Will Heffernan

This is getting ridiculous

2009-01-28T16:30:00.001Z

You guys really need to stop turning up here...I'M NOT HERE ANYMORE...get it through your skull. We're all over here now.

Seriously...you need to try and catch up

2009-01-26T03:50:00.003Z

The blog has moved over to WordPress...we're all over here having a great time and you losers are still over here missing out. Just look how cool it is...

This is just so you recognise the place when you get there.

I know it is a major hassle but go to your bookmarks and change my blog location to http://informedperformance.wordpress.com/ or write to google and tell them that you were looking for me and that they sent you here instead of to my new place.

Shhhhhh....I want you guys to be really quiet

2009-01-22T23:54:00.003Z

Keep your heads down and come over here where I am. Don't tell any of the idiots though...we'll see if we can ditch them. Make sure that the last person that leaves turns out the lights here.

I know people are going to be pissed...especially those that have just linked to my site...but if they love me they'll forgive me...at least I hope so because I'll probably eventually move everything to my own website at some stage.

So anyway...from now on...you'll find my blog over here at http://informedperformance.wordpress.com/

So I better get back to business before Lyle calls me an idiot again

2009-01-20T23:31:00.009Z

I thought I'd throw up 2 different sessions tonight.

The first is Vinny's. He's just slowly getting back into training and he's had so many injury issues that I didn't bother doing a screening as I knew I would end up with a repetitive strain injury in my elbow just filling out the screening form.

His session tonight was as follows:
Rower - 5x500m with 1 minute recovery between efforts.
Block 1
1A KB Reverse Lunges - 5 each side
1B KB Rows - 10 each side
1C Push Ups - 10
As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes.
Rower - 4x500m with 1 minute recovery between efforts.
Block 1
1A Step Ups - 5 each side
1B Inverted Rows - 5
1C Hanging Leg Raises - 5
As many rounds as possible in 10 minutes.
Rower - 3x500m with 1 minute recovery between efforts.

This is what this session will do to you:

Luckily Vinny coaches in the Irish Basketball Superleague so no matter how much stress I put him under he always gets plenty more at games.

The other session I thought I'd throw up is Louise and Fi's. They've training on the pitch tomorrow night and a power session to do with me on Thursday. This is what they did tonight:
Bike - 3x2mins with a stretch between each effort.
1A Hurdle Steps - 2x8
1B Hip Pop Ups - 4 double legged then 8 single leg hip pop ups
Trap Bar Deadlift - 2w/ux8, 5x3 working up to near max on the last 2 sets.
Seated Leg Curls - 1w/ux12, 3x12 with an isometric hold at the end of each rep
Bridging (Front, Left Side, Front, Right Side, Front - 30 seconds each hold smooth transition from one to the other) - 3 sets with 1 minute between sets.

This is the girls on their 3rd set praying for it all to be over.

This is why they need to do so much trunk work...this is Fi running around with some French women hanging off her while playing for Ireland.

Chest Supported Rows - 2w/ux12, 5x8
Modified Hindu Push Up - 3x12
2A Natural Reverse Hypers - 3x12
2B Back Extensions - 3x12

Watch out everyone...I've been thinking

2009-01-20T09:15:00.004Z

As you well know I've been wondering what I should do with the blog. Myself I am pretty happy to just ramble on as is but I've had some emails and conversations with people that got me thinking that there might be a better way to do things so once again I am going to throw it out there and see what people think because as I see it there are a few choices:

1. The status quo...and no I don't mean the band. I mean just keep doing what I'm doing....which is basically promising a lot and delivering a little and taking forever to do so.

2. Through consultation and negotiation with you guys...that is the people who can be bothered to comment...I actually put some effort into the process. What I was thinking is that I could keep blogging here as I have been but at the same time set up a website with a view to having the main part of the website 'bloglike' but go back over this blog and take out the good bits (which shouldn't take long) and work those bits over and write them up as articles to make things easier to search for people finding the stuff for the first time. The reason I was thinking that this might be a good way to go is because I was thinking about each section containing not only the articles but clips from the seminar covering those topics and finding a good way to facilitate discussion on the topic (forum). I think it would be a good way to try and get across my views on the subject material...to get it out there...then you guys would have something to ask questions about and subsequently rubbish and ridicule?

3. Is the option half way in between 1 and 2. I just go back and or get some help form interested parties in going back over the blog and better tagging the posts that are already here and just trying to improve the functionality of this site?

The good thing is that the second choice will cost money...I have no idea how much but I'm pretty sure that the interwebs are not completely free...so what I was thinking of doing was finding out how much then just saying...'The website will cost this €$'s and I'm not paying for it so it's up to you guys to contribute €$'s to get it up and running.' that way if absolutely no one is interested in contributing a cent towards it then I know that's exactly what the idea is worth. The third choice will require some people actually giving a shit about making this blog better by taking the time to go back and try and tag and categorise the hundreds of posts that have already been made and being apart of whatever group forms to agree on the method of tagging and categorisation. The reason that I think all this is a good thing is because if a) no one wants to even throw in a buck to get the website/forum thing happening then that will be my reason for not doing so...that is...it isn't worth it and b) if no one gives a shit enough to go back and tag and categorise the current blog then once again whenever anyone complains about not being able to find what they are looking for I can say...you are the only person who cares.

Which all leads us back to the very first choice...where nothing changes and everything stays the same. I just keep rambling and adding stuff if and when time permits and you guys either like it or lump it.

Abdominal Training for Idiots

2009-01-18T23:04:00.004Z

Abdominal training, core training, functional trunk training...whatever you like to call it is something that I've always struggled to understand. Now it isn't that I didn't understand how to do it more that I didn't understand what the hell so many other people were trying to do when they were doing it.

I've had athletes boast about doing 500 sit ups a night...about being able to do bridges for 5 minutes...so what?

Doing even a hundred sit ups is just plain stupid...if I told you that I did some bench pressing and that I did 3 sets of 100 reps what would that tell you...I mean if you didn't know how totally jakt I was...pretend for a second that I was a normal trainee. Ask yourself this question...what do you think this would achieve? Now, 1 set of 100 reps you could make some sort of argument for...perhaps as a set of 100 to failure or near failure...but 3 sets? How easy would the 1st and 2nd sets have to be to be able to get out the 3rd set? It doesn't make any sense to me...but I see this sort of thing in programs all the time.

I won't continue to go into all the stupid ab/core/trunk training there is out there because I just don't have the time. Instead I will tell you briefly what I tend to do.

For me there are only a few ways to train your trunk (that's what I call it...because I tend to throw in back and hip extension work into this group as well). You either do it statically or dynamically or pick exercises that combine elements of both and you either do it in a single or multiple plains. While you are doing any or all of these things you do it in 8-20 rep range. Obviously the 8 rep stuff is done quite heavily and the higher stuff is obviously lighter. The 'feel' of this work though is the same as it is for any other muscle group and exercises.

Now once you can hold a bridge for a minute and do do 50 consecutive sit ups you need loading...just doing more reps is like doing bicep curls with the pen that you fill your diary out with...in that you can do all the reps you like...nothing is going to happen.

So we tend to start out easily with simple flat and side bridges/planks...this is easy static work. We use weighted ab pull downs and lower ab raises...simple dynamic work. As people progress the loading increases as does the complexity of the exercises to the extent that a lot of people looking at the exercises wouldn't even know that they were intended to target the trunk.

I am going to put this on my list of stuff to cover...so far we have neck strengthening work and trunk training...oh yeah...and that other tonne of stuff I said I'd do and then forgot about.

2km Rowing Race

2009-01-18T22:03:00.006Z

We did an easy recovery session in the gym today and finished it with a not so easy rowing race.

2km as fast as possible any way they liked.

In all seriousness...how well did I select those two teams to ensure a hard fought race...I know the capabilities of my athletes better than they know themselves...that's why my expectations are always so low even though theirs are so high.

The race results.

On another funny note

I posted this video of Sinead the other day and the video was posted on another training site....which is fine...I've got no problem with that.

The reason I know that it was posted elsewhere is because on YouTube when you post a video you can see how people came to find it and view it. So anyway I went to the site to see what else was there and I saw the following comment in relation to the video.

Anonymous said...
If you want to maximize this exercise, resist any movement at from the chest to the knees. Compensatory movement makes this video a disaster. harsh but true.

Does anyone else see a problem with this? Let me try and translate this...I have a lot of experience translating idiot as it's a language I am fluent in myself.

Now when this idiot says 'resist any movement from chest to knee' do you think maybe they are talking about maybe doing a bridge? Do you think that maybe they just think this is a poorly executed bridge and that Sinead is just a bit of a tidy freak and couldn't resist tidying up around her while she was trying to bridge?

I'll give them the benefit of the doubt momentarily...lets say that they were trying to say that the athletes trunk should be held as rigid as possible while executing the plate shifting...this poses a problem or two as I am not sure exactly how any rotation will take place while resisting any movement from chest to knee...maybe they meant resisting all movement...except...for the movement needed to actually execute the exercise.

Anyway...if people can't actually see the purpose of this exercise then I doubt that any 'explaining' I do is probably going to be wasted...which just made me think of what I'll post about next.

My coffee has me thinking

2009-01-18T10:30:00.007Z

Just have a couple of random questions.

1. What are peoples thoughts on me changing this whole thing from a blog to a website? Pro's and Con's anyone? I'm not much fussed either way but people who just turn up here or who are actually looking for something in particular seemed to be fussed about it because I get their emails mentioning stuff they missed or didn't see or only just found. The blog is brutal for actually trying to find anything and that is mainly my fault because of the post titles and that I don't use post labels and that sort of thing. So tell me what you think or what you think would be a good way forward.

2. I was talking to Fergus Connelly the other day...he's just like me only smarter and more informative. He's currently working as the 'Mr Spock' of the Welsh Rugby Union and he was saying that he thought I really should integrate some sort of forum with the blog where people can ask questions and generally waste their time when they should be working or doing something constructive? I was thinking about this as well with regard to the upcoming seminar. I am going to video the whole thing...mainly so I can for want of a better word 'analyse' it afterwards. See what works really well and what didn't and what I need to make clearer and what I can brush over. This first seminar is really going to be a pilot seminar as it'll be the first time that I've used the format I'm planning. What I am thinking about doing though is finding some way to post bits and pieces of future seminars as an 'opener' for discussion on the subject. So people can ask specific questions and get specific answers. I also want to create a training resource. I want to document my work process so people can take pot shots at me and rubbish me both on my own forums and on others...I like giving people something to talk about.

3. I'm also wondering if anyone has any suggestions regarding other gadgets or features that they've seen or like on other better blogs than this one that they read or have seen that I could possibly rob or add to this less than spectacular blog to make it seem like it was better when new people first come here...I mean before they actually read what's here and discover there is much less to it than they thought originally when they first find this site?

So give me your thoughts and or suggestions on this topic or others? What do you think I should do with the blog? How do you think I could improve it? I mean bedsides getting someone else to write it.

Segregated Sessions

2009-01-16T22:51:00.004Z

I'm going to have to start segregating some training sessions. I had some complaints from the lads that their performances were hindered because the ladies were making them feel self conscious and more than a little emasculated.

The girls did a mixed session which went something like this:
Lower Body and Upper Body Mobility and Stability
Trap Bar Deadlifting - A few to some reps for some sets.
Box Jumps - Some reps for sets.
Reverse Band Bench Pressing - Triple for sets and a couple of singles at the end just for the craic.

Single Arm Cable Rows (Power Position) - 12 reps for 3-5 sets
Plate Shifting - 3 sets

Setting a new plate shifting ladies record

Good to see Sinead finally achieving something in the realm of sport...I mean playing for your country is great and all but whole teams do that...only one unique individual can hold the plate shifting record.

Comparing apples and bananas

2009-01-16T14:10:00.007Z

willwayland said...
hmmmm $1000 +$500 flight dorrars to spend a week with joe defranco?

or a €105 and a short drive down the country? does that €105 include the magical Ireland markup?

Will,
Thanks for the comment and you have a very cool name by the way.

With regard to the whole Joe DeFranco thing....why would you want to spend 10 times as much on an IMITATOR when you can have the real deal right here...I mean Joe's most famous bloody program....the ONLY thing he's famous for is Westside for Skinny Bastards....and where did he get that from....that's right...he ripped it off Westside Barbell.

Joe thinks just because he has outstanding success year after year and because he produces fantastic athletes and has an amazing business and love for what he does that people will just brush over the fact that he thinks he's better than me...he thinks he can keep me down just by holding it over my head that he has a Poliquin Certification and I haven't. It just ain't going to happen.

I already outed Joe for what he is in the Joe DeFranco is rip off artist post...but if you want more proof have a look at this:

On January 10th...I post this video of ROK doing some Box Squat Broad Jumps

This was posted on the 10th of January.

The very next day....obviously after another night of pouring over my blog Joe posts this video....

This was posted on the 11th of January.

Does this exercise look familiar to anyone who trains in the facility? I mean there's athletes who've had this in their program at least since last summer.

It is sad really...I mean...I really should of just let Joe take a franchise...it would have been far less embarrassing for him.

Actually though the reason that I am only charging €105 and only taking 15 people is because I want the $1000 for Joe and $500 for flights so I can go to one of Joe's seminars.

The Practical Principles of Strength and Conditioning Seminar

2009-01-15T09:14:00.010Z

In case you missed it...I'm running The Practical Principles of Strength and Conditioning Seminar on Saturday the 7th and Sunday the 8th of February.

I am going to be teaching everyone attending this seminar everything I know about strength and conditioning and how to apply it to maximise athletic performance...so rest assured there are going to be plenty of breaks and I am going to have to talk really, really slowly...and I'll also have to try and figure out what the hell I am going to do with all the time I'll have left over on Saturday afternoon and all day Sunday but I'll work something out.

Warning: Places are filling up fast!

I just wanted to warn everyone...places are filling up exceptionally quickly...I've been inundated with people desperate to get their name down...requests are flooding in at a rate of almost 1 person every 2 weeks. The seminar is only 3 weeks away and at this rate it looks like it will be sold out by some time 20 weeks later in June. So be sure to hurry if you are looking to attend....or don't hurry...either way from the looks of it it isn't going to make much difference.

Don't miss a chance to learn one handed snatch technique and so much less.

Quote of the day

2009-01-14T13:25:00.008Z

'It's so cold out I think I need to get some ear muffins.' - Denise Fox
It gets the quote of the day even though it is only lunchtime because we got a good 10 minutes worth of associated laughing and piss taking out of it.

More good questions from James
I can't even remember where we started this conversation but I thought I'd explain where we ended up.

I think we were initially talking about a mate of mine who works as a science officer with a national sporting body. He basically spends his time looking at cutting edge sporting technology and methodology. Sounds great doesn't it? I love this sort of stuff...it's fascinating and it is pretty much a complete waste of time for the majority of athletes and almost certainly general trainees.

I want to talk about James first in particular before I rant more generally. During this mornings discussion we were discussing his training...his targets and where he needs to be physiologically as far as being a professional tennis player is concerned.

I went all out today...it was a complete multimedia Q&A session.

I'll do this in shorthand first because I will probably come back and rant more about this topic in future.

Some clarification before I start...I work mainly with 'games' athletes rather than pure performance based sports like athletics for example.

So with regard to James in particular...I was explaining that he was a fair way up the curve with regard to his athletic potential. The good news for him though was that he didn't have that much further to go because for games athletes you don't need to get to 100% of your athletic potential...actually I'll rephrase that....you don't even want to get to 100% of your athletic potential. The reason being that the closer you get to 100% the more you have to risk in order to eek out what in the end are minor improvements.

I gave him this example. I just chose bench pressing because it was easy to understand and because 1.5 times and 2 times 80 is right around my maximum capacity with regards mathematics. Now, he weighs roughly 80kg's. In testing the other day he benched 95kg. For me to get him to a 1.5 times bodyweight bench of 120kg for instance might take 6 months to a year of training and I'm confident that we could do that pretty comfortably. However for me to 2 times bodyweight bench of 160kg...that would be a different matter...for a start he'd have to give up professional tennis and become a professional trainer...we'd be lucky to get there without a major injury or two and we'd have to deal with a myriad of minor injuries as well. This isn't because I am a crap coach...it is because the pursuit of that bench would require a huge amount of envelope pushing to say the very least. The other small matter would be that it might take us 3 years probably a best and it could be as long as the end of time at worst just based on his physiological make up.

The trap that games athletes sometimes fall into is chasing numbers...the thing is to a large extent it's pointless. I'll give you some of the reasons why in no particular order:
1. Being the fastest, strongest of fittest doesn't even guarantee you selection on the team. I've plenty of amateur athletes in numerous sports who would out perform in testing a lot of their professional counterparts...so what...where does that get them?
2. There are so many variables so much more important than specific physiological performance abilities that it is only a idiot that would but all their eggs in one basket...what I mean is that I know plenty of players that spend hours in the gym daily...who still can't throw a decent pass, kick accurately or shoot consistently.
3. I couldn't count on my hands and toes and all of your hands and toes how many athletes I've seen have incredible off seasons and pre seasons only to go out in their first game of the season get smashed in a tackle and be out for 8 weeks after which time they are right back where they started. Now that is not to say that it isn't worth training...I'm just saying there are a lot of variables outside of your control.

Just as an aside...I'm a fan of NFL...one of the things I always wonder when listening and watching coverage of games when combine scores and performances for rookies are mentioned is...I wonder how many players in the entire NFL could out perform their combine scores once they become pro players?

What you do want to chase and what you do want to achieve is athletic balance first and foremost. When you have that you can look at raising all your various capabilities as needs be to meet the demands of your sport. You want to aim for about 90% of your athletic potential I think because although difficult and it takes a great deal of dedication and work to maintain I think I can keep most athletes that have the desire and drive at or around that 90% mark pretty comfortably. When necessary we can even push that up to 95% for short periods of time for major competitions and goals before safely backing off again to 90%.

You can't be at 100% for a 20 game season or play what is essentially a year long calendar of tournaments in James's case because being at 100% is the equivalent of driving in the red...it'll be great for a while but we all know it eventually results in a blow up.

Didn't even get close...

2009-01-13T22:21:00.004Z

...to finding the time to do the neck strengthening vids...sorry about that. Don't worry though...once February comes around I'm going to have more time and I'll be blogging every hour on the hour just like the CNN of blogging.

Anyway...this week is in honour of James because because my Aunt Leslie was complaining that he wasn't featuring enough on the blog and wanted to know what he was up to.

I might have to interview him this week so Leslie if you have any questions you want me to put to James let me know and I will get the answers you need.

He's steadily climbing the rankings...just won the Irish Indoor title last week...we're currently preparing for Davis Cup next month and have major plans for the coming season.

Loading
I was asked a few questions in person and by email this week regarding loading and Prilepin's Chart. As per usual...I am not going to go into a detailed discussion regarding exercise physiology or the academic merits of varying set and reps schemes or percentages of 1RM worked at. What I will say is that there is a lot of different way to vary the 'stimulus' in training other than just loading.

This load isn't great but the intensity is there.

I thought I'd throw this up as well so Leslie gets over her whole James fixation and I can get back to rubbishing other athletes and James can get on with his training without the bright lights of blog stardom in his eyes.

Once you can do more sit ups and ab twists than Britney Spears you have to find new ways to stress the system.

The worst of both worlds

2009-01-13T14:26:00.008Z

I thought I would do a quick lunchtime blog update while I had the time. I dealt with two ends of the conversation/social interaction spectrum this morning...I had a session with the gyms biggest talker...Denise 'I passed my driving test...pay me attention' Fox and the gyms most prolific question asker James 'Explain the universe and all it's components' McGee. So on one side of me I had Denise spouting endless white noise and on the other side I had James asking endless questions...I was in a no win situation. If you don't talk to Denise then she doesn't stop talking and goes on and on endlessly so you don't get any break...not that she actually listens to anyone when they are talking to her...it's just nice to get some respite. Then with James I know that no matter how many questions I answer and how many answers I give all I am setting myself up for is more questions.

It really was a nightmare...thankfully something useful came out of it. It was in the same vain as what I was going on about last night but it's my blog so I will talk about whatever the hell I like.

James was asking me about tire flipping firstly and what I think about it. I was making the point that when you train athletes variety is important. I have athletes that have been involved with me since 2000. I would say that at least 25% of the athletes that I work with have been involved with me for over 5 years. That's a lot of sessions. There are only so many squat and bench variations...switching from overhand pull ups to underhand chin ups only gets you so far. I've heard people go on and on about 'strongman' training...tire flipping, sled dragging, farmers walk and how great it is for sport, how it is so much 'functionally' better for athletes etc etc ...I have one word for you....BULLSHIT.

Now before some of you get you knickers in a twist. I love 'strongman' training but the reason that I love the real reason that it is so great for athletes...and that is that it provides VARIETY. It is good because it is different not because it is inherently better than traditional weight training. It is the same reason that you see athletes promoting all sorts of whacky crap....other than due to the fact that they get paid to...they try some funky new weird training crap....they get all hyped about it...it gives them a new buzz...of course they think it's the best training method ever. The thing is...to really find this out we'd have to remove all the gains and all the adaptations that they got for the previous 10 years of boring old traditional weight training. I don't want to pick on Bosu Balls or Swiss Balls or hell you could even throw in a tire...if you found 4 untrained genetically identical individuals and got the best Bosu, Swiss Ball and Strongman trainers in the world together and me of course representing traditional (read non sexy and boring) weight training and gave us 8 weeks with our respective untrained individuals who do you think would get the biggest improvements with regards to strength? I know what I would be putting my money on.

Strongman training is great...it is a great way to add variety...it is not the basis for training as an athlete though...unless of course you're a strongman. Even then...I bet there is not a single strongman out there that does just strongman training exclusively...and I'd be willing to bet that the best spends more time doing traditional work in the gym than they do doing specific strongman work if you looked at the entirety of their season.

This guy does more than just flipping tires.

He was also asking about the guys that I have that do Olympic lift...and why he doesn't. The reason that I have some guys Olympic lift is because they are strong and balanced enough to get something decent out of it. If you can't hit those strength targets that I mention constantly here you've got more important things to worry about than cleans or snatches. Because seriously who gives a shit about your 60kg power clean when you have guys working in with you doing bicep curls with your 60kg barbell. Olympic lifting like strongman...has its place...but Olympic lifting is not the basis for training for sport....unless of course you are an Olympic lifter. On a related note...I always think it is funny every time hear someone going on and on about cleans and snatching for sport and how much superior Olympic lifting is to traditional weight training...they always seem to somehow forget how much time Olympic lifters put into squatting and all their supplementary work....which is funny because all those squats, deadlifts, military pressing and RDL's look a lot like traditional weight training.

So anyway...maybe one day James will get to flip tires and snatch...but he's got a lot of work to do before then.

Where to start...I'll try somewhere in the middle...but towards the begining

2009-01-12T22:26:00.006Z

I was standing in the gym this morning around 11am thinking about how happy I am with work...looking around at a tennis player, a mixed martial artist and rugby player...thinking firstly it's great working with athletes looking to improve themselves and secondly it's even better getting to work with so many top athletes from so many different sports.

The thing is...they are from completely different sports...can you think of many similarities between rugby, tennis and mma...despite this...I'm pretty much doing the same thing with all of them...just working on different elements...the tennis player was doing testing to find out what he needs to be doing next, the rugby player was doing strength endurance/conditioning work and the mixed martial artist was doing pure strength training....at different times they've pretty much done everything each of the other athletes were doing.

The reason that I am mentioning this is that I had another team in tonight for testing...and the results were intriguing...as they always are...I always find the funny thing is that 'everyone'...that means you...thinks that they are normal...no one is normal...there is no one that is actually 'average' or 'normal'....being able to do 45 push ups in 60 seconds and 5 inverted rows in 60 seconds...is not NORMAL...being able to do more pull ups than inverted rows...is not NORMAL.

So back to the lads that were in this morning...training can only do so much...a lot of genetic decisions were made before I got the chance to work with any of them...I would of been happy to let any of the three do any of the others sessions...in fact...I'd be so happy to do so that I pretty much already have.

Chops the rugby player has done the testing that James the tennis player did and he's also done the strength work that Barry the Mixed Martial Artist did. James has done the same strength endurance/conditioning work as Chops did this morning and so has Barry.

James...at some stage ages ago.

Barry...at some stage not so long ago.

Chops...at some stage making an amazing save...which is heaps funnier than deadlifts, pull ups and presses....which he has done often.

The other thing that sets us all apart and which makes me laugh ALL THE TIME is not only that do we 'think' we are normal but we're all simultaneously capable of thinking we are special and unique...let me tell those of you who are athletes reading this...there is no such thing as normal because I've never seen it and you are not unique and special.

Chops, James and Barry all require strength...they all require endurance...and on and on we could go through the various elements of physical performance...the only thing that changes is the relative amounts of each.

Even then...take a look at their testing results...which I'll drag out and post (unless they fail to support my ramblings) and you'll see they are relatively similar...the attributes that enabled Chops to dominate his opposing player on the weekend and for James to defeat his opponent in his last tournament and for Barry to beat his opponents on the mat are not all that dissimilar.

Have a think about it...if you could bench press 1.25-1.5 x BW, do 12+ pull ups under 100kg's or 8+ pull ups if your over 100kg's, if you could do 50+ push ups and 30+ inverted rows in 60 seconds and if you could trap bar deadlift 2 x BW...what sort of position do you think you would be in when you walked onto the pitch, field or court or into the ring? Ask yourself which of any of these targets do you think is impossible? I mean I spoke with players this evening while looking at all their results on the board...different players thought and expressed that they didn't think it was possible for them to hit certain targets...now each of these players were talking about different targets...yet there were numerous players in their team that achieved those targets while missing others. Some missed just 1 target...some by a small amount and others by miles. Others missed just a couple and yet others didn't get anywhere near any of them. Yet I don't think there was a single member of that team who if he actually decided he wanted to get all those targets couldn't get them within a season.

More Importantly
I've found a way to utilise my chocolate surplus.

You just need some imagination and flair in the kitchen..it really isn't that difficult.

So frustrated at the moment....so much to blog about and so little time to do it. I've been meaning to find the time to make those videos regrading neck strengthening and have not got around to it...I will make time tomorrow...if I do nothing else I'll try to do that. Anyway...6am start this morning and it's 2.12am now...I'm back up at 6.15am (I get a sleep in) so if I don't race to bed I won't get the more than 4hours of sleep a night that doctors recommend and I won't be back tomorrow night till after 10pm again...thank God I get paid by the hour.

Sabotage

2009-01-12T14:12:00.005Z

One of my birthday presents arrived late.

Is this the gift that you'd give to someone losing weight?

Ladies Night

2009-01-10T23:08:00.004Z

Well that's not entirely true...for a start it was morning and secondly I wouldn't go so far as to call them ladies.

The 'ladies' in the midst of their rowing test.

Too many female athletes are too 'mono paced' they do plenty of work on their conditioning but not enough on their strength and power. One of the reasons I enjoy working with female athletes is because proper strength training can make such an enormous difference to their performance.

