BEYOND STRONG

Clash of the Titans - training

I was fortunate to have a great deal of input into the training of the stunt team, including myself and some of the actors, for the upcoming remake of the classic Clash of the Titans movie. Each day we trained between 6am and 7am for between 30-60 minutes depending on our schedules. We also trained at lunchtimes when we had the energy. I was fortunate to be dealing with great athletes (something many trainers won't tell you) who were motivated and ready to work hard. We also had fight training and specific stunt rehearsals to deal with as well.

I will detail the actual workouts over the next few entries to show you what we did with limited time and equipment. Unlike the stunt team who trained for 300 we had to do this in our own time, bringing in our own food to stay on track with diets and time scales. However, at the end of the 6 weeks many of us were in the best shape of our lives.

Watch the video and please comment and ask questions!

Nick

 

In limbo

My apologies once again for the lack of content over the last 7 weeks. I have been super busy working on a remake of Clash of the Titans, spending the last 4 weeks in Tenerife shooting on top of Mt. Teide. With my work being so busy I have had no time to post and the internet access was very poor in my hotel. I am now back but straight onto a block of work on the final installment of the Harry Potter series. Once this is finished I am going to assess the blog and see where we go from here. I know Steve is still blogging but I have some ideas for the future and that will include using the name Beyond Strong.

For now here's a few pictures from  the trip.

Nick

Calibos hill at dawn

Flagging again!

Sunset near the hotel

My 1kg steak that I ate.

With my Ace Pals Adam and Titch the night Titch bought a Rolex Submariner!

Big Loz - Big PR!

Strongman Laurence Shahlaei has been giving Andy Bolton tips on grip strength which no doubt helped immensely with Andy's recent World Record. Now it seems like Big Loz has been taking tips in Deadlift strength from Andy!

Here my talented friend and occasional training partner pulls a magnificent 380kg for a new personal best/record. He told me he also hit a 190kg Bench Press this week too thus saying goodbye to his 'weak' upper body!

Here's the lift...


Nick

Peter Horne Memorial Grip contest II

On Saturday 11th April David Horne held the second Memorial Contest in honour of his father, the great weightlifter and grip lifter, Peter Horne.

It was a great day, ran casually but officially and with great cameraderie all round.

The Two Hands Pinch was first using the now Euro Pinch grip invented by David Horne. Incidentally, if you ever get to David's, ask him about his father's early pinch grip set ups, they are still in his collection.

Seeing the 3 Horne brothers together was great. Alex, Oliver and Jason (Jake) as you would expect have massive competitive spirit and sibling rivalry. Alex hit a personal best with 69.7kg along with Paul Wood. The other two edged him out but drew with each other and Elizabeth Horne and Jim Mills on 73.9kg. Not bad for years off training grip from the boys. David Elmer, a real blast from the blast in the grip and IAWA community, hit a solid 79.1kg just behind former British Grip Champion Jim Wylie on 80.6kg. I was pleased to do 99.2kg and was coaxed in to attempting 109kg (my PB) but it wasn't to be. Steve had gone before us with a different width and hit a very easy 109.1kg. Incredibly he was REALLY close with 117kg. Steve's almost manic training regime (10 workouts a week!) has paid off.

In the Vulcan Gripper event there was only going to be one winner. Steve Gardener has closed No.4 grippers so this was a one horse race. Jim and Oliver both hit Level 8, Elizabeth and David did level 9 and Alex and Jason battled it out with level 10 and 11 closes respectively. Paul Wood showed his gripper prowess with a Level 12 close with Jim just missing Level 13 and so also getting a 12 close to share 3rd spot. I sneaked in a Level 13 to take second. Steve however showboated with a Level 19 close that he pretended to make look hard. It wasn't! He then proceeded to do Level 21 for a World's Best on David's masterful invention.

