Kettlebell Sport

The internet world is so large, it often seems ridiculous when you find someone just around the corner with very similar interests.

I was at first delighted to find that Rob at Kettlebell Sport was going to his first strongman competition just round the corner from where I live and then hugely disappointed when I realised I was going to miss it because I had to work the weekend!  Best of luck for your competition, Rob, I look forward to hearing all about it.

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So this is a brief description of a few of the things I like.  I’ve already talked about how I enjoy:

• Coffee
• Science fiction 
• Mountains
• Real food
• Animals
• Wild camping

Here are a few more things that I really enjoy…

Podcasts

For two years, I had a fairly lengthy commute to work.  I had to get up early in the morning and drive for an hour to get to the office and then another hour home in the evening.  During those years, I acquired a visceral hatred of morning radio and, consequently, a love for quality podcasts.  My morning commute isn’t quite so bad now but I still maintain my podcast habit.  Some of my favorite stations to tune into are:

• Superhuman radio
• Mike Robertson’s In the Trenches Fitness
• The Strength Coach Podcast
• The FitCast

But if I could only listen to one, it would have to be Superhuman radio.  Keep up the good work Carl!

Music to train to

I don’t understand how people can train effectively with a newspaper to read, a video to watch or pop music on in the background.  For me, if there’s no intensity to your surroundings, your workout is going to be poor.

Obviously, music is only one aspect of your surroundings but I think it is an important one.  I have picked up a few albums over the years that I like to play when I’m really going for it in the gym.  These are some of my favorites:

Disturbed: Indestructible

Rage Against the Machine: Rage Against the Machine

Evanescence: Fallen

David Attenborough

This is a bit of a wild card to finish with but the sentiment is no less genuine for that.  To understand the affection I have for this “greatest living mammal”, you first have to appreciate that I grew up in a household in which television was rationed quite strictly.  It wasn’t possible for us to just switch it on and channel surf.  We had to present a case for it to be switched on and it had to be a viable one!

As you might imagine, David Attenborough was a pretty safe bet, with the (largely) educational component of his work.  So we watched pretty much every episode that he made.  Thinking back, I remember that when the first documentaries came out, they were very different from the more recent series, such as the impressive Planet Earth.  The episodes were longer and more technical, the clothes more self-consciously fashionable, the hip-wiggle more pronounced.

But whether you’re watching him as a skinny and youthful forty-something in flares, holding forth in the cut-glass tones of received pronunciation, or as a rheumy old grandpa looking back on a life as full as any have lived in the 20th century, the intensity that comes from his genuine enjoyment of presenting life in all its wondrous variety shines through.  He is a perfect example of someone who has lived life to the full and taken every opportunity that came his way.

Quite simply, David Attenborough is a national treasure and has to be seen to be believed.

As I noted before, this is not a post about getting stronger in your garage, so if you’re looking for something in that vein, why not check out the archives?  This is about me – the things I like.  Just in case you like them too.

Real food

I really enjoy good food. 

Not fine dining, where you get a snail mousse with a single sprig of parsley on top.

Not fast food, where you get trans-fat fried, sugar-and-bread-loaded, reconstituted “meat” products.

By the way, if trans-fats and sugar don’t terrify you, and you still succumb to the temptation that these marketing machines put in front of you, read “Fast Food Nation” by Eric Schlosser and learn what other “additives” can end up with the meat…

No, I enjoy good food.  Real food.  And I’m lucky enough to have a girlfriend who enjoys cooking real food.  You can read about her paleo kitchen exploits in her blog.  The other week, we picked up a loin of pork at the local Co-operative.  It went really well with oven-roasted shallots and garlic and the ubiquitous broccoli. 

Animals

For some reason, I have always enjoyed being around animals.  There is something uniquely supportive and bolstering about the unconditional, slobbering love that a dog will devote to you if you happen to feed it everyday.  Similarly, while cats are a bit more mercenary, and ours certainly bites the hand that feeds him from time to time, they do warm a cold room when they sit purring on your lap.

