Strength Prose Issue #2 - The Pivot Point.

Thank you for buying this issue of Strength Prose. If you’ve not read the previous issue then please find it on Amazon or Issuu.

We work very hard on bringing you the best magazine we can—this means that your feedback to Issue #1 has been crucial - and more importantly, listened to.

There is a little more about what this issue is about on the “Editor’s Note” page, but here, I would like to thank you for your support and for purchasing this issue.

- Danny Lee, Managing Editor.

Contents.

Page 4—Editor’s Note.

What this issue is all about.

Page 5—Strength News.

A round up of Strength Prose news.

Page 7— Mindful Activities.

Thomas Regan—how to implement mindfulness in your everyday life.

Page 15—Eating Your Way To Strength.

Georgina Creed— How to tailor your eating to your training.

Page 21—What Next?

Sophie Thomas—Newton, Dragons and German Volume Training.

Page 25—Training Through Chaos.

Adam Roberts—How to adapt training to a busy lifestyle.

Page 29—Choosing Your Coach.

Danny Lee—You need a coach, but who?

Page 34—Ask the Editor.

Contributors— Adam Roberts—Writer.

Ian Lee—Photographer.

Scott Hedges—Photographer/Cover De-

Georgina Creed—Writer.

sign.

Sophie Thomas—Writer.

Amy Barry—Proofreader.

Danny Lee—Managing Editor/Writer.

THE PIVOT POINT Strength Prose Issue #2

March 2019

Editor’s Note.

So, you began the New Year with a new hobby, a new outlook, or even a new motivation. We helped you with this with Issue #1—New Beginnings. But now what do we do?

What comes next? Where do we pivot to next?

You may have gone into January in full throttle and absolutely smashed the first few weeks. But then January is weird—it seems to last around 3 months alone, so it is very easy to fall off of the wagon or occasionally miss a planned workout day or to eat a bit more than you meant to.

But, you know what? That’s fine.

So, what does come next? Now you know where you’re going, you’ve set out but your GPS has failed or you’ve lost your paper map.

We’re here to guide you.

It is at this point where you need to decide whether to pivot to something else, or keep going. Whether to pivot to a new goal or just shift emphasis slightly.

Let’s see how we can help.

- Danny Lee, Managing Editor

In This Issue

Photo Credit—Ian Lee Photography



Mindful Activities

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Eating Your Way to Strength

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What Next?



Training Through Chaos



Choosing Your Coach.

Varsity Powerlifting 2019.

Varsity Powerlifting is a battle between the powerlifting teams of the two largest universities in Liverpool Due to Varsity and Sport Liverpool rules we can’t tell you which side won just yet. However, we can tell you that Strength Prose sponsored the event. Both the Best Male Lifter and Best Female Lifter won a free physical copy of Issue #1 and a photo package from the brilliant Scott Hedges.

Photo from Varsity 2018.

The Strength Pros.

One of the many things we, as a team, have done in order to improve upon the last issue was meet up to discuss how to go forward.

We met in a coffee shop in Liverpool City Centre on a cold February afternoon - personally, I had to trek between two coffee shops to find one with enough space for us all to sit down. However, we had the majority of the team there (some of us are pictured to the right there).

At this meeting we laid out plans for this issue and all future issues. We strategized and came up with various ways for us to help, entertain you while also getting you to your goals.

Some of the things we came up with were future Issue Themes, as well as new features which you will see throughout this issue.

Georgina Creed, Danny Lee and Adam Roberts. Photo credit—Ian Lee Photography

The Arnold Classic.—Adam Roberts.

1.

Hafthor Bjornnson proved himself the dominant force in the pro Strongman competition, living up to his on-screen title of The Mountain, taking 1st place with 45 points. Martins Licis took 2nd place with a hard-fought 40.5, and Mateusz Kieliszkowski took 3rd with a very respectable 30.5.

2.

Mateusz Kieliszkowski beat his own record from last year’s competition, of 4 reps with the Odd Haugen Tombstone, performing 5 reps with the 410lb/186kg natural stone in 2 minutes and 30 seconds. To put this into perspective the next best in this event was Martins Licis with 2 reps, and some competitors failed to achieve a single rep.

3.

During the Rogue Record Breakers event, Liefia Ingalls & Kristin Rhodes tied a world record in the Overhead Dumbbell lift, both achieving two repetitions with the 165lb/75kg dumbbell. Liefia Ingalls also set a new record with the 324lb/147kg Valkyrie Stone Over Bar lift with three reps, only to be topped by Donna Moore who managed a massive five reps with the mammoth stone!

4.

Not to be outdone by the Strongman and Strongwoman competitors, the Powerlifters showed up in force, with some truly ridiculous feats of strength. Notably, Ray Williams squatted a new World Record of 1080lb/490kg in knee sleeves. Amanda Lawrence left the competition with a cool American Record squat of 529lb/240kg, also in knee sleeves, and a gold medal to match. While not in competition, but at the Animal Pak Cage, Stefi Cohen also squatted an unofficial world record of 495lb/225kg in knee wraps.

