Well it is almost the end of another year, just 9 days left to go and I thought |i would take some time to look back at this year and see just how far I have come. Because some times we can feel like we are standing still, not growing, not stretching, not pushing ourselves, stagnating in the dark. But, when we look back at our lives, our journey, you will see just how far the road has taken you.
So here is some of the stand out moments and achievements for me in 2014.
Body Building:
1 Competing - This year I made my first steps on tot eh body building stage, Placing 3rd and 5th in two big shows in Northern Ireland. 3rd Place at my first show with NABBA was a great feeling and a great memory, and the journey to IBFA Ireland was also extremely enjoyable but tough. Through both endeavours I have gained a lot of new skills, and learnt a lot about myself, how i respond to certain training styles, certain foods and I am looking forward to my next show and hopefully learning even more about my body and its abilities.
2. Training - This year I made some big jumps in training, from training twice a day for the 2 contest preps to general strength gains all year.
For example my normal back squat routine improved from:
15 reps of 120kg to 15 reps of 140kg
12 reps of 130kg 15 reps of 150kg
12 reps of 135kg 12 reps of 160kg
10 reps of 140kg 8 reps of 170kg
8 reps of 145kg 4 reps of 180kg
3. Diet - This year i spent almost 50% of the time on a show prep diet, prepping for the two shows and that was a first for me, I also kept it very clean in the off season between shows I also learnt a lot about how my body reacts to certain foods and how to properly design a diet plan for myself when preparing for a show.
4. Working alone - I have always trained alone, I rarely had a training partner and so I meant pushing myself, but when it came to both show preps I had no coach, and no guidance, it was experiment and research and my own intuition and hard work. But it taught me a lot and there is still room for improvement and I am excited to see what 2015 brings to my physique.
Work:
This was the first year I worked in a gym, I had been personal training before this with outdoor sessions and classes as well as home visits, but having the chance to work in the Hanwood Centre gym taught me new skills, and really encouraged me to improve and work hard as a trainer, as well as providing great facilities to work with clients and really bring out results.
Working with clients, has also been great this year, you always have one or two who don;t want to put the work in, but I have to say this year has been a good crowd, working hard, and following my advice well. I'm not going to name names here, those that worked hard know it and saw the results, those that didn't well, they know it themselves.
All there is left to say is that 2014 was good, but 2015 will be even better. You ain't seen nothing yet!
So here is some of the stand out moments and achievements for me in 2014.
Body Building:
1 Competing - This year I made my first steps on tot eh body building stage, Placing 3rd and 5th in two big shows in Northern Ireland. 3rd Place at my first show with NABBA was a great feeling and a great memory, and the journey to IBFA Ireland was also extremely enjoyable but tough. Through both endeavours I have gained a lot of new skills, and learnt a lot about myself, how i respond to certain training styles, certain foods and I am looking forward to my next show and hopefully learning even more about my body and its abilities.2. Training - This year I made some big jumps in training, from training twice a day for the 2 contest preps to general strength gains all year.
For example my normal back squat routine improved from:
15 reps of 120kg to 15 reps of 140kg
12 reps of 130kg 15 reps of 150kg
12 reps of 135kg 12 reps of 160kg
10 reps of 140kg 8 reps of 170kg
8 reps of 145kg 4 reps of 180kg
3. Diet - This year i spent almost 50% of the time on a show prep diet, prepping for the two shows and that was a first for me, I also kept it very clean in the off season between shows I also learnt a lot about how my body reacts to certain foods and how to properly design a diet plan for myself when preparing for a show.4. Working alone - I have always trained alone, I rarely had a training partner and so I meant pushing myself, but when it came to both show preps I had no coach, and no guidance, it was experiment and research and my own intuition and hard work. But it taught me a lot and there is still room for improvement and I am excited to see what 2015 brings to my physique.
Work:
This was the first year I worked in a gym, I had been personal training before this with outdoor sessions and classes as well as home visits, but having the chance to work in the Hanwood Centre gym taught me new skills, and really encouraged me to improve and work hard as a trainer, as well as providing great facilities to work with clients and really bring out results.
Working with clients, has also been great this year, you always have one or two who don;t want to put the work in, but I have to say this year has been a good crowd, working hard, and following my advice well. I'm not going to name names here, those that worked hard know it and saw the results, those that didn't well, they know it themselves.
All there is left to say is that 2014 was good, but 2015 will be even better. You ain't seen nothing yet!
