentally. I’ve been progressing in most of my lifts and surprisingly I’ve actually been keeping to my schedule. I tend to work out every Wednesdaay, Friday and Sunday morning. Apparently your testosteone levels peak first thing in the morning, and since compound lifts like the squat and deadlift release more testosterone into your system, this seems like the perfect time for me. Let me talk you through my progress on each of the lifts.

The squat. As I’ve previously mentioned I have squatted before but not with the intensitiy I’m doing now. On my last session I squatted 42.5kg which is my current personal record. Now, some of you reading this may think this is no mean feat but to me, a tall, long backed, long legged novice, this is amazing.  I usually do 5 minutes of leg and back stretching followed by 10 or so reps of the empty bar and then I go into my proper 5x5 weight for that session. Loading the bar up, backing off with the full load bearing down on me, taking in a massive deep breathe, puffing my chest out and bracing my core I begin the movement. Keeping my back neautral, I bend my knees, drop below parallell , pause for a few seconds, then rise, again trying to keep my back neutral, until I’m at the starting point. Repeat this for a total of 5 reps, then rest for 90 seconds until it’s time for my second set. I’ve noticed considerable muscle and size gain in my legs, most of all in my calves. My “golf club” legs are soon dissapearing. I tend to wear fairly tight jeans and within the last couple of weeks it’s getting harder and harder to pull these on! Might be time for a tirp to Primark soon.

The bench press. I recently set another personal best for me, I bench pressed a whole 30kg for 5 reps and 5 sets. Before I started this new program, my best bench press was probably 24kg and that was with bad form and using dumbbells. Since using Stronglifts 5x5 and the progressive overload system, the strenght in my chest and triceps has increased dramatically. It’s still early days though and I hope to break my personal record every other workout session as I progress upwards in weight. One thing I have noticed about bench pressing is that it can be quite difficult having long arms like mine. After my thrid or fourth set my arms start to wobble and ache, this is mainly due to lack of strenght in my arms which will hopefully stop as I continue with the program.

The deadlift. All exercises on the 5x5 program are, well, 5 reps for 5 sets, except for the deadlift.  It would be far too strenuous on the body to deadlift a heavy weight for 5x5 after squatting and overhead pressing, therefore the deadlift is just the one set of 5 reps. This doesn’t make it any easier by any means. My previous session I managed to lift 5 reps of 60kg which again is another personal record. The deadlift is probably the lift which I’ve researched the most since I used to get a l ot of back pain after performing this lift. No more! When you take your time with the set up, take the slack out of the bar, brace your core and squeeze your glutes, keeping your back neautral as with the squat, you can avoid the dreaded rounding of the lower back and any issues with injuries. Let’s see how I do tomorrow, 65kg!

The bent over row. Ok, I have to be honest here, I might not be following the rules completely. I have only attempted the barbell bent over row once, since then I have been alternating between T-bar rows, cable rows and  single arm dumbbell rows. It’s a bit hard to track my progress weight wise when I’ve been cheating like this, so next session when it comes to the barbell bent over row I will actually do the barbell bent over row. The most weight I’ve managed to cable row has been 40kg whereas on the single arm rows, I’ve managed 15kg in each arm. If I stick to the correct bent over row with the barbell, I should be able to track my progress properly and make some serious back gains.

The over head press. This has to be the most frustrating lift ever. I started with the empty barbell and could barely make 3 sets of 5, eventually I managed to hit all 5 sets, so I upped the weight to 22.5, hit 3 sets of 5 again, so next session attmepted the same weight, hit 2 sets so had to de-load back to the empty bar. I’ve been going back and forth like this all month, tomorrow I’m due to try 22.5kg again, and with the research I’ve been doing and the help from a recent personal training session I should manage to hit all sets. My shoulders have actually increased in size since starting the program so it had to be down to my bad form. I’ll let you all know how I get on tomorrow!