The One Hand Deadlift with an Olympic Bar was next. This is an official IAWA lift and one I have done well on in the past. Oliver did an impressive 100kg WITHOUT a hook grip as he didn't fancy the pain on the hook grip thus surrendering to everyone's taunts and abuse! Elizabeth did an amazing 120kg which is the most I have seen a woman do in recent times. Alex hit yet another PB with 130kg. Jason took the Horne brothers win again with 140kg. David Elmer did a smooth as silk 150kg. The the Jim's and Paul all hit easy 160kg and chose 175-180kg for their next attempts which weren't to be. I am sure they would have all made 170kg though. Steve did 195kg and I know he has been struggling with a bad back for some time. His grip looked solid. I hung on with 200kg to take the win. It's been a while (10 years?) since I've lifted big one hand deads like that!

Finally was the dreaded Orbi Grip. 2.5kg for 2 minutes of forearm busting revolutions! This event was mental. Oliver did 102 and Jim Mills did 112 in the allotted time. It looked HORRIBLE! Paul Wood, David Elmer, Elizabeth and Jason all scored well from 129 to 130 to 132 to 137 revolutions of PAIN!! Jim Wylie did a ridiculous 195 staring Alex down the whole way for testosterone fueled motivation. I managed 170 revolutions. Steve Gardener looked good but hit the wall with his massive forearms on fire at 110 revolutions. However, it was ENDURANCE freak Alex Horne who took the win with an amazing 197 reps just pipping Jim for the win. I hope we never do this event again.

When the chalk dust had settled these were the results.

1st Nick McKinless 8pts
2nd Jim Wyle 12.5pts
3rd Steve Gardener 13pts
4th Jason Horne 22.5pts
5th David Elmer 23.5pts
6th Paul Wood 24pts
7th Alex Horne (aged 17) 24.5pts
8th Elizabeth Horne (female) 28pts
8th Jim Mills 28pts
10th Oliver Horne 36pts

Thanks to David and Elizabeth for another excellent competition with old and new friends. Well done everyone!

Nick

Quite possibly the lift of the day...Steve Gardener gets oh so close with 117kg Two Hands Pinch.

Andy Bolton - 457.5kg

THE GREATEST LIFT I'VE EVER SEEN

In 25 years of lifting and competing this is without a doubt the greatest single feat of strength I have ever witnessed.

Andy Bolton Deadlifted an incredible 457.5kg or 1008.6lbs!!!

World's Strongest Man Competitor Laurence Shahlaei and his younger brother Harry were right next to me cheering like crazy as we witnessed history.

Andy Bolton we salute you.

I have nothing else to say but watch the video and be in awe.

Nick

This is my video from afar and the second video is DARKSIDE BARBELL'S superior video

Hectic

I wanted to warn everyone that posts are going to be rather infrequent over the next few months. Due to work committments it's going to be hard to find time to post new articles.

I managed to train with David, Alex and Elizabeth Horne this week and witness David and Alex's mammouth arm wrestling sessions! We did two workouts over a 3 plus hour period. First up was chest and tricep work playing around with the One DB Bench press and David's new Triton Bar. The One DB Bench Press is a really interesting change of pace and well worth trying if the regular bench press is getting stale in your routine. I managed a tough 65kg/143lbs whilst David easily blasted out 70kg or 154lbs.

After some lovely home cooked food from Elizabeth we resumed our efforts. Having not really trained grip properly for a year I was eager to do some light pinching and play with some other grip toys. I managed a rough not locked out (5" off the floor) 99.4kg Two Hands Pinch with the now standard Euro Pinch Grip apparatus. I was pleased with this, knowing that with 2-4 weeks of training I would be back to my best of 109kg.
With David's 'sliding ramp' technique I worked up to a few lifts with the York Blob and then picked up two 20kg plates comfortably. I guess this kind of hand strength doesn't just go away!
David worked up toan easy Level 13 on his Vulcan gripper which I failed at miserably. Level 12 was my best today.
The One Arm Curl against the wall was next. I worked up to 35kg/77lbs for 2 reps each arm and I believe David got 40kg/88lbs for one rep. Pretty impressive curling with a heavy dumbbell.

After this I witnessed David and Alex's arm wrestling sessions. David uses massive band tension which I struggled to pull over. Then Alex, who is an accomplished and super strong 17 year old arm wrestler, wrestles David over 6 bouts. The intensity was INSANE! Here's a picture...