Have a look at the girls results below...they are 6 efforts....each one a maximal effort with only 30 seconds recovery between efforts.

I would always rather a massive first score and 5 poor scores following than 6 good scores. Endurance and and sprint repeatability is a lot easier to come buy than absolute strength and pure power.

Power training comes in all different shapes and forms.

Seminar Spam

2009-01-09T00:43:00.002Z

I was just cleaning out my spam folder and found 3 emails from people who are intending to come to the seminar that I had never heard from before. I just sent out an email to those that have emailed me to express interest in attending...if you are thinking of coming and you've emailed me to tell me so and haven't heard back from me please email me soon.

A few things I should have told you.
1. I'm only going to have 15 people on this seminar...that's it...I don't give care who you are once I have 15...that'll be it.
2. I doubt that I am going to get 15...but if I do...see point 1...and if you don't know me and want to try and see how serious I am about it...feel free to see if I'll let you come after I have 15 people.
3. When the list of 'definite' attendees reaches 15 I am going to email all those people to get them to confirm that they are definitely going to be there or at the very least go to the trouble of lying via email to me so I can use it against them afterwards...once again...I know that someone won't show...just hope that it isn't you.

So if you are coming...email me if you haven't heard from me.

I am in a worse mood than usual

2009-01-08T22:58:00.003Z

So I thought I would make myself feel better by telling you how shit Barry was before he started training with me and thereby bringing a little cheer into my life at someone else's expense.

Pre Injury Screening Findings and Recommendations
Muscular/Skeletal Findings
1. Left sacroiliac joint dysfunction - This has lead to increased development and tone in left lumbar para-spinals. This has also caused excessive external rotation in his left leg increasing the 'pressure' in his left hip, knee cap, left ankle and left big toe.
2. Stiff left cervical-thoracic junction about C6,C7 and T1.
3. Left shoulder stiff and has decreased external rotation strength...this is probably related to issue 2.
4. Issue with left radio-ulnar junction.
5. Right scaphoid...in all likelihood...still broken from a couple of years ago (way to look after your body Barry.)

Recommendations and Treatment Requirements
1. Mobilise stiff left sacroiliac joint and work on glute control and deep abdominal control to get back control of 'freestyling' left leg.
2. Mobilise left cervical-thoracic spine and begin neck strengthening work.
3. Improve left shoulder external rotation strength.

Isokinetic Strength Testing Results
Right Quadricep = 294%
Left Quadricep = 292%

Right Hamstring = 143%
Left Hamstring = 140%

Right hamstring to quadricep ratio = 48%
Left hamstring to quadricep ratio = 48%

*Brief explanation of results...I usually look for a quadricep strength of 250% and hamstring strength of 160% at an absolute minimum acceptable value...below that and I'm surprised that athletes had the strength to even kick off their sheets in the morning.

So Barry's quadricep strength was good...his hamstring strength is average...as in 'man off the street' strong...not athlete average.

I think a good athletic hamstring to quadricep ratio is around 70%.

So Barry has a lot of work to do to ensure that I don't look like a complete idiot or maybe I should say...more of a complete idiot.

We'll retest not long before he next fights to see if his entire training program has been a complete waste of time...thankfully...he couldn't be much worse.

That made me feel better already...I'll thank Barry tomorrow.

Questions, questions, questions

2009-01-08T12:27:00.003Z

Will, I have a question about the blog. Is there anywhere you would like readers to put questions that perhaps dont relate to specific posts?

I have a few questions, but I'm not really sure where to put them.

Maybe you could create a post for daily questions or something like that.

Thanks.

-Drew

Drew,
The blog is a really crap format for this sort of thing. In fact it's a crap format for most things. Because the information or at least what there is of it isn't categorised or in any logical order. The best thing to do is just to email me directly and ask me whatever you like....as long as it isn't 'how are babies made?'...because I really don't have a clue about that one.
Plenty of people email me questions and if I have the answer or something that resembles an answer I email them back...sometimes it takes a while but I get back to them. If you have a question that I think others will find interesting and you are happy for me to post it then I will just throw the answer straight up on the blog.
That or if you have questions just post them here!

Sex, Lies and Videotape

2009-01-08T07:07:00.004Z

Well I only gave you 1 out 3 yesterday. You only got the lies...I apologise for that. Didn't get a chance to do the videos of the neck training yesterday.

Barry completed his first repeat session yesterday. He first completed this session in November and made great progress which I thought was worth mentioning.

Weights Block 1 - November 26th
Total = 22 Trap Bar Deadlifts, 11 Pull Ups and 44 Push Ups.

Weights Block 1 - January 7th
Total = 36 Trap Bar Deadlifts, 18 Pull Ups and 72 Push Ups.

So pretty pleased with that improvement...an extra 14 Trap Bar Deadlifts, 7 Pull Ups and 28 extra Push Ups.

Weights Block 2 - November 26th
Total = 40 KB Squats, 20 Inverted Rows, 20 KB Shoulder Presses (each arm)

Weights Block 2 - January 7th
Total = 52 KB Squats, 26 Inverted Rows, 26 KB Shoulder Presses (each arm)

Another good improvement of 12 extra KB Squats and 6 extra Inverted Rows and KB Presses.

His rowing was off a little...but only a few seconds slower than the first time he did this session. Not too worried about that though as it was his first session back after the Christmas/New Year break so onwards and upwards.

Other News
I received an email the other day and was asked about how James McGee was getting on. Well I promised I would give James more air time on the blog in the coming weeks...everyone knows how I bend to media pressure.
He is taking a well earned rest at the moment but will be back into full on training next week.
He is doing well in spite of my apparently worthless and incompetent coaching having climbed to 576 on the ATP Rankings and having won his last tournament of the season. So considering he only just turned professional in the second half of last year I think he's doing pretty well.

Neck Strengthening

2009-01-06T23:39:00.008Z

I am going to put up some specific information on the neck strengthening work we do specifically for Front Row players in rugby. I know not everyone is interested in rugby put I usually do some and by some I mean a little neck strengthening work with all my athletes at various stages. One of the reasons that I think this is important is because I think it is really important for all contact sports. I have been doing a lot of neck strengthening work myself because I think it is really important for MMA.

Neck Strength Targets
Extension (Pushing Backwards)
General = 50kgs
Front Row = 80kgs

Flexion (Pulling Forward)
General = 30kgs
Front Row = 60kgs

Side Flexion (Pushing to the side)
General = 45kg
Front Row = 80kgs

You should aim to have your Flexion strength approximately 60% of your extension strength.

Obviously the Left and Right side should be reasonably equal.

Your Extension strength should be reasonably equal to your Side Flexion strength.

What I am going to do is to put some videos together tomorrow of the static and dynamic neck strengthening exercises that we do.

On Thursday I hope to post some video of the neck strength testing with Dave Lyons the physiotherapist with whom I work closely.

I will also see if the lads mind me posting their testing results...basically I'm going to post them anyway but it is nice to make them feel like they have some input on the subject.

Results
I thought I would post my latest results up first:
Extension = 49.90kg
Flexion = 28.56kg
Side Flexion (Left) = 36.46kg
Side Flexion (Right) = 27.04kg

So as you can see...I have issues. We'll see how I go actually addressing them over the coming months.

I will post some other results up just to give you an idea of where the lads stand in comparison.

Testing and Running

2009-01-05T21:38:00.003Z

What a great combination...that's what some of the lads had tonight anyway.

Testing
The testing session was mixed...too say the least as unless I actually supervise and conduct the test it doesn't really mean much to me. There were some good results though worth mentioning...Shaun McCarthy the washed up, weathered and beaten old Australian playing out his retirement here in Ireland put the young bucks in their place this evening with a 137.5kg bench...a great effort for a guy who struggles to tip the scales at 80kg's after his Christmas dinner...one can only imagine how good he could of been had he ever had a 'prime' time in his career.
Conor Donohoe also astounded and confounded getting 23 pull ups...I'm going to have to post the video because there was a significant amount of debate regarding a couple of the reps that I stripped him of...we'll let the masses decide...and by masses I mean the 20 or so people that read the blog...or more specifically the 5 people who bother to comment. The reason this score was astounding and confounding is that 19.8% of Conor's total lean body mass is located in his traps and I don't remember anyone mentioning in exercise physiology or functional anatomy that the traps were a major muscular contributor to pull ups.

Running
The running portion of the evening was pretty straight forward. The lads did a warm up with a bit of mobility work and dynamic flexibility work then off we (and by we...I mean they) went:

10 second effort, 10 second recovery, 20 second effort, 10 second recovery, 30 second effort, 30 second recovery then the same intervals all over again for a total of 5 times or 15 total efforts in a block. They got a 2 minute water break break and a chance to stretch and recover between blocks and did a total of 4 block in total.
On the whole I was impressed with the effort.

Items of Interest
1. For some reason I am having problems uploading videos onto YouTube....and more importantly I have no idea why.
2. You guys do realise that I go back and edit old posts in my blog don't you? I am going to be doing more of this to clean up and clarify my ramblings from the past because the blog tends to basically be 'train of thought' type stuff rather than planned and structured...not that I think you haven't noticed that.
3. If anyone has specific questions of queries regarding the seminar then email me directly and put 'February Seminar' in the subject line...I get a lot of email and I tend to delete and or ignore a large portion of it until people look like they are getting desperate.

S.O.S

2009-01-04T22:20:00.002Z

I received this emergency email this evening. To those you who don't train in the gym...just ignore this post and move on...for those of you who do train in the gym...who'd of thought this could ever possibly happen to Frank the Tank? I mean beside me and everyone else that knows Frank.

Subject: Hey Will I'm fat and need a new programme

Hey Will,
How's tricks? Is the gym missing me. Low and behold I've gone and become a fatty again so I've joined the gym and was wondering if you could send me over one of your programmes as I just refuse to let a Brit give me a programme.
I'll be at the gym 3 times a week, if you could give me 2 overall sessions and one beach session for Fridays before matches that would be great. Or maybe an upper and lower body one if that's easier. My lungs and vital organs would much appreciate it.

Cheers

Tank

I don't know that I want to give him a program and have to take some responsibility for his fatness when I can't be standing over him kicking him in the hole. Who votes that I let Frank get so fat in England that he has to pay excess baggage for his arse and moobs next time he comes back to Ireland?

Inverted Rows - Everything you always wanted to know and still won't after you read this

2009-01-03T20:44:00.006Z

I noticed that a lot of people search 'inverted rows' or 'how to inverted row' or searches along those lines. So I thought I would post a video regarding my thoughts on inverted rows...hopefully that will generate some comments and questions and I can go back and redo the video and cover the subject more clearly and concisely.

Everything you need to know about the video without ever seeing it!

Inverted Rows are a 'threshold' exercise...like chin ups and pull ups in that it is difficult to 'train' the exercise until you can actually do a rep or some reps. So progressions are important.

The way to get better at inverted rows is to start at a height/incline where your body position in relation to the bar allows you to accrue some volume.

Bar position is also important. I think 'generally' you should pull to your sternum. Your hand width and elbow tuck should be such that your forearm remains perpendicular to the bar. Naturally people may inverted row for a lot of different reasons...if you are doing it for your 'upper back' or 'rear delts' then by all means pull on a higher line. This line however in most individuals will lead to fatigue much sooner due to the smaller amount of muscle mass being targeted/used.

Like most exercises there are a lot of different ways to perform the exercises...there isn't a best way...the methods we most commonly use in no particular order are as follows:
Balls Out - This would be the most common technique in testing for instance and involves performing reps as fast as humanly possible which sometimes becomes such a violent movement that an athletes testicles actually free themselves from the confines of said athletes pants.
Explosive Concentric and Controlled Eccentric - Pulling to the bar as fast as possible and slowly lowering back to the hang position. This can be accompanied by an 'attempted' static contraction at the bar.

So there you go...any questions or comments fire away...at the very least I've saved you from having to watch this video.

Inverted Rows...everything you already knew and so much less.

The New Year...

2009-01-02T10:04:00.002Z

...really isn't a major milestone for me. My new years are really marked by the starting of each rugby and GAA season. I thought I would jump on the bandwagon though and get into the spirit of regeneration and new beginnings.

Excuses, excuses
As you all well know thanks to my constant moaning and complaining...I've not been well. Around Christmas Eve is was struck down...I was going to say...in my prime...but I think that would be stretching the truth more than a little...anyway...I was struck down with what I now know was and still is a bacterial chest infection which literally did strike me down. I've not been able to train at all and barely been able to work over the whole Christmas and New Years period...which thankfully is a relatively quiet time training wise.

A Fresh Start
I'm still not 100% but am going to try and start getting things back on track. I was going through my blogs stat counter and saw that a lot of the searches that occur on the blog relate to 'inverted rows' so either this afternoon or tomorrow morning I am going to tell you everything I know about inverted rows....don't worry...I predict it will take a little less that 5 minutes. If there is anything else people want me to go through in detail then let me know.

February Seminar
While I've been less than 100% I have been doing a lot of work on the up coming seminar. I am still waiting to get some information back so I can set a price for the seminar...suffice to say I am not looking to make any money out of it so rest assured no one will be shocked at the price. The material is coming together well though and I'm looking forward to presenting it all if for no other reason than to get it out there...get feedback...modify and adjust it as needs be and then present it all over again. One of the things I wanted to do when I started the blog is to start being a part of the solution rather than just bitching and moaning about the problem. Putting this seminar together and presenting it will be an extension of that. I've said to numerous people that...I can teach anyone 90% of everything they need to know to do my job in a single weekend...I'm looking forward to finding out if that is true or not.

I knew this would be the case...

2008-12-30T13:32:00.003Z

...I have three times as many people coming to my seminar from overseas as are coming from Ireland.

Now...in fairness...I'm just being dramatic for the sake of comedy value and because I wanted something to right about but I do think it is worth mentioning and laughing about the fact that so far one local...that being Barry...has said they will attend versus three foreigners...one from as far away as Pakistan have said they will come.

It says a lot about Ireland and Irish sport in general I think. If over last few years I had excepted some of the job offers I've had from outside of Ireland or if I made a bigger song and dance and whored myself to the media here as other have I could slap a €1000+ price tag on this seminar...then market the shit out of it and sell it out a few times over....do you guys not think it is funny?

Anyway...it doesn't really matter as like I said...if one person showed up I'd be happy enough with that and I will probably put a ceiling on the number anyway. I'm thinking maybe 10. We'll see how it goes.

Principles of Strength and Conditioning

2008-12-25T09:01:00.013Z

I am putting on my seminar on the 7th and 8th of February 2009. It is going to go ahead even if only 1 person shows up. I'm going to come back to post and fill out all the details and specifics so check back here if you are interested in attending. I just wanted to 'announce' it because I said I would set a date before Christmas.

So you have your date now...more information to come.

Proposed Seminar Format

Introduction to Strength and Conditioning for Athletes
I want the seminar to focus on preparing athletes of all types from all sports and I'm going to deal with everything from the generalities to the specifics of all the sports and athletes with whom I work.

Screening and Functional Movement Analysis
I am going to try and rope in a lot of the sports professionals with whom I work to cover very specific elements like this. Essentially everyone who is attending who is able will have a screening done and also perform them. It'll be a case of learning by doing.

Strength Testing and Fitness Assessment
I am going to drag a large number of athletes in by scheduling by mere coincidence their strength testing and fitness assessments to coincide with the seminar and once again...everyone who is able will do a full strength test and fitness assessment.

We'll then be able to look at the data we have and use that as a basis for much of the rest of the seminar.

We'll go into what the results mean and how to interpret them as a reference point for the information to come.

Strength Training Theory
I'm going to go through the basic principles of strength training but more importantly I want to discuss what all this theory means in practice.

Getting Our Pump On
As part of all this we are also going to TRAIN...we're ALL going to go through fundamental exercises, focusing on technique and the coaching points important to coaches and athletes.

That essentially will be the Saturday...I think we will have a proper catered lunch and dinner and drinks in the bar afterwards...so people can basically come for the day...bring their change of clothes for the night. There is plenty of accommodation nearby so a short taxi ride will be all that is needed for those out of towners and locals alike.

The Sunday will go something as follows...
Program Construction
This will be an opportunity for me to present my fundamental training theory...the how and why of what I actually do.
We'll then actually design some programs based on ours or others results from the previous day.
We can then examine and critique the various training options that we come up with.

Conditioning Theory
As with the strength training portion we'll go through very basic theory but focus more on the actual 'take home' points.

Getting our Sweat On
This will be acceleration, agility and speed session primarily but we'll also cover conditioning and field based conditioning games.

We'll wrap up with lunch and a good Q&A that will basically go on as long as needs be or until people get bored and start drifting away and I am left talking to myself.

Accommodation
When people have visited before they stayed at Bewley's at Sandyford/Leopardstown and I think people were pretty happy with that in the past. Maybe Ian could chime in and let people know how he found it?
Here is another venue that Damian found which is only a few minutes from the gym...The Bridge House. Accomodation in Dublin should be plentiful and reasonably cheap at the moment...I wouldn't imagine occupancy rates are 'maxed out' at the moment.

Seminar Cost
The seminar is going to cost €105...I pulled this figure basically out of my hole. It is what I charge for a consultation and program and is half the price I plan on charging for this seminar the next time I do it.
Now...you don't have to pay in advance for the seminar. In fact if you want to shaft me or it brings joy to your life to stick it to people who want to help you or you can't afford (or can justify to yourself not being able to afford it while sinking piss at a cost of €5+ a pint) then feel free not to pay at all. One of the things I've always been happy about is that my father always taught me that it is better to be screwed than do the screwing...I know my American friends won't understand that at all...and I know for sure that my Irish friends DEFINITELY won't get that...now that I think of it...not many people will probably get it...but I am fine with being taken advantage of or in being done over by somebody....BUT it will only ever happen once. So basically...pay or don't pay....come or don't come...I really don't give a shit. As the people that know me will freely tell you...you can't actually pay me enough money to work or help people who don't want to help themselves. If you do want to come and you do want to pay for it I am going to make sure you get all the information and help you want to the extent that it will be you that has to ask me to shut up or pretends to get something out of your car so you can slip away from me.

Attendees
I don't want to 'out' anyone who is coming but I thought I would create a list of attendees and put you guys on a mailing list so everyone who is going has everyone else's email addresses etc so you can sort out travel and accommodation between you all.

So far I know that the following are attending:
Joel (Sweden)
Ian Mellis (UK)
Damien Martin (IRL)
Dwain McGuinness (IRL)
Alan Lavin (IRL)
Don Lehane (IRL)
Padraic Monaghan (IRL)

Well that's it so far. It looks like it is going to be a far bigger success than I ever imagined.

The following are people I suspect might attend:
Amir
Barry
Damian
John
Vinny

So if you want to go on the 'are' or 'might' be attending lists then drop me a mail. It isn't going to be a massive seminar...mainly because I don't want it to be and partly because my personality should drive off the majority of those that are contemplating possibly attending. So before anyone gets too carried away I think those out of towners that are coming should compare notes. Staying in the same hotel would be a good start. The way I think things should go is that we kick of around 10am on Saturday...break for lunch...finish in the afternoon and then train...we can then shit, shave and shower (that's just my proposed order...it works for me...if someone has a better order feel free to let me know...it's all about learning) then go and have some dinner and a few beverages. Sunday morning we'll kick of again 10am and finish early in the afternoon. I'm pretty flexible...I've a good idea of all the material that I want to cover to make the seminar a stand alone event and to tie the whole lot together...the timing is pretty much up to all those that attend and I'm will to put it to a vote if neccessary so long as you all realise that I have the deciding vote.

Let me make something clear...

2008-12-24T12:55:00.006Z

...these are not instructional videos.

Perfect execution of a superiorly designed and instructed 'functional' lift that I developed.

Monkey see monkey do...this is why all my athletes have such great form and technique...how could they not with a role model like this!

I only say this because apparently some moron on an Irish fitness board was commenting on what a bad coach I apparently am...the reason I say that this particular individual is a moron is because his evidence for my lack of coaching prowess was apparently the following:

Judging by the form of some of the athletes in his videos, I wouldn't be asking him for advice on weightlifting.

I know he uses the excuse that max outs don't have to be pretty.... but if you've solid form to start with you'll have it at any weight.

Edit: Does he even use oly lifts with his athletes?

1. I haven't posted very many Oly lifting videos but I don't think my athletes are too bad considering what I've seen elsewhere.

2. I tend to post videos that are 'interesting' rather than 'instructional' and to give people a 'feel' for what is going on in sessions.

3. I don't 'set up' videos...I post stuff as is...because I think most of the stuff that I see elsewhere on the web is absolutely a 'set up'...which is fine if you are posting videos as 'instructional' but I think it is pretty disingenuous if you are trying to present it as 'ordinary' training session or exercise.

4. I don't actually make 'excuses' for form and don't remember ever doing so...even when that other idiot TruthAxe was going on with that rubbish regarding ROK I agreed that her form was far from perfect...and that was why we were working on it.

5. I'd love to follow this individual around the gym and film him training...I bet every single exercise and session he did could be picked to pieces if he were training anywhere close to maximal...and that would be a stupid thing to do...as stupid as him saying I'm a poor coach because he's seen my videos.

6. I can post plenty of videos of Olympic level weightlifters displaying poor form and missing lifts....what the hell would that mean? I have been lucky enough to train with and beside Olympic weightlifting medallists and have seen plenty of less than perfect form on display in training.

Anyway...I just wanted to pass on my thanks to all those people (you know who you are) that email me links to this sort of stuff whenever and wherever it appears on the internet in the hopes of baiting me into going and annoying these people out there on the interweb. I can tell you now though that I will never post on that site...the level of advice and discussion there generally is probably amongst the worst I've seen on the internet with regard fitness and training. My New Years resolution will be to resist arguing with idiots as they drag you down to their level and then beat you with experience! That site let me tell you has more experience than most.

As an aside...I don't actually consider myself an Olympic lifting coach...mainly because it doesn't play a huge part in my day to day coaching. I think to really coach it well like anything else you need to be exposed to it often and consistently. As well as that I don't really think it provides the effects that people believe it does with regard to improving sports performance along with the fact that I think there are better ways to provide the performance returns that most people pursuing Olympic lifting are looking for in the first place.

Day 36-42

2008-12-23T11:15:00.009Z

Going to attempt to make this a good training week. Didn't get off to a good start yesterday. I was basically stuck at the computer working from when I woke till 11pm last night and hardly had a chance to answer mail or annoy people on the interweb...and I always try to make time for that...no matter how busy I am.

This week is basically about maintenance...I want to maintain my weight at or around 110kg and keep the off mat portion of my training on track. I feel great at the moment and am looking forward to the Christmas and New Year period being over and everything getting back to normal in the New Year.

I'll be doing some testing between Christmas and New Years as well so we'll see where I'm at then.

Monday
Rest Day...too much work to do and not enough time to do it.

Tuesday
I weighed in tonight...109.6kg...and yes...I had a witness. Pretty happy that I've been able to maintain and manage my body weight so close to where I wanted it.

Bike - 25 mins
Ab Circuit:
Hanging Leg Raises - 3x10
JF Laterals - 3x10 each side

Standing Ab Pulldowns - 3x10
KB Side Rolls - 3x10 each side
Ab Roll Outs - 3x10
1A Horizontal Band Pull-A-Parts - 3x10
1B Vertical Band Pull-A-Parts - 3x10
2A Pull Up + Curl - 5x4's
2B Elevated Push Ups + Knee Raises - 5x8's

Bike - 20 mins

Wednesday
Went to the gym...warm up...started my session and just felt like crap so stopped. Did a bit but nothing worth mentioning really.

Thursday

Note: It's Christmas morning and I feel like absolute crap. I think I've managed to work myself into the ground...I blame my non existent job and the long hours I've not been working...I had a bit of a cough yesterday...but today I am properly sick...the cough, congestion and I have the 'sickness sweats' so no training today. Going to spend my Christmas day sleeping I think in the hope that the rest will have me sorted out.

Friday
I am having a prolonged near death experience...no sleep due to hacking cough...constantly alternating between chills and full body sweating...along with soreness in every joint in my body. Not the Christmas and New Year period I was looking forward to.

Saturday
Still sick as a dog but managed to drag my carcass to work. Thankfully stumbled onto the right combination of over the counter medications after going through cough syrups like it was some sort of wine tasting...my personal recommendation is Benylin 4Flu Tablets stacked with Nurofen Plus tablets...a fantastic oral only cycle.

Sunday
No longer feel like I am on my death bed. The medication I'm taking has worked a treat. Not coughing anywhere near as much and when I do cough I no longer feel like my head is going to explode.

I think it is going to be a few more days before I am back ready to train.

If you happen to be feeling cerebral

2008-12-22T20:19:00.012Z

I thought some of you reading this blog might find this interesting...as if you are reading my blog you are obviously incredibly intelligent and discerning readers.

The following is an excerpt from Malcolm Gladwell's book...a link to the book on Amazon you'll find right here. He also has a blog...that you'll find here.

I'm not sure whether I am infringing some sort of copyright here but Malcolm if you are reading this...I've ordered your book myself...and maybe someone else here will as well.

Anyway...here's the excerpt of from the book that appeared originally in The Guardian.

A gift or hard graft?

The University of Michigan opened its new computer centre in 1971, in a low-slung building on Beal Avenue in Ann Arbor. The university's enormous mainframe computers stood in the middle of a vast, white-tiled room, looking, as one faculty member remembers, "like one of the last scenes in 2001: A Space Odyssey". Off to the side were dozens of key-punch machines - what passed in those days for computer terminals. Over the years, thousands of students would pass through that white-tiled room - the most famous of whom was a gawky teenager named Bill Joy.

Joy came to the University of Michigan the year the computer centre opened, at the age of 16. He had been voted "most studious student" by his graduating class at North Framingham high school, outside Detroit, which, as he puts it, meant he was a "no-date nerd". He had thought he might end up as a biologist or a mathematician, but late in his freshman year he stumbled across the computing centre - and he was hooked.

From then on, the computer centre was his life. He programmed whenever he could. He got a job with a computer science professor, so he could program over the summer. In 1975, Joy enrolled in graduate school at the University of California, Berkeley. There, he buried himself even deeper in the world of computer software. During the oral exams for his PhD, he made up a particularly complicated algorithm on the fly that - as one of his many admirers has written - "so stunned his examiners [that] one of them later compared the experience to 'Jesus confounding his elders'".

Working in collaboration with a small group of programmers, Joy took on the task of rewriting Unix, a software system developed by AT&T for mainframe computers. Joy's version was so good that it became - and remains - the operating system on which millions of computers around the world run. "If you put your Mac in that funny mode where you can see the code," Joy says, "I see things that I remember typing in 25 years ago." And when you go online, do you know who wrote the software that allows you to access the internet? Bill Joy.

