Where I've Come From - Part 2

So my last post talked a little about my distant past and then me discovering running until I lost motivation.

I started looking for something else and by way of the Men's Health forum I saw beginner after beginner asking the same question and getting the same answer. How do I get bigger? Do Strong Lifts 5x5. Now the site makes some big claims and is plainly a business so I approached it with some scepticism but I liked a lot of what people were saying about it. They were promoting actual strength over appearance and people were getting good results. It had a really helpful community who were always willing to give tips on form for beginners and form always came first. Compound lifts  to train the whole body were the name of the game and king among them was the squat. It sounded useful and it made sense to me.

In July 2009 I joined a local gym and had one of the Fitness Instructors show me some of the basics but to be honest, there wasn't much we could cover with a one hour 'induction'. I studied the theory and took notes on form and braved the free weights section to learn by doing. This was my first taste of commercial weight lifting and it was quite the eye opener. There were a lot of barrel chested, chicken-legged guys strutting around and a LOT of bicep curling going on!

The gym had a single Olympic Bar and, when I asked where the squat rack was, I was pointed to the Smith Machine (I think not!) and to two lonely looking stands in the corner. No safety pins. This wasn't what I'd read about. There was supposed to be rows of Power Racks with safety pins so that I didn't concertina my spine! Well, Strong Lifts had taught me that the ego stays at the door on the way in so I go to the gym when it's quiet and attempt to squat, bar only. My first attempt at the bar was disastrous as I spent so much time trying to get my knees behind my toes that I ended up sprawling over backwards and launching the bar off at the, luckily vacant, bench press. To their credit the other people training pretended they hadn't seen. Still, I finished my sets and then the workout.

The routine promoted progression with every workout and it went great. I was doing 3 full body workout a week at about 9pm when the gym was quiet and for about 4 months I almost never missed a workout. I avoided all cardio as that would stop my strength gain or so I believed. On top of that I was eating a stupid amount of food. protein with every meal, 6 meals a day, extra protein shakes and about 4 pints of milk a day. A typical day looked like this:

Breakfast - Large serving of porridge with honey, protein shake (with at least a pint of milk)
Mid Morning - Apple and a couple of handfuls of almonds
Lunch - Large tuna salad
Mid Afternoon - Home-made high calorie protein bar (these were actually very good!)
Get Home After Work - Pint of milk/Protein shake
Dinner - Chicken and rice/Spag Bol. etc., pint of milk
Train - Full body workout
Before Bed - Natural yoghurt with fruit/cottage cheese, pint of milk, post workout protein shake
(not very paleo!)

I was constantly full and eating all the time was just as much of a struggle as sticking to the training. But I got results and I got them relatively quick. My squat went from 20kg to 80kg for 5. My deadlift went from 40kg to 100kg for 5. My shoulder press got up to 30kg and my bench press to 50kg. I managed my first chin up and my first pull up. I put on two stone and a half and, whilst some was definitely 'cushioning', there was no doubting the extra strength. I even took before and after photos.

Little and Large!

These delightful pictures don't quite tell the full story. Strong Lifts is built around the squat and every workout starts with 5x5 back squats. My thighs had exploded and although I do have the full length pictures I am wearing some god awful boxers so you don't get to see them. You'll just have to take my word for it... What's that you say? You don't trust me? Oh fine, I can crop the boxers out!

Rubbish lighting but you get the idea.

Then the strength gains ground to a halt. As with the running I lost motivation and to be honest I was sick of eating so much food. For the moment I was satisfied with my weight lifting achievements. Unfortunately another old problem had reared it's head. I couldn't run any more! Strong Lifts hyperbole about a full body being all the cardio you need turned out to be a crock of the proverbial!

I did keep going to the gym with other people and just doing whatever they did. I ran with some people and I trained my mum twice weekly with the Olympic lifting knowledge I'd slowly acquired. She was a big part of keeping me motivated during 2010 because she stuck to it like I used to and it really helped her with her Tae Kwon Do. She also saw some good strength gains but she didn't eat like I did and probably wisely so.

From early 2010 till about Nov 2010 I was coasting. I maintained my strength and I built back up to being able to run 3 miles albeit fairly slow. I thought some classes might be in order so I hit the web again to see what was out there. A bit of professional encouragement might be just what the Personal Trainer ordered.

I Google a lot of options and even try a couple before I find one that sounds really promising. 'Functional Strength and Conditioning' and it's within 10 minutes walk of my flat? Sounds good but they all make those kind of claims. Taught by an medal winning weightlifter? Now those are credentials I can get on board with! That's walking the walk. That's got to be worth trying at least once. This time I had just stumbled upon Crossfit!

Where I've Come From - Part 1

Right. Now that I've figured out the Blogger basics it's time to post something informative. First thing's first is where I'm at right now and how I got here. Settle down children, this is gonna be a long one (multi-part in fact!).

I have never been a natural athlete. I was terrible at all sports at school. I wasn't fast, I wasn't strong and I had no endurance but I wasn't overweight and I never felt like I was unhealthy, although in hindsight my sedentary lifestyle meant I definitely was. Running for the bus or train was about the limit of my physical capabilities and I mean that literally.

In 2006 a friend suggested that we tackle the Great South Run as a group. I couldn't run 1 mile at the time let alone the full 10 mile distance but her enthusiasm, coupled with a recognition that I really needed to make a change, was enough for me to sign up. I bought my first pair of running shoes and I trained hard. I did my research and put a program together for myself and I was running 5 times a week doing different distances and tempos. It was one of the hardest things I've ever done and I would never have stuck with it had it not been for the support of my friends.

Digging into the darkest recesses of Facebook I've come up with these photographic gems; both photos of me at the time I was training. As you can see there's not a lot on my 6ft 2in frame.

I weighed under 11 stone here

Two mistakes. The poppered shirt and my hair!

I ended up doing the 10 mile run in about 1:24 and to this day it's an achievement that I'm incredibly proud of. The next couple of years were spent doing some running here and there and doing the Great South Run again in 2008, although it was about a minute slower than the last time. Running had become a bit boring (our group of runners having long since disbanded) and the motivation just wasn't there any more.

The worst thing about it was that, although I could hold my own on a lap of the park, my self confidence hadn't improved all that much. I was weaker than I looked and I looked pretty weak. It was getting to me and that meant I needed to make another change, so I started researching and that's when I found Strong Lifts, which I'll cover in part 2 as this getting far too long and I'm hungry!

New Blog!

So here it is.

I've decided I'll have a go at blogging something which brings me kicking and screaming into the year 2000 I guess. The primary purpose of this is going to be a way for me to track my progress on Crossfit Connect's 30 Day Paleo Challenge. Should any of my fellow Crossfitters end up reading this then I hope that my ongoing struggle against cake and chocolate will let you know you're not alone. Or maybe it'll make you feel smug that you're finding it easy. Bastards.