I’m at a loss now as to how to keep you interested in my new blog. Perhaps this weekend I may take some progress pictures of myself and compare to when I first started weight lifting, or maybe tomorrow I might document my morning workout. Either way, I hope you are enjoying this blog, again, any feedback would very much be appreciated.

The Renaissance

The alarm on my phone goes off, it is 5.15am. A chilly Wednesday morning outside, but thankfully the mornings have been getting gradually brighter every week so it doesn’t feel as early as it actually is. I rise, get dressed and wearily make my way downstairs to have some protein Weetabix. After I gobble down my breakfast while trying to not fall asleep I head back upstairs and  brush my teeth, wash my face and pack my bag with the days essentials; lunch, bananas, water bottle, gym clothes and earphones. I make my way outside, feed our two cute fur babies and head for the gym. I have been playing around with the idea of properly getting back to the gym after far too long off. It has been just over a year since the wedding, and since then I have still been going to the gym but nowhere near enough as I used to. I’d usually go on a Saturday morning, do one of my upper or lower body routines half-heartedly and go home. As time went on I saw less and less of the gym, months would soon go by, I’d promise myself I’d get back in to it but would always let myself down.

Around the beginning of April 2016 I noticed I had lost a bit of weight, my newbie gains had almost vanished and what little strength I had was no more. I had recently started a new job in Leeds with an awkward start and finish time and I usually didn’t make it home until 7.30pm which meant no time for gym on a night. Even if I did have the energy to go to the gym, my routines usually lasted around an hour or so which meant I’d have no free time at home at all. I began to do some more research. Previously, when searching for a workout routine I came across Stronglifts 5x5, tried it for a week and gave up. Far too difficult for me. But now, every time I looked for a simple, quick, newbie friendly workout routine which also catered for tall skinny guys, Stronglifts 5x5 would come up. I decided to read more into this and give it a proper go.

In short, Stronglifts 5x5 focuses on the main compound lifts only. No isolation exercises, no high repetitions, no training to failure. It’s simply 5 sets, of 5 reps per session (except deadlifts).

Workout A	Workout B
Squat	Squat
Bench Press	Overhead Press
Bent Over Row	Deadlift ( 1x5)

When you begin on Stronglifts 5x5 you start with the empty barbell (except on deadlifts and bent over rows), which is usually 20kg, and if you hit 5 reps for 5 sets on a certain lift, the next time you do this lift you simply add 1.25kg each side of the barbell. Progressive overload is key. This was the one thing which I hadn’t been doing in my previous workouts, I just used to load up the barbell with a random weight, or pick a random set of dumbbells. I had finally found a smart yet simple and effective workout routine. In and out of the gym in 40 minutes. Perfect.

So back to my Wednesday morning, 13^th April.  I got to the gym for 5.55am, walked up the stairs and to my absolute delight the gym was almost empty, except for few old aged pensioners on the treadmills. After changing into my new gym shorts and my Boston t-shirt I walked up to one of the empty power racks. The great thing about this 5x5 routine is that it comes with a handy free app. This app is great for tracking your progress along with telling you exactly what weight you need to use for your workout. You start by selecting workout A, and for the squat and bench press you select 20kg which is the empty bar, and for the bent over row you select 30kg, which is the empty bar plus a 5kg plate each side. Then, you simply select how many reps you’ve managed to hit, and if you’ve hit all 5 reps for all 5 sets it will congratulate you, and tell you which weight to use next session. However if you fail, it will tell you to repeat this with the same weight next session until you managed to get all reps for all sets.

Now I had previously squatted before, the most weight I managed to squat was a meagre 30kg with bad form. Here I was starting with the empty barbell, but after not hitting lets for so long in the gym, 5x5 of the empty barbell ruined me! I managed to hit 5x5 on the squat and the app told me next time I’d be squatting 22.5kg. Next up was the bench press, again with the empty barbell. The most I had previously bench pressed was 30kg but again this was with incredibly bad form. The main point of Stronglifts 5x5 is to focus on correct form, adding weight when successfully completing a lift, and most of all staying safe. Last for me on this first workout was the bent over row, this was supposed to be done using a barbell which I had never attempted before. I had usually done single arm bent over rows with dumbbells, or cable rows or the machine rows. Stronglifts 5x5 wanted you to use the barbell which engages more muscles. As each rep of the barbell bent over row begins from the ground you can’t use the empty bar, therefore you start with 30kg for your first session. I failed. I only managed to hit 5 reps for my first 3 sets, then 3 reps on the fourth set and 2 on the fifth. Once I inputted this into my app it told me next time to try again with 30kg until I successfully complete all reps and sets.

