The Winning Team

Many people believe that Bodybuilding is a solo sport, you are in at alone, and there is no team. Well I can safely say that there is, yes it is up to you to put in the hours of training however there are generally many people behind the scenes crucial to your success and progress. These people may include your coach / trainer; it could be your immediate family, your partner and friends as well as work colleagues. 

The people around you can have either a positive or negative influence over you, those that are like myself choose to only deal with and communicate with positive people, more often than not we sometimes find we distance ourselves from negative people and negative influences’ in our life. To build the mind of a winner and to focus on winning and reaching your goals this is often crucial.

James Smith

positive influences are important for many reasons but often we find negative comments or communications consist of brining others down, gossip, discussing the lives of others, and distracting us from the task at hand. Make sure you select who you spend your time with wisely, your time is valuable and precious and if you are like me you have things to go out and do and goals to achieve.

My whole sporting life I have been lucky to have very supportive parents. When I did my first Weightlifting competition at age 11 my dad was there taking photos and recording the event and this was the case until I gave up the sport 7 years later. When I chose to compete in Bodybuilding the support was still there. I was also lucky to have very supportive friends although the biggest test would be my relationship, and yes my girlfriend Hayley was also very supportive of what I wanted to achieve in fact she was a great motivator and would motivate me daily during my prep by sending a simple SMS or a phone call, during this time I didn’t see her at all, I was all about the competition and she understood this however she was always there motivating me and supporting me! As you can see  I had a great recipe to work with and I found motivation from every angel. 

During my prep phase I also enlisted the help of a now great friend. Michael Johnson from Ultimate Achiever. I met Michael at the gym one day when he asked me to spot him. Michael is a performance coach and Michael has taught me how to control my mind for optimal levels of focus and results. 

Michael Johnson - www.ultimateachiever.net

Michael has also performed several sessions with me using hypnotherapy which although skeptical in the beginning I have proved myself wrong and the results showed!! at the time in 2010 my best Bench Press was 120kg for 10 reps, after my session with Michael I went to the gym and warmed up as usual but ended up Bench Pressing 140kg for 8 reps, a huge personal best, I remember not being nervous of the jump in weight and I remember a fearless sensation and I almost couldn’t feel the weight in my hands.

I now continue to see Michael on a regular basis and I am always looking for ways to make my training more intense and deliver better results.

to find out more about Michael and Ultimate Acheiver check out their web page!

http://www.ultimateachiever.net/video1.html

Training & Diet Progress

My last few blogs have been centred around topics outside of my own training so now I thought it would be a good time to touch base on my progress, as much has changed!!

Ok so Ive been back into serious training for about 6 solid weeks now and everything is going brilliantly. My plan of attack is working and my new diet and training program from my new coach is working well. I am making some very solid gains and I have already seen some extra size added to my main areas of focus.

I have also set my new goals and also planned what comps I will be competing in next!! 

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Taken just moments after coming off stage at the 2012 Adelaide Grand Prix

Body weight is at 110kg and that's on an empty stomach, I am definitely feeling strong! My current training split is as follows.

Saturday - Chest & Calves

Sunday - Arms

Monday Off

Tuesday - Back & Abdominals

Wednesday - Shoulders & Calves

Thursday - Legs

Friday - Off

This routine is working great for both me and my training partner. My workouts are very focused and in each session I have a plan off attack. I record every session, each rep and every weight we lift, the following week my job is to perform either more reps or more weight on all given exercises. I never compromise form in order to increase the weight however if my training and diet is working as planned I should in theory be able to lift more and more on a weekly basis, up to now I have been upping the weights weekly keeping my form which is great!

My diet at the moment is high in both proteins and carbohydrates and my coach recently instructed me to adjust my carb intake to actually increase them even more. I have added an extra 60grams of good fats to my diet in the form of Flaxseed oil also. Mass Nutrition have of course supplied me with all the supps I need however I typically only use a Whey Protein Isolate in the form of ON Whey Powder and I also use Gen-Tec Pure Carbs. I sometimes use a Pre Workout and I will mix this around and try the new ones that seem to appear on a weekly basis but I don't like to have too many stims. I use Universal Aminos and I also use Animal Pak as a daily Multi.

Currently I am eating 7 meals a day, this is because my job as personal trainer sees me starting work very early so my first meal is in me by 5:30am and my last meal is just before bed at about 10:00pm. I eat every 2.5 hours and for me I make eating my full time job, nothing comes before my food, I plan my day around when I need to eat because all my mentors and trainers drilled into me that food and a consistent diet is the key, so for me my nutrition comes first, always!