5.

During the Arnold Schwarzenegger Meet My Heroes event, several athletes took to the stage to show off their strength, including 2016 World's Strongest Disabled Man, Derick Carver performing one clean and eleven strict overhead presses with 225lb/102kg. Also taking to the stage was viral star Miles “Smiles” Taylor, an athlete with Cerebral Palsy who deadlifted 185lb/84kg, double his bodyweight. The Arnold Classic festival once again proving that strength and fitness is for everyone.

Sheina Kaye and Lauren-May Drake—both competed at British Women’s Classic

British Women’s Classic.—Danny Lee The British Women’s Classic was a brilliant spectacle this year. The titles didn’t come easily and records were broken left, right and centre.

This is truly a testament to those who competed—they have worked incredibly hard to, not only get there but to also, fight it out for their placing.

The IPF may not follow the old Wilks scores officially but this competition saw more 400+’s on the Wilks rating than ever before.

I had two lifters compete at this event over the 2 days it was on. Sheina, who you met in Issue #1, competed at this as her second national competition, and Lauren—who was also doing her 2nd national.

As you may remember Sheina finished 4th at British Juniors last year, so this competition came a week before she tried out at squads to make the Worlds’ team. So, the plan was to just get PBs—which she did brilliantly. She hit a massive 120kg squat, 70kg bench and 145kg deadlift, all at a bodyweight of 54.5kg. Giving her a 9th place finish in amongst the open women, despite only being a Junior herself.

Lauren did her first national last year after a tempestuous build up (injuries and a big weight cut), however she went into this year confident after her Best Lifter award and North West record deadlift, both achieved in December 2018.

This competition saw her get 127.5kg squat, 65kg bench press and 187.5kg deadlift (narrowly missing out on 192.5kg, which would have put her 2nd in the country on deadlift). This gave her a total of 380kg—a massive 50kg increase on her performance at last year’s British.

Mindful Activities Thomas Regan.

As March approaches, 5% of the world population will have stuck to their goals and I hope you were one of them. It is okay to get side tracked every now and again, everybody does it but getting back on the horse is what separates the 5% from the rest of the population. Many people now tend to realise that their goals are not a quick fix and it takes time, patience and commitment. Keep going though! In addition, you will also find that Mindfulness is no easy *thing* to accomplish neither. Life is very fast, stressful, and sometimes overwhelming in which you can see no way to just focus on the present. As this is being written, my mind has a million things going on as I am in the process of emigrating. Even still, I am focusing on this article and nothing else is entering my mind apart from writing this sentence. It is not easy to ‘shut off’ the brain from the outside world and focus on the present. If you haven’t read the previous article, it is highly recommended that you do otherwise this might make very little sense. The foundations of Mindfulness are in the previous article, this one will focus on how we can improve mindfulness in everyday life through different techniques and activities.

Mindful Mornings The typical morning routine: snooze button *5 minutes later*; snooze button *10 minutes later*; “AHHHH I’M GOING TO BE LATE.” Rushing to get a shower, eat breakfast (if you even have it), slam an instant coffee down your neck, get into car and wait in traffic until you get to work. Let’s not get into the fact that you may also have kids to get out of bed and ready for school. Mornings can be very chaotic and even more so with kids. Then the weekend comes around, you get up, have a nice shower, cook some breakfast, sit in-front of the TV and taste the luxurious filtered coffee (I highly recommend the Hope Street Espresso Blend from The Baltic Roastery) while watching the news. The weekends, arguably, are a lot more mindful than the rushing bustle of weekdays. But can it be possible for us to take the mentality of the weekend into our weekdays?

Let’s call it, Mindful Mornings. Mindful Mornings will begin the night before. Be prepared for the morning by getting clothes ready, lunch ready and work bag (laptop etc.) If the day is started with negative stress, the outlook on the day will be in a negative throughout. As the alarm goes off, do not snooze it every 5 minutes for 30 minutes straight. Try and lie there, wake up and go about starting your day in the right manner. As Kabat-Zinn says, “When you are in the shower, are you actually there?” In other words, is your mind full of stresses such as meetings, bills, appointments or are you actually in the shower, in the moment? Whilst eating breakfast and drinking coffee, eat each mouthful and taste the food instead of chucking it down your neck. As you get into the car, pay attention to the music on the radio as you are stuck in traffic. If you are commuting by train, look out of the window, read a book, relax your mind before you get into work. Worry about your emails when you sit at your desk. Set yourself up for a great day by practicing Mindful Mornings.