On checking my watch I noticed it was only 6.35am, this mammoth workout session had only taken me 40 minutes or so and yet I felt like my entire body had a workout. I had enough time to slowly walk back towards the dressing room, change, and make my way to my bus stop all in time for my usual bus to town. This was great. I had been worried when I started my new job that I’d never have time for the gym but after realising that there is a one hour window of opportunity in the morning before I go to work which was being wasted sleeping. I’d usually wake around 5am anyway and toss and turn until my alarm would go off at 6.15am. If I could just wake myself up at 5.15am three times a week, I could get back into the gym lifestyle again, and still have a life outside and free time at home. This was great. This was my Renaissance.

Next post, “I'm a mother f*cking beast...I wish”

Push it to the limit

“Making all kinds a gainz, all kinds”. Life was moving pretty fast.  It was the summer of 2014, I had been in and out of the gym for roughly 10 months or so and a big day was approaching.  My wedding day, 6^th September 2014. I knew that most of the attention would be focused on my beautiful bride and this was totally ok for me, however, I also knew that I would be in  a lot of photos that day and would be meeting a lot of people for the first time along with friends and family whom I hadn’t seen in a long time. I wanted to look my best. I wanted to look healthy and fit. For the most part I wanted to get rid of that old skinny James which people knew. I wanted to replace him with a new  improved James Version 2. Upgraded and with the latest apps.

If you’re a regular reader you’ll remember from my earlier post, “ I am awake”, that I had moved to Total Fitness and had discovered new exercises and techniques along with a brand new workout routine.  I had been putting this new workout routine to the test for almost 2 months and had actually noticed some real muscle gain along with some fat loss around my belly. This new routine was an upper/lower body split which incorporated various compound movements along with supplementary isolation exercises.  See below my weekly routine at the time:

Upper Body A	Lower Body A
1. Bench Press	1. Romanian Deadlifts
3 sets of 6-8 reps.	3 sets of 6-8 reps.
2. Rows	2. Leg Press
3 sets of 6-8 reps.	3 sets of 10-12 reps.
3. Incline Dumbbell Press	3. Seated Leg Curls
3 sets of 8-10 reps.	3 sets of 8-10 reps.
4. Lat Pull-Downs	4. Standing Calf Raises
3 sets of 8-10 reps.	4 sets of 6-8 reps.
5. Lateral Raises	5. Abs
2 sets of 10-12 reps.	x sets of 8-15 reps.
6. Triceps Press-Downs
2 sets of 10-12 reps.
7. Dumbbell Curls
2 sets of 10-12 reps.
Upper Body B	Lower Body B
1. Pull-Ups	1. Squats
3 sets of 6-8 reps.	3 sets of 6-8 reps.
2. Barbell Shoulder Press	2. Split Squats
3 sets of 6-8 reps.	3 sets of 8-10 reps.
3. Seated Cable Row	3. Laying Leg Curls
3 sets of 8-10 reps.	3 sets of 10-12 reps.
4. Dumbbell Bench Press	4. Seated Calf Raises
3 sets of 8-10 reps.	4 sets of 10-12 reps.
5. Dumbbell Flies	5. Abs
2 sets of 10-12 reps.	x sets of 8-15 reps.
6. Barbell Curls
2 sets of 10-12 reps.
7. Skull Crushers
2 sets of 10-12 reps.