This is me with my brother-in-law’s Leonbergers.  They are St. Bernard and Newfoundland crosses and great fun to be around.  They have a herding instinct, so they try and keep you all together.  If they recognise you as part of the group, they lean on you.  At 60kg (135lbs), this is not insignificant…

Wild Camping

We regularly go on walking or cycling holidays either in the UK or abroad.  It’s rare that we choose to spend our holiday allowance sitting on a beach (ironically, I will be doing just that in a week).  We’ve walked in the French, Swiss and Italian Alps, Scotland, the Lake District, the Peak District and Wales.  We’ve cycled in Yorkshire, Normandy and Brittany and we’re planning trips to Holland and Scotland (again) for early 2010.

I cannot remember the last time we paid for our overnight accomodation (unless you count overnight ferries and even then we don’t book cabins so I don’t think it does count).

I was introduced to wild camping in the Scouts and never really lost the taste for it.  There is something rewarding about finding a suitable spot on public land.  Sure, the ground may be less even than a carefully mown lawn but the scenary will be a lot better.  You might find yourself sharing the spot with a few more insects and creepy-crawlies but at least there won’t be lagered up idiots crashing through the site at midnight having noisy conversations with themselves. 

What’s more, with a few simple tools and skills (latrine digging, handwashing without running water, water filtering, one-pot cooking) you can be quite self-sufficient and, so long as you pick your spot carefully, no-one will even know that you have been there.

This is me in Rothimurchus forest, on the edge of the Cairngorms.  At the time, we were using a simple builder’s tarp (£4.95 from a DIY store) as our shelter.  The poles are our walking poles.  It’s a walking holiday, Garage Gym style!   

I think that’s probably starting to give you an idea of what makes me tick.  Don’t forget that normal Garage Gym service will be resumed next week!

Coffee

I don’t know where I would be without the sacred bean of the gods.  I made my first cup of coffee after they taught us how to boil a kettle safely in cub-scouts and I haven’t looked back since.  For the first few years, I was a milky coffee drinker but, after sharing a flat at university with a friend who had a filter coffee machine, I soon switched to the black stuff.

Thick and treacly, deeply flavoured and strong enough to put you on a caffeine high for the better part of an afternoon, there is no beating real coffee as an aide to work or study.

 Science fiction

I have read my way through quite a few different genres over the years but I keep coming back to sci-fi.  I’m not sure why.  Maybe it’s because the first time I really enjoyed a book was when I read “A Stainless Steel Rat is Born” by Harry Harrison as a young teenager.  Or maybe it’s because I grew up watching Star Wars every Christmas.

Either way, despite a foray into biographies (I waded through some fascinating accounts of persons as diverse as T E Lawrence and Miles Davis), autobiographies (I can heartily recommend newsmen as a good starting point – John Sergeant and John Simpson being two of my favorites) and serious literature (I enjoyed Moby Dick, was quietly impressed by War and Peace and got depressed reading Middlemarch), I keep coming back to sci-fi.

In the last few years, I’ve really enjoyed working my way through whatever Iain M Banks writes, as well as picking up old classics by Joe Haldeman and Philip Dick.  It was a real event for me, though, when I discovered a new talent in fellow Brit China Mieville.

His first novel, Perdido Street Station is great fun and a breath of fresh air amidst all the copycat writers out there who are still writing quest fantasies involving young farm-boys becoming warriors.  The relationships he describes involve real people rather than cardboard cut-outs and the problems his protagonists face always have a realistic and relevant feel to them, despite the fantastic backdrop.

Mountains

I’ve said mountains rather than mountaineering because I don’t want to come across like some intrepid explorer who is determined to climb something that no-one else has ascended before.  It’s not the challenge that draws me to the mountains, it’s the views.  Some people who know me might be surprised that I haven’t listed photography as one of my “likes” but if you look at my albums, 95% of the photos are of mountain views.  The other 5% are probably of random bits and bobs for this blog…

This is a view of Ben Macdui, the second highest mountain in Scotland.  It’s in the Cairngorms, probably the largest area of pure wilderness in the UK (my geography is a bit sketchy so please forgive me if Knoydart happens to be a bit bigger).  We last went in May 2008 and the weather was cracking.

This is somewhere in the Alps, on the French side of Mont Blanc.  We were there in late June this year and had fairly mixed weather.  This was one of the good days…

There’s more but I think I’ll leave it for another post.  Stay tuned, if you’re still interested…

I live in Nottingham

I come from Nottingham, in the UK.  It’s about as close to the middle of the country as you can get and probably the furthest city from the the coast.  It used to be famous for making lace and it’s still famous for Robin Hood.  I was born here, I went to school here and now I work not far from here.