After Berkeley, Joy co-founded the Silicon Valley firm Sun Microsystems. There, he rewrote another computer language, Java, and his legend grew still further. Among Silicon Valley insiders, Joy is spoken of with as much awe as Bill Gates. He is sometimes called the Edison of the internet. The story of Joy's genius has been told many times, and the lesson is always the same. Here was a world that was the purest of meritocracies. Computer programming didn't operate as an old-boy network, where you got ahead because of money or connections. It was a wide-open field, in which all participants were judged solely by their talent and accomplishments. It was a world where the best men won, and Joy was clearly one of those best men. Sport, too, is supposed to be just such a pure meritocracy. But is it? Take ice hockey in Canada: look at any team and you will find that a disproportionate number of players will have been born in the first three months of the year. This, it turns out, is because the cut-off date for children eligible for the nine-year-old, 10-year-old, 11-year-old league and so on is January 1. Boys who are oldest and biggest at the beginning of the hockey season are inevitably the best. And so they get the most coaching and practice, and they get chosen for the all-star team, and so their advantage increases - on into the professional game. A similar pattern applies to other sports. What we think of as talent is actually a complicated combination of ability, opportunity and utterly arbitrary advantage.

Does something similar apply to outliers in other fields, such as Bill Joy? Do they benefit from special opportunities, and do those opportunities follow any kind of pattern? The evidence suggests they do. In the early 90s, the psychologist K Anders Ericsson and two colleagues set up shop at Berlin's elite Academy of Music. With the help of the academy's professors, they divided the school's violinists into three groups. The first group were the stars, the students with the potential to become world-class soloists. The second were those judged to be merely "good". The third were students who were unlikely ever to play professionally, and intended to be music teachers in the school system. All the violinists were then asked the same question.
Over the course of your career, ever since you first picked up the violin, how many hours have you practised? Everyone, from all three groups, started playing at roughly the same time - around the age of five. In those first few years, everyone practised roughly the same amount - about two or three hours a week. But around the age of eight real differences started to emerge. The students who would end up as the best in their class began to practise more than everyone else: six hours a week by age nine, eight by age 12, 16 a week by age 14, and up and up, until by the age of 20 they were practising well over 30 hours a week. By the age of 20, the elite performers had all totalled 10,000 hours of practice over the course of their lives. The merely good students had totalled, by contrast, 8,000 hours, and the future music
teachers just over 4,000 hours. The curious thing about Ericsson's study is that he and his colleagues couldn't find any "naturals" - musicians who could float effortlessly to the top while practising a fraction of the time that their peers did. Nor could they find "grinds", people who worked harder than everyone else and yet just didn't have what it takes to break into the top ranks. Their research suggested that once you have enough ability to get into a top music school, the thing that distinguishes one performer from another is how hard he or she works. That's it. What's more, the people at the very top don't just work much harder than everyone else. They work much, much harder. This idea - that excellence at a complex task requires a critical, minimum level of practice - surfaces again and again in studies of expertise. In fact, researchers have settled on what they believe is a magic number for true expertise: 10,000 hours.

"In study after study, of composers, basketball players, fiction writers, ice-skaters, concert pianists, chess players, master criminals," writes the neurologist Daniel Levitin, "this number comes up again and again. Ten thousand hours is equivalent to roughly three hours a day, or 20 hours a week, of practice over 10 years... No one has yet found a case in which true world-class expertise was accomplished in less time. It seems that it takes the brain this long to assimilate all that it needs to know to achieve true mastery."

This is true even of people we think of as prodigies. Mozart, for example, famously started writing music at six. But, the psychologist Michael Howe writes in his book Genius Explained, by the standards of mature composers Mozart's early works are not outstanding. The earliest pieces were all probably written down by his father, and perhaps improved in the process. Many of Wolfgang's childhood compositions, such as the first seven of his concertos for piano and orchestra, are largely arrangements of works by other composers. Of those concertos that contain only music original to Mozart, the earliest that is now regarded as a masterwork (No9 K271) was not composed until he was 21: by that time Mozart had already been composing concertos for 10 years. To become a chess grandmaster also seems to take about 10 years. (Only the legendary Bobby Fischer got to that elite level in less than that time: it took him nine years.) And what's 10 years? Well, it's roughly how long it takes to put in 10,000 hours of hard practice.

Ten thousand hours is, of course, an enormous amount of time. It's all but impossible to reach that number, by the time you're a young adult, all by yourself. You have to have parents who are encouraging and supportive. You can't be poor, because if you have to hold down a part-time job on the side to help make ends meet, there won't be enough time left over in the day. In fact, most people can really only reach that number if they get into some kind of special programme - like a hockey all-star squad - or get some kind of extraordinary opportunity that gives them a chance to put in that kind of work.

So, back to Bill Joy. It's 1971 and he's 16. He's the maths wiz, the kind of student that schools like MIT, Caltech or the University of Waterloo attract by the hundreds. "When Bill was a little kid, he wanted to know everything about everything way before he should've even known he wanted to know," his father William says. "We answered him when we could. And when we couldn't, we would just give him a book." When he applied to college, Joy got a perfect score on the maths portion of the scholastic aptitude test. "It wasn't particularly hard," he says, matter-of-factly. "There was plenty of
time to check it twice." He could have gone in any number of directions. He could have done a PhD in biology. He could have gone to medical school. He could easily have had a "typical" college career: lots of schoolwork, football games, drunken fraternity parties, awkward encounters with girls, long discussions with roommates about the meaning of life. But he didn't, because he stumbled across that nondescript building on Beal Avenue. In the 70s, when Joy was learning about programming, computers were the size of rooms. A single machine - which might have less power and memory than your microwave - could cost upwards of a million dollars. Computers were hard to get access to, and renting time on them cost a fortune. This was the era when computer programs were created using cardboard "punch" cards. A complex program might include hundreds, if not thousands, of these cards, in tall stacks. Since computers could handle only one task at a time, the operator made an appointment for your program and, depending on how many other people were ahead of you in line, you might not get your cards back for several hours. And if you made even a single error in your program, then you had to take the cards back, track down the error and begin the whole process again. Under those circumstances, it was exceedingly difficult for anyone to become a programming expert. Certainly becoming an expert by your early 20s was all but impossible. "Programming with cards," one computer scientist from the era remembers, "did not teach you programming. It taught you patience and proofreading."

That's where the University of Michigan came in. It was one of the first universities in the world to abandon computer cards for the brand-new system called "time-haring". Computer scientists realised you could train a computer to handle hundreds of tasks at the same time. No more punch cards. You could build dozens of terminals, link them all to the mainframe by a telephone line, and have everyone programming - online - all at once. This was the opportunity that greeted Bill Joy when he arrived on the Ann Arbor campus in the autumn of 1971. "Do you know what the difference is between the computing cards and time-sharing?" Joy says. "It's the difference between playing chess by mail and speed chess." Programming wasn't an exercise in frustration any more. It was fun.

According to Joy, he spent a phenomenal amount of time at the computer centre. "It was open 24 hours. I would stay there all night, and just walk home in the morning. In an average week in those years I was spending more time in the computer centre than on my classes. All of us down there had this recurring nightmare of forgetting to show up for class at all, of not even realising we were enrolled."

Just look at the stream of opportunities that came Joy's way. Because he happened to go to a far-sighted school, he was able to practise on a time-sharing system, instead of punch cards; because the university was willing to spend the money to keep the computer centre open 24 hours, he could stay up all night; and because he was able to put in so many hours, by the time he was presented with the opportunity to rewrite Unix, he was up to the task. Bill Joy was brilliant. He wanted to learn - that was a big part of it - but before he could become an expert, someone had to give him the
opportunity to learn how to be expert.

"At Michigan, I was probably programming eight or 10 hours a day," he says. "By the time I was at Berkeley, I was doing it day and night..." He pauses for a moment, to do the maths in his head which, for him, doesn't take long. "It's five years," he says, finally. "So, so, maybe...10,000 hours? That's about right."

Is this a general rule of success? If you scratch below the surface of every great achiever, do you always find the equivalent of the Michigan Computer Centre or the hockey all-star team - some sort of special opportunity for practice? Let's test the idea with two examples: the Beatles, one of the most famous rock bands ever, and Bill
Gates, one of the world's richest men.

The Beatles - John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr - came to the US in February 1964, starting the so-called "British Invasion" of the American music scene. The interesting thing is how long they had already been playing together. Lennon and McCartney began in 1957. (Incidentally, the time that elapsed between their founding and their greatest artistic achievements - arguably Sgt Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band and the White Album - is 10 years.) In 1960, while they were still a struggling school rock band, they were invited to play in Hamburg, Germany.

"Hamburg in those days did not have rock'n'roll music clubs. It had strip clubs," says Philip Norman, who wrote the Beatles' biography, Shout! "There was one particular club owner called Bruno, who was originally a fairground showman. He had the idea of bringing in rock groups to play in various clubs. They had this formula. It was a huge nonstop show, hour after hour, with a lot of people lurching in and the other lot lurching out. And the bands would play all the time to catch the passing traffic. In an American red-light district, they would call it nonstop striptease. "Many of the bands that played in Hamburg were from Liverpool," Norman continues. "It was an accident. Bruno went to London to look for bands. But he happened to meet a Liverpool entrepreneur in Soho, who was down in London by pure chance. And he arranged to send some bands over. That's how the connection was established. And eventually the Beatles made a connection not just with Bruno, but with other club owners as well. They kept going back, because they got a lot of alcohol and a lot of sex."

And what was so special about Hamburg? It wasn't that it paid well. (It didn't.) Or that the acoustics were fantastic. (They weren't.) Or that the audiences were savvy and appreciative. (They were anything but.) It was the sheer amount of time the band was forced to play. Here is John Lennon, in an interview after the Beatles disbanded, talking about the band's performances at a Hamburg strip club called the Indra: "We
got better and got more confidence. We couldn't help it with all the experience playing all night long. It was handy them being foreign. We had to try even harder, put our heart and soul into it, to get ourselves over. In Liverpool, we'd only ever done one-hour sessions, and we just used to do our best numbers, the same ones, at every one. In Hamburg we had to play for eight hours, so we really had to find a new way of playing."

The Beatles ended up travelling to Hamburg five times between 1960 and the end of 1962. On the first trip, they played 106 nights, of five or more hours a night. Their second trip they played 92 times. Their third trip they played 48 times, for a total of 172 hours on stage. The last two Hamburg stints, in November and December 1962, involved another 90 hours of performing. All told, they performed for 270 nights in just over a year and a half. By the time they had their first burst of success in 1964, they had performed live an estimated 1,200 times, which is extraordinary. Most bands today don't perform 1,200 times in their entire careers. The Hamburg crucible is what set the Beatles apart. "They were no good on stage when they went there and they were very good when they came back," Norman says. "They learned not only stamina, they had to learn an enormous amount of numbers - cover versions of everything you can think of, not just rock'n'roll, a bit of jazz, too. They weren't disciplined on stage at all before that. But when they came back they sounded like no one else. It was the making of them."

Let's now turn to the history of Bill Gates. His story is almost as well-known as the Beatles'. Brilliant young maths wiz discovers computer programming. Drops out of Harvard. Starts a little computer company called Microsoft with his friends. Through sheer brilliance, ambition and guts builds it into the giant of the software world.

Now let's dig a bit deeper. Gates' father was a wealthy lawyer in Seattle, and his mother was the daughter of a well-to-do banker. As a child Gates was precocious, and easily bored by his studies. So his parents took him out of public school, and at the beginning of seventh grade sent him to Lakeside, a private school that catered to Seattle's elite families. Midway through Gates' second year, the school started a computer club. "The Mothers' Club at school did a rummage sale every year, and there was always the question of what the money would go to," Gates remembers. "That year, they put $3,000 into buying a computer terminal down in this funny little room that we subsequently took control of. It was kind of an amazing thing."

Even more remarkable was the kind of computer Lakeside bought: it was an ASR-33 Teletype, a time-sharing terminal with a direct link to a mainframe computer in downtown Seattle. "The whole idea of time-sharing only got invented in 1965," Gates says. "Someone was pretty forward looking."

From that moment on, Gates lived in the computer room. He and a number of others began to teach themselves how to use this strange new device. The parents raised more money to buy time on the mainframe computer. The students spent it. As luck would have it, Monique Rona, one of the founders of C-Cubed - a company that leased computer time - had a son at Lakeside, a class ahead of Gates. Would the Lakeside computer club, Rona wondered, like to test out the company's software programs on the weekends in exchange for free programming time? Absolutely!

Before long, Gates and his friends latched on to another outfit called ISI, which agreed to let them have free computer time in exchange for working on a piece of software that could be used to automate company payrolls. In one seven-month period in 1971, Gates and his cohorts ran up 1,575 hours of computer time on the ISI mainframe, which averages out at eight hours a day, seven days a week.

"It was my obsession," Gates says of his early high school years. "I skipped athletics. I went up there at night. We were programming on weekends. It would be a rare week that we wouldn't get 20 or 30 hours in. There was a period where Paul Allen and I got in trouble for stealing a bunch of passwords and crashing the system. We got kicked out. I didn't get to use the computer the whole summer. This is when I was 15 and 16. Then I found out Paul had found a computer that was free at the University of Washington. They had these machines in the medical centre and the physics department. They were on a 24-hour schedule, but with this big slack period so between three and six in the morning they never scheduled anything." Gates laughed.
"That's why I'm always so generous to the University of Washington, because they let me steal so much computer time. I'd leave at night, after my bedtime. I could walk up to the university from my house. Or I'd take the bus." Years later, Gates' mother said, "We always wondered why it was so hard for him to get up in the morning."

Through one of the founders of ISI, Gates landed a secondment programming a computer system at the Bonneville Power station in southern Washington State. There, he spent the spring of his senior year writing code.

Those five years, from eighth grade to the end of high school, were Bill Gates' Hamburg, and by any measure he was presented with an even more extraordinary series of opportunities than Bill Joy. And virtually every one of those opportunities gave Gates extra time to practise. By the time he dropped out of Harvard, he'd been programming nonstop for seven consecutive years. He was way past 10,000 hours. How many teenagers had the kind of experience Gates had? "If there were 50 in the world, I'd be stunned," he says.

If you put together the stories of hockey players and the Beatles and Bill Joy and Bill Gates, I think we get a more complete picture of the path to success. Joy, Gates and the Beatles are all undeniably talented. Lennon and McCartney had a musical gift, of the sort that comes along once in a generation, and Joy, let us not forget, had a mind so quick that he could make up a complicated algorithm on the fly that left his professors in awe. A good part of that "talent", however, was something other than an innate aptitude for music or maths. It was desire. The Beatles were willing to play for eight hours straight, seven days a week. Joy was willing to stay up all night programming. In either case, most of us would have gone home to bed. In other words, a key part of what it means to be talented is being able to practise for hours and hours - to the point where it is really hard to know where "natural ability" stops and the simple willingness to work hard begins.

What is so striking about these success stories is that the outliers were the beneficiaries of some kind of unusual opportunity. Lucky breaks don't seem like the exception with software billionaires, rock bands and star athletes; they seem like the rule. Recently Forbes Magazine compiled a list of the 75 richest people in history. It includes queens and kings and pharaohs from centuries past, as well as contemporary billionaires such as Warren Buffet and Carlos Slim. However, an astonishing 14 on the list are Americans born within nine years of each other in the mid-19th century. In other words, almost 20% of the names come from a single generation - born between 1831 and 1840 in a single country. The list includes industrialists and financiers who are still household names today:
John Rockefeller, born in 1839 (the richest of the lot); Andrew Carnegie, 1835; Jay Gould, 1836; and JP Morgan, 1837.

What's going on here is obvious, if you think about it. In the 1860s and 1870s, the American economy went through perhaps the greatest transformation in its history. This was when the railways were built, and when Wall Street emerged. It was when industrial manufacturing started in earnest. It was when all the rules by which the traditional economy functioned were broken and remade. What that list says is that it was absolutely critical, if you were going to take advantage of those opportunities, to be in your 20s when that transformation was happening.

If you were born in the late 1840s, you missed it - you were too young to take advantage of that moment. If you were born in the 1820s, you were too old - your mindset was shaped by the old, pre-civil war ways. But there is a particular, narrow nine-year window that was just perfect. All of the 14 men and women on that list had vision and talent. But they also were given an extraordinary opportunity, in the same way that hockey players born in January, February and March were given an extraordinary opportunity.

Let's do the same kind of analysis for software tycoons such as Bill Joy and Bill Gates.

Veterans of Silicon Valley will tell you that the most important date in the history of the personal computer revolution was January 1975. That was when the magazine Popular Electronics ran a cover story on a machine called the Altair 8800. The Altair cost $397. It was a do-it-yourself contraption that you could assemble at home. The headline on the story read: Project Breakthrough! World's First Minicomputer Kit To
Rival Commercial Models. To readers of Popular Electronics, then the bible of the fledgling software and computer world, that headline was a revelation. Computers up to that point were the massive, expensive mainframes of the sort sitting in the white-tiled expanse of the Michigan computing centre. For years, every hacker and electronics wiz had dreamed of the day when a computer would come along that was small and inexpensive enough for an ordinary person to use and own. That day had finally arrived. If January 1975 was the dawn of the personal computer age, then who would be in the best position to take advantage of it? If you're a few years out of college in 1975, and if you have had any experience with programming at all, you would have already been hired by IBM or one of the other traditional, old-line computer firms of that era. You belonged to the old paradigm. You have just bought a house. You're married. A baby is on the way. You're in no position to give up a good job and pension for some pie-in-the-sky $397 computer kit. So let's also rule out all those born before, say, 1952.

At the same time, though, you don't want to be too young. You can't seize the moment if you're still in high school. So let's also rule out anyone born after, say, 1958. The perfect age to be in 1975, in other words, is young enough to see the coming revolution but not so old as to have missed it. You want to be 20 or 21, born in 1954 or 1955.

Let's start with Gates, the richest and most famous of all Silicon Valley tycoons. When was he born? Bill Gates: October 28 1955. The perfect birthdate. Gates is the hockey player born on January 1.

Gates's best friend at Lakeside was Paul Allen. He also hung out in the computer room with Gates, and shared those long evenings at ISI and C-Cubed. Allen went on to found Microsoft with Gates. Paul Allen: January 21 1953.

The third richest man at Microsoft is the one who has been running the company on a day-to-day basis since 2000 - one of the most respected executives in the software world, Steve Ballmer. Steve Ballmer: March 24 1956.

And let's not forget a man every bit as famous as Gates, Steve Jobs, the co-founder of Apple Computer. He wasn't from a rich family, like Gates, and he didn't go to Michigan, like Joy. But it doesn't take much investigation of his upbringing to realise that he had his Hamburg, too. He grew up in Mountain View California, just south of San Francisco, which is the absolute epicentre of Silicon Valley. His neighbourhood was filled with engineers from Hewlett-Packard, then, as now, one of the most important electronics firms in the world. As a teenager he prowled the flea markets of Mountain View, where electronics hobbyists and tinkerers sold spare parts. Jobs came of age breathing the air of the very business he would later dominate. He picked the brains of Hewlett-Packard engineers and once even called Bill Hewlett, one of the company's founders, to request parts. Jobs not only received the parts he wanted, he managed to wangle a summer job. He worked on an assembly line to build computers and was so fascinated that he tried to design his own... Steve Jobs was born on February 24 1955.

Another of the pioneers of the software revolution was Eric Schmidt. He ran Novell, one of Silicon Valley's most important software firms, and in 2001 became the chief executive officer of Google. He was born on April 27 1955.

I don't mean to suggest, of course, that every software tycoon in Silicon Valley was born in 1955. But there are very clearly patterns here, and what's striking is how little we seem to want to talk about them. We pretend that success is a matter of individual merit. That is not the whole story. These are stories about people who were given a special opportunity to work really hard and seized it, and who happened to come of age at a time when that extraordinary effort was rewarded by the rest of society. Their success was not of their own making. It was a product of the world in which they grew up. Their success, in other words, wasn't due to some mysterious
process known only to themselves. It had a logic, and if we can understand that logic, think of all the tantalising possibilities that opens up.

By the way, let's not forget Bill Joy. Had he been just a little bit older and had to face the drudgery of programming with computer cards, he says he would have studied science. Bill Joy the computer legend would have been Bill Joy the biologist. In fact, he was born on November 8 1954. And his three fellow founders of Sun Microsystems - one of the oldest and most important of Silicon Valley's software companies? Scott McNealy: born November 13 1954. Vinod Khosla: born January 28 1955. Andy Bechtolsheim: born June 1955. ·

(c) Malcolm Gladwell 2008.

Maybe it's just because it's after 1am but...

2008-12-21T01:09:00.002Z

...I just thought this was brilliant. I know that it has absolutely nothing at all to do with sport or fitness or anything else for that matter but I thought some of you might think this was funny and I thought it especially so after the Tupac marathon we had on Friday.

I know I should be working...

A quick update on the lack of updates

2008-12-21T00:24:00.003Z

Apologies for not being in a position to post anything of late for you all to waste your time reading. Normal service will resume shortly I promise.

I've had too much work to do of late and not enough time to do it...and I know you all believe me when I say that because people should know full well by now that there is nothing I like better than wasting my time updating my blog and generally annoying people on the interweb.

In the news this week:
1. I weighed in last Tuesday at 109.8kg...not that it's news but I forgot to put that in my diary at the time.
2. Haven't trained as well as I would have liked this week but that was unavoidable.
3. Everyone else has trained pretty well...next week things should be quieter work wise so I am planning on doing a bit of an update of where people are at.
4. ROK is still not dead or injured.

I should of got her to hold a newspaper while she was doing these.
5. The weekend presentation/coaching extravaganza is coming together quite well and as I said I will name a date and set it in concrete before Xmas.

I have to get back to work so more news on everything and anything in the not too distant future.

Very Mixed Session

2008-12-16T13:37:00.006Z

This is the session that Barry did this morning:

See if you can follow along on the heart rate graph:
Bike - 5 mins.
Some lower body mobility work and some upper body stability work.
Rower - 3x4 mins with 1 min recovery between efforts...1091m, 1052m and 1033m.
Plate Shifting - 3 sets (4x5kg + 4x2.5kg over and back in each set)
10 min 40kg Barbell Complex - Deadlift, RDL, Clean, Front Squat, Push Press, Back Squat, Good Morning...behind the neck push press with the bar returning to the floor. As many complete sets as possible in 10 mins...he got 14 done.
Bike - 5x30/30 intervals at L5 and L10...easy spinning for 30 seconds at level 5 then out of the saddle and hard fast climbing for 30 seconds at over 100rpm. When he finished he stayed on the bike just spinning easily for 5 mins.
Cable Single Arm Press and Row - 1x12 each side at 40lbs, 3x12 each side at 50lbs.
1A Back Extensions - 3x12
1B Natural Reverse Hypers - 3x12
Then we sat around talking shit for ages at the end which you can see at the end of the graph.

...and by the way...the session was 'very mixed' for a reason...the title makes it sound like it wasn't meant to be that way.

MMA Training and Preparation

2008-12-15T17:55:00.004Z

I went to my first MMA fight night on Friday. A number of the lads that I train with were fighting so I had a personal interest in the event. My mind was racing the whole night thinking about training and fighting...I can never watch any sport or competition without mentally masturbating with regard to training...that is regarding how I would make an athlete better, how I would optimise their individual strengths and minimise their weaknesses. I do this regardless of how much I know or don't know about the sport in question just like every other armchair critic and spectator does...and like everyone else...I do it from my own particular perspective.

As an aside...a lot of people make comments and or form opinions on coaches and trainers based on either how they look...as in do the look like they know about training and or how they performed in the past...as in were they successful...and like everything else...I've an opinion on this as well...it is true...you can't necessarily judge a book by its cover...but sometimes the cover does give you a pretty good idea. I know a lot of good coaches that I would have a lot of time for that look like crap...I also know a lot of coaches who look the business that don't know their aerobic from their anaerobic systems. I think I can say that I've been both of those...both looks wise and knowledge wise...when I first moved into coaching having been an athlete I did really well as a personal trainer based on the fact that I still 'looked' like I knew what I was doing...many years and many tonnes of food later...I certainly didn't 'look' like I knew what I was doing...unless you count looking like a international hot dog eating competitor but I certainly knew a lot more and had been a lot more successful as a coach than I was when I was starting out....but that is just an aside.

So back to MMA training and preparation. Like I said every coach views the sport in which they work through their own perspective...usually this comes down to viewing the sport through their own experience of training for it. I know there are coaches that haven't competed in the sports in which they work but on the whole these are still few and far between and definitely the exception to the rule. The problem with this is that anyone that has been coaching for any significant period of time or worked with a big enough number of athletes will be able to tell you that different athletes no matter how similar they appear can and will have very different responses to training. I have athletes that appear very similar who respond best to high volumes of training and others that respond best to lower volume higher intensity training...if I trained them the same way...obviously I wouldn't be getting the best results for both of them.

OK...so rule number 1...you have to have a plan...but you have to be ready to change it...and you need to know how, when and why you may need to change it.

So I want to look at the approach I'm taking to my own training and preparation and how I would and will approach the training of others...I'm talking purely about 'off mat' training here.

1. Assessment...if you don't know where you are starting from it makes it very difficult to plan where you need to be in the future. For me assessment usually consists of a few different aspects:
a) Functional Screening...this is a head to toe examination and documentation. I'm going to ask Barry if he minds me posting all his report here so you can see all the findings of his particular screening. I will go into more detail about it when I hear back from him.
b) Fitness Testing...I think I've gone into this in enough detail in the past as to the tests I do and why I do them.

While people are testing you are also making a visual examination of not only what they are doing but how they are doing it and what compensations if any they display to achieve their results.

2. Balance and Symmetry...the first thing I focus on is trying to 'tidy' athletes up as quickly as I can as effectively as I can without sacrificing too much training effect. This isn't always easy but it is certainly doable. Being able to do 50 push ups and 7 inverted rows...is not balanced...benching more than your body weight and not being able to do a pull up...is not balanced.

3. Strengths and Weaknesses...what sort of athlete are you or what kind of athlete are you working with...are you or they more 'power' or 'endurance' biased for instance.

4. What are the Performance Determining Factors (PDF) for the sport in which you are involved. Identifying the PDF's for MMA is difficult because of the blend of fighting styles and techniques involved...this is one of the great things about the sport as far as I am concerned...the path of a fight can go any number of ways and this presents challenges with regard training that are different than say training boxers or wrestlers or kickboxers for instance. A good MMA needs to be prepared for anything and everything. My personal view has always been to try to maximise an athletes strengths and minimise their weaknesses.

Note: I am actually heading off to training now but this is a post that I am going to come back to and expand on and flesh out in more detail as time passes. I just thought I would throw it up here now to see if anyone had any comments or observations.

Day 28-35

2008-12-15T14:51:00.006Z

Had an easy week last week to allow a few niggles to clear up. This week is going to be a much heavier week training wise. I am going to do a lot more 'off mat' conditioning work this week.