As you can see this routine contains quite a lot of different exercised per session. Each session is split between an upper body workout and a lower body workout which included abdominal exercise. I thought I had been making great progress using these workouts, I had added some more muscle to my newbie gains and was continuing to progress in terms of my form when performing each exercise. I was wrong. One of the main objectives in weight lifting and wanting to create a better looking physique is progressive overload. This means, if you do a certain exercise a certain amount of times one week, the next time you do this you should either add weight or at least perform more repetitions than you did previously. For example, in my Upper Body A workout the first exercise is the bench press, with 3 sets of 6-8 reps. So if you can bench 20kg 8 times for 3 sets, then the next time you perform the bench press you should increase the weigh by the smallest increment, which is usually a 1.25kg plate each side of the barbell. However, if you could only bench press 20kg in your first two sets 8 times, then in the third set you could only do 5 reps, you should use the same weight next time until you perform all necessary reps and sets. This is the best way for your muscles to adjust to extra weight and stress. More weight, more work for your muscles, which in turn means bigger, stronger muscles.

I wasn’t doing this. Each workout sessions I randomly selected a weight which felt heavy enough, and performed each set as best I could. Some days I picked heavier weight, some days I picked lighter weight. Hey, I was gaining muscle so this couldn’t be so bad. Turns out I was setting myself up for another dreaded plateau. Not only was I not using the progressive overload system, but every few workout sessions someone would come over to me and critique my form, mainly on the compound movements like the squat or deadlift. I thought I was progressing and at least performing these exercises correctly. Again, I was wrong. Almost every other workout ended up with my lower back in pain and/or sore wrists or shoulders. There was soon to be another problem I’d soon realise.

People. I’m not too keen on people. Especially when these people are overcrowding my gym, using all the equipment I want, or worse still, hanging around the equipment I want simply talking or trying to chat up the opposite sex. As high summer approached more and more people rushed to the gym. I wasn’t used to this, especially since I found out that I’d hit another plateau and was performing some exercises completely wrong. My shyness had come back. Now whenever I went to the gym instead of a bench press or even dumbbell press, I’d use a machine press which is in no way a replacement. Instead of deadlifts I just wouldn’t do them. What really infuriated me was groups of up to 7 young lads, all sporting the latest Nike gear, chests puffed out, orange tans, all texting on their phones, each one having a go on a bench or machine then talking again for several minutes right beside it. I soon began to see less and less of my beloved gym. Furthermore the big day was fast approaching. No more free time for the gym, and even when I did go it was for a super quick session of 15 minutes or so. What little gains I had were soon departing.

The big day finally came and it was so much more fun than I had envisioned. Friends and family celebrated with us to the early hours of the morning. Quite a few people commented on how great I looked which did wonders for my ego. My wife looks fairly decent too I should add. However I soon began to let go of the gym life and just continued to eat more food and complain at how I no longer went to the gym. I had pushed it to the limit.

Next post, “The Renaissance” 

Captain Irish

I have gone by a lot of names in my 27 years on this planet. I was actually named Jamie from birth however thankfully my father decided against that and changed my name to James, there have been many James’ in the McDonnell family, as far as I know I am now the fifth! As far as nicknames are concerned I have had plenty. Some were meant to arouse amusement, some meant to hurt.  When I first moved over to Huddersfield with my parents I started school at Colne Valley High School and, with my 14 years of living in Ireland, I stuck out like a sore thumb whenever I spoke with my thick Irish accent. So, it so fits that my first nickname was “Irish James”, or sometimes this was shortened to just “Irish”. I was completely happy with this nickname, being immensely proud of my Irish heritage I embraced this nickname for many years.

Later in life, when I discovered alcohol and many other naughty substances of which I do not consume any more, the nickname Jaybone was given to me. No matter how hard I try to remember where this name came from, or its actual origin  it still remains a mystery. Following this,  my soon to be brother in law Paul started calling me “International Man of Scooby”, possibly because around this time in  my life I had immersed myself into the hippie lift style and music. Wearing long, flared cord jeans, long shaggy hair, and constantly listening to the likes of The Beatles, Jimi Hendrix and The Doors to name but a few. Moving on in time again I had started my first job. Now, being fresh out of college, still with my long hair and hippie/ metal head attitude I did not fit in well or follow orders from management. I soon got into trouble, almost every other week I had been called into meetings with management telling me off for one thing or another. Pretty soon I had made a name for myself, the nickname “Fireproof”. I had gotten in to so much trouble so often that I seemed “un-sackable” , or “fireproof”. This was a name I was quite proud of.