Meditation Meditation is a relaxing practice that helps you to let go of a lot of stress and refocuses your mind. The main goal of meditating is to quieten or still your mind. This is going to sound a little hypocritical but I do not do meditation as often as I should because I do not feel it is the right tool for myself. Now, why would I recommend doing meditation if I do not do much of it myself? Simple. It might work wonders for you! Mindfulness and meditation go together perfectly; one complements the other. It is a good idea to learn meditation and vice versa. Being aware in every possible moment, while keeping a nonjudgemental outlook and, at the same time, observing your own bodily and emotional responses. As a beginner to Mindfulness, meditation can aid being in the present moment by focusing on the breath and aid the quieting of the mind. Many people are addicted to being busy and always have to be on the go with no rest. There are many psychological benefits to doing meditation such as increasing grey matter, reduce negative thoughts and increased energy. There are many types of meditation but in the main there is: Mindful Meditation - is a type of open monitoring meditation, which is based on the practice of Buddhism. However, you do not need to practice or study Buddhism to be able to do this type of meditation.

Transcendental Meditation – is a type of meditation based on the idea of not thinking. Finding the space and freedom of the non-thinking state can be very liberating and relaxing. The goal is to stay in a place of no thinking; the idea is to transcend thinking so that there is absolutely no thought process going on. This state is deeply restful and because the mind is not active, the body begins to relax deeply.

“Being aware in every possible moment, while keeping a non-judgemental outlook and, at the same time, observing your own bodily and emotional responses.”



Guided Visualisation- These outputs can be the voice of someone who is guiding a visualised process of music/tones that enhance the brain state to help being a calmer state of mind.

This type of meditation also has a very calming effect on the mind and body, it can be helpful if you don’t have much time. Some people believe that outside stimulus are not true forms of meditation. Listening to tones, music or a calming voice can help you to get into the right state before you start to clear the mind.



Zen Meditation- As with focusing on breathing, the right state of mind emerges naturally from a deep concentration on the posture and breathing. During Zen, it is normal to have images, thoughts and emotions surface.

Mindful meditation is based around the idea of acceptance and non-judgement of whatever arises within us. It is a type of meditation where there is no focus, just a feeling of neutrality. It is about letting go of the need to control what is around us in our environment or what arises from within us. This takes time and patience so do not feel bad if you cannot do it to start with.

It is a practice of being still, focusing on your breathing, while being in the moment, with an accepting mind set. To do this you will need to: 

Sit comfortably and settle into your pose.



Close your eyes.



Take 3 deep breaths, imagine you are breathing out all the stress and anxiety your body contains each time you

breathe out. 

Go through a process of being aware of where you are holding tension. Actively release the tension and feel the

muscles becoming more relaxed. 

Now focus only on your breathing. Bring your attention only to your breathing for around 5 minutes.



Make a mental note of how you feel in your body now.



Begin focusing on only NOW, if your mind interrupts, come back to the focus on your breathing.

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Don’t judge your thoughts, just notice them and then let it go. You are not trying to stop thinking; you are just pur-

suing or indulging the thoughts. 

Gradually, you’ll notice spaces between the thoughts and this is okay.



Stay in a peaceful state for as long as you wish to. The longer you stay in it, the deeper you

will go into an altered mind set, one where you just ‘be’ and accept. 

You may become uncomfortable as you sit so just re-adjust.



When the alarm sounds, slowly allow the thoughts to return to normal.



Before opening your eyes, focus again on your breathing and how different your body feels.



Open your eyes.

Yoga In western literature, yoga is a term that encompasses breathing, posture, strength and meditation within sessions (12).

Western culture tend to focus on Hatha Yoga and meditation. Hatha Yoga focuses on conscious breathing and is physical in nature (15). The two combined is called Integrated Yoga. (Khanna & Greeson, 2014). It has been reported that people that did integrative yoga had 31% reduction in cortisol levels. Not only do we get mental benefits from yoga, but physical benefits too such as flexibility and strength.

Yoga cultivates focus, increased sensory awareness, enhanced concentration, physiological relaxation and a better understanding of the self (op cit). There have been many studies that prove that hatha yoga is beneficial for the population, for example, a single session decreased psychological distress in healthy university students (West et al., 2004) and 15 minutes of yoga significantly decreased psychological and physiological aspects of stress in office workers (Melville et al., 2012).

A recent study by Luu & Hall (2017) showed that Yoga exhibited a marginal advantage for improving mood compared to mindful meditation. However there was not a significant difference between hatha yoga and meditation in executive function (Luu & Hall, 2017). Executive functions are a set of cognitive abilities that allow for self-regulation of thought, emotions, and behaviours, and most typically involve inhibitory control, mental flexibility, and working memory (Miyake and Friedman 2012). This shows that both yoga and meditation have benefits for emotions and behaviours. Yoga works better for me but yoga and meditation both have benefits that complement each other.

Body Scan Body scans are a key component of mindfulness meditation that involves us lying flat on the ground and focus attention on how our body feels. By focusing on the present moment through observing our breath, and bodily sensations, we become aware of our thoughts, feelings and tension in our own bodies (Kabat-Zlinn, 1990). By going through each individual muscle, it can help us relax and relieve stress. By relieving stress from our bodies, it could ease stress in our minds.

