Right about now, the funk Swole brother
Posted: June 15, 2013 Filed under: Workouts | Tags: 6-week challenge, bodybuilding, exercise, fitness, health, kettlebell workout, kettlebells, natural bodybuilding, olympic lifitng, parallettes, strong to the cor, SwoleFIT, workouts 2 Comments »One of my most favourite stories from the last decade was of the British men taking part in the Oxford University geneticist, Bryan Sykes 2004 study of the Genghis Khan Super-Y chromosome. Apparently the priapic warlord’s progeny could have made it as far as the British Isles. Up to 16 million male descendants are said to carry his uber-chromosome: roughly 0.5% of the world’s men.
I never took the test, it cost £180. I’ve regretted it ever since, it would have given me awesome ‘pub-ammo’ which would have lasted me a lifetime. Read the rest of this entry »
You don’t always have to train hard. You just have to train smart
Posted: June 7, 2013 Filed under: 12 week muscle building routine 2013 | Tags: bodybuilding, crossfit, exercise, fitness, health, healthy-living, natural bodybuilding, workouts 4 Comments »It’s now been two months since I first wrote about my box jumps at the local skate park:
That day I managed a mighty 26 inches, I was never much of a jumper. I played for the school basketball team, but I think I was picked because I was one of the fastest kids in the school. Slapping the backboard was about as high as I could get. Read the rest of this entry »
I’m bigger, and bolder, and rougher, and tougher…
Posted: June 5, 2013 Filed under: How to build an action hero physique | Tags: bodybuilding, cars, exercise, fitness, movies 2 Comments »A couple of years ago a friend jokingly said to me “your philosophy on life is based on Rocky Three”. I take action films a little bit too seriously, it’s all about the escapism. I even enjoy analysing the, sometimes not too subtle, political propaganda.What I do enjoy, by far the most, is the spectacle of some bloke looking absolutely awesome, preferably with a very cool car too.
It’s not just about kicking ass. I went to see Ocean’s Eleven during an afternoon matinée, right after the film finished I left the cinema and went to a tailors to be fitted for a suit. I just wanted to look as sharp as they did.
I started lifting weights in the first place because I wanted to look like Van Damme on the AWOL poster I had on my bedroom wall. I can remember feeling really self-conscious in the army-surplus t-shirt I bought to try and look like him, something about my then 11 inches arms, and the snug fit had a lot to do with it.
I finally got to see Fast and Furious 6 tonight. I’ve been looking forward to this film ever since I first heard it was being made: rumours of Jason Statham being in it, the London setting, and the odd sneak peek of the featured cars.
This is probably one of the earliest examples of a proper lad’s car, the Ford Escort RS1600.
It’s all about the old-school
I also couldn’t wait to see what ‘Hobbs’ would be driving, his last ride looked like something my Action Man figures would have driven when I was a kid. His choice of wheels in the new film is no less outrageous.
I’m sure that there’s plenty on the net about whether or not Dwayne Johnson is taking ‘magic beans’ to look so awesome. There was certainly plenty of commentary on this when Pain and Gain was released. Truth is, I couldn’t care less. He’s a man who has clearly devoted well over twenty years to training, his awesome physique hasn’t occurred by accident.
The fact that he was in the fifth film is probably why people got so excited about there being a Fast 6. Whenever he burst onto the screen tonight , blokes in the audience just couldn’t help themselves. It’s funny but we all reacted more to his presence than to any of the beautiful women. You can guarantee that everyone one of us left the cinema tonight determined to, for some albeit briefly, train harder than we usually do. Some may have even been inspired enough to start lifting weights for the very first time. I can promise you that I will be more than just a little hyped-up for tomorrow’s workout, probably right from when my kids wake me up.
Without these larger than life characters: Dwayne Johnson, Arnold back in the day, and you can include CT Fletcher in this, the world of entertainment just wouldn’t be the same. People bleating, complaining and constantly seizing on anything remotely negative about these uber-males are just completely missing the point.
The fact that two of the most talked about muscle-men in the world right now, are both well into their middle age: CT will be drawing his pension in only a few years time, is something to celebrate. Neither are showing any signs of slowing down. Both look amazing.
Dwayne Johnson was once completely on his arse, his family endured great hardship. He’s bright and articulate too, he’s a truly inspiring character.
“I’m looking for something that begins with an E”
Posted: June 2, 2013 Filed under: Workouts | Tags: bench press, bodybuilding, exercise, fitness, natural bodybuilding, weight training, working out, workouts 2 Comments »“England?”