I have given myself the blogger name of Captain Irish for many reasons. I’m pretty obsessed with Captain America for one, not only is he a great role model, played by a fantastically nice guy Chris Evans on the big screen, but he is also of Irish descent. In the comic book and the movie of Captain America, Steve Rogers starts off his life as a small, skinny guy who keeps getting into trouble and gets beat up all the time. He has a clear sense of right from wrong and is always wanting to do the right thing no matter how much trouble it may get him in. During World War II Steve Rogers’ only wish is to join the American Army and kick some Nazi ass however, he does not meet the criteria for enrolling due to his ill health and small frame. After applying to enroll so many times, he is noticed by an outstanding scientist whose only goal is to create the perfect super soldier. Steve is sent to a training camp along with many other hopefuls trying out for the super soldier experiment. He stands out from the others mainly due to his good nature and morals.  

My favourite part of the movie is when Steve, who is still the small, skinny guy stands into the capsule where he is about to transform, moments later he steps out a tall, muscular, perfect model of health and strength. This is where I’d like to make the comparison between us. I once was, and still am to a certain extent, the small, skinny guy who kept getting into trouble through no fault of his own, now, I am on the path to becoming my own super soldier, my own model of health and strength. Unfortunately I do not have a super soldier serum. I have to do this the long way. The Irish part of the name is obvious.

I wanted this name to show my love of all things super hero and my love of my Irish heritage. Blend these two loves of my life together and I think you have a pretty cool catchy name. I mentioned above the I am obsessed with Captain America but there are quite a few other super heroes whom I look up to and admire. Matt Murdock, or Daredevil as he is known on the streets of Hell’s Kitchen would have to be my second favourite comic book hero.  Matt Murdock is son to Jonathan “Battling Jack” Murdock, a relatively famous boxer in New York City. When he is young, Matt has an unfortunate accident where dangerous chemicals are spilt all over his body, especially on his eyes and ears. This accident blinds him but due to the unknown chemicals, his senses are enhanced to super human levels. His hearing has increased so much that he can hear soft footsteps blocks away and even the heartbeats of people around him, this ability allows him to tell when someone is lying or not, a trait which comes in handy later in life during his career as a defence attorney. The main reason I like Daredevil is again, his sense of right, his morals, his Irish heritage and his fighting style. Daredevil is portrayed by a British actor Charlie Cox who just happens to be the perfect candidate to portray this hero. I have read up on Cox’s preparation for playing the role and I have actually tried out his weekly workout routine for Daredevil and it is not for the faint of heart. Perhaps when I have finished with my current workout routine I may go back to this and see if I too could become Daredevil, Irish Edition.

I could write about all of my favourite super heroes and idols all day, perhaps I shall do a post in the future and go in depth of why I love each one of them and how they have affected my life. For now I hope you get a sense as to why I chose to become Captain Irish, and what this name means for me and this newly created blog. Whoever is reading this, may I ask one thing of you? Could you please leave a comment below, or perhaps contact me via Twitter as I would greatly appreciate any feedback you could give.

Next post, “Push it to the limit”.

I am awake

We're gonna need a montage,  a Rocky or Karate Kid style montage, or even just a Team America Montage would do.  Hop in Doc Browns  DeLorean and it’s now 3 months later. I’m still a member of Kirklees Active Leisure just outside of Huddersfield Town centre. I’ve now moved on to work at Mamas and Papas as an Allocator, so I’m still sitting on my ass all day with loads of pent up energy to waste in the gym. Remember when I mentioned the newbie gains I had made, and how I felt like Arnold Schwarzenegger after my first few sessions working out? Well, that phase has passed. I’m now around 66kg  which is a vast improvement from when I first realised I had weight issues. I’m still eating more than I ever used to, still buying the whey protein just like all my YouTube fitness idols tell me, but I’ve hit a wall. I’ve hit the dreaded plateau.