Mindful colouring and drawing Mindful colouring and drawing are great ways to stay in the present by focusing on different colours and drawing pictures. Colouring books have been held as a method of alleviating stress, anxiety and improving mood (Mantzios & Giannou, 2018), mainly from colouring in mandalas (shapes within a picture) (Carsley & Heath, 2018). Within the youth population, free colouring/drawing has the same mindful benefits as colouring mandalas with a decrease in anxiety and increase in state mindfulness (op cit). Also, it has been found in the adult population, there is no significant difference between colouring shapes and free drawing in reducing anxiety (Mantzios & Giannou, 2018).

Editor’s Note— This is true.

For example, my girlfriend loves to colour in pictures, whether it be mandala books or just general colouring books (I bought her a Family Guy one at Christmas and she won’t let me colour one!) and she says it is really relaxing and helps her de-stress. On the other hand, the editor of this, Danny Lee, loves drawing pictures which helps him de-stress. Even though they are doing a different activity, they are ultimately becoming more mindful by focusing on what they are doing.

Mindful Dog Walking Dog walking is a great way to exercise, get fresh-air and you have to do it every day. If you have a dog then this is a great time to practice mindfulness, even without a dog, you can still do this practice. One of the ways I practiced mindfulness was walking a friend’s dog around the park. Instead of just walking the same route every day and doing it as fast as you can, take you time and enjoy the walk. Little things can always pass us by, such as the weather, the sounds of nature and even other people walking their dog too. Connect with the present, try not think about what you are doing to do after you walk the dog and be in the now. In our chaotic and stressful lives, the reality of this is hard to grasp. Aim to try it at least one dog walk a day then slowly build it up.

Also, do not take life for granted. Notice the things around you, like the sounds of the river or lake, the crisp morning air or the sounds of the birds, ducks in the distance. I think, the sound of the river’s waves crashing is one of the most relaxing sounds. Sometimes, I will just stare at the river as I am walking. Taking in the view, soulfully listening to the waves as the dog walks just ahead of me. It is bliss. Try it.

These are just a few ideas and activities that you can do to aid your own mindfulness but do whatever works best for you. Personally, yoga and dog walking are great for my own mindful development but colouring and meditation are not great for me. This could be entirely different for you. Remember, mindfulness is about staying present with a non-judging attitude so as long as you do this, you are being mindful. However, make sure they are mentally engaging and will provide positive mental well-being. Try different techniques and if it works then stick to it.

Thomas Regan PsychElite Performance

More Reading.

Khanna, S., & Greeson, J. M. (2013). A narrative review of yoga and mindfulness as complementary therapies for addiction. Complementary Therapies in medicine, 21(3), 244-252.

Ospina, M. B., Bond, K., Karkhaneh, M., Buscemi, N., Dryden, D. M., Barnes, V., ... & Shannahoff-Khalsa, D. (2008). Clinical trials of meditation practices in health care: characteristics and quality. The Journal of Alternative and Complementary Medicine, 14(10), 1199-1213.

Iyengar, B. K. S. (1995). Light on yoga: The bible of modern yoga. New York: Schocken.

West, J., Otte, C., Geher, K., Johnson, J., & Mohr, D. C. (2004). Effects of Hatha yoga and African dance on perceived stress, affect, and salivary cortisol. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 28(2), 114-118.

Cheema, B. S., Houridis, A., Busch, L., Raschke-Cheema, V., Melville, G. W., Marshall, P. W., ... & Colagiuri, B. (2013). Effect of an office worksite-based yoga program on heart rate variability: outcomes of a randomized controlled trial. BMC complementary and alternative medicine, 13(1), 82.

Luu, K., & Hall, P. A. (2017). Examining the acute effects of hatha yoga and mindfulness meditation on executive function and mood.

Mindfulness, 8(4), 873-880.

Miyake, A., & Friedman, N. P. (2012). The nature and organization of individual differences in executive functions: Four general conclusions. Current directions in psychological science, 21(1), 8-14.

Mantzios, M., & Giannou, K. (2018). When did coloring books become mindful? Exploring the effectiveness of a novel method of mindfulness-guided instructions for coloring books to increase mindfulness and decrease anxiety. Frontiers in psychology, 9, 56.

Eating Your Way To Strength.

Georgina Creed.

In my last article we covered the fundamentals of fat loss, if you haven’t already checked it out you can get it here.

For this month’s issue I will talk about “Eating your way to strength”. Everything in this article is relevant to all male and females who want to improve muscle mass and strength.

How do you eat your way to strength?

You don’t … sorry it just sounded like a good title.

You actually can’t eat your way to strength. To get stronger you simply must apply progressive overload to your training (which we will save for another day) …so why am I writing an article about nutrition for muscle gain?? Because it’s important for recovery, health and performance – which all play a part in building strength.

This article will cover the relevant science principles for optimal muscle growth and allow you to discard any “bro-science” around building strength.

What’s your macro split?