I’ve competed at swimming

My sporting background is mainly swimming.  It’s the only sport I have ever competed in.  I was school captain, swam with my university team (but never competed because I was a swot) and competed in masters for 4 years from the age of 25 – 29.  I am told that my freestyle looks very pretty but I was never tall enough to be a contender.

I enjoy climbing

It’s hard to grow up in Nottingham and not be tempted by the Peak District.  For those of you who don’t know, the Peak District is about the least well-named place in the world.  It’s not got a single peak and it’s not even a district.  It does, however, have some of the best single-pitch climbing in the UK.  The rock is mostly gritstone and is unique to the area.  It feels like pumice and there are very few hand holds.  What am I saying?  Well, I’ve done bit of climbing, too.  I’d do more if it wasn’t so busy at weekends.

I enjoy cycling, too

I love long rides in the summer, when the sun is beating down but the wind keeps you cool and it’s never far to the next ice-cream van.  I love short rides under a winter moon, the handlebar festooned with lights, breathing white clouds while you glide down silent roads.  I love cycle touring, just flitting from place to place, chilling by the side of the road, camping wherever and buying food at each general store you come to.

I’m a Capricorn

I can’t bring myself to believe in star signs but this list (taken from various online sources) is a damn good summary of my personality.  In fact, the very fact I don’t believe in star signs is predicted by my star sign.

• Strong-willed
• Confident
• Calm
• Hardworking
• Unemotional
• Practical
• Cautious to the extreme
• Capable of sticking with a project to the bitter end
• Strives for honesty in self-criticism
• Methodical
• Stubborn
• Economical
• Pessimistic
• Melancholic
• Capricious
• Skeptical
• Rational, logical and clear-headed
• Has good concentration

I have found that being calm, cautious and sticking to the plan have served me well so far in lifting weights.  Steady and consistent hard work and effort have been at the root of my progress and being calm when things go to the dogs has dug me out of several holes.  Similarly, honest self-criticism pays dividends when it comes to assessing and working on weaknesses.  If you can target your weaknesses successfully, you can gain strength much faster than if you don’t.  It’s that simple.

On the other hand, a tendancy to stubbornness and cautiousness mean that I don’t change my programme as much as I should.  When I find a pattern or set/rep scheme that I like, I do tend to use it to death and this can lead to stagnation.  Similarly, a leaning towards melancholy and pessimism can mean that my mental recovery isn’t always as good as it could be.

It’s the sheer capriciousness that does it for me, though.  It never ceases to amaze my friends and family how I can do a 180 degree about-turn and completely change my views, opinions or methods based on some new information.  In a matter of moments, I can have made my mind up and be doing the exact opposite of what I was doing a few minutes ago.  And defend it to the death.  Capricious, yes.  Boring, no.

So on balance, you could say I’m pretty content.

The Garage Gym Online is for everyone who wants to use their garage as a gym.  From the obsessive bodybuilder with 13 different types of cable machine taking up the whole basement to the family guy with a set of rusty, mismatched dumbbells wedged between the lawnmower and the washing machine, this is a blog for you.

Here at The Garage Gym Online, I started just three years ago with a pull up bar, a climbing harness and some loose weights.  Since then, I have built my own climbing wall, made a couple of plyometric boxes, collected a whole barrage of grippers and erected a shed in my garden to house all the gardening tools that won’t fit around the squat rack. 

During the last six months, I’ve found myself using my commercial gym membership less and less.  In May 2009, I took a deep breath and finally handed in my notice. It expires today, so I’m setting up this blog as a consolation.

In reality, the only thing I am sad to see the back of was the Concept 2 rowing machine (but I keep checking e-bay, so who knows what the future will hold?)

What you can find here

The Garage Gym Online will focus on how to get fit and strong, while losing fat and gaining muscle, all in your own garage.  Join me on my journey from podgy and weak to lean and strong.  Along the way, we’ll run articles featuring:

• The best ways to get fit and strong in the comfort of your own home
• How to build your own workout equipment
• My weekly workout routines
• What I eat to lose the flab and build muscle
• Interviews with cool people who have got fit with minimal equipment

I look forward to writing for you and hope you’ll stick around.