In bodybuilding terms, what is meant by “hitting a plateau” is that you’ve reached a certain peak and remained there for some time. I had near enough stuck to the same workout routine which my gym instructor had shown me, added in one or two different exercises for fun but I wasn’t continuing to improve either in strength or size. One way to think of this is, after Vegeta first became a Super Saiyan ( this was me after gaining my newbie muscles), he knew there was another level beyond, he knew he could ascend. Just like I knew I could do better, I could get bigger or at least improve on the skills I had learned over the last 3 months. But how? I was lifting weights thrice weekly, I felt sore after every workout, I was eating clean and was dedicated. Looking back now it’s easy to see where I had gone wrong.

Whoever is reading this may be thinking that I’m still a slim guy, who doesn’t know much about fitness, lifting or nutrition. They’d be right!

I am still very slim, I know more about fitness than I once did but I’m learning new things every day about fitness and also nutrition. What I’m trying to get across here is that the work out plan I use now as opposed to back then is working for me a lot more but  I’ll get into the present day in later posts. Back to this plateau I was talking about, well all was about to change when my then fiancé and I moved into our very first house in Waterloo, just outside of Huddersfield. Our new lovely home just so happened to be five minutes’ walk from Total Fitness gym. A much bigger, more advanced and friendlier gym than Kirklees Active Leisure. Kirklees Active Leisure  has now moved into a much bigger building, but I stand by the fact that Total Fitness is a better fit for me. Not only is it near my home but the staff and fitness instructors are amazing. Back to our story;  I had now paid my way out of my old gyms membership and the same day signed up to Total Fitness and also booked in with one of the gym instructors to give me a tour of their various different machines and to see what stage I was at in regards to fitness. Oh, was I in for a treat!

The next Saturday morning I met up with another gym instructor whose name I cannot remember. We had a quick chat about what I knew about lifting and how long I’d been doing it and also what I wanted to gain from all of this. Again, I told him the sob story about the doctor telling me I was pretty much an anorexic and that I wanted to be healthy and fit. After our quick chat he lead me out to the gym floor and to my absolute horror, to the treadmills! I looked at him strangely and said “ but I’m skinny, I shouldn’t have to do cardio, I’ll waste away”. To which he told me that there is more to cardio than losing weight,  it’s also about improving your cardiovascular system and getting your body pumped up and warmed up for the workout ahead. So, after ten whole painful minutes on the treadmill we finally moved to the weights. I was already beyond tired as I rarely did cardio unless it was to chat to my wife whilst she finished up her routine. Next up for me was the bench press of which I’d only attempted once with great degradation. I had only ever done dumbbell press with 10kg max, now I was being forced to do a barbell bench press with a whole 30kg. This was a total shock to my body, all the newbie gains I had made were not prepared for this weight or the actual movement of the barbell bench press. It was beginning to dawn on me how little I knew and how weak I still was.

After the torture of the bench press we walked towards the power rack, this particular power rack is now my second home but again, more on the present day later. The gym instructor, who I shall name Agent Smith, wanted me to try barbell squats. Again this was another movement I had never tried. For legs I only ever did light leg press or leg extensions. The squat is a totally different beast. He showed me how it should be performed, then let me have a go with the empty bar, which weighs only 20kg. Well folks, once I went below parallel I could not get back up. Any attempt to rise made the veins in my forehead stick out, my face went bright red and I looked like I had just opened up the Ark of the Covenant. Agent Smith had to take the bar off me and I had to sit down for five minutes. This was going so terrifically dreadful that I thought it could only get better. I could just imagine D:Ream singing at me in the corner now, “things can only get better”. I was wrong. One word, deadlifts.

