True Colours

To answer some things that I've been asked, two of them as a result of the last blog. 1) If you have ever taken Decadurabolin or Growth Hormone you are not recognised as drug free until 10 years after your last injection. 2) Yes you can build and maintain good legs without steroids, heavy squatting or deadlifting, this picture of my legs was taken this week. 3) Yes Tyson Fury was excellent against a much smaller opponent because a good big 'un will always beat a good little 'un.  More to the point, Fury will be beaten by David Price and finally 4) You can only measure your success by what you have acheived and what you have; not by what you talk about doing and having, just remember, anyone can talk.

In Too Deep

Happy St. George's Day!  Winter training has gone well but because it was so cold and wet, my knees have been painful for the last 6 drug free months. The steroid Decadurabolin is commonly used to lubricate and ease joints but while I'm drug free all I use is glucosamine and fish oils. I've had to alter my leg workouts drastically, the days of "arse in the grass" squats have long gone but I have been regularly repping out at half a tonne on the 60 degree leg press, albeit with limited depth. I've now changed that though and cut the weight to just 300 kilos but I'm dropping the weight so deep that my knees are on my shoulders, hopefully that will shock the quads into new growth.  No such worries with the upper body as you can see from this "Repraw" pic.

Hungry Like The Wolf

Having a long off season is working well for me. Im training drug free, 4 x 75 mins a week, with good intensity whilst on a high carb diet. I'm 18 stone at an estimated 15% bodyfat and I feel great. The secret is that I train alone when the gym is virtually empty, like a lone wolf, with just one focus, strictly there on business.  Often I'm accompanied only by music that is not too loud, yesterday we had Kings Of Leon, awesome music to train to, I love training in this way.  After training is chat time and Martin & Kerry always have a laugh with me and any other members who have come in but only when the work is done of course.  Finally, I have been well kitted out by my new clothing sponsors www.repraw.com the clothes look good for casual wear too as you can see in this picture taken at the gym on a day off.  More Repraw pics to follow!

Happy Birthday

So Monday was my 54th birthday, thank you for all of the kind birthday wishes, especially the dear friend who left me a singing voicemail! I must admit that as I've had so many birthdays the novelty has worn off and I rarely have any kind of celebration. This year was different though and I was so happy when I received a visit from one of my most favourite people in the whole world, 5 year old Layla.  I've known Layla since she was a toddler and it's always great to see her.  She loves her cuddles and often falls asleep resting her head on my bicep as a pillow.  Her Mum and Dad are lovely people too so we had a great time.  It was Layla's birthday 2 days before mine and she bought me some of her cake. We were going to have one for me but apparently the candles would have caused a major fire hazard! 

The Drugs Don't Work

I've just finished my latest special feature and sent it to Steve to proof read and upload when he gets a chance.  It addresses the use of steroids by youngsters as that's something that I'm regularly asked about, so please look out for it. The first shows of the year are approaching and my good friend Martin Stevenson, who also owns the gym where I train, is in full prep mode. He has changed some things about this years prep, some of them are the things that he changed about my show prep last year, and I predict that he will look at his best ever come show time.  Finally, as my last motivational picture contained swearing I will try to redeem myself with a biblical quote this time!

Time Of The Season

Well it's April again although you would never believe it from the weather. It's such a shame, because all of the big federations have shows in April which means that right now there are hundreds of dedicated athletes preparing for competition. The cold weather makes it very tough for them, especially the morning cardio. When I won my first 2 London titles and my first 2 bodypower titles I actually enjoyed the prep because I could do most of my cardio outdoors, walking around a local lake enjoying the spring wildlife made the diet and training bearable.  It's not so much fun when every cardio session is indoors, breathing recycled air, it's soul destroying. If you are competing soon please don't lose motivation, tough it out, every weights session and every cardio session, and just tell yourself, no matter how tough it gets, THIS IS WHAT WE DO!!!