Next week I plan to have some photos of my progress thus far as well! Keep training hard!

James!

Training Styles

Ok, so this week I had a few guys in the gym ask me about my style of training and what I have used in the past to develop both strength and muscle size.

Firstly I need to highlight that most styles of training work and work very well, however like most things your training style must be changed to stimulate change in your routine, this change in routine is what will provide fresh results in both size and strength. For many years I performed reps of only 1 to 3 as I was doing competitive weightlifting, at this time I was solely focused on building strength and power so this rep range was fantastic, constantly pushing my 1RM        (1 rep max)

This style of training saw me build huge amounts of strength over a 5 year period, when I then made the change to body building I was lifting rather heavy weight quite quickly. My reps increased from 1-3 right up to 10-12 as now muscle size and muscle shape is priority.

I change my routine every 6 weeks as I believe after a 6 week period the body will start to become accustomed to the routine and you need to change it in order to shock your body once again. I generally ensure the weight I lift increases each set with my first set beginning on 12 reps then second set 10 then my final and heaviest set I will aim to fail on 6-8 reps and have a spotter assist me for an extra 2 forced reps. I will generally do  3 sets per exercise after an initial warm up has been undertaken. I don't warm up on every exercise, I don't understand why I see some people bench 150kg for 3 sets then as they start say Incline dumbbell press they warn up again using a light weight, once the muscle is warm I go hard and fast. I will do 4 exercises per body part as long as I am not in the gym longer than 45minutes to an hour, I try and get the major body part completed in 45minutes then use the remaining 15 minutes for some abdominal or calf training as well as stretching.

I will use the above routine for say 6 weeks then lower the reps down into a "power category" where the reps will decrease and weight increase. Here I will focus on building strength and power. Then I will repeat the initial sequence of training again. I never really do high rep training, even getting ready for comp I still only hit 10 reps most of the time, 12 at the absolute max and that's generally only on a warm up. A lot of people search high and low for the best style of training. I have learnt that there is no secret, there is no perfect way to train, you do however need a mix of quality mind muscle connection based movements using perfect form and focusing on contraction and you also need your pure, basic and brutal strength based movements, changing between these at the right times is what will bring you results.

Switching on & off

This year while getting ready for my contest I found the competition was the only thing on my mind most of the time and in fact it probably consumed 90% of my thoughts. It was very important to me and I wanted to go well so this was only natural. I also found the support network around me fantastic in my friends, family and girlfriend. I have always trained with a lot of intensity and always put 120% into every workout but while getting ready for competition I was on the fine line of mental exhaustion also. By the time I was getting to the gym in the afternoon to complete my session I had been thinking about competition and training for the entire day and I was mentally draining and fatiguing as my mental stimulation was almost depleted. 

I quickly put some measures into place to fix this problem and this made me think a lot more about balance. I have adopted a system now of “switching on” & “Switching off” when I enter and leave the gym. This enables me to reserve all of my mental energy for my session and this also allows me to switch off after my session. Taking my mind of training and competition for part of the day only allows me to focus on it with more intensity when the time comes to train. 

So how do I switch on? This generally occurs before I leave home, as I am getting ready I will be listening to music while getting ready and as I look over my goals. The songs are specific ones, that are meaningful to me and during prep phase it is the song I will be posing to. When I get to the gym I get organized, I do not rush into things. I come up with a game plan, what I am going to do, how many sets and what order I am going to complete these movements in, I will gather any equipment I require then do my warm ups. This helps get me focused, I am prepped and ready and for the last 30mins or so all I have been thinking about is my future goals and how important today’s session is to obtaining that goal.

When I finish my session I will place the weights away after my last set, I will then do about 15 – 30 minutes of stretching, during this time I relax, I think about my workout and evaluate my performance, if needed I check my physique and I take this time to switch off. Sometimes I even lay on the floor with my headphones still in and just lay there for a minute and let my body relax and wait for my heart rate to come down . I leave my session and my thoughts about training in the gym when I leave. Learning how to switch on and off is something the world’s best athletes always talk about, the best in the world can do it in the blink of an eye and overtime and after a lot of practice one can get very good at it, but it is something I am finding very worthwhile and very helpful also and I myself will continue to practice this, give it a go next time you train.

Motivation

Motivation is described in almost every dictionary as the desire or will to complete. For many they begin a quest or a task with an idea, after this seed is planted motivation is generally at its highest however motivation is known to quickly fade unless certain experiences occur or things are put in place to spark that desire and keep it burning.

 Many people go through spates of training 3-5 days a week then they will stop for a month and repeat this cycle over and over again whilst no or very poor results are achieved.