I had heard about this particular exercise before, how it works almost every muscle group in the body and along with the squat, releases loads of testosterone which for a skinny guy like me is exactly what my body needs to grow, along with my spinach.  Agent Smith again showed me how to perform the lift and watched as I failed. We had loaded the 20kg bar up with 5kg plates each side, so 30kg to lift off of the floor and return to the floor in a controlled manner. Rinse and repeat. Not too hard. Wrong.  The number one problem with deadlifts is lower back injuries when rounding. Picture a frightened cat, when they arch their back and hiss. That’s what happened to me, and this is what still happens to me every time I try a heavier weight when deadlifting. An on-going issues for me which I will soon remedy. This can cause a lot of problems, slip discs to name but one. Agent Smith also showed me some other non-compound lifts, dips, shrugs, the Arnold press and many more. All in all, I felt humiliated. I knew I had lots to learn but to see how weak and amateur I still was hit me hard. I felt deflated and real sorry for myself. But as always I shrugged it off, did my homework, and found a great new workout routine online which incorporated all these new moves. I was finally awake.

All there was left to do was to really think about where I wanted to go with this new life style and what my ideal body would look like.

Ladies and gentlemen, next post, “Captain Irish”.

My first week in the gym

 “A guy who came to Fight Club for the first time, his ass was a wad of cookie dough. After a few weeks, he was carved out of wood...”.Well that’s what I thought going into the gym for my first week. I was right, kind of. Since I had little training experience and as I’ve said, I resembled a skeleton with a pulse I quickly made what’s known as “newbie gains”. My body was not used to lifting anything heavy for a certain amount of repetitions and it quickly responded by building a little muscle, but to me, a total newbie to gym life, this little muscle was amazing. I felt like Arnold Schwarzenegger after my first week!

I planned to go to the gym after work on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. Not too much to ask since the gym was on the bus route back in to town. Quite convenient wouldn’t you say? At the time, I worked as an Allocator for Poundstretcher. Pretty much meant I was sitting on my ass all day responding to various different e-mails and answering the telephone. So come 5pm, I still had loads of energy for the gym! I was so excited yet full of trepidation, but what had I to lose? My main problem was my shyness, not only am I genuinely a shy person by nature, but now I was going into a gym with guys who’ve made “all kinds of gains” and trying out exercises of which I’ve never heard of before. So, you understand the fear I felt as I’ve previously mentioned in my other post, “ A stranger in a strange land”, it simply had to be done.

I entered the gym with my gym bag in hand, swiped my new shiny gym card and passed the turnstiles walking down the stairs to the men’s locker room. Deer in the headlights. Frozen stiff. The locker room was just a bit bigger than my living room at home, and it was packed with 20 or so guys, either just arriving at the gym or making their way out. I had to find an empty locker and space on the bench to change. My worst nightmare was coming true. As quick as humanly possible, I unchanged and put on my brand new gym gear which I had bought from JB Sports the previous weekend and sprinted up the stairs towards the gym glad that I’d overcome my first obstacle, getting naked in front of strangers. Obstacle number two, awkwardly wandering around the gym trying to find the lateral pulldown machine.

During my induction to the gym I had been shown around the various machines and different exercise which had been planned into a workout routine for me. The gym instructor showed me how to perform each exercise then gave me a go, and corrected me where I went wrong. Now I was on my own. Walking right passed the treadmills, totally skipping cardio, I finally remembered where the lat pull-down machine was, but to my horror there was someone already using it. Totally unaware of gym etiquette, I approached this young gentleman, poked him on the shoulder and asked when he’d be done. He gruffly told me he’d be done in 2 sets, stared at me for far too long then continued his workout. Now what? I hadn’t prepared for this, there was no YouTube “how to” guide on what to do when someone has taken the only lat pull-down machine in the gym! I felt like Vincent Vega when he entered Mia Wallace’s house and looked confused and scared.  So I moved on to the nearest free bench, picked up two 8kg dumbbells and started on bent over rows which hit your upper back, lats, and biceps. This was easy! You kneel down on one leg on the bench, stick the other out wide to balance, then using one dumbbell at a time, keeping your back neutral, pull the weight up trying to focus on your back and not entirely on your biceps to lift. Rinse and repeat.