I love the film Crank, it’s been one of my most watched DVD’s since I bought it a few years ago. My favourite character is Doc Miles, I like him even more now that I’ve just read that the actor, Dwight Yoakam, is actually a Grammy Award winning musician.
England’s finest
I’ve been charging about like a madman all week, must be all the epinephrine I’ve taken over the last few days. The last cold I had set me back weeks, especially my running. It took me almost 6 weeks to get back to anywhere near progressing again. As for hitting the weights, I’ve always found that having a cold only forces me to lose a set or two per workout. I can still use the same weights but struggle to sustain the effort for the usual number of sets.
This week’s been no different, today I even managed to bench 100 kilos. Only for a double mind, but it’s hugely significant. Now that I’ve broken the ceiling, I can work out the best way of reaching 120k+. If I hadn’t pressed 100k this cycle I’d be very disappointed.
I do need to order some more Olympic plates though, having to dangle some weights from the bar with luggage straps isn’t ideal. You can feel them going ‘boing’ on every rep.
I can’t wait for the next 5×5 session to check if 100k wasn’t just due to chemical assistance. This is why I’ll never touch pre-workout drinks, I’d rather just rely on my usual tea and coffee intake, plus hopefully at least 7 hours sleep the night before.
Hopefully today is the last time I’ve got to take it. It would be nice to finish the next session with some clarification that my current routine is beginning to work a treat.
You know what they say about men with big feet?
Posted: May 31, 2013 Filed under: Training Videos | Tags: exercise, fitness, plyometrics, running, working out 3 Comments »I’ve heard this said to me what must be hundreds of times, mostly at work in my twenties. It usually started off with someone saying “ere haven’t you got big feet” and then “hey, you know what they say about…”
My size tens aren’t that big, especially given that I’m six-foot tall. I’m hardly Sideshow Bob. Read the rest of this entry »
There are 16 comments in your spam queue right now
Posted: May 29, 2013 Filed under: Use it or lose it | Tags: bon travail, books, favourite books, john lanchester, literary character, mill on the floss, reading 2 Comments »I don’t often check my spam queue, I only happened to read it today as I had a genuine comment to approve.
Some of the spam comments are just gibberish, one or two have been unintentionally hilarious ‘you’re writing is fastidious’ being my personal favourite. I guess I’ll never learn whether the program that sent that message actually meant: I was ’thorough’ or ‘easily disgusted’.
Even some of the nonsensical spam comments must sometimes make us all pause and think ‘why thank you’, especially during the early stages when we’re eagerly trying to establish our blogs. Today’s was the best as it reminded me of one of my favourite books: The Debt to Pleasure by John Lanchester.
I read this back in 2003. Three times in a row, I just couldn’t put it down. There were so many beautiful pages in that book, I’d even take it to work with my favourite pages marked out with post-it notes so that I could re-read them during my breaks.
Today’s spam comment ‘Magnifique objectif! Continuez votre bon travail’ reminded me of, by far my favourite part of the book, in which the murderous Tarquin was flattered when someone assumed he was a native speaker of French.
I also happened to be reading my spam comments whilst listening to a radio interview with some humourless feminist, academic. She was making the sweeping generalisation that men like to admire characters in books who are bastards. And, not just the characters, but also authors who are bastards too.
My favourite literary character is Maggie in The Mill on the Floss, I even thought that I’d one day name a daughter after her. If I were to spend anytime with the character Tarquin I’d probably punch him. This certainly didn’t stop me from enjoying the book, it just goes to show that you don’t actually have to like someone in order to enjoy spending time with them, whether real or fictional.
I think it’s time for me to order a copy from the library. It’ll be fun to see if the magic is still there, now that ten years have passed.
As for the flattering comments in French, continuer venir!
Jump, jump a little higher. Jump, jump until you get tired.
Posted: May 26, 2013 Filed under: Progress Report 2013, Workouts | Tags: bodybuilding, box jumps, cardio, exercise, fitness, natural bodybuilding, plyometrics, running, squat 2 Comments »My wife has just walked into the kitchen and found me measuring the distance between my ‘gentleman’s area’ and the floor. She was pretty unfazed by this, we’ve recently celebrated the 9th anniversary of ‘when we met’ , she’s had plenty of time to get used to my idiosyncrasies.
At the end of my mountain run tonight I stopped to stretch on some boulders near where I’d parked my car, I was pretty well spent but I thought I’d see if I could box jump onto them. I haven’t done any box jumps for weeks, I’ve been a bit pressed for time so have cut one or two exercises from my routine. Read the rest of this entry »