I'll weigh in tonight at training and report back and let you know how my weight is going...like I said...I want to stay at or around 110kg until the new year. Just to give my body a bit of a chance to adjust. I'll drop from 110kg to 105kg in January and then stick at or around 105kg for 2 weeks. I then want to drop to 100kg in the 6 weeks to follow. So...my target is to be walking around at 100kg by the end of March. I think that would be pretty close to my 'optimal' fighting weight. We'll see how close I get to that target on the 1st of April.

Training Log
Monday
Bike - 25 min...average HR 145bpm.
Bike - 25 min...average HR 132bpm.

No MMA training tonight...I had a crash on my BICYCLE...I am highlighting the word bicycle because whenever I tell people I crashed my bike they think that I must be like Bruce Willis's character David Dunn in Unbreakable. Anyway...thankfully nothing is broken but my water bottle...I just lost a good bit of skin and a bit of a chunk out of my hip...it'll be fine though. Won't keep me from training tomorrow.

Tuesday
Bike - 24.30 min...average HR 150bpm.
Rower - Warm Up 4x500m with 1 min recovery.
Lower Body Mobility and Flexibility work.
Rower - 3x4min intervals with 1 min recovery...1159m, 1102m, 1108m.
Bike - 36 min...average 136bpm.
Bike - 24.45 min average HR 135bpm.
Bike - 34.15...average HR 140bpm.
MMA Training - 2.5hrs.
Bike - 21.30...average HR 135bpm.
Run - 4min42sec - average HR 160bpm.

Had a great days training today...the only issue was the fact that we focused on left leg kicks and training tonight so I was kicked in and on my right side all night which happened to be the side that I smashed up yesterday when I had my fall and slide on the tarmac off my bicycle...will have an easier day tomorrow and then a heavier day on Thursday.

Wednesday
Bike - 27 min...average HR 136bpm.
Bike - 17.30 min...average HR 123bpm.

Thursday
Bike - 24 min...average HR 148bpm.
Bike - 23 min...average HR 116bpm.

Friday
Bike - 27 min...average HR 146bpm.
Warmed Up...did some hip mobility work.
Front Squats - 2 warm up sets of 8 reps with 50kg then 5 work sets of 5 reps at 90kg.
DB RDL's - 3 sets of 12 reps with 80kg.
Hi-Lo Woodchoppers - 3 sets of 12 reps on each side with 100lbs.
Trying to remember what I did here...I'll have to ask Damian as I forget.
Push Ups - 5 sets of my poor poor max with 2 mins between efforts.
Inverted Rows - 1 set of 15 reps and 4 sets of 10 reps.
Lo-Hi Woodchoppers - 3 sets of 12 reps on each side with 100lbs.
Bike - 20 min...average HR 132bpm.

Saturday
Had an easy day today did a few rounds punching others and being punched.

Sunday
Good session today...didn't take the details down as I went...it was really just a maintenance session comprising of a good warm up, some mobility work, then an ab/trunk circuit of about 6 exercises, some lat pulldowns and push ups, high rep RDL's, calf raises, cable bicep and tricep work then finished with some rowing intervals and stretching.

Really just keeping things ticking over with my own training while I'm busy with work at the moment. Things are quiet fight training wise over the Xmas/New Years break but I'm going to go to all the sessions that are on. Looking forward to getting back into a regular schedule in the New Year already.

What a week

2008-12-15T14:48:00.002Z

One more fairly ridiculous work week to go and then things should ease up a bit.

Training Update
Had a good week last week training wise...in that it felt great because I was super fresh at every session I did. I think one of the key things regarding training and coaching is knowing when not to train and what not to do...it's as important as the 'when' and the 'what' of training.

Love Hate Relationship with my Job
One of the things that I love about my job is that I get to work with lots of different athletes from lots of different sports. I get to work with lots of individuals and teams and I get to experience all the different dynamics that go with individual sports as well as team sports. These are so different...teams are not just a collection of individuals...team sport has a very different dynamic to it. What am I rambling on about I hear you ask....well I just read this paragraph back to myself and I'm wondering that myself...what I was trying to get around to saying is that...it is good to work with lots of individuals and teams because you get many chances to share their joy in victory.

The flip side of that...is that some weekends I feel like crap because I have weekends where I feel all the losses...and they always hurt just as bad now as they did when I first started working.

If you've been involved in sport either as an individual or as part of a team...think about how bad you felt when you lost...then think how that would feel if you multiplied it by 3 or 4 teams and 15-20 individuals a weekend...that's the bit I hate.

Anyway...suffice to say...I had a weekend a bit on the crap side...with more losses than wins...I think I need a full time sports psychologist...for me that is...because I am such a bad loser.

2 Day Seminar
I have also been working on my '2 day seminar'...and it is coming together quite well. It is something that I've been thinking about for a long time and it is a bit of a coming together of all the presentations and seminars that I've given in the past and I think it is going to be truly unique...in the real sense of the word...rather than just in the usual 'marketing bullshit' sense of the word. I am going to set a date for it before Christmas and it will go ahead even if 1 person shows up...I'll hope for more...but I'll settle for 1.

The Blog this Week
I'm going to continue cleaning up my task list, to do list and the list of promises I made to people regarding info and posts that I said I would come back to that I haven't...so if you are very lucky you might even get something of interest out of me this week.

Someone...just one person has to start following my blog

2008-12-11T23:37:00.003Z

I was annoyed and infuriated for a long time that I had 9 people following my blog. The reason this annoyed and infuriated me is because it is so unsymmetrical and it makes a mess of my whole blog. Then finally the 10th person started following it and symmetry and order came to my blog universe...now some bastard has decided to stop following my blog and order has gone and chaos has returned...I am very disturbed...or should I say...more disturbed.

That is all.

You should never take a break from training

2008-12-11T00:07:00.003Z

I had a long day today...early starts and late finishes are no way to live. I am looking forward to mid January and in particular February when the workload should ease up a little.

Anyway enough moaning...had a visitor tonight who hasn't been in the gym for a while...immediate action was required...I hate fat people.

First step...set thermostat to appropriate temperature.

Then suit up and get working...

the do some more work...

and finish some more work...desperate times call for desperate measures.

Anyway...as bad as I felt by the end of the day...I bet I still felt better than Jonny who came in a preceded to drop 3kgs to make weight for his weigh in tomorrow morning...he can't even use water to brush his teeth tonight...in case he swallows some...he is only allowed to vacuum his teeth tonight.

Ancient History...trying to clear my 'task' list

2008-12-10T13:38:00.004Z

http://willheffernan.blogspot.com/2008/11/promises-promises-promises.html

adrienl said...
hi will some impressive playing of the internets by yourself has lead me to ask some questions.
firstly when you use these blocks of strength conditioing what affect/s are you seeing over more traditional strength then cardio separate.
I just find it works better time wise. The intensity of the cardio work tends to be higher and the intensity of the strength work tends to be higher. This work is usually done in pairs and I think all the athletes that do this type of work will agree with that. You always tend to surprise yourself with regard to how hard you can push...I think that's a good thing with regard to what we are actually training for...sports performance.

I guess the big benefits are time and learning to work hard with resistance.
Second when you gave ian those blocks of hundred reps are they groove technique or for something else entirely?
Because it is hard...and people are competitive...and because I know that athletes will do it faster each time...at least over 3 or 4 consecutive sessions...it is also different...and that is good sometimes just for that reason.

lastly for this post when you say you like to try everything on yourself 1st how strict are you with this rule. It almost seems impossible that one could see all of the strength and conditioning worlds offers in one lifetime, so do you bend this rule or just look at specific conditions that you are most likely to encounter?
There is A LOT less variety than you think...outside of the truely stupid and ridiculous crap.

http://willheffernan.blogspot.com/2008/11/shoulder-stability-and-control.html

Hi will thanks again for replying and this new post has lead to a few questions.
First is there some way we can contribute to this blog beyond just asking questions, (i was thinking of providing ourselves as datapoints kind of like what kira mentioned in a comment this week).
Now on to the good stuff (hopefully)
About trying to balance athletes i realise and see the need to balance them out, but can you get to a point where they become too normalised and lose the adaptions that come from and are necessary to playing their sport.
No....that just never happens.

My line of thinking here is mainly for throwing sports and the right to left and internal to external dominance that you normally see.
I've a professional tennis player...no matter what I did in the gym...even if I did an hour a day...that isn't going to override the 5hrs a day he spends on court.

Staying with the shoulders when you programme the high volumes of inverted rows and pushups are these there for the athlets shoulder health as the main objective.
Yes.

Also if an athletes shoulders are shocking what pressing pulling exercises do you generally put into ensure they stay strong but are still staying safe and fixing the problem.
I've had athletes with shoulder issues that haven't done any 'pressing' movements for months at a time. This is a case by case issue...there just aren't 'general' answers.

Last 2
So staying with this theme of health for athletes you generally program more front core work than low back work, what has lead you to this decision over the years of traing, ie costs and benefits of one versus the other. Or do you find that focusing of posterior leg strength takes care of this for you.
This is not the case...ask anyone I coach how much time they spend doing reverse hypers, back extensions, good mornings, deadlifts, squats and so on. I would generally say most athletes do more posterior than anterior trunk work...keeping in mind that I think generally we do a lot/more than most.

Lastly what band do you mostly use in the test that barry ian and the rest have performed.
A 'red' or light iron woody band.

Thanks again for repeating yourself i am sure we will get it sooner or later

Ian Mellis said...
What about mobility work pre strength work? Any specific rolling/ soft tissue drills that you favour/ if at all- jesus Will work for your money if your going to have an inner circle or an imaginary product you have to fix all shoulder problems with one template!
Nothing general...I do give individual athletes individual stuff to do...be that foam rolling, band work, static or dynamic stretching etc...on a needs be basis.

http://willheffernan.blogspot.com/2008/11/i-have-new-project.html

adrienl said...
quick question will
With regards to the 3rd video are we looking for his ability to correctly poistion his scapula when straigthening or just at the general way his muscles sit when straightening. I see the imbalance is the muscles but wonder what the test has over just looking at his back and saying "yep your are one mixed up mofo give me money"
thanks again
I was really just looking to see what his 'symmetry' was like and I wouldn't normally video this. He actually doesn't look as bad on video as he does in real life...symmetry wise that is...looks wise he definitely looks just as bad no matter how he is viewed.

MMA and the Art of Motorcycle Maintenance

2008-12-09T22:49:00.003Z

There is a great deal of synergy between MMA and riding a motorcycle. What got me thinking about this was a friend expressing their concern for me with regard to my involvement in MMA. Let me just put something's into perspective here...I spend most of my time travelling day in and day out riding this:

It weighs about the same as much as my max bench...as in...not very much...and puts out about 150hp at the back wheel through a patch of rubber not much bigger than a postage stamp. Compare this to your average car weighing nearly 2 tonnes and with even less power than my bike...and think about what it's like trying to control that car when it is wet and greasy on the road...let alone icy.

Then consider that in Ireland I spend most of my time riding in the wet and at this time of year that wet often turns to ice and you have a certain amount of this going on:

Which in fairness isn't that different to trying to hang onto or escape these:

I won't go on about it suffice to say that after riding my bike in Dublin...which has the worst drivers in general of any city in which I have ever lived or ridden in my entire life...in all different weather conditions which on the majority of occasions are generally the worst imaginable especially in the winter months...NOTHING about MMA scares me in the slightest...nothing about anything for that matter scares me in the slightest...my days riding here in Dublin are just a series of near death experiences strung together by periods of screaming expletives inside my helmet.

The synergies are many though...like the fact that I get the crap kicked, punched and strangled out of me for hours then thankfully get to jump on my bike and ride home in freezing temperatures which is just like having a 30 minute ice bath after training...very handy.

I've also noticed my helmet provides a very good indicator of the head injuries sustained in training. My helmet is an expensive one and if you are not a motorcyclist you might not know this but the helmet eventually conforms to your head and face after you have been wearing it for a few weeks and you've got through the period of riding around feeling like you have your head in a vice. I noticed riding home last night that my jaw wasn't sitting quite right in my helmet...which reminded me to thank Jonny for kneeing me right on the point of my jaw in during training last night.

In other news:
I am going to try to stay at 110kg for the next 2 weeks before losing another 5kg of fat in January. I actually noticed when I was having my skinfolds done the other day that the amount of fat I've dropped is noticeable with regard to the 'looseness' of my skin...to the extent that the person actually doing the skinfolds and the person observing both remarked upon it. I think I just need to give my epidermis a chance to adjust somewhat...I've dropped 7.2kg or 16lbs in a month. I don't have any real rush to drop the weight so if I can do it without making a mess of my body I figure I should. So I am going to weigh in each Monday for the rest of this month at or around 110kg.

Day 22-27

2008-12-08T07:59:00.009Z

It is going to be an extremely busy working week this week so I'm not expecting to have much of a chance to add much to the blog. I will keep my training diary up to date but won't get a chance to do much else...just warning you so you can feel free to switch channels this week and waste your time reading something else online.

I did do a video fat log update this morning...the one posted below obviously. I'm taking a guess that I'll be weighing in somewhere around the 110kg mark tonight at training...another kilogram or two down this week again.

Day 22...I weighed in at 110.1kg tonight at training.

So Day 1...117.3kg...Day 8...113.7kg...Day 15...111.4kg and today...110.1kg. So all in all I am pretty happy with the rate of fat/weight loss.

Feeling great training wise. My strength hasn't dropped much if at all...subjectively speaking...haven't tested it but just going by feel weight training wise. My conditioning has improved massively though and I feel that in everything that I do from riding my bicycle to work to actual 'on mat' training. So all is going well so far.

Training Log
Monday
2.5hrs of MMA Training...had a relatively easy day...other than the MMA training.

Tuesday
2.5hrs of MMA Training.

Wednesday
I did some really light cardio and a bucket load of stretching, mobility and stability work...about 90 minutes worth in total.

Thursday
1hr of MMA Training.

Friday
Rest Day.

Saturday
1hr20mins of light work in the gym. A mixture of 1km rows and stretching and mobility work in 10 minute block...did 6 in total then 5 sets of 5 neutral grip pull ups and 10 MMA push ups. Followed by some heavy bicep and tricep work...because every session should include some gunz.

30min hard bike ride...just a good blow out.

Sunday
Rest day today as well.

Enjoyed my easy week this week. Needed it to freshen up a little and to allow a few little niggles to clear up...which they have. Looking forward to throwing myself into a good heavy week in the week to come.

I got an email about 'The Bet'

2008-12-05T01:18:00.003Z

You know the one...where a bunch of lads bet me I couldn't bench 180kg's. It took me all of 18 days to do it once I pulled my finger out and actually set about training for it...well this is where things stand a month later...you be the judge!

Brophy - €75 (Paid)
Nasher - €25 (Paid)
Jimmy - €50 (Paid)

Bushy - €100 (Unpaid)
Penguin - €75 (Unpaid)
Logi - €75 (Unpaid)
Killer - €25 (Unpaid)
Louis - €25 (Unpaid)

I Hate Muay Thai

2008-12-04T23:29:00.002Z

...actually that is not true...what I actually hate is sparring...well...actually that's not true...what I hate is that fact that when you are sparring you are pulling your punches and kicks...and that just shits me. The thing is you are both supposed to be going at '60%' or whatever you're told...that never happens...one person is always at 60% and the other is at 62%. I always want to be the one at 98% while the other guy is at 60%...that would suit me fine. I really enjoyed training tonight we did a lot of high quality punching work...well it was supposed to be high quality...mine was crap quality...but the only way is up. I really need to do so much more work...on everything. I had a round with Aaron at the end of training and I was glad he was pulling his punches when he landed a right hand that if he had of really connected would of spun my head around like a top.

I am really looking forward to the new year when my work schedule is going to ease up a bit and I can devote more time to the technical side of MMA. I want to try to spend as much time 'on mat' as I can. You can do as much 'off mat' training as you like...nothing compares with actually 'competing' and 'training' in the sport you are involved in obviously.

Is it still torture if someone wants you to hurt them?

2008-12-04T13:22:00.003Z

Barry's session today:

Bike - 5mins easy

Rower - 4x500m with 60 sec recovery between efforts...near on max effort.

1A Bent Over Barbell Rows
1B Barbell Push Press

He got 32 reps of each in 10 minutes with 40kg...and we also tweaked something in his neck/trap as well....we had to work a little frontier medicine to sort it out...we sorted it out.

Rower - 4x500m as above....was what was in his program...he did 1x500m wasn't comfortable with his neck so I got him onto a bike and had him do a 1min 30 sec effort on level 10....which made him realise the rower wasn't so bad after all and he did his last 2x500m on the rower.

2A Close Grip Bench Press
2B Close Grip Lat Pulldown

He got 49 reps of each in 10 minutes.

Rower - 4x500m with 60 second recovery between efforts giving whatever he had left....which wasn't much...but enough to keep all his times under 2minute 500's.

3A Bicep Curls
3B Hanging Leg Raises
3C Overhead Tricep Extensions
3D Standing Ab Pulldowns

He did 60 reps of each in 10 minutes...we used 30kg on the bi's, tri's and ab pull downs.

We finished with a max effort 500m on the rower.

When he's fit...he'll do 50 reps of each on the first block and 100 reps of each on the second and third blocks...so he's got a bit of work to do...have no doubt in my mind that he'll get there though.

He had a 2min 30sec transition between the cardio and strength blocks and vice versa as well.

This is what this session looked like...heart rate wise...I'm sure Barry will tell you what it felt like...near death experience wise.

Barry's first (lack of) Strength Session

2008-12-02T23:45:00.005Z

Barry is going to be eased in...unlike what he did with me when he set the Kiddie Krippler on me on my first or second session.

His session looked like this:
Rower - 4x500m with 60 sec recovery between efforts. We did this at a really comfortable pace. Focused on lengthening his stroke and drawing right through the stroke...getting his shoulders down and his shoulder blades together.

We then did an upper body warm up...some open and closed horizontal band pull-a-parts, vertical band pull-a-parts along with band dislocates. A couple of sets of 8 reps of each...I think.

Then we did a circuit of chest supported scap rows, scap push ups, inverted shrugs and scap pull ups...again we did 2 or 3 sets of 8 reps.

1A Band Assisted Pull Ups - 10 sets of 5 reps.
1B Blast Strap Push Ups - 10 sets of 5 reps.

Barry doesn't know this yet...but he is never going to do a pull up again that doesn't involve his chest touching the bar. Hence the use of the band to enable this at the moment...we'll wean him of the band though in the months to come.

2A Ab Rollouts - 5 sets of 10 reps.

2B Natural Reverse Hypers - 5 sets of 10 reps.

Natural Glute Ham Raises - 8 sets of 5 reps

Lateral Woodchoppers - 3 sets of 8 each side.

So...that's 2 sessions down and only about 96 more till he fights again.

I hate Brazilian Jiu-Jitsu

2008-12-01T23:20:00.004Z

I hate it mainly because I am so crap at it. The whole idea of fighting for me is to be the one standing when the fight finishes.

We weren't really doing BJJ tonight but submission wrestling with these BJJ guys always leaves you wanting to knaw on the leg that these spaghetti armed and legged bastards have wrapped around your throat.

There is nothing worse than the feeling of picking up one of these guys and slamming them on the ground then finding yourself tapping 15 seconds later...thinking to myself...wasn't I winning this fight 15 seconds ago. I was wrestling with Olli tonight and I swear this guy could choke himself out with his own legs. It was like wrestling Mr. Fantastic from the Fantastic 4.

What I also hate is that I can get guys on the ground...I can get to full mount...then I basically sit there thinking...what the hell do I do now...I always just feel like letting them back up and throwing them on the ground again...I love that bit.

I also was pretty close to pulling off an awesome 'piledriver' this evening...Jonny can be thankful that my conscious got the better of me...just as I was thankful later on when he got me in a rear naked choke and decided not to chop my head off or squeeze so hard that it popped off like a champagne cork.

I am really enjoying training...and I am feeling SO MUCH better now fitness wise. The first week was all about just surviving...now at least I can not only get through the sessions but can actually try and do something in them...not that I have a clue what I am doing but I sure as hell look busy while I am doing whatever it is.

Day 15-21

2008-12-01T14:18:00.009Z

Just quick lunchtime post to kick the week off.

Didn't get a chance to do my video fat log this morning as I had cold and angry clients to take care of down at Dun Laoghaire Harbour...it is well and truly winter now. So it was a near freezing start to the morning...then a pile of paperwork and other work to take care of...a small amount of annoying people on the internet...then out for a bit more work and back now for some chicken and to regroup for work this afternoon and MMA training tonight.

Training is going REALLY well and so is my nutrition. Training is actually going better than expected...I'm am getting through a tonne of quality work and feel great while I'm at it.

I am thinking of riding my bike when work and time permits to and from MMA training just to get some extra low intensity steady state cardiovascular work in. Ride over earlier so I have a chance to have a stretch and refuel before MMA training. It's a 40-45km round trip...done a few times a week it should whip a bit more fat off.

Nutrition wise...I am going to keep doing what I did last week. Keep the calories and the carbs low during the week and then eat 'normally' (for normally...read high calories and higher carbs) from Friday night till Sunday morning.

I weighed in yesterday at 109.9kg (and I have a witness) so I am expecting to be around 110-112kg this evening at training...which I am sure all the guys I'm training with on the mat will be glad to hear.

I'm not going to do a fat log video every week...mainly because it'll pretty much look exactly the same and because the internet can only cope with so much fat.

I weighed in at 111.4kg tonight at training. That is down from 117.3kg on day 1 and 113.7kg last week. So pretty much steady as she goes and pretty much bang on what I had planned. I will do a fat log vid next week because if things go as planned I should be under 110kg and hopefully we'll be able to see some visible differences.

Food Log
I'm not going to keep a food log because I am pretty much sticking to the same pattern as I said above. Today for example I had a few of legs of chicken during the day and that was it. I had some EvoPro before I left training tonight. Now that I am back I'm having some mince beef (bolognese sauce), cheese, and a potato (after 4.5hrs training...I deserve a carb or 20). That's it...I'll stick to that sort of pattern through the week and then bang a bit more into me between Friday night and Sunday morning.

Training Log
Monday
24.8km/55 minute ride to training...average heart rate 151 bpm.
2.5 hrs MMA Training.
25.2km/55 minute ride home from training...average heart rate 141 bpm.

Tuesday
2.5 hrs MMA Training.

Wednesday
Bike - 5 mins

Rower - 5x500m with 60 second recovery between efforts...flat out...I found out that my max heart rate isn't 180bpm as I thought...I didn't find out painlessly either.

10 min work block of Barbell Rows and Push Presses with 60kg...I did 50 reps of each.

Rower - 5x500m with 60 second recovery between efforts.

10 min work block of Bench Press and Lat Pulldowns with 60kgs...I did 80 reps of each.

Rower - 5x500m with 60 second recovery between efforts.

10 min work block of Bicep Curls and Overhead Tricep Extensions with 30kgs...I did 90 reps of each.

Bike - 30 minutes

5 sets of 15 Heavy Standing Ab Pulldowns

Did I mention that all the rowing work was done 'max effort' and that I only took 2.5 minutes to get between rower and work block...except for the after the first rower effort after which I took 5 minutes...I am feeling so much better every session.

Thursday
25km/55 minute ride to training...average heart rate 142 bpm.
1 hr MMA Training.
25km/52 minute ride home from training...average heart rate 138 bpm.

Friday
48 minute ride to work...average heart rate 135bpm.
41 minute ride home from work...average heart rate 122bpm.

Saturday
41 minute ride to work......average heart rate 141bpm.
Lower Body Mobility Work
*Over & Unders
*Deep Elevated Splits Squats
Upper Body Mobility Work
*Scap Pull Ups
*Scap Push Ups

1A Neutral Grip Pull Ups - 5x5
1B Elevated Push Ups - 5x15

2A Natural Glute Ham Raises - 5x5
2B Alternating Hanging Leg Raises (to bar) - 5x8

3A Single Arm Cable Rows - 5x10
3B Single Arm DB Press - 5x10

4A Trap Bar Shrugs - 3x10
4B Ezy Bar Bicep Curls - 3x10
4C Close Grip Bench - 3x10

40 minute ride home from work......average heart rate 135bpm.

Sunday
37 minute ride to work...average heart rate 149bpm. Rode harder today rather than just pedalling along. Legs were quite fatigued.

60 minute circuit/conditioning session. Took it easy today. Didn't push to hard. More to loosen out and had a good stretch at the end. Feeling good.

Around the world (or in this case gym) in 80 days (or in this case..50 exercises).

2008-11-30T18:33:00.002Z

I didn't get a chance to do the 'Bench Press' related stuff this weekend but I WILL do it early this week.

We did a recovery circuit session in the gym today...it was basically a 'gym tour'.

It went like this:
Upper Body Horizontal or Vertical Pressing - Push Ups, Incline DB Press, Flat DB Press, Floor Press, Bench Press, Flat DB Flyes, Incline DB Flyes, Shoulder Presses, Lateral Raises...etc etc.

Trunk Work - Sit Ups and all variations there of, Bridging, Ab Pull Downs, Back Extensions, Natural Reverse Hypers.

Legs - Back Squats, Front Squats, KB Squats, Leg Press, Plate Squats, Deadlift variations, Lunge variations.

Upper Body Horizontal or Vertical Pulling - Lat Pull Down variations, Pull Up variations, Chin Up variations, DB Rows, Bent Over Rows, Upright Rows...etc etc.

...and more Trunk Work.

The way we did it today was in 45 second work periods with a 15 second change over. We did 10 minutes of work...had a 2 minute work break and we did 5 blocks in total.

So to give you an example 1 work block may have looked like this:
1. Bench Press
2. Sit Ups
3. Leg Press
4. Barbell Rows
5. Natural Reverse Hypers
6. KB Shoulder Press
7. Hanging Leg Raises
8. KB Squats
9. Lat Pulldowns
10. Back Extensions

Then we took a 2 minute water break and then did a whole different block of exercises.

The circuit worked looked like this...5 blocks of 10 minutes with 2 min water breaks.

Nasher was having some problems with ball security so we did 3 sets of 30 seconds of the following with 2minutes recovery between sets.

He really didn't want me to take that medball off him.

Kira's Session

2008-11-30T08:35:00.003Z

kira said...
Okay, so my training partner and I just did the workout ... here's how the main parts went (I had to change a few exercises again so both of us could do it)...

1 set of 10 x 8 sprawl jumps (it was difficult, but I thought that was more from the fact I hadn't done the exercise before)
How much rest did you take between sets?

What I look for here is really high quality anaerobic work. Don't sacrifice quality just for the sake of getting through it.

deadlift 80kg ... 44 reps
olympic ring pullups ... 22 reps
pushups ... 88 reps
This looks like a good strength block.

2 set of 10 x 8 sprawljump (dry reached after 8th set).
Same question as above...how much rest between block of work and how much rest between sets?

24kg kettlebell press ... 20 reps/side
25kg sandbag squat ... 40 reps
rope inverted rows ... 20 reps
This looks good as well.

3 set of 10 x 8 sprawl jump reps (difficult ... but I finally got the hang of the movement).

Same questions as above. If anything though I think this would of worked better the other way around. 3 sets first, then 2 sets and finish with just 1 set.