Over the next half hour or so I ploughed through all the exercises on my Monday workout routine, walked straight passed the treadmills again and headed for the locker room high on endorphin's, beaming from cheek to cheek, blood pumping through my veins, sweat dripping down my brow. Again, the locker room was full of half-naked guys standing around talking to one another like that’s a normal thing to do. Moving as fast as possible again, I changed back into my normal boring plain clothes and exited the building. First proper workout session complete. I felt like Neo when he finally becomes “the one”. The fear being the bullets which the Agents shot at him, I simply held up my hand and softly whispered, “No”. All my life I’d been scared to try new things, be it new food which my wife is continuously trying to force down my throat, new clothes again which my wife is continuously wanting me to try, or a new way of life such as working out, eating better and being happy. Fast forward to the end of the week and I had completed my first week of weight training, knowing my way around the gym, saying hi to the gym instructors like they were my new best friends, even saying “alright mate” to the huge guy on the bench press with arms bigger than my ego, although with calves smaller than my brand new baby new biceps.

Next post, “I am awake”

A stranger in a strange land…

Picture this; it’s 6^th  June 1944, you’re in Normandy and for some reason you’re a soldier involved in Operation Overlord. You’re handed a gun, told to swim ashore and eradicate as many Axis soldiers as possible whilst dodging thousands of bullets. One problem, you’ve never handled a gun before, you’re barley able to stay afloat never mind swim and you’ve no idea who or what an Axis soldier is. That was me when I first joined Kirklees Active Fitness in Huddersfield. Perhaps a slight exaggeration but I’m trying to get across the fear and apprehension  I felt.

Over the last couple of weeks I had continued to eat more, and to incorporate more healthy foods into my diet. Now it was time to join my first ever gym. My wife, Jessica, kindly accompanied me to the gym and went about her usual routine whilst I signed up and tried my best to not look like a newbie. I was lead to a fitness instructor, and for the life of me I cannot remember his name. What I do remember is his patience, kindness and humour. He clearly knew just from looking at me that I had no idea what to do in a gym. I kept trying to make him laugh at my lack of knowledge and strength and this put us both at ease.

He asked me why I was here, what I wanted to gain from working out and what my past experience of training was. In response, I told him my sob story about the doctors frightening me about my weight, or lack thereof. Also, the fact that I rarely exercised in the past but that I was keen to learn and give it my best so as to become a lot more healthy, happy, and physically fit. From this, he put together a rudimentary 3 day workout plan, of which he quickly showed me the basic movements.

Monday		Wednesday		Friday
Cardio - 10 mins		Leg press -3 sets of 10 reps		Cardio - 10 mins
Lat Pull-downs - 3 sets of 10 reps		Leg extension - 3 sets of 10 reps		Shoulder press machine -3 sets of 10 reps
Bent over rows - 3 sets of 10 reps		Leg curl - 3 sets of 10 reps		Cable rows - 3 sets of 10 reps
Dumbbell press - 3 sets of 10 reps		Abs 10 mins ( sit ups, planks etc.)		Incline dumbbell press - 3 sets of 10 reps
Barbell curl - 3 sets of 10 reps				Dumbell curls - 3 sets of 10 reps
Triceps push-down -  3 sets of 10 reps				Overhead Triceps extension - 3 sets of 10 reps

At the time, this seemed to be so complicated and time consuming, pretty much a lot of effort for little gain. But, as I previously stated I was keen to make a change and begin my journey to becoming healthy and fit. I began researching the movements online, checking out all the popular fitness YouTube accounts, watching again and again as they described how to perform each exercise correctly and safely. I quickly became obsessed. I even went out and bought my first tub of Protein!

I finally got the fitness bug! But little did I know that this was just the beginning of a long, lonely, dangerous road.

Next post, “My first week in the gym”.