Your protein intake you should aim for 1.8-2.2g per kg of lean body mass. Intake of protein is best to be split between meals/snacks, for example 30 - 40g between 3 - 4 meals. Having a higher intake of protein like 2.3g+ per kg of lean body mass will not directly mean better growth and recovery. Ignore the bro-science bodybuilder who says you should be having 500g of protein each day.

When it comes to carbs and fats there’s no need to overcomplicate it. Simply hit your protein target and consume the rest of your calories through a mixture of carbs and fats. Use tracking/food diary apps like MyFitnessPal to help you.

Speaking of calories, how many do you need?

You only need to be in a 200-300kcal surplus to gain muscle - not an extra domino’s pizza each night!

The higher the surplus you put yourself in, the more fat you’ll have to lose in 3 months’ time - so no need to overdo it. In fact, you can gain muscle on maintenance calories, it’ll just take a little longer to see results.

What about bulk season?

Even in bulking season you’ll only need 200-300kcal extra. But let’s talk a little more about “Bulking”. 

What is bulking?

Eating more food (calorie surplus) to help the process of muscle growth. 

Why do you need more food?

To fuel your training sessions, allowing harder training which will stimulate muscle growth (progressive overload). Eating more also increases stimulation of hormones for muscle growth and repair.



Why will you gain fat?

Because you’re eating more calories than you need so your body stores the spare as fat. This is normal for bulking; however, your typical gym-bros will probably take the pizzas too far and gain much more fat than necessary. Remember, it’s only a 200-300kcal surplus. 

When will the fat turn to muscle?

It won’t. Fat will only be lost through a calorie deficit (faster loss) or by returning to your maintenance (more gradual). 

What is cutting and when do you do it?

Cutting is the process of losing the fat you’ve gained during the bulk. You chose to cut whenever you like and how you like for example, 2 weeks in a calorie deficit, or 5 weeks returning to maintenance. To preserve muscle mass when cutting it’s important you hit your protein target and continue with resistance training.

What supplements should I take?

This section is going to save you a lot of future money. It’s valuable to understand what supplements are relevant for building strength and what is complete rubbish. It can get very confusing with all the biased/sponsored information out there. But here’s the science with no one sided view: Pre-workout: 

Do you need it?

It’s not a necessity, most people get hooked on it and end up spending loads of money. 

What if I do need it?

Caffeine will do just fine. In the form of coffee or an energy drink, save your money!

Post-workout: 

Do you need it?

Not at all. Unless you’re going to the gym/doing multiple intense activities in one day, then you do not need to worry about refuelling after a workout. What you consume 24 hours after the session will be sufficient. 

What’s a better option?

Hit your protein target for the day through frequent meals. Protein timing is not important if you’re not hitting your daily target consistently – so do that first.

Supplementation suggestion: 

Creatine Monohydrate - Take 5g at the same time everyday to create a good routine/habit. If you want to know more about creatine head over to this video by Jamie Alderton – The Ultimate Guide to Creatine.

What about BCAAS (Branched-Chained Amino Acids) and Protein Powders?

Don’t waste your money! If you’re hitting your protein target (1.82.2g/kg body weight) then there is no need for BCAAs at all. If you struggle to hit your protein target through a balanced diet or need to find another dietary source of protein then protein powders would be worth investing in (whey isolate, soy isolate, or rice & pea isolate).

Take home points: Train hard (progressive overload) Calories surplus (200-300kcal) for quicker results 1.8-2.2g protein per kg of bodyweight (and a mixture of carbs and fats)

Georgina Creed

Sophie Thomas

What Next?

In 1687, Sir Isaac Newton published his laws of motion in his work, ‘Mathematical Principles of Natural Philosophy’, in which he formalised the description of how bodies move under the influence of external forces.

Bodies puns to be set aside, considering the context of the magazine in which this article is written in, Newton postulated one of his most famous aphorisms, now peppered about equally among science textbooks and the ocean of Instagram pseudo-motivational quotes alike: for every action, there is an equal and opposite reaction.

In other words, forces always occur in pairs; when one body pushes against another, the second body pushes back in equal fervour. When you push a led, the cart sled back against you; when you pull on a rope, the rope pulls back against you; and when gravity pulls you down against the earth, the earth pushes up against your feet.

I promise, this article won’t go into the biomechanics of lifting - although, as a full time nerd, the temptation for me to do so lures me in more sumptuously than Eve’s Original Sin. What it will touch upon is the dichotomy of two forces in the beginning stages of your fitness journey that are important to master: disinterest and self-discipline.

The Honeymoon Period - vs Reality Check.

The initial stages of undergoing a change in your fitness regimen will probably look a little something like this: you adore and fawn over the energised self that you experience; you’re enjoying the newfound bicep definition, and subsequent coos from your significant other; green stuff actually starts tasting palatable, and hell, even preferable, to your previous MacDonalds lunches. You’re on your first few dates with health and self-improvement - and man, does it feel great.