Few questions ...

I know the sprawl jump is physically tiring, but would it be useful to substitute it for something more sports specific for me (no sprawling in muay thai)?
Absolutely...do tuck jumps instead.

I could definitely put more intensity into a movement I'm good at (like round kicks or punch combos)

I found that the deadlift in the first block and the kettlebell press in the second block were the hardest exercises ... the other exercises (at that rep range) were easy) ... is that right? Or am I really weak in these two lifts?
Ideally what you want is to try and find a rep range with each exercise that makes them all equally as difficult relatively speaking.

Anyway ...

I really liked the workout and so did my training partner ...

thanks for that ... we'll tinker with it a bit (we love to tinker) and see if we can make it even more fun ;)
Sounds good to me.

You know I don't like to preach

2008-11-27T22:58:00.004Z

I had a few conversations today that go me thinking...I know...you're surprised and shocked.

1. I was told by another coach that they liked the blog but wondered why I don't actually say anything in it...they miss the point entirely. So let me say this yet another time. There are tonnes of places where you can get much better coaching theory than in this blog. There are tonnes of places where you can get much better coaching practice than in this blog. There are tonnes and tonnes of research journals and on and on I could go. This blog is just 'sanpshots' of my coaching...it isn't a narrative. I don't want to talk about the theory and I certainly don't want to lecture anyone or try to convince them that I have all the answers...I don't...even when I do lecture or present all I really try to do is to show people the way I am trying to solve particular coaching issues or problems.

So...if you are waiting for me to lay some coaching secretz on you...then you're an idiot.

2. I was asked to by a young and aspiring coach about my thoughts regarding their plans for the implementation of a strength training program for the particular sport with which they are involved. I was trying to protect their identity but to discuss this I need to mention the sport...the sport is handball...so those of you that know...will know who I am talking about...the rest of you...don't worry.

This is the variation of handball if you were wondering.

Anyway what they were talking about was a weights routine for this sport...they were talking about including lots of internal and external rotation work, doing weights work to simulate serving and striking the ball etc etc. Anyway....so I'm not going to say that they are wrong...I just don't think it is the way to go for the following reasons.
a) I think simulation is a massive mistake. This is where coaches and trainers try to simulate what happens on the field, court or track in the gym...I think this is really dumb and it gives you the worst of both worlds as far as results are concerned.

b) Coaches and trainers spend way too much time trying to make gym training way too specific way too early for way too many athletes...I think this is really dumb as well.

3. Another aspiring coach was asking me about Barry's training...about the bench testing and how big a part benching will play in his ongoing program. This was another nudge to get me to do what I've been thinking of for a little while and that's to do a piece on bench pressing...the reason being in no particular order...this question about Barry, Lyle's newsletter bit on bench technique, an internet know it all who himself has or had absolutely rubbish bench technique, some guy who at one stage I was open to because even though I didn't know him personally others I did know seemed to think he was good...everything I've by him however...including this little piece by him on bench pressing was pretty much total crap. So it's been bench, bench, bench lately...so I'm going to rabbit on about it a little myself...completely in contravention of the very first point I made in this post....what can I say...I'm an enigma.

4. Barry's training and my training...I was asked about this as well today...you do realise that what I will have Barry doing what I am doing has absolutely bugger all to do with MMA or fighting. I'm too fat and too unfit...while Barry is too weak and too out of whack...that's it...fix what is right in front of you first.

Barry's first session

2008-11-26T13:55:00.011Z

I am going to do this session myself this evening just to warm it up for Barry in the morning.

Bike 5 minute (Level 5)
Begin at 8 minutes:
10x100m with 30 second recovery between efforts.
5 minutes - Lower Body & Upper Body Mobility Work.
Begin at 23 minutes:
Block 1
1A Trap Deadlift (80kg)
1B Pull Ups (BW)
1C Push Ups (BW)
Time=10 minutes complete as many sets as possible.
Set Ratio: 2:1:4
Begin at 35 minutes:
10x100m with 45 second recovery between efforts. <48>
Begin at 48 minutes:
Block 2
2A 20kg KB Squats
2B Inverted Rows
2C KB Overhead Press (each arm)
Time=10 minutes complete as many sets as possible.
Set Ratio: 2:1:1
Begin at 62 minutes:
10x100m with 60 second recovery between efforts.
Finished at 75 minutes.

So this session will take less than 75 minutes from start to finish. You'll see the time markers I am going to make sure that we stick with those so we can see our heart rate responses overlayed and compare work done and heart rate response and also to see how we are doing when we complete this session again in 3 weeks time.

Me doing the same session Barry is going to do tomorrow.

I made a few adjustments to the session...I did 100kg on the deadlift and went 4, 2 and 8 reps in the first block. I got 8 sets done in 10 minutes.

In the second block I went 8, 8 and 4 reps. I got 8 sets done in 10 minutes with 3 seconds to spare.

This will give you an idea of the heart rate distribution.

We'll see how Barry get's on tomorrow.

Well...this is how he got on this morning. I'll post all the heart rate data and vids when I get home from work and training tonight.

This is what this session will do to your heart...be warned.

Row 1: 10x100m with 30 second recoveries.
17.1
17.3
17.9
18.5
18.8
18.9
19.0
19.8
19.3
19.5
Time = 3:05.8
Av 500m = 1:32.9

He still looked relatively composed at this stage...I think this was about the 6th and 7th interval.

Weights Block 1
Total = 22 Trap Bar Deadlifts, 11 Pull Ups and 44 Push Ups.

Row 2: 10x100m with 45 second recoveries.
18.9
19.2
19.0
19.6
19.3
19.7
19.3
19.6
19.4
18.9
Time = 3:12.8
Av 500m = 1:36.4

Weights Block 2
Total = 40 KB Squats, 20 Inverted Rows, 20 KB Shoulder Presses (each arm)

Row 3: 10x100m with 60 second recoveries.
18.7
18.6
18.2
19.0
19.0
19.1
19.9
19.1
19.0
18.6
Time = 3:09.3
Av 500m = 1:34.6

Can you believe this bastard had the gall to say that I make a lot of noise when I wrestle? Look at this mess of an individual!

Here's Barry's heart rate distribution for his session.

Day 8-14

2008-11-24T07:29:00.020Z

Time to get another week under way on a cold and wet Monday morning in Dublin. When I woke this morning I did the Polar Fitness Test (before you ask what that is)...

Polar Fitness Test

The Polar Fitness Test is an easy, safe, and quick way to measure your aerobic (cardiovascular) fitness at rest. The result, Polar OwnIndex, is comparable to maximal oxygen uptake (VO2max), which is commonly used to evaluate aerobic fitness. Your long-term level of physical activity, heart rate, heart rate variability at rest, gender, age, height, and body weight all influence OwnIndex. The Polar Fitness Test is developed for use by healthy adults.

Aerobic fitness relates to how well your cardiovascular system works to transport oxygen to your body. The better your aerobic fitness, the stronger and more efficient your heart is. Good aerobic fitness has many health benefits. For example, it helps in decreasing high blood pressure and your risk of cardiovascular diseases and stroke. If you want to improve your aerobic fitness it takes, on average, six weeks of regular training to see a noticeable change in your OwnIndex. Less fit individuals see progress even more rapidly. The better your aerobic fitness, the smaller the improvements in your OwnIndex.

Aerobic fitness is best improved by exercise types that use large muscle groups. Such activities include running, cycling, walking, rowing, swimming, skating, and cross-country skiing.

To monitor your progress, start by measuring your OwnIndex a couple of times during the first two weeks in order to get a baseline value, and then repeat the test approximately once a month.

With the Polar Fitness Test, you can also calculate the predicted maximum heart rate value (HRmax-p). The HRmax-p score predicts your individual maximum heart rate more accurately than the age-based formula (220 - age).

To make sure the test results are reliable, the following basic requirements apply:

You can perform the test anywhere - at home, at the office, at a health club - provided the testing environment is peaceful. There should be no disturbing noises (e.g. television, radio, or telephone) and no other people talking to you.

Always take the test in the same environment and at the same hour.

Avoid eating a heavy meal or smoking 2-3 hours prior to testing.

Avoid heavy physical exertion, alcohol, and pharmacological stimulants on the test day and the previous day.

You should be relaxed and calm. Lie down and relax for 1-3 minutes before starting the test.

So I am going to perform the test again next Monday when I wake up and then put a reminder in the diary to do it again in a months time to see what if anything has changed.

I scored '35'. I'd insert the table here with the results interpretation but I've no idea how to do that. For a man my age I scored 'Fair' which covers scores from '33-38'. So hopefully in 5 weeks time I will have made it from 'Fair' to 'Moderate' and next year I can start making my big push towards 'Good' which requires a score between '44-48'.

I also did my video fat log as you can see posted below. Not that I expect to see week to week changes but I just want to keep a record so I can look back in a month of 3 months time and see where I started from.

Day 8...113.7kg tonight at training...down 3.6kg on the same time last week. That's actually a little bit more weight dropped than I wanted.

Dietary Changes
I'm not overly concerned with the speed with which I am losing fat/weight...as long as it continues to steadily decrease. Since my training isn't really suited to Lyle's complete UD2.0 protocol I am going to try the following changes.

From Monday to Friday I am going to keep the carbs and the calories relatively low. I am going to make sure that I get 250g of protein a day. I am going to consume a small amount of carbohydrate before my training sessions to ensure that I have the energy to make certain that the quality of each session is high.

Friday night to Sunday night I am going to still make sure that I get my 250g of protein but I will also consume more carbohydrate as well. I'm not going to go crazy over the weekends just basically eat normally.

Training Changes
Monday to Friday I'm going to 'try' to do some conditioning work each morning if it is possible to fit it in and around my work...you'll be able to see from my training diary how well this works out.

Monday, Tuesday and Thursday night I'll do my MMA training. Wednesday and Friday nights I am going to do my weight training in the gym and on Saturday and Sunday I am going to do my heaviest 'off mat' conditioning sessions....we'll see how this plan works out this week.

Training Log
Monday
AM - Speedball Conditioning
40 minutes, 2 minute rounds with 30 second recovery. 3 rounds of 'over and under hand' striking and 1 round of standard striking in each 10 minute block. I'm going to try and build up to an hour each morning during the week.

It is going to take me a little while to get my rhythm back.

The speedball work that boxers traditionally do...see every Rocky movie ever made...involves striking the speedball with the side of the fist and involves rotation and movement at the wrist, elbow and shoulder alone...this is done more for hand speed.
The style that I use is to hit the ball dead centre with the fist which requires a lot more trunk rotation.
I really like speed ball work for a lot of reasons. We used it a lot for rehabilitation work when I was at the AIS. It enables athletes to get a good low impact weight bearing fitness and or strengthening work out. That sentence covers a lot of ground so I will break it down.

If you look at the first part of the video and the 'over and under hand' punching style that I primarily use you'll see it is almost like a swimming stroke. It is a full body activity like swimming or rowing but for athletes who aren't either in the water or on their arse in their sports it has a whole lot more going for it from a conditioning point of view. You can see for yourselves the amount of trunk rotation and their is a not insignificant amount of knee bend but because the feet stay firmly planted on the ground their is no impact...unlike swimming or rowing though...it is weight bearing. I used to have athletes who had undergone knee and or ankle surgery on the speedball as soon as they could stand unaided. They were able to put an appropriate amount of force through the joint and surrounding tissue without risking further injury and keep and improve their strength and conditioning. I only manage to get a 30 minute and 20 minute session in last week...let me tell you....my hamstring, glutes and abs (the ones under the fat) all knew I had done a workout.

I'll be using the speedball in a few different ways...
1. General Conditioning - I'll do longer bouts as I get my rhythm and timing back...this will be typical steady state type stuff...most likely 4min or 4min 30sec bouts with 1min or 30 second recovery between bouts.

2. Anaerobic Conditioning - These will be 30 second to 60 second bouts with longer recovery between bouts of 60 seconds or more. This will be my high quality work.

3. Power/Speed - I'll also be doing some more standard hand speed work.

This one just one of the reasons that I got a new heart rate monitor so I could push myself with more structure to my training.

This mornings session I was averaging only 125-135bpm in the work periods...the speedball equivalent of an easy spin on the bike. I'll post more vids in the coming weeks when my hand speed and timing starts coming back to me.

PM - 2hrs of MMA training...good session...felt so much better this week than last week...missed out on sparring at the end which annoyed the piss out of me...in the drill before sparring they made me bleed my own blood... no one makes me bleed my own blood!!!
I'll be fine for training tomorrow though.

Tuesday
AM - No training...work got in the way.

PM - Rowed 6 easy 1km intervals with 1 minute recovery between each.

Rowing Intervals - All intervals done with 2 or 3 seconds of 4 minutes.

Then went and did 2.5 hours of MMA training...feeling tired...but great...really enjoyed tonight...got some great experience rolling with Jonny then punched the arms off myself for the last 30 mins or so with drills then a few rounds of easy Muay Thai sparring.

Wednesday
AM - No session this morning. Felt a bit flat so took it easy.

PM - Did the following session:
Bike 5 minute (Level 5)
10x100m with 30 second recovery between efforts.
5 minutes - Lower Body & Upper Body Mobility Work.
Block 1
1A 4 Trap Deadlift (100kg)
1B 2 Pull Ups (BW)
1C 8 Push Ups (BW)
Completed 8 sets in 10 minutes.
10x100m with 45 second recovery between efforts.
Block 2
2A 8 20kg KB Squats
2B 8 Inverted Rows
2C 4 KB Overhead Press (each arm)
Completed 8 sets in 10 minutes.
10x100m with 60 second recovery between efforts.

My session from today.

Thursday
Pretty easy day today. I was busy with work all day and literally had less than 2 hours sleep...was running on empty all day. Did 90 minuites of MMA training this evening.

Friday
Only got 20 mins to workout today...too busy with work.

Saturday
No training today at all.

Sunday

Had the watch in my pocket when I was wrestling with Nasher and obviously stopped it accidentally.

Did 20 minutes on the bike then did a lot of blocks of circuit work first with the Under 20's lads and then with the Senior lads for 1 hour and 45 minutes in total...did a tiny bit of coaching..then did 3 sets of 3 30 second bouts with 2 minutes recovery between sets of ball wrestling with Nasher...the heart rate monitor switched off in my pocket accidentally. I then finished with another 20 minutes on the bike at the end...so a good 3 hour session.

Food Log
Monday
Frittata with veg and cheese.
2 scoops of EvoPro.
Bowl of mince and cheese.

Tuesday
Frittata with veg and cheese.
2 scoops of EvoPro.
Bowl of mince and cheese with some cracker bed on the side.
1 mince pie and a little ice cream.
2 scoops of EvoPro.

Wednesday
4 pieces of wholemeal toast with ham & cheese.
Bowl of mince and cheese with some cracker bed on the side.
Plate of chicken breast with cream/chilli sauce and green beans and asparagus.

Thursday
2 scoops of EvoPro
2 scoops of EvoPro
Omelette with Veg
Some cracker bread...smoked roe and cream cheese with some pickles on top.
Some chicken breast and chilli.
I had some Swedish cinnamon rolls.

Friday
Some more Swedish cinnamon rolls.
2 slices of toast and jam.
Had pasta, rice & chicken for dinner.

Saturday
I ate EVERYTHING.
Had a hotel buffet breakfast...loads of cereal and muesli...and all the rest.
I ate all day basically.

Sunday
Had 2 bread rolls with sausage, mustard, mayo and tomatoes sauce.
Ate a heap of oven roasted chicken legs for dinner.

Old School...the client that is.

2008-11-23T17:31:00.005Z

I thought people would like to see how I care and am sensitive to all my clients needs no matter what their age or competitive sporting level.

Masters tennis player with ongoing shoulder issues.

This client actually has a significant reduction in his shoulder mobility in his playing arm...so we went through a number of both static and dynamic stretches to deal with that and are integrating some strength work into his program as well...of which these YTW's are but one element.

The reason that I video these things is because when I write programs I often attach the videos so they remember what the exercises in the program actually were. We did several versions of this exercise to get the technique right.

Building a better Barry

2008-11-23T08:41:00.007Z

I'm going to throw this up hear and finish it off later today and I have a whole heap of young athletes that I have to make wish they were dead this morning with some in gym circuit work.

I had Barry in the gym yesterday for the first time. We went through some of the stuff that we will be doing to get on top of his shoulder and back issues.

Assorted Shoulder Work.

As well as other stuff like this.

He also did some testing...his results were as follows:

Trap Bar Deadlift - 160kg. The pulled over double bodyweight easily. So I am happy with that. He has plenty of leg strength as far as I'm concerned and we'll be pretty much focusing on his speed and power with regard to his lower body training from here on in.

Bench - Did 60kg easy...we moved to 80kg (his body weight) and he could get it off his chest and that's about it. If someone can't bench their body weight then I'm not really that worried about how bad they are...they are just plain bad. Barry won't be benching again until he tests after Christmas I would say off the top of my head...and I'll wager that he gets 3+ reps next time.

Pull Ups - 5 reps...his target is 12 reps...so a good bit of work to do.

Push Ups - 33 reps in 60 seconds...his target is 50+ reps.

Inverted Rows - 6 reps in 60 seconds...his target is 30 reps.

Since Barry was such a smart arse in the comments section...I'm posting this just for him.

So in summary...Barry is like a lot of athletes that I see...he is obviously 'technically' very good at his sport...good enough to win fights. His sport specific strength is obviously also pretty good as well...as it certainly gets the job done.

From my point of view though...he is operating well below his physical capacity.

His deadlift aside...the rest of the results a mediocre at best and pretty poor at their worst.

Before he fights next I would like to see him score the following at an absolute minimum.

Deadlift - As is...double body weight.
Bench - 8+ reps at bodyweight.
Pull Ups - 8+ reps at bodyweight.
Push Ups - 50+ reps
Inverted Rows - 30+ reps

As you can see from his results...he is closer to some of those targets than others.

His long term target (as well as my own) will be the following:
Deadlift - Double body weight.
Bench - 12+ reps at bodyweight.
Pull Ups - 12+ reps at bodyweight.
Push Ups - 60+ reps
Inverted Rows - 40+ reps

Conditioning Test
He also did his rowing test at the end of testing and scored as follows:
170m, 159m, 154m, 150, 148m, 147m for a 929m total. I also have his heart rate profile and if I can figure out how to post it I will.

This test is pretty straight forward. You program the rower for timed intervals with 30 seconds of work and 30 seconds of recovery. You complete 1 warm up interval to begin...rest 30 seconds then you do 6 intervals with recovery back to back. I want to see people empty the tank on every rep...so they get the best score on each interval.

Barry's Heart Rate Profile - From his rowing test.

It gives you a good idea of an athletes anaerobic power/capacity. Barry is too mono paced...you'll see some of the rugby lads bang out close to 200m on the first and perhaps a 170 on the second interval before getting scores similar to Barry's for all the rest. I want to see some power...especially in fighters...being able to go the distance is fantastic...being able to finish the fight early is better.

Want to see him score 185m+ on the first and total over 1000m. This will be his long term goal.

Stuck for time this morning so that'll have to do you...I'll be back later to expand and explain more.

100 Push Ups in 60 seconds...

2008-11-22T00:07:00.001Z

...is that even humanly possible? $100 says...we're going to find out sooner or later.

I think I'm finished with the blog...

2008-11-21T22:16:00.002Z

...I got a new heart rate monitor and I will be investing all my spare time into that now.

Against the advice of others...I got a new heart rate monitor to better keep track of my training...IT'S BRILLIANT!

The thing that I am concerned about most though is that I exceeded my maximum heart rate on numerous occasions.

I just thought this an important question

2008-11-21T16:02:00.004Z

Below is a comment I saw on my Facebook feed by a mate of mine Dave Tate (it says we are friends on Facebook so it must be true).

If Batman took the same stuff as the Hulk would he be stronger? His structure is more suited to deadlifting. YES, I do have these thoughts.

This is Dave a few weeks after his successful arm transplant.

Dave is the big swinging dick over at EliteFTS. They have a great Q&A section over there if anyone want to get proper answers to very specific training questions. A lot of what little I know about powerlifting and strength training I've robbed from Dave and Jim Wendler and the other powerlifters they sponsor and who work with EliteFTS.

Dave actually used to be a powerlifter before he caught the ghey and started inhaling a little too much fake tan....this is actually one of my favourite photos of Dave...I just wish he was a little more bloated.

Text Messages

2008-11-21T11:04:00.003Z

*Names are withheld to protect the innocent.

Just a sample of texts received this morning.

Random Athlete/Player:
Hey mate hamstrings feel great after rub u might b right i do have a few more years left in me! Enjoy carb intake day. C u in d morning.

My Response:
U should tell that stupid c*nt 'Other Random Athlete/Player'...if he wasn't as thick as pig shit he'd b getting those pathetic wheels of his worked on a bit every few days.

Random Athlete/Player:
He's a fag who does not like pain. I love pain!

These ones were two of my favourites this morning though:

Other Random Athlete/Player/Coach:
My arms are fucked, worse than yesterday.

Yet Another Random Athlete/Player:
I think I may be paralysed. I actually physically fell into d shitter dis morning. Had 2 get my Ma 2 pull me out. Stupid squats.

My Response:
Pull yourself together u pathetic baby b4 I have 2 ring ur mother 2 c if she noticed whether ur balls had dropped when she was pulling u out of d toilet!

It is the fantastic feedback I receive daily from the players, athletes and coaches with whom I work that really make my job worth doing.

Just this second got an important text update:

Update: my are still fucked and are killing me, I actually cannot function!

Shoulder Stability and Control

2008-11-20T21:44:00.006Z

You guys do all realise that I do more stuff than just have people do band pull-a-parts and stand around laughing at them don't you?

The blog doesn't reflect everything I do everyday...you realise that as well don't you?

Like for example today...went something like this:
Early, early morning...clients and athletes...mid morning...eggs and coffee and fighting with and harassing people on the internet...meeting at lunchtime with a sports organisation (I always like to schedule meetings around meal times...these guys got off easy as I'm in training...so just 3 cups of coffee) then over to Dublin City University to work with some intellectually disabled athletes...which is brilliant work...and not to different to the challenges I face with the rest of my athletes. Then some paper work...I hate paper work. Then this afternoon and evening I was in the gym and on the pitch with some more intellectually disabled athletes as you can see below.

Pitch conditioning session.

On to the topic of the moment...I do get a lot of emails from people asking a variety of questions...but lately a lot of them have been of this variety.

Subject: Improving Scapular Control
Will,

I've been reading your blog for the last couple of days. I was wondering if you could outline or send me a link (if I miss it) about the approach you use to improve scapular control?

I also see a lot of band pull apart video that you put up. Could you maybe write a blog post about how you analyze the video? Sometimes while looking at the video, I don't know how it has improved or not.

Thanks,
Random Internet Person

It really is quite simple...with regard to analysis...I look for symmetry and control...it is rarely ever perfect but you have to start somewhere. I mean there are books written all about this sort of stuff and it would be crazy for me to go into massive detail after other much smarter people have done so...but that's never really stopped me in the past. I start at the neck and work my way down. Look at how there traps sit, look at their shoulder height and position, the level and orientation of their scapula.

I have them do the band pull-a-parts in a horizontal and vertical plane...in an open and closed position. I have them do chest supported scap rows to see what their scapula recruitment is like...to essentially see whether they are trap or rhomboids...a lot of people can't use their rhomboids...they are just so trap dominant...see also athletes that are really crap at inverted rows...do you see how this all starts to come together...any way...then I get them to do some scap push ups and inverted shrugs and scap chins....see what they can do and what they can't do and how good or bad their control of these movements are.

Then we fix it. I mean seriously...how can you possibly think your bench, pull ups or chins, military pressing.....actually forget that...how can you seriously think you could be doing anything as well as you could when essentially the 'base' of all these movements is crap or even just worse than it should be.

This is the first known diagram of proper Band Pull-A-Parts and Shoulder Band Dislocates.

As always...if people ask proper questions or even make proper criticism I'll be only to happy to clarify or post more on the subject...and no, 'you're a fat idiot' is not proper criticism.

If I don't train anyone...what the hell are these lads doing getting in my way?

2008-11-18T23:31:00.003Z

OK...so I admit...more than half of them are just standing around exercising the jaws.

Some of them are training though...Pottsy trained with me tonight...he's going to be sore tomorrow. I have to get him in shape for his 'bet'.

Nasher versus Pottsy
Nasher is going to be standing under one set of goal posts and Pottsy is standing under the other...Nasher has the channel down the centre of the pitch the width of the goal posts...all he has to do is get over the try line...and all Pottsy has to do is smash him before he makes it...I can't wait...I am going to train both of them so hard that the collision could be like the recent one in the particle accelerator in Switzerland...there'll be speculation that when it happens it may just end the world.

As for my bet...here's the latest update...
Brophy - €75 (Paid)
Penguin - €75 (Unpaid)
Logi - €75 (Unpaid)
Nasher - €25 (Paid)
Killer - €25 (Unpaid)
Louis - €25 (Unpaid)
Jimmy - €50 (Unpaid)
Bushy - €100 (Unpaid)

So sad...so very sad.

I have a new Project

2008-11-18T22:31:00.003Z

Barry is going to turn me into a better fighter and I'm going to try and turn his anatomy back into some resemblance of what God and or nature intended...because he sure as hell got himself a long, long way from what was intended.

Having guys trying to take your arms off and beat you to death with them has got to take its toll.

I'll give you a brief run down of what we have to sort out from the top down:
Brain...well I really can't do anything about the problems there.
Neck...one too many guillotines I'd say...because it is screwed.
Shoulders...well have a look at this....

See anything unusual here?

He has one stiff shoulder and one hyper mobile one.
Back...he has one side built like Tarzan's and the other side built like Jane's.

I actually was sure that he was a lefty!

Hips...oh my...I don't even know where to start...I could be here all night...suffice to say...we have a lot of work to do...particularly with one very stick SI joint.
Legs...beside the fact that they look like pipe cleaners...not too much of an issue here...he has problems don't get me wrong...but mainly hip related and I think they'll clear up when we get his hip issues sorted out.
...and I almost forgot...he's got a bad toe...and a wrist that I'd hazard a guess is still broken from years ago...but that's the least of our problems.

I really have to stop leaving my camera around the gym

2008-11-18T22:20:00.004Z

This guys username on the interweb is '21inchgunz'.

I hate it when people enjoy themselves in the gym.

Matt deserves an award...he did an awesome session tonight...I'm not sure what it was...I think it might have been a massive squat and or deadlifting session.

Matt really LOOOOOOOOOOOOOVES training legs.

Day 1-7...training is basically starting today

2008-11-17T09:21:00.021Z

Just so you know...I am going to keep my own training and updates here in this post. What I'll do is to make a Monday post every week and keep all the training details in that one single post.

I am going to post a video fat log every Monday morning so people can track my body composition changes...or lack thereof...whatever the case may be. I'm going to do that every Monday morning basically.

I'm going to keep a food log as best I can to give those that are interested an idea of what I am doing nutritionally...I'll keep track of my supplements as well here.