I had a client of mine ask me how I stay motivated, what I think about and what drives me day in day out, and this made me think.

As you read in my “About me” section of my blog I have always been lifting weights competitively from a young age and what came with that was some very intense training also. Looking back now it was quite intense for someone of my age. I personally believe this taught me from a young age to be very determined as often I was training for competition 12 months away and I always had to break my goals down into monthly goals and weekly goals in order to reach my main goal of winning the desired competition. I have managed to link this to my body building in the same way.

 In my office I have three on boards, one has pictures of my friends, my family, my girlfriend and a whole host of fantastic memories, these are the people and memories I love which keep me motivated as I hope to make these people proud come the next time I compete. On the next board is a host of motivational quotes I have collected over the years that remind me of things that relate to me. On the third board are pictures of body builders I desire to emmulate,  these body builders are not just chosen on their size, symmetry or condition, They are all gentlemen of the sport, they are great role models and they train hard. 

Every day I also take the time to remind myself also of why I started training in the first place too, we often forget this over time but it’s important to never forget what got you started in the beginning. For me it was a desire to push my body and my mind and will power as far as possible and be the absolute best I could be whilst also finding it great fun!. The secret is to keep a blue print of those goals in your mind every day, you need to know detail behind the goal, you need to visualize yourself winning, you need to visualize yourself reaching that goal and the amazing feeling you will experience when you have achieved whatever it might be. You need to imagine your family and friends looking back at you proud and you need to imagine how you will feel inside when you prove to yourself you can reach your goals. 

When I am in the gym under a big squat or bench press, or when I am curling up some heavy dumbbells I think about my next competition and I imagine myself on stage and I imagine my body and the changes I will be making. I think that this session will be the one that makes or breaks it and I need to put 120% in and it has to be done, no compromises!

Practice this every day and you will be motivated every day, one last tip! Make sure you spend your time with motivating people. Not people that will drag you down.

TGIF

I hope everyone has enjoyed a solid week of training. 

For me this week has been superb in and out of the gym. Training has been fantastic and the quality of training really high, my sessions have been short, fast and heavy and my form has been 100%. I have had good recovery between my workouts also. Stepping into this off-season I can easily notice a difference in my recovery time, having more calories in my daily diet is making the recovery process a lot faster and I am able to recoup quicker ready for the next day which is far from what I found pre contest where the lack of calories had me feeling sore for days, my muscles were tight and of course I was drained of energy. 

My nutrition has changed slightly. Pre contest I was having minimal carbs with most of these positioned around my workout. I have tried to adopt something similar in my off-season as I find my body responds really well to good fats such as the monounsaturated fats found in almonds, and avocados etc. By having fats in my diet as an energy source I was able to reduce the amount of carbs I was having, this being said my coach instructed me to increase my carb intake just slightly this week and I have felt better for it. My main sources of carbs now are sweet potato and white rice.

I weighed myself this morning (Friday) before breakfast and I am sitting at 102kg, At this weight I still have visible abs and I will ensure I always see abdominals throughout this off-season as I don’t want to be putting on excess body fat at all. I will be changing my diet weekly if needed depending on how I am looking each week.

There is one thing I have learnt this year and that’s - Having a plan is great, but things change and if you are not open to changing the plan sometimes it can work against you. Your body changes just like the weather and you need to be constantly monitoring what you are looking like and how you are feeling and nothing is more important than listening to your body.

Mid Week

So it's Wednesday, the week is half done! This weeks training split has been as follows

Monday - Back

Tuesday - Chest & Abdominals Triceps in the Evening

Wednesday - Shoulders

Thursday - Biceps and Abdominals

Friday - Hamstring and Calves

Saturday - Quads & Abdominals

I trained Chest with Billy Cairns on the Tuesday which was great, Billy pushed me to my limit and we had a great workout together.

In terms of my training I am putting all my attention into my form and technique, ensuring all movements are carried out with precise form and precision. Since concentrating on this my weights of course dropped back to start with but I have found that over the past 6 months my strength has returned along with the precise technique and this has only allowed for better results. With good form this week I have already been hitting PB's back in the gym. Some of which included

A 145kg barbell row for 10 reps as well as 8 plates on the T-bar for 8 reps. I will see how I go coming into the later part of the

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My Body weight is currently at 102kg today before breakfast. My diet is not really any different from my pre-contest diet. I have upped my carb intake but not much else has changed. I dont really eat any bad food so I have been able to hold most of my condition which I am happy with. Looking forward to seeing what the rest of the week will bring!