Then, the early mornings start rearing your ugly heads. The quibbles and heated conflict between staying in with your warm, velvety duvet, and attending to that gym session that you just promised yourself you simply had to get to. Red flags start popping up everywhere - the incompatibility with work schedules; the taste left in your mouth the moment you commit yourself to that ineffably sweet protein shake; scrolling through Instagram, liking pictures of double cheeseburgers and Oreo pancakes, adorned so masterfully that Michelangelo would glower in envy, instead of spending quality time with your nourishing, albeit monotonous, protein-packed starry that evening. And don’t get me started on who has to clean up after. I thought it was your turn to do the dishes, Tupperware!

I affectionately dub this phase as the Honeymoon Period of behaviour change; the part where your vision becomes roseglossed and misty with the tint of hope and excitement and fervour; the part where you begin to romanticise the end result with what you actually have to do.

After the initial burst of rampant enthusiasm comes the truth: that success, in actual fact, has very little to do with how successful you’ll be at achieving a fitness goal. In the end, it is self-discipline that comes out on top.

The Will to (Will)Power.

Much like the misinterpretation of the post-dopamine explosion in a romantic setting being seen as ‘dull’, many people think of self-discipline in terms of willpower, suffering, and making a martyr out of ourselves.

We look at somebody who chooses to get out of bed at 5 AM; who chooses to train before they’ve even brushed their teeth; who chooses the protein shake or salad over the doughnut. (Although, why not both?) It is assumed that these people are driven by some demonic entity - deprived of individual autonomy, compelled to suffer at the hands of fate. In reality, it’s all the more probable that you know somebody who - dare I say it - actually enjoys doing all of these things.

Odds are, at some point in your life, you’ve tried to change your behaviour - through sheer willpower alone. And, odds are, these attempts may have ended in abject failure.

The problem with aligning your habits purely with willpower is that you end up beating yourself up for not ‘being enough’ which never works. In actual fact, it makes things worse. People often say that willpower is to be trained akin to that of a muscle - which is true enough. Just as you can’t go into the gym and lift a 200kg deadlift right off the bat, so too must you work your way up to the inexorably early starts; the diet changes; the training schedule. You must train it, steadily and carefully, over a long period of time.

But, like any muscle, we need regular rest, deloading, and the right fuel for its performance.

And, as a result, we have to consider the factors that may hinder its development: inadequate recovery, overtraining, and starving our selves of what will help us achieve our goals and enjoy the process of getting fitter.

How To Train Your Inner Dragon

When I started barbell lifting, I had no idea what a training programme would or should look like. All I knew is that, a) weight lifting was necessary for my health, fitness, and yes, aesthetic goals, and b) if I ate beans or legumes, I would shrivel up and die. (Ok, ok, I went through a bad Paleo phase. Sue me.)

Enraptured by fancy physiques and training online, I embarked upon my own strength and conditioning journey by doing the only thing a plucky young trainee knows how: traverse the internet.

Hopping on board the Poliquin fan train, I saw his advocacy for the German Volume Training programme, and was enthralled. Sweat, shakiness, and potential sick? Sounds like a standard underage night out. Count me in.

What I realised, though, as I grew older and wiser - this wasn’t a Sophie hellbent on training smarter, for longevity. This was a Sophie lifting and moving out of shame. Shame of not being enough. Shame of not looking the way she desired. Shame of feeling compelled like she had something to prove.

My fitness journey was one based upon self-hatred, rather than self-respect.

Here’s the thing about self-discipline - you can certainly force yourself to train, or eat a certain way. But unless it ends up feeling pleasant in some way, that motivation force we talked about will be taken over by disinterest. And, of course, further discouragement.

This is why my military-precision, sycophantic GVT routine ended terribly. It produced no confidence, good feeling, or sense of accomplishment. In fact, it just further exacerbated my shame and despair. I was running further and further away from self-acceptance. We nourish our muscles with appropriate food, sleep, and adequate training - and so too must we feed our self-discipline with the fulfilling dish of self-approval.

Often, when trying to achieve a goal like weight loss or maxing out a lift, we correlate a personal failing with that of a moral one. We see indulging in greasy burgers, or one too many beers on the weekend as a sign of being a worthless human being; we see skipping a training session as being an ethical yardstick of who we are as people.

Hell, even as I’m writing this now, I’m lambasting myself for often doing the very things I’m advising you guys against.

Because, if there’s one force that overcomes both disinterest and motivation, it is this: self-hatred.

Self-hatred, in some sick kind of way, absolves us of responsibility because we label ourselves with an identity, rather than offering ourselves room to change. We can’t hold down a dietary routine, because we are horrible people, and that’s an identity that cannot be changed - so why try create a future habit out of this?

By labelling ourselves as useless, worthless, or horrible people, it implies there’s no room for change, hope, or an exciting new turn of habits for us.

By eschewing self-acceptance, and instead turning to deriving motivation from self-shaming, the future slips out of our hands, and we are led by unconscious forces and ingrained behavioural patterns.

By failing to nourish and train our willpower muscle effectively, we can never accept our emotions, cravings, and compulsions. But by accepting them, we can work with them - not against them.