I'm going to keep my training sessions here and detail those so we can see how I progress...or not.

Now the thing is...I'm not in great shape...but that's because I don't train consistently and I pay basically little or no attention to my diet. People have made the comment to me personally and you see the comment out there particularly on the internet...along the lines of 'what do you bench?' or 'why don't you have abs if you know so much?' or that sort of thing...basically along the lines of why should I listen to you if you can't do it yourself?

Well the thing is...I never trained just for the joy of training...I trained in the past because that was what I needed to do in the past to compete when I was racing. So since I stopped racing I never trained consistently any longer because I didn't have anything to train for...well now I do.

I have a very specific goal in mind now. I am going to dedicate my training and nutrition to getting myself in the best possible condition I can to belt the absolute living daylights out of two people who consistently shoot their mouths off with no thought of the consequences.

Now, I agree...it is a stupid goal. I agree that it is very unlikely to happen because all those that know the individuals involved know that all three of us are absolutely full of it...that those two are unlikely to show up and will find every reason in the world to avoid this fight...on the other hand people will realise that unlike them...I actually can't wait and am really looking forward to it because it is a no lose situation for me. No mater what happens they are going to look pathetic...whether they win or lose which I'm happy to take a beating for either way.

I love external motivation...I never did anything just for the joy of it...I'm a terrible person actually...the joy for me of competition has nothing to do with self improvement or self satisfaction...it was always about being better than others and proving other people wrong who told me that I couldn't or can't do something. It is really quite sad...but I'm OK with that.

So in short...the people that really know me...know that I actually mean what I say...whether I'm full of it or not...and they know full well that when I have a goal I am extremely single minded and dedicated. So I have my goal I have a basic time line...I have to get myself in the best fighting shape possible by June 2009.

So we'll see right here whether I am full of it or not. We'll see whether I know what I'm doing when it comes to strength and conditioning and whether I can put what I know into practice myself...like I say in the fat log...the proof is in the pudding...and right now...I do resemble pudding...let's see if I can change that from here on in.

This is Day 1 of my training...I'll post a video update every Monday morning...I weighed in at 117.3kg

Proposed Day 1-7 Training Week
Monday
AM - Walk, Abs/Core/Trunk, Mobility
PM - MMA Training (2hrs 30mins)

Tuesday
AM - Walk, Abs/Core/Trunk, Mobility
PM - Conditioning Session

Wednesday
AM - Walk, Abs/Core/Trunk, Mobility
PM - MMA Training...going to try to arrange a one on one session with my coach to do some technical work.

Thursday
AM - Walk, Abs/Core/Trunk, Mobility
PM - MMA Training (2hrs 30mins)

Friday
AM - Conditioning Session
PM - Conditioning Session

Saturday
AM - Conditioning Session
PM - Rest

Sunday
AM - Conditioning Session
PM - Conditioning Session

Note: I am going to make sure that the Friday, Saturday and Sunday sessions are my heaviest sessions conditioning wise. I will detail the actual make up of the sessions in my diary as I go.

Proposed Nutritional Plan
I am going to start detailing what I eat so people can see it. I'm going to get feedback from Lyle and I will modify it as I go and work out what the best nutritional strategy is for me...hopefully with his help. My training weeks are going to remain pretty much the same week in week out so I want to build a nutritional strategy around my training to maximise my fat loss and maintain or increase my lean muscle mass. My primary body composition goal at the moment is to reduce my bodyfat.

Monday - I am going to eat only a small amount of protein on Monday's. Not just to make my food log easy to fill out but because I can. I am going to drink a lot of water today and coffee. I love caffeine. I think it is a great training aid and between coffee and snus I don't have a problem managing my hunger.

Tuesday - Today is going to be a relatively low carbohydrate day. The carbs I do take in are going to be consumed prior to and during training Tuesday evening. I'm going to make sure I get 300gram of protein every day...excluding Monday.

Wednesday - This will be my lightest training day of the week. This will be a veggies and protein day.

Thursday - The morning will basically be a veggie omelette and I will start carb loading after training Thursday night.

Friday - This will be a high carb day and also my hardest conditioning day.

Saturday - This will be high carb also in the AM before shifting to protein and veggies in the evening.

Sunday - I am going to make sure that the carbs I consume on Sunday are all consumed prior to and during my Sunday sessions.

So we'll see how this week goes in reality as opposed to how I've planned it out here and hopefully as I said we can get some commentary from Lyle with regard to what he thinks.

Training Log
Monday
AM - I've already been for an hour walk. I'm not ready to run at this stage. My body just isn't up to it. I want to get my bodyfat down to reduce my weight. I want to look after my joints and don't want to hammer them pounding the pavement. When I got back I did some dynamic flexibility work along with some ab/core/trunk work.

PM - Submission wrestling for 60 minutes followed by 90 minutes of MMA training...working on shooting technique tonight and 5 bouts of 4 minutes of sparring at the end of the session.

Tuesday
AM - No session this morning...but I am going to more than make up for it this evening.

PM - Had to work tonight so no fight training...which I already really missed.
5 sets of 500m on the rower all under 1.45 with 60 second recovery between sets.
Leg Press
8 reps 120kg
8 reps 160kg
4 sets of 5 reps 200kg
30 reps 200kg
Standing Ab Pulldowns
3 sets of 15 reps 50kg
YTW's
3 sets of 15 reps with 10kg
Assisted Pull Ups
3 sets of 12 reps(Assisted)
2 sets of 6 reps
Blast Strap Push Ups
5 sets of 12 reps
1A Plate Tricep Extebsions - 3 sets of 12 reps 20kg
1B Plate Bicep Curls - 3 sets of 12 reps 20kg
Lateral Woodchoppers - 3 sets of 12 reps
Lower Abdominal Curls - 3 sets of 20 reps
5 sets of 500m on the rower all under 1.55 with 60 second recovery between sets.

Wednesday
PM - Did 2 sessions today. Couldn't get a session in with Barry today so I did my own technical work...I worked on my sprawling and shooting for close to an hour including a good warm up.

This evening I did the following:
10 sets of 150m with 30 second recoveries
1A Single Arm Deadlift - 5 sets of 5 reps with 50kg (each side)
1B Push Ups - 5 sets of 10 reps
Lower Abdominal Curls - 3 sets of 15 reps
2A Back Extensions - 3 sets of 15 reps
2B Natural Reverse Hypers - 3 sets of 15 reps
10 sets of 150m with 45 second recoveries

Thursday
Didn't get my AM session today...work got in the way.
PM - 20 sets of 250's on the rower with 30 second recoveries...yesterday was tough...not the weights but the fight training stuff...different movements and different muscles...I am all kinds of sore in all kinds of weird places. The muscles in my feet are actually sore. Suffice to say...yesterday took more out of me than I thought so did the smart thing and took it relatively easy. Want to get good sessions in tomorrow and over the weekend.

Note: I think it will take a week or two to really bed this diet and training program down. I already have a number of alterations that I intend making next week.

Friday
PM - 20 sets of 250's with 30 second recoveries...done as follows:
1. 60 seconds
2. 55 seconds
3. 50 seconds
4. 45 seconds
5. 60 seconds
6. 55 seconds
7. 50 seconds
8. 45 seconds
9. 60 seconds
10. 60 seconds
11. 60 seconds
12.60 seconds
13. 45 seconds
14. 50 seconds
15. 55 seconds
16. 60 seconds
17. 45 seconds
18. 50 seconds
19. 55 seconds
20. 60 seconds
5 sets of 5 box jumps
5 sets of 5 mixed grips pull ups
5 sets of 10 push ups
3 sets of 12 hanging leg raises
3 sets of 15 kettlebell swings
10 sets of 500m with 60 second recoveries.

Saturday
AM - 60+ mins of MMA Drills

PM - 10min Bike
3 blocks of 6x30sec/30sec (Rowing Test)...I did 1 easy 30 second row with 30 second recovery then did 6 all out efforts...rested then on the 10min mark repeated the same protocol, then did it once more...I thought I may have been about to die.
Biked till the hour mark came up.
1A Hanging Leg Raises
1B Back Extensions
1C Standing Ab Pulldowns
1D Natural Reverse Hypers
I did 2 sets of 15 reps of each of these.
2A DB Shoulder Raises
2B DB Arnold Press
4 sets of 12 reps of these.
3A Push Ups
3B Inverted Rows
3 sets of 8 reps of these.

Sunday
Bike - 10 mins
Shoulder Mobility Work
Swiss Ball DB Press - 4x15(25kg)
Unsupported DB Row - 4x15(30kg)
Hi-Lo Woodchoppers-4x15
KB Squats - 4x15(20kg)
KB Swings - 4x15(20kg)
KB Press - 3x15(20kg)
Tricep Extensions - 3x15
Bicep Curls - 3x15
Standing Ab Pull Downs - 3x15
Bike - 10 mins

Food Log
Monday
Fasted today.

Tuesday
1 tin of tuna
6 scrambled eggs with a little grated cheese.
2 Scoops of EvoPro
1 plate of mince and grilled vegetables.

Wednesday
6 scrambled eggs with a little grated cheese
2 scoops of EvoPro
1 plate of mince and grilled vegetables

Thursday
4 scrambled eggs with ham & cheese
A plate of pasta with meat, grilled veg and cheese
2 small Mars Bars

Friday
2 Ham & Cheese Crosaints.
1 Chorizo and Mayo roll.
1 AfterMax Shake...with milk...I think it may actually be better with water...who'd have known.
3 cans of Guiness...3 more in the fridge..they are calling me....will update this later as I'm sure they are going to be drunk...whether they want to be or not.
Still making a decision regarding dinner.
Couldn't make a decision on dinner...so I ate 765g of Chinese entree.
Only consumed 4 cans of Guiness in total.

Saturday
4 scrambled eggs, grilled veg & cheese
1 block of chocolate
4 cracker bread with cheese and ham
2 potatoes, green beans & chicken breast
2 cans of Guiness

Sunday
4 tiny cinnamon buns
2 potatoes, green beans, chicken breast, onions, bacon, cream
4 biscuits
3 potatoes and chili con carne
2 can of Guiness
1 cracker bread + cheese
2 pieces of bread and cheese

Day 1-7 Summary:
All in all it was a pretty good week training wise. Didn't get to do as much actual hands on MMA training as I would of liked with work getting in the way but that's life. I think my program will work well but it is going to take a couple more weeks to get it just right I think. The same with my diet. It is going to take a little while to get is spot on. It was a bit of a mixed bag last week. These things are always an ongoing process though so I am definitely not beating myself up over it.

Just a quick update on The Bet.

2008-11-16T12:27:00.002Z

Just so we all know where we stand:
Brophy - €75 (Paid)
Penguin - €75 (Unpaid)
Logi - €75 (Unpaid)
Nasher - €25 (Paid)
Killer - €25 (Unpaid)
Louis - €25 (Unpaid)
Jimmy - €50 (Unpaid)
and lastly...Bushy...who was sooooo convinced I wasn't going to get it that he went in for €100 (Unpaid)

Seems to be a bit of a struggle for some people to understand the meaning of the term 'bet' and what it actually means to 'make a bet' with someone.

I turned up on the day with €450 in an envelope...and obviously Brophy turned up with his money...because he paid me as soon as I won the bet...Nasher paid me on Saturday...everyone else seems to have mysteriously forgotten? It's good to know as next time I make a bet I'll remember that a man's word and his handshake doesn't actually mean the same thing in Ireland as it did growing up in Australia...I suppose it is just one of those little cultural differences between countries.

Promises promises promises

2008-11-15T22:06:00.010Z

I thought I'd better get start on making good my promises regarding what I'd get done this weekend.

Rather than making separate posts I'll just keep coming back and update this post.

Saturday Morning Session

We had a coaching, management and executive training session this morning.

I learnt a great deal this morning about politics and branches of government...and the fact that Smythy's authority exceeds all of them.

Pottsy & I trained together...well sort of...he ran and I rowed while he ran and complained while he walked...Brophy did his rehab and Smythy modified his session to suit his needs...he still owes me 70 inverted rows and 10x150m on the rower.

Treadmill - 300m Sprint/100m Walk by 10
50 KB Squats
50 KB Rows (each arm)
100 Push Ups
Treadmill - 300m Sprint/100m Walk by 8
50 KB Reverse Lunges (each side)
50 KB Press (each arm)
100 Hanging Leg Raises
Treadmill - 300m Sprint/100m Walk by 6

Lessons learned...the 2nd block in this session is too hard compared to the first...the blocks are timed...the first block we did 5/5/10 and finished it in 11 minutes. The second block we went 5/5/10 as well but in reality it is obviously 10/10/10 and in took FOREVER so from now on I think if and when we do this session I'll halve the lunges and presses.

Physical Preparation for MMA
This is all the preamble...as usual...written off the top of my head...I am really looking forward to getting involved in this sport for lots of reasons. Some of which are as follows...the first being...there are endless ways to skin this cat. There are lots of different fighting styles that can win the day. I know people will have endless opinions on what is best and what is worst. I was told this week that Brazilian Jujitsu is the only way to go and that may be all well and good but I've a feeling that a BJJ exponent experiences getting punched in the face much the same as everyone else does. I can also remember when strikers were top of the heap...and when wrestlers had their day...and when Muay Thai was the way to go. I'm not going to make this a piece about the ever changing face of MMA because if it is an area that you are interested in I'm sure you are as aware as I am of how the sport has evolved. Styles have dominated...fighters have studied and learned how to exploit the best of these styles and also how to counter them.
Every athlete fighting has strengths and weakness both technically and physically. As I said...I'm not going to talk about the technical side because that isn't my area...but the physical side I've been giving a lot of thought to. I also wanted to preface this by saying that I've been trying to avoid as best I can reading or seeing anything 'out there' on strength and conditioning for fighters. I don't want to see what other people are doing or have done and modify it. So a lot of what I might have to say...may be completely off the mark...the thing is...like all of my programs...I'm going to do it myself first...to see how my body reacts...then I will try it on others and see how they respond. Coaching is always a process on refinement...sometimes it requires a complete overhaul of your thinking but that is rarely the case. So as I said...the first thing I like about it is that it is a sport open to all styles of fighting. It also caters for all different physical styles of fighter as well you see a lot of very different shapes and sizes fighting.

What I've Seen So Far
Like I said before...I've tried to avoid seeing to much on training..seeing some has been unavoidable though. I won't get into critiquing what I've seen so far but I do want to make some observations. I've seen a lot of 'gassed out' and exhausted fighters throwing punches and kicks that couldn't knock and old lady over...well maybe an old lady...you know what I mean. I don't think anyone would argue with me when I say that fighting is a skill...would they? They wouldn't argue with me that being a winning fighter is maybe 90% technique and 10% conditioning...or something along those line? Well what other sport would you deliberately practice crap technique and execution? It looks pretty stupid to me. I already know what people are going to say. They'll say that they are training that way because that's what happens in a fight...that you have to be able to throw kicks and strikes when you are tired because that's when it is important...well that is just stupid. Having a good 'kick' at the end of a marathon or 10K is important as well when you are racing....I can bet you any money that you want that no runner trains their 'kick' or does their speed work when they are exhausted because...that's what racing is like or that's because that's what it'll be like in a race. I could give you endless examples like this....all I am saying is that a lot of the fight training stuff I have seen so far...looks dumb to me...I've never seen anyone get better at a skill or improve their technique by practising it poorly. I know that one of the other things people are going to say is that...this is what has always been done and it has always worked in the past...and then I could give you a heap of examples of stuff in different sports that were always the 'tried and tested' way of getting things done...right up until a much better way came along.

So what does this all mean
Well to start with...I think that in fighting when all other things are equal strength wins. More importantly a very particular component of strength wins...that being power. People talk a lot about having a 'big engine', being able to 'go the distance' and not 'gassing out'. The thing is like in other sports I don't think a lot of people actually no what they are looking at when they see it. One of the things that I hear a lot in Rugby Union and or Gaelic Football particularly is that this or that player isn't 'fit' enough and that they need to 'run' more...this is bullshit...if that were the case...Rugby Union and Gaelic Football would be full of endurance and cross country runners...and it clearly isn't. In both these sports it is repetitive bouts explosive speed and acceleration...along with constant expressions of strength and power...it isn't for lack of 'fitness' that these things are unable to be reproduced on the field...it is the inability to recover between bouts that is lacking...that being the case you need a very different training approach than just running. It is the same with fight training...last Monday I was doing a submission wrestling session...the drill was simple...in pairs one partner was laying on their back on the mat...the other partner was in a dominant side control position. The object of the drill was that the person that was on their back had to either pull guard (get their legs between them and the person on toop of them), roll the person on top of them over or get onto there knees. At one stage I was working with some poor bastard that I had 25kg on and for 2 minutes I held him pinned to his back...I didn't let him pull guard, roll me off or get to his knees. Now we didn't move more than a foot from where we started the drill and if you were filming it you would have seen little more than leg movement...I would guess from years of experience that our heart rates would have been around 180bpm at the end of 2 minutes and we were both breathing like we had just finished a 3km race. The thing is...we didn't actually go anywhere and running a 3km race would be as good a preparation for what we did as playing a game of chess. Yes, both 2minutes of wrestling and a 3km race will get your heart rate to 180bpm....but for completely different reasons. Now this is not to say that there is no place from 'road work' in MMA training or fight training in general...because there is...it is just that I don't think that road work is doing for MMA artists what they think it is. I think 'general conditioning' work is good...until I get my body fat down and by extension my weight...I'll be doing mine on the bike and predominantly the rower. I won't be doing this though because I think it will get me fit for fighting...because I don't think it does...and I can give you plenty of examples of why this doesn't work...it is the same reason that the best 1500m swimmers don't win middle distance races on the track...the same reason that the best road cyclists don't win marathons...and why the best marathon runners don't win anything else...not even the girl...because they are skinny little bastards...actually that isn't the reason...it is specificity.

What I try to do with these players is generally the same...whether it be agility runs, straight out standing start or rolling start sprints, integrated skills drill, mixed training (eg. push ups and sprints)or whatever the training modality is I try to make the training interval long enough to be taxing but short enough that it allows the work to be done very close to whatever could be achieved in a max effort and the recovery period to be long enough so that the work in the next interval is of equally high quality. The way I manipulate the training after that is to either increase the duration of the work interval, decrease the rest period or increase the volume of work done. Rarely if ever will I alter two of these elements in the same session.

I am going to approach my 'off mat' MMA conditioning the same way. I am going to look to keep the quality of my work near the maximum of my capacity...as such at the moment I will be keeping the work interval duration quite short, the rest intervals quite long and the volume relatively low. Then as I improve and adapt I will start manipulating these variables. I will go into more detail of how I am actually going to monitor and assess this as I get more and more into it but I already have some ideas of exactly how I am going to measure all these things.

But first...I am going to have a full screening done myself...and I know people will say...if I was any good as a coach I would be able to work out all the things that are wrong with me and fix them. People will say that because people are idiots. I can use a calculator and read the tax laws if I wanted to as well but when it comes time to do my taxes I pay a professional. I could do all the servicing on my motorcycle as well...but when it needs to be done...I pay a professional. I know a fair bit about nutrition as well...but I will get professional to help me because that's what professionals do. They recognise their strengths and weaknesses. I am going to take care of the piece of the puzzle that I know. I am going to get my screening and deal with any issues that arise from that. I am going to get help with my nutrition to start dropping my body fat in a controlled and measured way. I am going to get Barry to coach me with regard to my fight technique...we'll work out a style of MMA that maximises my strength and minimises my weakness. I will then work out what I need to do strength and conditioning wise to compliment the style of fighting that suits me best.

Showing by doing rather than crapping on endlessly
What I am going to do is to is what I always try to do with the blog...show you what I do...rather than just talk about it or make it up as others seem to do. So I am going to pick two players. One that needs to put on some lean muscle mass and one that need to lose some excess body fat. I'll outline below what I think the individual issues are for each of them then detail their actual program.

In Season Fat Loss for Rugby Players
In short...this is primarily about nutrition. What we'll also do is to change the emphasis of their training off the pitch to increase the actual amount of work done.

In Season Hypertrophy for Rugby Players
This is also dependent primarily on nutrition but also managing training loads and frequency.

As I said...I was originally going to just write about this but on reflection I thought it might be better to actually show you what I do. So instead of crapping on today...I'll crap on endlessly over the next couple of weeks about this instead.

Fictitious Client Progress
If you are interested I'm sure you can find reference to Ian throughout the blog...the latest update you'll find here. I asked him to tell me how he was getting on. Here's what he had to say:

Hi Will,

Comments on the transition program below...I hope it is what you were looking for. If you're thinking of posting it on your blog you might want to trim it for brevity.

My immediate goal is to gain structural integrity of the shoulder complex...so I liked the inclusion of scap prehab stuff. It seems so simple now...two exercises per session...couple of sets of moderate reps...and I was good to go.

Performing the prehab stuff before the compound exercises of bench press, pushups and pullups worked very well for me. I felt I was able to groove the movement and control of the scapula before the main movements...I remembered your comments in Dublin about initiating the scap movement first in the lat pulldown and chest supported scap shrug.

After an indifferent and sporadic training history over the last 18 months I liked the volume of work...it felt good to be putting in some effort. It is surprising how motivated you can be when following a program that has been specifically written for you. Each session took 80-90 minutes but as my work rate improves I would expect rest periods to shorten...especially in supersets...and overall session time to shorten.

I liked the hip mobility stuff like overs & unders & hurdle steps. It is something I had done a couple of years ago or so and had neglected to use them again.

I also really liked the modified pushup...a new exercise to me. It seemed to target a lot of things and I would to keep this as a mainstay in the future

I've never been one for doing much direct core work...not sure why...probably because my lower back always gave out before the abs...but the ab wheel rollouts, bridging and modified rollouts have paid off. Until
3 weeks ago my best ab wheel rollout was something like 3 sets of 8, 8, 6 reps...yesterday I did 3 sets of 12 and the first 2 sets felt very comfortable..and it had been 3 weeks since I last did them.

Hate is a string word but a couple of things didn't seem to work for me.
Hip popup's...I really struggled to feel this in the glutes...indeed my glutes just feel numb most of the time since I spend 60-70 of my time sat on my arse working...and I do wonder just how much use I make of them in deads and squats.

Natural reverse hypers were new to me and felt very uncomfortable. I bought some wood and built a platform that I could use in the power rack to do these...however the compression of my upper body as I lay face down and the pressure on my lower back as I raised my legs meant that instead of 3 sets of 12 I did 3 sets of 4, 3 and 3.

Overall I did wonder how a transition program would be different from any other program...but I guess the range of exercises, their priority and the movements tackled gave some clues...and I did get a sense of this being something of a foundation that could be built on.

Onwards and upwards.

Ian.

Bench Press Technique

2008-11-15T09:10:00.005Z

This is the girl that taught me everything that I know about Bench Pressing.

Team Heffernan

2008-11-15T02:47:00.004Z

This is Mike Sullivan, some dude and myself at a seminar...or should I say...this is us while the seminar was going on elsewhere.

She made it through another week...

2008-11-15T01:21:00.003Z

...without me killing her.

Far from perfect...but getting better...this was just in the middle of training.

These were the squats got so many peoples panties in a twist.

Like I've said lots of times...I don't 'set up' videos. We video a lot of stuff in training...probably about 30-40 minutes worth of video every single day...obviously it doesn't all get posted and obviously it isn't all perfect...I don't see many of the people who seem so quick to offer criticism rushing to post all their videos of their athletes training though? Funny that.

Yet more fictious athletes..

2008-11-14T23:55:00.004Z

...I spent part of my day today with an athlete...who to protect his anonymity I will just call Barry Oglesby that I'm going to work with from Monday onwards in preparation for his next MMA fight next year.

The first step in this 'Body by Will and Beating by Barry' process is a full screening with Dave Lyons the physiotherapist that I work closest with. I will get around to detailing this screening protocol at some time in the future. The detail isn't that important suffice to say that it is a head to toe and back to head again procedure that has been developed to find any problems/injuries that athletes might be trying to hide....WE FIND EVERYTHING...even the stuff you didn't know you had.

This is the last bit...where we play the Rocky 'training montage' music...and instead of steroids we inject Barry with a set of hamstrings.

I'll talk to Barry on Monday and if he's OK with it I'll detail how I intend on putting Humpty Dumpty back together again...or I might just leave it to him to detail in his own blog and link to it here so people get an athletes opinion of my make believe training programs and advice.

I thought this was pretty cool

2008-11-14T21:48:00.006Z

It was posted on the internet...I think they were having a go at me...I can't really tell these days.

It is actually Johnny Molloy an under 20's player who is also doing his best to nail down a position at prop on the senior team. Johnny's doing reps here floor pressing 50kg dumbbells in each hand. If they are having a go at me they probably picked on one of the worst people to actually single out...he's a kid with a 300+kg deadlift...no suit, no belt, no wraps and a 170+kg raw bencher...not too many kids doing that...in actual fact...there wouldn't actually be many professional senior international players doing that...so if there was really a Team Heffernan...I'd be proud to have Johnny Molloy in my team.

Dolly 'Pardon Me' Parton had it easy...

2008-11-13T03:19:00.005Z

...because I would kill to be working 9am to 5pm instead of 6am till 2am.

Just a quick update on The Bet.

Just so we all know where we stand:
Brophy - €75 (Paid)
Penguin - €75 (Unpaid)
Logi - €75 (Unpaid...but will pay Saturday)
Nasher - €25 (Unpaid)
Killer - €25 (Unpaid)
Louis - €25 (Unpaid)
Jimmy - €50 (Unpaid)
and lastly...Bushy...who was sooooo convinced I wasn't going to get it that he went in for €100 (Unpaid)

I'm just wondering if I missed it they would all just let it slide?

I'm actually planning some quite significant and detailed updates over the weekend...mainly because I know that no one actually reads the blog over the weekend and that way it'll give everyone something to do instead of work on Monday morning.

I want to try and cover the following...I actually want to put this out there...to put a bit of pressure on myself to get it all done:

I want to outline my thoughts on MMA training and physical preparation...strictly on the non technical elements of the sport.

I want to put some videos together on Saturday and Sunday to cover the elements I discussed in my presentation on Strength Training for Gaelic Football.

I need to finish up programs for the following freeloaders...Damian and Ian. I'll post some training programs and results for some clients so you can see how they are getting on and where they are going in the future.

I'll also put up 2 different programs covering either end of the training spectrum for contact sports...that being an in season hypertrophy program for 1 athlete and an in season fat loss program for another.

If this sounds unbelievable and unrealistic...you are probably correct...though if someone wants to bet me I can't do it...I'm willing to cover any and all bets.

Mr Anonymous Strikes Again...

2008-11-11T16:50:00.007Z

I just got an email from a mate of mine Mike Robertson...which is funny...because I have critcised Mike a lot in the past...although never for his work...just for his marketing...which thankfully has got better...or more to the point he stopped doing the stuff I hated...either that or he's hiding it on the internet where I can't find it. He sent me a link to the post below...I've just copied and pasted it below...the link and the article because I know a lot of people are as internet retarded as I am...that and the fact that I know my Mum has to print out my blog so my Dad can read it.

The post below was written by Mike Boyle who obviously has a lot of fans...just like me.

The Man in the Arena

An Ode to My Critics

It is amazing that coaches who have accomplished so little can find the time to criticize those of us who work for a living. I guess the beauty of being painfully unemployed is that there is plenty of time to keep up with the writings and workings of your enemies. Strangely enough the latest criticisms revolve around my own desire to improve my program. The beauty of this is that I admit a mistake and that opens the door for criticism. The criticism is that I have no system, no principles because of my frequent changes. The intellectual critic punishes the coach for learning. It’s a funny world. The real beauty is that the critic has no audience, a tree falling in the woods and no one hearing. However, the greater beauty is that the criticism reminds me of the great quote below and continues to strengthen my resolve to improve my program and my athletes.

The Man in the Arena

“It is not the critic who counts; not the man who points out how the strong man stumbles, or where the doer of deeds could have done them better. The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood; who strives valiantly; who errs, who comes short again and again, because there is no effort without error and shortcoming; but who does actually strive to do the deeds; who knows great enthusiasms, the great devotions; who spends himself in a worthy cause; who at the best knows in the end the triumph of high achievement, and who at the worst, if he fails, at least fails while daring greatly, so that his place shall never be with those cold and timid souls who neither know victory nor defeat.”

Theodore Roosevelt

This wonderful quote from Theodore Roosevelt goes out to all the internet experts who never write articles but, consistently post criticism of what other have written. They are never “The Man in the Arena”, instead they are the fan in the stands shouting at those who play.

Great minds like Columbus and Galileo were ridiculed by small minds. Sports has the term Monday Morning Quarterback. Strength and conditioning has internet experts.

It is amazing how many experts there are who know all the answers after all the questions have been answered by someone else. You know what I want to know? Have they ever even heard Paul Hodges or Stuart McGill speak in person? Have they ever conversed with these people?

Paul Hodges has done one person deep needle EMG studies on himself because he could not find subjects. Stuart McGill travels around the world and has spent thousands of hours researching the spine.

The average internet critic has spent hours trying to find the hole in the argument, to celebrate briefly the “I gotcha moment” alone in a room. The highest compliment one can achieve is to be the subject of mindless criticism. It indicates that you have truly made it.

I think this was a little harsh...

2008-11-11T11:42:00.006Z

A concerned citizen left this comment on the blog yesterday:

Anonymous said...
I've been doing some research and have found that none of the rugby players that Will works with have aver achieved very much at club level let alone progressed while he has worked with them. In fact he has a history of damaging the careers of players. ask him what happend to Steven Gissing and why he is no longer coaching him? Bad coaching leads to bad injuries. Gissing won't be the last opne to suffer either.

I think if they had actually done some research they would have found that the lads had done pretty well for themselves...I mean I can claim to have produced at least one international player this year...that's something at least...well in all honesty I wouldn't claim it because it is only Cookies...and I don't think any coach would claim that rich knacker. I do have sympathy for him though as like him...my mother showed her love for me not only in affection but with copious amounts of food.

Me coaching Cookies...I may as well be talking to myself.

Cookies using his greatest athletic talent...his weight...to drag some poor bastard to the ground before falling on him...while playing for the good ole US of A.

I did get an email from one player who shall remain nameless...lets just call him Chops.

You can just tell that guy that I am your little success story!! I was a professional athlete for a number of years(I want you to use the word athlete it makes it seem like I was doing something better other then going on the piss and eating out of the "snack cabin" in Rotherham!)then after 12 weeks or whatever it was with you I got 8 chins........video evidence available as well!! also just tell them to go fuck themselves!!!!!!!!!!
I STILL THINK YOU'RE A FAT WASTER THOUGH AND COOKIES IS GAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I think that pretty much sums up what most of the players would think. Below I have posted chops Pull Up progression.

Here is the first one...

Oh yeah...that's right...he got 0...which was his all time personal best as a professional rugby player...at least he was consistent.

This was his second test

This was his last test

I think that's a pretty good achievement. Now I know Chuck Poliquinn states that any decent strength coach should be able to get a girl up to 12 pull ups in 12 weeks but Chops isn't any ordinary girl in fairness. He had also proved in the past that he was immune to all strength and conditioning techniques.

I am sore already

2008-11-10T22:21:00.003Z

I want to tell you about all the thoughts and opinions I have regarding MMA and the training that I think would work best...but I just completely made up new ones on my way home from training tonight on the bike.

I had a whole training plan worked out for myself...and as soon as I was about half way through getting my arse kicked tonight I realised that I had made a lot of mistakes.

I had a submission wrestling session tonight at KO Martial Arts...I thought I was going to be eased in...and I sort of was...but not easy enough....Barry is a complete arsehole...I really like him already. Now it isn't that the lads weren't welcoming...because they were...it's just that they have a 'different' way of showing their affection. Most of them are fighting in a months time so when they gave me a welcoming 'embrace' it mainly involved them trying to crush the life out of me while simultaneously driving their shoulder into my jaw and knee into my stomach...now I like a hug as much as the next guy...this was just a little over the top I thought.

I was stupid enough to have trained hard in the morning as well...some hard heavy intervals and a bit of weight training...NOT my best idea ever...maybe anonymous is right...I am an idiot.

I think I might have to resurrect the old athletes blog...that one that I let go to shit a while back to log my training. I don't know that I will be doing things much different to the norm in MMA but I have a good I have a good idea of what I am going to be doing training wise.

A little circuit work either side of a couple of hours knocking the piss out of each other

I won't say too much now...because I'll probably change my mind next week. Any way...I've got 2hrs and 30mins of Brazilian Jiu Jitsu and Muay Thai to look forward to tomorrow night...and I am really looking forward to it.

Now to Anonymous and other associated matters
What can I possibly say about it...I been found out...I've been exposed....I've been uncovered...I suppose I'm lucky to have lasted this long.

21 reps at 100kgs

2008-11-09T10:59:00.003Z

Well not really...I had a bet with Michael Sullivan in Utah that I could get 21 reps at 100kgs. I don't remember if I tried and failed or didn't try it at all at the time and I can't remember if the bet was for $100 or $500...at this stage I'll go with $100. Anyway yesterday after I got my 180kg and missed 190kg twice I thought I'd have a crack at 21reps at 100kg. Now...to be fair to myself...which I always am...unlike how I am with athletes...the 2 misses at 190kg did not make for an optimal warm up and I was more than a little fatigued. Basically I just wanted to get all my excuses in before you watched the video.

Sooo close but not close enough.

I've set myself a few goals I would like to achieve before Christmas.
1. I want to bench 185kg...I would just like to crack that 400lbs mark and put some bait out there on the record board for other lads to chase.
2. 25 reps at 100kgs...I want to well and truly clear that 21rep mark that Sully said correctly that I couldn't do.
3. I'm going to get back down to 105kgs by trying to drop around a kilogram a week.

Another of the reasons that I think the internet is so funny

2008-11-08T14:46:00.005Z

Ages ago I posted this video....

Squats and Depth Jumps.

Thankfully TruthAxe finally got around to commenting on it.

Here are his comments and my responses:

TruthAxe
The girl means well. She's getting bad training here.

If she has to rest on a stool, she's using too much weight and thus not firing the stablizing muscles as well as the glutes on the way up.

Worse, is this that held squat at the end of plyo depth jump.

Plyo training is about the spring effect gained when off the ground (extension of muscles akin to a pulled slinky), and not about compressed muscles (contraction phase).

willheffernan
Brilliant insight.

TruthAxe
Thanks.

As you can see, because of the chair, she's putting bad, excessive stress on her knees on the way up from the chair sitting position.

Also, in plyo, the key is maximum jump up so the fall distance, thus reaction force is highest.

She should jump as high into the air as she can, spring off the floor, hit the second box and jump off that straightaway.

willheffernan
Spoken like a true internet expert.

TruthAxe
Ignorance is bliss eh?

The Irish. Same on both sides of the Atlantic.

willheffernan
Feel free to post all your training videos...show everyone how it is done.

TruthAxe
Thanks for showing the world HOW NOT to do it.

The child in this video is ruining her knees, shoulders, lower back and inner upper feet.

At her age, she should not do any squats.

Rightly, she should perform Bondarchuk step-ups, which would put the load where it belongs, hams and glutes first, calves and quad second and not where her ignorant coach has the load placed.

Are you ripping off folks, taking their cash while claiming to be a "strength and conditioning coach"?

willheffernan
So I take it that's a no then? You won't be posting your training videos and showing everyone how it is done.

TruthAxe
You acted so cocksure that you brazenly posted vids showing your bad training advice, ruining children's bodies for future athletics.

So now you're exposed. Crying like an effeminate doesn't help your case Liam, er, Will.

I checked out your blog.

It looks like you're an asshole to the whole world and not only to those who post comments on your YT vids.

Good luck defending the rest of your false beliefs during your living. You shall need it.

willheffernan
So that's definitely a no then? You sure you won't be posting all your excellent training videos?

TruthAxe
So you going to continue ripping off people pretending to be a strength and conditioning coach?

You're going to continue posting videos exposing your bad methods while damaging children?

willheffernan
You are a complete moron...but don't worry...I'll make you famous.

TruthAxe
As opposed to what a "partial" moron?

Wow, dumb and obxnious you are.

I'd love to meet your mommy and daddy to what pieces of work they must be.

Now I have a few observations and comments to make:
1. Do people really think that I can't see ROK's form breaking down here? We had 'worked up' to this weight...and yes...it was too much. Another thing is that we weren't doing the depth jumps for their plyometric effect. So essentially everything that TruthAxe had to say in his original comment was total rubbish...she wasn't 'resting on a stool'...as for putting stress on her knees...the stress is coming from the fact that she isn't holding them out as she was in earlier sets because she was fatigued...the stress isn't coming from 'the chair sitting position' as TruthAxe pointed out...as for the Plyo element...without going into too much detail here...what we were looking for was a super short contact time on the ground and on landing I actually wanted her to hold that power position longer...not shorter. We do a lot of work getting strong in and around that 'power position' both statically and dynamically as it has a huge impact on performance and I might make a post about this in the future...just for TruthAxe.

2. TruthAxe has all the elements of what I love about internet experts...he reads a lot obviously...he has the vocabulary down pat...he even slips in a bit of pseudo name dropping...there are heaps of people like this on the internet...they've read all the articles, read all the books etc etc and they know everything and nothing simultaneously. They give themselves away almost as soon as they open their mouths or post a comment. I also love all the insults about my nationality...I'm just surprised and disappointed he didn't make a drunken fighting Irishman comment...I mean talk about clichés...I mean honestly...how could he not know from looking and listening to the blog and videos that I'm actually a drunken fighting Australian...thus going out of his way to prove my point that he's a moron.

3. People get confused I think about the blog and videos I post...let me clear a few things up.
- I post vids that I think people would find interesting.
- I post vids of athletes 'actually' training...they aren't set ups.
- I purposefully post stuff that isn't perfect...because I think it is more interesting than me going over the videos when I get home and picking ones to post that show me in 'the best light'.

4. With regard to this particular video...there are a huge number of flaws in ROK's technique...like I said...she was too fatigued in this last set. I knew this...she knew this...we look at video and we fix things up...I think from memory we went back after this set and did a light set just to work on her technique. As for me damaging her and my bad training methods...give me a break...I think her performances and the massive improvements she's made in the gym might going a long way to disproving TruthAxe's well thought out analysis...maybe he should email the coaches at Irish Basketball and see what they think...or ask the guys her age who's arse's she kicked in testing? She has made massive improvements in both her squatting and deadlifting and maybe from now on I should just 'set up' all the videos of her training so TruthAxe doesn't report me for child abuse.

5. Heaps of other coaches and trainers have emailed me have told me to delete and or just ignore the 'negative' comments...to take the high road. The thing is...that just isn't me...I like the low road. I love annoying people, I love winding people up...I love doing it on the internet as much as I love doing it in real life.

I didn't start this blog as a chance to 'show off' or to try and put myself out there as some sort of expert. I'm just a strength and conditioning coach...that's it...I'm not the best...but certainly not the worst either and blog or no blog...internet or no internet I would be doing exactly the same job that I'm doing right now. The reason the blog came about was because people were saying I was too negative and didn't make enough of a positive contribution...and I agreed with them...so I started it.

I deliberately don't want it to be like all the others out there...it isn't about optimising revenue, exploiting market opportunities, show casing my talent as a coach...it just is what is...there's a reason I don't write 'articles'...it isn't about ME telling YOU how to train...this is just what WE are doing...and take a wild guess how much WE care about what YOU think about what WE do?

Project Ian

2008-11-08T13:56:00.009Z

Here's a copy of Ian's email:

Will...the results are in.

Tested in the following order all in same session:

deadlift 1RM - 160Kg (PR)

bench press 1RM - 90Kg (PR)

pullups for reps - 8

pushups in 60s - 35

inverted rows in 60s - 19

Comments:

No those figures are not one of your rugby girls. A month ago my best deadlift was 150Kg, bench press 80Kg, pullups 10, pushups in 60s about 26, inverted rows about 14 - none of which would have been done in the same session. The only dissappointment was the pullup score.

The 2 week transition program was hard work but the payoff is obvious.
Anyone who has watched the video's of me doing band pull-aparts will know there is much work still to do.

This is one of the videos from when Ian was over.

Will...I'd be interested in getting some idea of how you think I should continue to incorporate and advance the shoulder mobility stuff. Not necessarily looking for a program - that's asking a lot - but general guidelines would be appreciated.

While it is nice to strive to achieve certain strength standards I think my main goal is to get structurally sound first in the shoulder and hip.

Your thoughts would be welcome.

Cheers, Ian.

*I'm going to post up his transition program...I'm waiting for some feedback from him and when I get it I will put up his new program.

Ian's Transition Program
Session 1 - Back Day
Easy 1km Row at 1.50/500m pace
1A Inverted Scap Shrugs - 2x8
1B Chest Supported Scap Shrugs - 2x8
2A Pull Ups - 10x3
2B Push Ups - 10x10
Ab Wheel Roll Outs - 3x12
3A Overs and Unders - 2x8 each side
3B Reverse Lunges - 2x8 each side
4A Elevated Split Squats - w/u 2x8, 3x8
4B DB Rows - 5x8 each side
Bridging - 3x60 seconds

Session 2 - Leg Day
Easy 1km Row at 1.50/500m pace
1A Hurdle Steps - 2x8 each side
1B Over Head Medball Squats - 2x8
Straight Bar Deadlift - w/u 2x8, 5x5
Step Ups - 3x8
Lateral Woodchoppers - 3x12 each side
2A Barbell Scap Press - 2x8
2B YTWLs - 2x12 (4 of each)
3A Inverted Rows - 5x10
3B Modified Push Ups - 5x10
Natural Reverse Hypers - 3x12

Session 3 - Chest Day
Easy 1km Row at 1.50/500m pace
1A Scap Pull Ups - 2x8
1B Scap Push Ups - 2x8
Flat Bench Press - w/u 2x8, 5x5
Overhand Wide Lat Pullowns - 5x12
Hanging Leg Raises - 3x12
2A Hip Pop Ups - 2x8 each side
2B Lateral Step Overs - 2x8 each side
Reverse Lunges - 5x12 each side
Back Extensions - 3x12

My questions for Ian and his responses:

How many sessions a week can you do?

4 - I like the Tue - Thu - Sat - Sun format

Have you thought more about your goal?

1. Get the shoudler complex structurally sound and improve hip mobility 2. Focus on max strength so that my loads wouldn't embarrass ROK 3. Achieve your strength standards

What do you want to do?

Not sure how to answer this one but...

Until 18 months ago...before my training became infrequent due to a change in career...I was a classic example of someone has tried many generic programs hoping to learn something along the way...but all I ended up doing was spinning my wheels and never advancing...so the loads never changed and I never changed.

With that in mind I want to get consistent with my training and I think working towards your strength standards is within my grasp.

My volume of rowing has been low for about 6 weeks so my conditioning is not up to snuff...so anything I can do to incorporate some conditioning work without compromising my other training would be ideal.

The Plan
I think what we'll do is to do 2 full body strength orientated sessions with a little power rowing on Tuesday and Saturday and do some more conditioning focused work on Thursday and Sunday with some supplementary work...we'll keep the sessions around the hour mark and we'll see where that gets us. I'll post your program here later after doing the stuff I actually get paid for.

Program
Tuesday
Rower - 500m easy warm up then 150m/30sec,150m/45sec & 150m/60sec and do 3 sets of these back to back. What I want you to do is to do your warm up nice and easy have a stretch and get yourself set. Then do a session best 150m on your first effort...that then becomes your target time for each consecutive effort. Take 30 seconds recovery go again, then 45 seconds and go again and then 60 seconds. I want you to try and beat or get as close to your first time in each following interval.
Rack Pulls (below knee) - (12, 6, 3)x2. The first set of 12 serves as your warm up basically. You then load progressively from there...basically we are doing an easy, moderate and hard set and beginning that cycle again...for example...you might do 60kg for 12, 90kg for 6 and 120kg for 3 then 80kg for 12, then 110kg for 6 and 140kg for 3. You are going to have to feel it out and work out what works best for you. Think easy, moderate and hard...the weights will sort themselves out.
Split Squats - 3x8.
Lower Ab Curls - 3x15
Bench Press - We're going to use the same loading set up as the Rack Pulls here.
Unsupported DB Rows - 25kgx100reps...I want you to time how long it takes and I want you to get them done as fast as possible...you decide the best set and rep scheme to make that happen...and yes...that's 100 reps on each side.

Thursday
Week 1 & 4 - 8x500m with 2min recovery between efforts.
Week 2 & 5 - 5x750m with 2min recovery between efforts.
Week 3 & 6 - 3x1500m with 2min recovery between efforts.

Saturday
Rower - 500m easy warm up then 150m/30sec,150m/45sec & 150m/60sec...the same as Tuesday.
Front Squats - (12, 6, 3)x2. You know what to do by now. I forgot to mention...I don't want you maxing out on any of these...the sets of 3 for example should be done with a rep still in the tank.
Glute Ham Raises or Hamstring Fallouts - 3x8.
Lower Ab Curls - 3x15
Lat Pulldowns - (12, 6, 3)x2....that's right...more of the same.
DB Floor Press (one arm at a time) - 25kgx100reps...I want you to time how long it takes and I want you to get them done as fast as possible...I know it seems cruel...I can't wait to see your times.

Sunday
Week 1 & 4 - 10x250m with 1min recovery x 3 with 3min between sets.
Week 2 & 5 - 10x250m with 45sec recovery x 3 with 3min between sets.
Week 3 & 6 - 10x300m with 1min recovery x 3 with 3min between sets.

So...read through what I've outlined and tell me what you don't have or can't do so I can change it before anyone notices...but essentially whatever you don't have won't matter because the format is staying the same...I might just have to alter the exercise selection.

You have to guess what happened here?

2008-11-08T13:32:00.006Z

I'll give you a hint...the same thing that happens whenever anyone doubts me or bets against me...they get smoked.

Can you guess what happened?

As an aside...have a look at the size of that honker!

Even with Mick trying to sabotage me by cutting off my supplement supply and a super hard week of cardio and intervals...meaning I weighed in at 115.9kg today...still had enough to get the job done.

I'll give you a hint if you still don't know...then check this out. By the way the reason it is a week later than planned is because some of the lads couldn't be there last week...so wanted to move it to this week.

Just so we all know where we stand:
Brophy - €75 (Paid)
Penguin - €75 (Unpaid)
Logi - €75 (Unpaid)
Nasher - €25 (Unpaid)
Killer - €25 (Unpaid)
Louis - €25 (Unpaid)
Jimmy - €50 (Unpaid)
and lastly...Bushy...who was sooooo convinced I wasn't going to get it that he went in for €100 (Unpaid)

I would also like to say to all those others who wanted to pile in against me who I stopped from betting for their own sake...never ever bet against me doing anything that I'm told that I can't....simple as that.

Which session do you think is worse?

2008-11-07T23:33:00.007Z

Session A
Rower - 10x150m with 30sec recovery
50 Box Jumps
50 Pull Ups
100 Elevated Push Ups
Rower - 10x150m with 45sec recovery
50 Trap Bar Deadlifts (100kg)
50 bench Press (60kg)
100 Inverted Rows
Rower - 10x150m with 60sec recovery

Don't you hate it when plans go wrong.

Do people on the internet really think that no one has ever punched me in the face before?

Flaps look like he's about to lose his lunch.

Session B
Treadmill - 300m Sprint/100m Walk by 10
50 KB Squats
50 KB Rows (each arm)
100 Push Ups
Treadmill - 300m Sprint/100m Walk by 8
50 KB Reverse Lunges (each side)
50 KB Press (each arm)
100 Hanging Leg Raises
Treadmill - 300m Sprint/100m Walk by 6

Session C
Bike - 10km
50 Step Ups (40kg)
50 Bent Over Barbell Rows (60kg)
100 Push Ups
Bike - 8km
50 Box Squats (60kg)
50 DB Press (60kg)
50 Back Extensions
Bike - 6km

All the sessions are done as fast as is possible. The strength blocks are timed and reordered. You can break down the strength blocks into whatever set and rep variations you like...you just have to complete it all....above you can see what happens when calculations go wrong.

I wanted to give Barry's Fight Night a plug for the locals

2008-11-07T13:56:00.003Z

Friday night is fight night! Some of Ireland's best up and coming professional and amateur MMA fighters take each other on in an action packed fight night not to be missed.

Full bar, D.J. and a card full of exciting fights!

Friday December 12th in Whitehall Colmcille GAA club, Collins Avenue, Whitehall Dublin 9

Tickets €30 available online here

Standing Invitation

2008-11-07T13:36:00.003Z

The other thing I forgot to mention regarding last nights presentation is that I was explaining to the attendees that one of the best things they can do with regard to their development as coaches and trainers is to go and see other coaches and trainers take sessions. I was making the point that as much as I love getting paid to talk I equally enjoy crapping on about coaching and training for free. To this end I think I will pick an evening during the week...I'm leaning towards Wednesday's at the moment...to have it as an open house night for anyone that is interested in just coming to training for a nose around...whether they be coaches, athletes or just interested parties.

So if you want to come and see training and shoot the breeze and find out what it is all about you can...just drop me an email...I'll then give your name to the doorman and he'll escort you to the V.I.P room where drinks and canapés will be served...actually some of this last paragraph isn't true...you can work out what is and what isn't.

This will be of great benefit to any and all of you interested in internet stalking...you will be a fountain of information for the haters out there about who I do and don't train...it will be your key to internet popularity.

It will also be of interested in those of you looking to see what athletes are actually doing and to discuss why they are doing it. To get exposure to professional athletes right through to beginners in a wide variety of sports and from the very old (like me) to juniors.

So like I said...drop me a mail and it will be no problem...even if you just want to come down and stand in the corner...that's fine by me.

This is the sort of stuff I have to deal with...

2008-11-07T13:12:00.002Z

This is from an email I just recieved...my responses are bolded...I will do this as a case study...since Ian has been too dumb to respond to both my emails to him regarding the next stage of his program...

It's time to get the groove on again. So I was thinking what would you feel about a little bulk/strength up programme with the rowing and running involved ???
I would say that you're a fucking idiot...do you want to bulk up or get fit? You can't have your cake and get ripped as well.

Just want to keep a focus and set myself some sort of target ie on the rower or cardio fitness etc ???
We can do 'fitness maintainance' and bulk up...but even that wouldn't be optimal.

Let me know what you think and don't dodge the email -- i'll fuckin stalk you!!!!
You're not my first...stalker that is.

So stay tuned if you want to see me bend the rules of physics and turn our understanding of thermodynamics on it's head.

I do love the sound of my own voice

2008-11-07T11:07:00.004Z

I did a presentation on Function Strength Training for Gaelic Footballers for Dublin GAA Coaching and Games Development Department. I really enjoyed presenting and I hope all the lads that attended enjoyed listening to me blather on. It was a great mixed group of attendees with coaches, managers and trainers involved with all levels of Gaelic Football from underage level all the way through to senior level.

As always the presentation was made all the better by the great questions asked by the attendees regarding everything from dealing with athletes with no weight training experience all the way through to managing athletes who....how can I put this delicately...lets just say who are in the twilight of their careers. Along with questions about integrating weight training into a complete season long program. There were also obviously a lot of really specific questions about things such as what training methodologies give the maximum benefit with regards on field performance...in particular with regard to acceleration and speed. Any way suffices to say there were a lot of great questions.

The presentation format was roughly as follows:

We started with questions first...I always like to know what the attendees are actually there for...some people attend these things out of general interest in the area while others are there for very specific reason...such as...I am training a Under 15's squad...what do I need to do with regard their strength training.

The first thing we discussed was strength testing. What strength test I do and why I do them.

We covered what these 'in gym' strength tests tell us about our athletes. Most importantly we went through what we do when we have these results.

We went through the basic classifications for strength training...what styles of training are generally utilised and why.

Next on field strength training was covered before we dealt with all the in gym stuff.

We wrapped up with Q&A and as per usual I and the attendees had to be stopped so we could be thrown out after going a good 30 minutes over time.

So What Is Next?
I am going to put together a video series to go with this presentation in particular for the attendees but I will throw it up on the blog as well.

2 Day Seminar
I've decided that no matter what...I'm doing a seminar before Christmas and I'm going to decide on a date this weekend when I make sure that 1. I actually have a free weekend before Christmas. 2. That I can ensure that I have a free presentation room. 3. That hopefully I can secure the bar and food so we can enjoy ourselves on the Saturday night.

Seminar Format
I want to put this out there for suggestions and input...particularly from those who'd potentially be interested in attending.

Introduction to Strength and Conditioning for Athletes
I want the seminar to focus on preparing athletes of all types from all sports and I'm going to deal with everything from the generalities to the specifics of all the sports and athletes with who I work with.

Screening and Functional Movement Analysis
I am going to try and rope in a lot of the sports professionals with whom I work to cover very specific elements like this. Essentially everyone who is attending who is able will have a screening done and also perform them. It'll be a case of learning by doing.

Strength Testing and Fitness Assessment
I am going to drag a large number of my athletes in by scheduling by mere coincidence their strength testing and fitness assessments to coincide with the seminar and once again...everyone who is able will do a full strength test and fitness assessment.

We'll then be able to look at the data we have and use that as a basis for much of the rest of the seminar.

We'll go into what the results mean and how to interpret them as a reference point for the information to come.

Strength Training Theory
I'm going to go through the basic principles of strength training but more importantly I want to discuss what all this theory means in practice.

Getting Our Pump On
As part of all this we are also going to TRAIN...we're ALL going to go through fundamental exercises, focusing on technique and the coaching points important to coaches and athletes.