Once you resolve to take motivation out of the physics equation of your fitness journey, and replace it with self-acceptance, you resolve any shame or guilt, and embrace the processes that make you feel great. Not only does it become an opposite reaction to disinterest - it overcomes it.

You wake up at a time that makes you feel good, productive, and excited about life.

You start exercising because it just feels so much better than binge-watching Netflix for 9+ hours a day, slowly slipping into a carb-induced coma.

You start feeling better about others in general, because you start feeling better about yourself.

Training Through Chaos.

By Adam Roberts.

“The best laid schemes o’ Mice an’ Men gang aft agley”.

When it comes to strength training, those of us who are serious about getting strong will often plan out our training for months at a time, carefully working our way up to what should be peak performance.

Unfortunately, life sometimes has other plans, and this can be quite stressful.

I'd like to offer you some tools that you can use if you're planning for a competition of some kind, and life just drops a big ol’ pile of Nope in your lap.

Optimizing a training programme is not about ideal, fantasy scenarios, where you can get 10+ hours sleep a night, have access to cryo-therapy and twice-weekly massages, like pro-athletes.

Most of us won't have sponsors sending us supplements and companies shipping out pre-made meals.

So the question becomes what is optimal for you? Can you achieve optimal at all or do you just need to settle for ‘better’?

When it comes to getting the most out of a training programme, the most important factors are adherence and consistency.

The programme you can stick to, week after week, for a long time, is the one that will work.

You need to be able to do all of what you have planned, so you'd better plan smart (we'll go over planning later on), and you need to enjoy it. If you don't enjoy your programme you're not going to stick to it, are you?

So how do I write programmes for busy people?

Step 1 - flexible training programmes The first thing I will do if someone is struggling to fit in all of their training is to have them use a flexible structure based on priority.

So for example, a powerlifter would rate their competition variations as Priority 1, their main assistance movements as Priority 2, with Priority 3 and 4 work being comprised of accessory and supplemental work.

In an ideal week, all this work would be spread across four sessions, each session having a little bit of each category sprinkled in.

If something comes up and they're going to have to miss a session or two they would then make sure they plan to at least perform their Priority 1 work, hopefully, Priority 2 as well. 3 and 4 could be missed that week.

Worst case scenario you can only perform your Priority 1 work, at least you've done the most important work for the week.

For Strongman you would class your event work as Priority 1, closest assistance exercises as Priority 2, and other accessory work as 3 and 4.

If you don't compete in either sport but you're still looking to get strong (I'm making an assumption based on the fact that you're reading this), then you'll choose what exercises you want to improve the most as Priority 1 and 2, filling in smaller movements as 3 and 4.

Okay so that's the basics of being flexible covered, what about some time-saving methods to make your sessions a little bit quicker?

Step 2 - Supersets, Clusters and Crossfit?

Speeding up training is really easy, you’re going to do the same amount, or more work, in less time, with less rest.

I said it would be easy, not pleasant.

You should be performing your Priority 1 work for the day at the start of your session. Personally, I wouldn’t use any density techniques with this work if it can be avoided. If you really are on a time crunch then maybe you could use cluster sets or supersets here, but I'd advise against this if you're preparing for a competition.

For Priority 2 and below, this is where density training comes in.

For cluster sets I'm going to recommend anywhere from singles up to sets of 3 reps with around 30 seconds rest in between, until you hit your goal number of reps for the cluster, followed by a couple of minutes rest before the start of the next cluster. For example: if you were to select a weight you’d usually perform 3 to 4 reps with, you could go 2,2,1 for your cluster, thus performing 1 to 2 more reps than usual. It would take probably around 90 seconds to perform the cluster set. You could do 3 clusters in around 12 minutes with rest times included, that's not bad at all.

Another method I like to use with accessory exercises is Myo-reps. This is more of a hypertrophy (muscle building) technique, the idea is to get as many effective reps in as possible in the shortest amount of time.

The first step is to perform an activation set, this set will be anywhere for 12-20 reps. You should have maybe a rep or two left in the tank at the end of this set. Next, you will perform cluster sets of 3-5 reps with 10-20 rest (the time it takes to take 5-10 deep breaths) until you can't hit your target number of reps any more.

As an example: 18,5,5,5,5,4. There you’d have 42 reps in a very short amount of time.

Last little trick is stolen from Crossfit (who probably stole it from Olympic Weightlifters) and that is to use EMOMs which stands for Every Minute On the Minute.

This is a very simple concept, by performing your set at the start of the minute and taking the rest of the minute to rest you'll, again, get a lot of work done in a very short space of time. Even if you superset two exercises and perform them as EMOMs you could do 5 sets on each in 10 minutes!

Step 3 - Accepting “Okay” The last step can often be the hardest part for most people, accepting the reality that training may have to take a backseat to their current circumstances and being okay with it.

If you consider that you, potentially, have years of training ahead of you, having to take a few months a little easy and just ticking by is okay.

The truth is you won't always be working towards breaking personal bests, sometimes you have to just get by to just maintain the habit of training. That can be enough.

To summarise, decide what is optimal for your current circumstances, if it’s not truly optimal but it's the best you can manage then that's good enough.

Decide what the most important work is that you need to do and prioritise that. Try to make your less important work take up a little less time with some of the methods I outlined above.

Accept that your life outside the gym is always going to take priority over your training and that is okay.

It's better to be consistent and to stick to a realistic training programme, than do half the work, irregularly, of an unrealistic programme.

Choosing a Coach.

By Danny Lee

Editor’s Note.

If you’ve read the Star Wars post on the blog— this whole article is Step 4.

You will come across many powerlifting coaches these days, the sport is saturated with them, especially with the, frankly, exponential surge in the sport itself. However, you may have a few skills and attributes in mind when looking for a person to take on this role, and you should – you are looking for a person who can take the potential of your body and its movements and actualise it. This is a big thing, so you should definitely find someone worthy to help you along on this journey.

Finding a coach isn’t hard due to the saturation at the minute, finding a good one can be. All you would have to do is a Google search or ask within a local powerlifting federation’s Facebook group for one and you’ll be inundated.

So, once you’re there, with your (not so) shortlist, what do you do?

Assess – What has the coach done? Here, I don’t necessarily mean what have they won themselves, you only have to look at football to see that the best managers and coaches were often average at best in terms of skill. What I mean is – look at what they’ve done with their lifters, have they taken lifters in the past and made them stronger, or more importantly, technically sound?

A lot of lifters can get stronger by following a plan, especially if they haven’t stuck to one before, but a good coach will fix any technical issues where and when they can. They might spot a lifter who consistently rounds their shoulders on a deadlift, who as a result tends to fail their heavier attempts at lockout, and then fix their form to the point where they maintain their shape better at higher loads.

Another thing you need to assess is how the coach is as a person. If they rub you up the wrong way then you’re going to begrudge sending them your hard earned cash every month. So, here you will need to assess who they are as a person, their values and their philosophies. In my role as head coach, I would hate to have a coach in my team who was more focused upon internet arguments and being right than just getting results for their clients. Make sure you find someone who is able to keep their clients at the forefront of their plans.

In terms of finding a coach who clicks with you as a person, you will need to find someone who – to put it bluntly – doesn’t annoy you. You might be seeing this person 1-3x per week, maybe even more, and if you don’t enjoy that time then you will begrudge giving them your hard earned cash.

How does the coach portray themselves? This may not seem massive but imagine after you’ve done weeks, months, even years, of hard work – do you want them to focus on your achievements or theirs? If they steal your, rightful, limelight then maybe they’re not in it to help you so much as to inflate their own ego.

Photo Credit—Ian Lee Photography

Qualifications – Surprisingly, this question barely comes up when consulting with a new potential client. The experience and the ability to show that they know how to apply their knowledge to specific clients is far more important.

If you find a coach who can get along with you and your philosophies, while also getting you stronger and more technically proficient then they are a better choice than an over qualified coach with no track record. Granted, an overqualified coach with a great track record would be even better.

The qualifications you want to look for will depends entirely upon your goals. The bare minimum, in the UK at least, would be Level 2 and Level 3 Personal Training – however, with powerlifting this had better come with experience either in coaching or competing also.

If you also want to lose weight then a coach with a good nutritional understanding maybe good to look for – in this case you might want to look for one with a degree in some kind nutritional science as there are many nutrition qualifications but not many good ones.

If you have some trouble with movement then a coach who has a good understanding of how the body should work and move in general would be good. Maybe a coach who has some experience in biomechanics, movement/ posture analysis or physio/occupational therapy.

A good coach with all of these qualifications is rare and very hard to find. As already pointed out – the best coach for you might not necessarily be the most qualified in general, just qualified for what you need.

Photo credit—Ian Lee Photography.

Experience.

Here, this means both your experience and that of the coach. A coach with a good track record of taking a lifter from roughly your level of experience and up above and beyond that will be what you need, especially if you get along with them.

If you’re a beginner then find someone who has taken a lifter, or lifters, from this same point and made them technically proficient, (ideally) injury free and, most importantly, really, really strong. Once you’ve found this person see what you think of them and go from there.

Pricing.

Quite often this is what it comes down to – it is understandable why it does but ideally the other points will take precedent over this. You will need to remember that in this business you will generally get what you pay for so a bit of an investment is both expected and worth it.

So, how do you choose?

Once you’ve made your shortlist, you should do some digging. You should also definitely feel free to ask them questions – think of it like an interview. You are trusting them with a lot and if they don’t match up to your standards, move on to the next candidate.

At the end of the day this is a business transaction and if you don’t feel as though they can meet your needs and your terms then you have every right to say no – regardless of how awkward they may make you feel. In fact, a coach who would make you feel awkward at this stage is unlikely to listen to you when it comes to disagreements in training further down the line, so you’d definitely be better off without.

Ask The Editor.

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