That essentially will be the Saturday...I think we have a proper catered lunch and dinner and drinks in the bar afterwards...so people can basically come for the day...bring their change of clothes for the night. There is plenty of accommodation nearby so a short taxi ride will be all that is needed to those out of towners. We can get this sorted out when I have the dates sorted.

The Sunday will go something as follows...
Program Construction
This will be an opportunity for me to present my fundamental training theory...the how and why of what I actually do.
We'll then actually design some programs based on ours or others results from the previous day.
We can then examine and critique the various training options that we come up with.

Conditioning Theory
As with the strength training portion we'll go through very basic theory but focus more on the actual 'take home' points.

Getting our Sweat On
This will be acceleration, agility and speed session primarily but we'll also cover conditioning and field based conditioning games.

We'll wrap up with lunch and a good Q&A that will basically go on as long as needs be or until people get bored and start drifting away and I am left talking to myself.

That's essentially my line of thinking at the moment but I am open to suggestions?

ROK lives...even if the internet says I killed her

2008-11-05T23:34:00.002Z

You may remember a while back it was reported here on the blog by our friendly neighbourhood anonymous comment poster...it was something along the lines of this...that the reason that ROK wasn't mentioned on the blog is that 1. That I had injured her. 2. That she had been stopped by Irish Basketball from training with me. Something along those lines.

Neither of these things is true...well I did hurt her emotionally when I kicked her arse in a push up competition (I'm old...you have to take your wins where you can get them) a little while back.

Anyway...tonight's session went like this:

Bike - 10 mins
1A Over's and Under's - 2x8 each side
1B Hurdle Steps - 2x8 each side
Trap Bar Deadlifts - w/u 2x5 at 60 reps then 5x3 working up to 90kg

Cable Pull Throughs - 3x10
Lower Ab Curls - 3x15
2A Reverse Grip Lat Pulldown - 5x5
2B Push Ups - 5x10
3A Natural Reverse Hypers - 3x15
3B Bicep Hammer Curls - 3x5
3C Tricep Press Downs - 3x5
Rower - 10x150m with second second recovery between intervals...max effort.

Anyway...I just thought you'd be happy to hear that she's still alive.

Nasher, Hugh and Myself did the following:

1A Inverted Shrugs - 2x10
1B Bent Over Scap Rows - 2x10
Swiss Ball DB Press - 2 warm up sets of 12 then 5x8
Chest Supported Rows - The target was 60 reps...I had planned on 4x15 but did 12+3 on the last set
Straight Single Arm Lat Pull Downs - 3x8 each side
Lying Tricep Extensions - 3x8
2A Lower Abdominal Curls - 3x15
2B Natural Reverse Hypers - 3x15
2C Bridging - 3x 45 seconds

Functional Strength Training for Gaelic Footballers

2008-11-05T23:07:00.004Z

I forgot all about this...I have been presenting this seminar for the Dublin GAA Coaching and Games Development Department for a while now and the reminder just popped up in my diary.

I will be held at Craobh Chiaráin from 7.30pm till 9.30pm. If you are interested in attending the cost is subsidised by the good folks at Dublin GAA so the cost at the door will only be €10. You'll find the club here if you don't know already.

I'll basically be covering the following:
The strength requirements of Gaelic Football.
Strength testing.
On field and in gym strength training for Gaeilic Footballers.

I don't 'hate' squatting

2008-11-05T01:57:00.003Z

I got a few emails about my squatting is overrated comment.

Nasher did the following.

Warm Up
Leg Press...basically some fatiguing work...high foot position...full range...a few sets of some reps...reasonably heavy.
Squats...4 sets of banded work...of which this was the last.

Pretty self explanatory...I hope.

Bonus Trivia Question: How many former Leinster players appear in this video?

We don this work then try to work on rep quality and control.

Really working on rep quality and consistency.

This was followed by:
Glute Ham Raises...5 sets of 5...super slow reps.
Leg Curls...3 sets of 15 with an Isometric hold at maximum knee flexion for a 2 count with a slow eccentric.
Superset of Natural Reverse Hypers and 45 degree Back Extensions for 3 sets of 12 of each.
Standing Ab Pull Downs...3 sets of 20 reps.

Session finished...short and sweet.

I have a coach now

2008-11-05T01:39:00.003Z

I am getting trained now by Barry Oglesby at K.O. Martial Arts. I'm doing my first session on Thursday. I'll take some before pics and we'll see what sort of shape I'm in come fight day.

Here's his biography:

Barry Oglesby is the head coach at K.O. Martial Arts.
Head coach...sounds made up.

Barry started his martial arts training with Taekwondo,
I thought that was a Scottish sport?

before moving on to Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Muay Thai and Mixed Martial Arts.
Obviously he wasn't any good at any of them?

He has competed at an amateur level in Taekwondo, Brazilian Jiu Jitsu, Submission Wrestling and Kickboxing, and at a professional level in Mixed Martial Arts. Barry started KO Martial Arts in 2003, and has been a professional coach since 2006.
I'm determined to retain my amateur status as a coach...even though I get paid I maintain a completely amateur approach.

He coaches at the two gyms, KO Martial Arts, a senior Mixed Martial Arts gym, and Wolfpack Martial Arts, a seperate gym for young children and teenagers which operates as a junior club to the senior gym.
I might try and get into the kids class...best way to get ready for Carl and Club as I'm willing to guess the kids are competing at about the same weight class.

Barry also works with teenagers in Secondary Schools running martial arts and self defence programmes for transition years. He has worked with athletics and football teams, has a BA in History and Literature from Dublin City University and is currently studying to expand his coaching knowledge in strength and conditioning.
...and he reads my blog....sounds like his search for knowledge isn't going that well or hasn't gotten very far?

This what my training schedule is going to look like:

Monday
Submission Wrestling & Mixed Martial Arts

Tuesday
Muay Thai

Wednesday
Weights & Conditioning Work

Thursday
Muay Thai & Brazilian Jiu Jitsu

Friday
Weights & Conditioning Work

Saturday
Weights

I'm fighting on the 15th of June 2009

2008-11-03T16:18:00.004Z

Put it in your calendar. The fight is going to be in Lowell MA in the USA and I'm fighting Carl Valle who is a coach of Olympians, SEC Footballers, All Stars in several sports as well as High School track champions.

Carl Valle said....
I challenge you to a boxing fight next summer for a boxing on June 15th. You are the boxing strength coach and make so much money being a guru so you should be ready to go. We will be in Lowell MA and we will video this.

I love to have something to train for...so stay tuned.

It Gets Better and Better
So now after some negotiating...I'm not going to be boxing after all. I'm going to be fighting two guys at the same time and it will be under the rules governing MMA in Massachusetts. I haven't been so excited or so motivated to train for something in such a long time.

The bit that I love about it is that it will also give me a chance to post more about training for MMA. I actually do work with a number of boxers and mixed martial artist of different varieties and it will give me more of opportunity to engage more with them on their own terms.

I have also had a large number of emails from people involved in MMA in the US who have made very generous offers to help me prepare for the date. You'd actually be surprised how many coaches have to put up with people talking shit about them on the internet. Coaches who just wished they were given the opportunity that I've been presented with who want to do absolutely everything they can to help me out...funny that.

I wonder if there will be a similar group of internet bullshit artists who will all put their shoulders to the wheel and combine the knowledge they gathered from all the athletes they've 'worked with' to prepare the lads as well as I am going to prepare...lets hope so.

Fight Update
The lads who are fighting me are taking care of the organisation...the date, time, location and the referee...all I have to do is show up.

I've suggested the 4th of July...mainly because as we all know...the 4th of July is celebrated in the US to this day in memory of the day that Rock Balboa went 12 rounds with Apollo Creed the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world.

Dave Tate...I just read this morning...

2008-11-03T12:09:00.005Z

...I hope he won't mind me ripping this off and throwing it up here...I thought it was apt given the 'anonymous' morons (well actually in truth they are not that anonymous...they don't realise that it isn't that difficult to compare their ip address with other friendly forum hosts and work out who they are...but like I said...they're idiots so they probably never thought of that) posting pathetic attacks in the form of supposed questions.

Dave Tate's post from his log...excerpt below.

#12 - Ask Good Questions and Give Positive Feedback

How many times do you hear people ask questions, knowing that the people asking just want to hear themselves speak? There are such things as stupid questions. They’re the ones where the people asking don’t care about the answers they’ll receive. Listen in on the next conversation you hear. You’ll hear questions being asked, and you’ll hear people interrupting while the answers are being given.

It makes you wonder why the question was asked in the first place, right? If you really want to learn something, THINK before you ask a question, then listen to the answer. You may or may not like the advice you get, but hear the person out and give them the respect you were after when you first asked your question. And yes, when you ask a question, you’re asking for respect. To interrupt is disrespectful. If you don’t like what’s said, give positive feedback. Unless you’re in a debate, there’s no need to argue your point. Most of the time, this will be a wasted effort. Changing someone’s mind is not easy, especially when you asked them first.

We should all give more positive feedback than we do. I’m guilty of this, too. I have a great staff, great contractors and great volunteers, but I rarely let them know how much I appreciate the work they do. I rarely tell them that they do a great job. In the internet age, you constantly see people getting trashed for things, but you rarely ever see anyone get positive feedback. If you do get any, it won’t be more than 25% of the time. If we – the people who are closest to them – don’t let them know, then who will?

Maybe we all need thicker skin, but how hard is it to let people around you know they’re doing a good job?

David Gillick Interview

2008-11-02T15:44:00.010Z

I won't go into too much detail...but essentially I've been getting a bagging on a forum by some exceptional morons...well it isn't so much a bagging...it is more like being slapped with a kipper...annoying but harmless and eventually just funny. These are people who think everything there is to know can be found on the internet. These idiots actually think that by doing a google search on 'Will Heffernan' they can find out everything there is to know about me. They seriously live under the delusion that what they find there shows them everything there is to know about who I work with and who I don't and what I do....these are the same people who think that the the only athletes I work with are the ones that appear here on the blog.

I work with A LOT of athletes from A LOT of different sports. I also work not only with individual athletes but with sporting organisations...I actually struggle to comprehend the stupidity of some people when it comes to not understanding how some of these athletes and organisations might not want to have their business splashed all over the internet. Go figure!

Now...I also have to make a confession...I love the internet...and I love forums. I find them hysterically funny. I LOVE messing with people...I LOVE annoying people...I LOVE ridiculing and belittling people. The thing is I LOVE doing all these things in real life as well...and anyone who actually knows me, has worked or has been coached by me knows this as well. I don't have an internet persona like some people seem to do. The other thing that people seem to do on the internet is exaggerate...now I know people do that in real life as well but in real life at least they have to look you in the eye and lie to your face.

So....back to life on the internet...a certain individual who shall remain nameless it was stated that they worked with Olympians and well as Footballers, All Star athletes and High School champions...now in short it turned out that their definition of 'worked with' consisted of doing warm ups with and being in the same gym as an Olympic athlete...that isn't my definition of 'worked with'. These are the same morons that made the assertion that it was I that was apparently full of it and also named one particular athlete that I said I 'worked with' and went on to comment that all I had done was essentially to injure him...well...that might be true but I only damaged him emotionally.

Here's a link to David's website...http://www.davidgillick.com/

I spoke to David about this and after we both stopped laughing we decided we'd do an interview for the blog to clear a few things up. I was thinking of the things that people might want to know...things like:

'David is it true that before you started working with Will you were so weak you could barely lift yourself out of a chair?'

'David is it true that while you were working with Will he never ever paid for coffee or food any time you met and do you think this was because although you paid him what he asked it was never as much as he was really worth?

'David is it true that before you and Will started working together that your bench press was so bad that he was amazed that you could even push your sheets off you in bed in the morning?'

'David is it true that when you worked with Will he was totally ripped...just a complete man mountain of muscle, sinew and veins?'

'David is it true that you were so infatuated with Will that even after he cast you aside and sent you to Loughborough to slum it with Nick Deakin and his crew of athletes that you followed him on holidays to Thailand and tried to make him jealous by bringing your girlfriend as well?'

So with David's agreement we are opening the floor to questions....just like these...you have any? If you want to know what I mean by 'working with' athletes as opposed to what internet bullshit artists mean by 'working with' athletes than feel free to post your questions here.

I have posted a video below that I found of David on the interweb and all I can say is that....Oh My God....he still whines like a baby.

This is a video from who knows where and when filmed in Loughborough.

Comments
I just realised that there is going to be some real internet gold here in the comments section and I don't want anyone to miss it so I would post them on the main page.

Michael Sullivan said...
I agree about his whining. By what method did you improve this and did were any drugs involved?

Anonymous said...
Why did Gillick say he was leaving you after bad seasons and to get better conditioning?

Will Heffernan said...
Michael Sullivan said...
I agree about his whining. By what method did you improve this and did were any drugs involved?
It was all him...he was a complete natural.

Anonymous said...
Why did Gillick say he was leaving you after bad seasons and to get better conditioning?
Brave enough to ask a good question...just not brave enough to actually use your name. This is what I was getting at with regard to the internet...people think their anonymous...like shouting abuse from a crowd that they would never say face to face. I will put this question to him and we'll see what he says. Because I don't remember it that way at all.

Anonymous said...
How can you claim to have worked with an olympian when when you were working with him he was not an olympian?

He left you two years before becoming an olympian.

Anonymous said...
Did Gillick run an olympic A qualifying time when he was under you?

Will Heffernan said...
Anonymous said...
How can you claim to have worked with an olympian when when you were working with him he was not an olympian?
This is what makes me laugh...I mean besides the fact that you are so gutless that you won't even leave your name...and not even inventive enough to come up with a funny fake one...is that you can't even get your facts right. I never made any claim like that....if I wanted to 'claim' Olympians I could of 'claimed' Olympians that I was working with at the last Olympics or any of the athletes I worked with who went to Athens.

He left you two years before becoming an olympian.
That's correct...he's not the only one...I worked with a lot of young athletes that went on to be Olympians....funny how that happens.

Anonymous said...
Did Gillick run an olympic A qualifying time when he was under you?
I guess we'll just have to ask him now won't we?

Will Heffernan said...
This post and the comments associated with it is going to give all you people who read the blog who don't frequent message boards and forums....the 5 out of 11 of you...a chance to see what a fantastic place the interweb really is.

Here we have some perfect examples.
1. Anonymous posting...posting method of choice for all cowards.

2. Misrepresentation...the argument method of choice for the severely psychologically unstable.

The rest of you who aren't quite this stupid do realise that I'm s strength and conditioning coach now don't you? That I don't coach Athletics, Basketball, Gaelic Football, Hurling, Boxing, Rugby, Football, Tennis etc etc etc but that I work with athletes from all those sports...you do understand that don't you? Some people seem to struggle with the whole idea of the difference...for example...I work with a tennis pro....he tells people that I am his strength and conditioning coach...and when he's with me we might do two sessions a day everyday...but that I've never been on a tennis court with him. I just say that because some people struggle with that...David and I worked together week in week out when I was coaching him...I never took him for a session on the track.

Strength is the vessel...power is what you put into it

2008-11-02T03:06:00.002Z

I've had a few emails as well as the comments in the previous thread regarding Olympic lifting. One of the questions/points that was made was that if I love Olympic lifting so much why don't I utilise the lifts more often in training. Another was regarding when I would use them....both of which are fair points. As usual I've made myself as clear as mud so I thought I would answer those questions here....so people could ask more questions and I could answer them and at some stage in the future I could actually make myself understood.

Lets start off this way...if you're a male athlete and you can't squat or deadlift 1.5 times your bodyweight, can't bench your bodyweight, can't do 5+ pull ups if you weigh over 100kg's or 8+ pull ups if you weigh under 100kgs, can't do 35+ push ups and 20+ inverted rows in 60 seconds....then you have bigger things to worry about than learning how to snatch.

I look at things like bands and chains the same way....every body wants to worry about the icing...no one seems interested in the cake. Athletes just like general trainees get all excited about all the sexy stuff with regards training. The thing is...you need to take care of the basics first. When you are starting out...snatching is definitely icing.

Anyway...as to the first question/comment...why don't I Olympic lifting more often. Firstly, because I don't train any Olympic lifters. Secondly, I have a minimal amount of time with athletes and Olympic lifting doesn't give me as great a return on investment time wise as other training methods.

The next question/comment was regarding when I would use them. I would use them with athletes with whom I had more time and who were already hitting their other gym performance targets.

Matt Darcy is doing cleans because he's a great athlete...has the time to devote to it....and the return is worth the investment.

The reason he has the time is because at 79kg he Deadlifts 210kg, Benches 95kg, does 20 Pull Ups, 64 Push Ups and 42 Inverted Rows in 60 seconds. He is not having to spend the time chasing mass gain...which for him would at little to nothing to his game and besides the bench...which I'm not overly concerned about as it is close enough to his target for me and benching is actually the test that I value/care least about of all the gym tests that we do. For Matt...Olympic lifting gives a good return on investment because we've well and truly reached the point of diminishing returns elsewhere. His only goal and the goal of any athlete at his level of development is to maintain his physiological balance, maintain his strength, improve his rate of force development and do what is required to decrease his risk of on field injury.

He's build himself a huge vessel strength wise and is working on pouring more power into it.

I love Olympic Lifting

2008-10-31T10:46:00.003Z

The thing is that I don't think it is contributing what people think it is contributing when it comes to sport performance.

Here are a few comments with regard to a previous post:

garrett said...
I was just trying to make the point that if you are using olympic lifting to help with your rugby or Gaa or whatever there is already a high enough chance of injury without your lifting contributing on top.
I agree...I was just pushing your buttons because I can.

So wouldnt it make sense then to go and learn how to do the lifts properly so you can get the most benefit out of it and not injure yourself in the process. Same for benching squatting whatever.
Absolutely agree...the problem is that the Olympic lifts are complex and take not only technical ability but a large amount of functional mobility and stability that is not necessarily essential for other sports...think how much functional mobility is needed to snatch versus how much is needed to run.

This takes a lot of functional mobility and stability.

This does too...but in a completely different way.

So for most athletes not only is there a significant amount of time needed to master the technical aspects of the lifts but an significant amount of time would also be required to attain the functional mobility and stability needed.

For most non professional athletes just finding the time to do any training is difficult enough and all that I am saying is that I use what will give me the most bang for my euro with regard to maximising sports performance...in far and away the most cases...that is not Olympic lifting.

I think someone that competes in Olympic lifting is probably going to be pushing a bit harder on the lifts than someone who is using them as part of a training program for their main sport but I think the incidence of injury would be a lot lower than soceer , rugby or GAA ?
I agree...the point that I am making is that for many athletes who are Olympic lifting as part of their training program for their sport is that they are skinning the wrong cat.

Barry Oglesby said...
I see what you're trying to say regarding injury rates in conditioning. But surely something badly performed is going to cause injury no matter what it is?
I agree.

For my money I've never seen many people injured by cleans but I have seen plenty of people done by deadlifting for example.
You need to get out more...I've seen plenty of people injure themselves doing both.

I can't vouch for all of their techniques of course, I didn't train them but that would be my anecdotal experience for what it's worth. (Given that far more people dead than clean).
I'm glad you said this because I think this is the important point...no where near as many people Oly lift as deadlift. The other thing is that no one hurts themselves deadlifting or Olympic lifting with just the bar...get groups mediocre technique wise and strength wise with both and see what happens then.

Can you expand a bit on what you see are the greater dangers in O-lifting?
I think this question may be a result of my incoherent rambling and hopefully I've cleared my views on the issue...if not ask me again?

Girls Bare Arse

2008-10-30T02:03:00.003Z

...that's the query on AOL that lead somebody to my site.

I kid you not. I just thought I'd share that with you. I'm really not reaching my obvious target market.

Another query...'What would I look like if I put on 10kg' also led someone here.

Squatting is overated

2008-10-28T23:39:00.003Z

I've been reading a few threads online...and laughing to myself...but also thinking about how big a gap their is between what I take for granted and what people out there on the interweb actually know.

Let me tell you something for free...squatting...and while we're at it...deadlifting are massively overrated when it comes to sports performance.

I won't go into detail here...because god knows I really need my beauty sleep...but squatting and deadlifting are far more important for intermediate athletes than beginners or advanced athletes.

Most beginners whether they be athletes or general trainees are not 'ready' to squat or deadlift when they first walk into the gym and there is a lot of work that can be done to ensure when they are ready they can perform these exercises properly and safely.

Most advanced athletes can similarly maintain their squat and deadlift number utilising squat and deadlift variations as well as supplementary exercises that massively decrease the risk of injury.

The reason that I think these exercises...particularly squatting is overrated is because I don't see the correlation between squat numbers and on field performance...sure I have great squatters who perform excellently in their chosen sports but equally have poor squatters...in number terms...who perform excellently in their chosen sport despite these numbers.

What I see FAR more often is athletes that have 'balanced' numbers in the gym who stay injury free and perform consistently at a high level in their chosen sport.

Hey Diddle Diddle

2008-10-28T22:23:00.003Z

Just wanted to say well done to Sextoy...mainly because like myself when I was his age it is clear for all to see that deep down inside of him like me is a fat man just waiting to get out. He's done a great job taming his inner fat man this season.

In fairness to Sextoy he'd done a whole mess of these before I got around to filming it.

When I saw him doing them all I could think of was this though.

Clearing some stuff up for Joel

2008-10-25T00:03:00.011+01:00

This is going to be a little confusing so you'll have to try and stay with me on this one.

Firstly, I have an observation/comment that I want to share with you. I think Blogger has some sort of comment black hole because the question of Joel's that I am going to post about here I am sure I have actually commented upon and or answered previously. Has any one else had comments disappear?

Secondly, I was asked about the length of time I spend composing blog posts as well as a number of other questions about what my 'web strategy' was this week...all of which I thought was extremely funny because I would of thought the answers were pretty obvious...in that the answers were 'not long enough' and 'I don't have one'. Anyway I'll get on with it my latest poorly structured and planned blog post.

So...originally I made this post....I once said something that upset someone and there were a bunch of comments...the last of which was this one from Joel:

joel hallström said...
Good post Kira. Im like ian, aint sure if im qualifed to comment but since will wanted a discussion i though id do it anyway...
Training adaptions are highly specific. The transfer of training gain is much lower in good athletes. Thats why the higher an athletes fitness is, the more specific adaption. For a beginner most exercises are useful and probobly both strength and speed will improve with some simple strength training.
There's alot of factors that are important do determine the force generated by an athlete, resistance is one.
Lets take an example from "Science and practice of strength training by zatsiorsky".

- A young athlete begin to train with free weights and at first he can squat his BW. In vertical jump he does 40 cm. After 2 years he can squat 2xBW and his vertical jump increases to 60 cm. After two more years he can squat 3xBW. However, his jump performance is not improved because the short takeoff time (the rate of force development) rather than maximal absolute force that now is the limiting factor. Many good athletes need to develop rate of force but continue to train for maximal muscular strength.

I would guess thats why Will have some numbers (depending on what sport you do) that you need to get up to. And until you get to those number there's not that need for developing rate of force since the strength is your limiting factor.

Then later he said this...mainly because he assumed I was dodging the questions.

joel hallström said...
Maybe i should have been more precise. When you get your athletes up to 1.5 BW squat and 2 BW squat, how do you change their program? Do you put in more of plyometrics, explosive training and so on?

So I'll try to list the main points and answer them once and for all.

1. That I have some numbers (depending on what sport you do) that you need to get up to.

I have pretty much the same standards for all sports and all athletes...which are as follows...2 times bodyweight squat or deadlift, 1.5 times bodyweight bench press, 12 reps on pull ups if you are under 100kg and 8 reps if you are over 100kg, 50+ push ups in a minute and 30+ inverted rows. I think these are good standards for any athlete to train for and that the balance between maximum strength, relative strength and muscular endurance is pretty much spot on with regard to overall athletic balance with regard to weight training.

2. And until you get to those number there's not that need for developing rate of force since the strength is your limiting factor.

This one is a bit of a yes and no answer...in that yes, strength is a limiting factor or something that needs to be improved but no, this doesn't mean that I don't do power/speed/dynamic/rate of force development work.

As a coach you need to have a feel for these things...when you see athletes train you need to be able to assess whether they are just not strong enough or are they not coordinated enough or not technically proficient or is lack of speed or power a factor in their inability to display their strength. I have plenty of athletes who are 'stronger' than me that don't bench/squat/deadlift as much as me...my technique is just 50kgs better than theirs...people need to get their heads around the fact that it isn't necessarily the strongest or most powerful athletes that are the best because you have to remember how you are measuring this strength or power...think about where you are measuring it...in the gym or in the lab in most cases. Too many coaches and athletes get carried away with chasing numbers needlessly.

As for what I do with athletes who hit these numbers...without dodging the question...it depends. Keep in mind the gym testing is just a part of the testing we do...there are speed, agility and fitness tests to consider as well. In simple terms though once athletes are hitting these numbers we are working on improving their power and all the other aspects of their sport and the volume of their weights work is naturally reduced to allow this.

Another Fatness Update...119.1kg today.

As I said in the video I thought I'd put this up as I must supposedly be even fatter than days ago. I think this is rubbish...I was 109.5 on Monday the 6th of November and was 119.1kg this evening. That's 3 weeks on the dot and people keep saying or making out that I've put on 10kg of fat...I find it hard to believe that people are so stupid that they think that 10kg of fat is all it takes to get your bench from 140kg to 180kg...now obviously I've put on fat...just not 10kgs. Certainly some of the weight gain is water weight...just not 10kgs of water. I've put on some muscle mass and some fat.

There is another bet on the go at the moment...there are details to be worked out but it will essentially involve me maintaining my lean muscle mass while getting down to 10% bodyfat and maintaining that level of body fat for 1 month.

If the money breaks the $US500 mark I'll do this as well.

I've extra motivation now as a young athlete who I've never actually coached and has never actually worked with me told me on Saturday...that 1. I am full of shit. 2. That I've not coached anyone decent. 3. That other players that I do coach are not as good as him. 4. That I'm not the athlete that he is.

In short I held me tongue as it was basically the sort of stuff that only an 18 year old could say with a straight face.

Phillip Brophy thinks I'm injecting drugs...

2008-10-24T11:23:00.007+01:00

...he thinks I'm taking estrogen & cholesterol in massive doses.

This is a photo from France of Mark Sexton and myself arguing at the beach about who's the most ripped out of the two of us.

Mark and I don't always fight...this is us in better times...I always give my athletes the love and respect they deserve.

You wouldn't believe what I have to do to get Mark to training.

This is a photo from Pre Season after Mark got back from Inter-Railing...I really had to coax him into interval training.

Consuming the world...one calorie at a time

2008-10-23T23:02:00.003+01:00

I know the blog has been pretty lame this week...I do promise I will make it a blogtastic weekend...have a heap of stuff I want to post just haven't had the time this week.

So as promised...here's a fatness update.

Not sure how fat I am percentage wise...maybe Lyle with have a guess.

So 118.3kg today and only a couple of kilograms away from what I think will be my optimal benching weight.

As I said...I've a good bit of stuff to post over the weekend so feel free to all go back to online gambling or looking at porn or whatever else you do on the interweb till then.