David won 4 to 3 but they were close and tough battles!

We then went onto David's Lock 'n' Load invention. A partial range trainer for various positions on the arm wrestling table. We worked three positions and I can see the huge benefits for arm wrestlers with this machine set up. It would also be a cool way to train for a bigger bicep curl as well.
Finally,( yes we were still going), we did a combination of Orbi Grip and Lock 'n' Load. 50 Orbi's followed by 5 full range Lock 'n' Loads for 5 sets. SUPER PUMP!

Another brilliant day spent with friends just enjoying training, chatting and laughing our heads off. That's what it's all about!

Nick

Almost perfect

Here's some more info on the Life Fitness I was talking about in my last post. Actually, let's call it something else...let's call it Beyond Strong - The program for life fitness...or something like that!

I believe that most non competitive but motivated trainees require a routine that pushes them but not too much. This doesn't mean you have to be lazy or never work hard but the majority of people only really require a slightly above average level of strength, conditioning and mobility. I may not be qualifying this all that well (it's late here) with 'slightly above average' so let me give you some examples.

• Wouldn't it be nice to carry your shopping without your arms dropping off!
• If you had to help someone push a car, it would be nice if you could do it without fear of a heart attack right?
• What if a member of your family has a fall and you need to be able to pick them up off the floor and carry them to the car. Can you?
• A friend asks you to do a 1/2 marathon in 2 months time for a charity close to your heart and thankfully your regular training allows you to get in shape in 6-8 weeks
• Walking up stairs is a joy not a chore
• You can burst into a sprint to catch the bus or the train about to leave
• A friend asks you to help them move house. No problem, your strong, fit and mobile.

These are a few of the everyday things that can and do occur in peoples lives all over the world no matter what their income, race, age or gender.

In the article The Perfect Warrior from November 2007 I stated the case for the term Beyond Strong.

"Greater than average strength levels combined with excellent endurance, maximum speed recruitment and a toughness to compete with the best in the worst situation. If you add that combination to ANY sport you are going to do very well indeed."

I still believe that to be true for the athletes who compete but now I also think there are different levels of Beyond Strong. Perhaps there are 3 levels. Level 1 for the average Joe or Jill. Level 2 for those competing in their spare time. And Level 3 for the more full time competitive athletes. Level 1 is what I am talking about right now.

Ponder on this as I continue experimenting and refining things.

Nick

A far from average Allan Wells tribute. Allan was a huge influence my athletics career as a junior in the 1980's

Life fitness

Things have been quite busy around here recently. Thankfully work has picked up and although training 6 days a week (sometimes twice a day) has been great, it was nice to put that training to good use. Training has been a combination of strength, bodybuilding and conditioning. I have come to the conclusion that these are the most important elements of a great workout schedule. Of course, I would also add to that with prehab and rehab work. This would be mobility work, myofascial release and sports specific stretching.

Here's an example of a recent workout.

Warm-up - dynamic swings and joint rotations
Seated Press - 5x5
Chins - 5 sets with varied hand positions (alternate, underhand, overhead etc) 5 sets from 1-15 reps
Flys - 3 sets of 12, never locking out
Cable Crossover - 2 sets of 12-15
4 Board Press - 4x5, stressing the triceps
Bicep Machine - 4x8-12
Pushdowns - work to heavy set of 8-10 then a big drop set
Mobility - either upper body or lower body
Cardio - 20-30 minutes of Cross Trainer on 'Strength' or 'Hills' at a high Level (10 or above)

I still have a way to go to achieve the results I want. Below is a picture taken about 3 weeks ago. For reference, I couldn't see my abs at Xmas! This is part of my Life Fitness plan where I hope to maintain a good level of strength and conditioning but also stay injury and pain free. So far so good. Of course, you can't have maximum strength or maximum fitness like this. The goal is a level of all round fitness which would require a minimal phase of specialization (6-12 weeks) to reach maximum strength or aerobic capacity depending on the goal. This is an experimental process which eventually will be a part of a wider program I will share with you all in the future.

I'll have another picture of my progress in April.

Nick

David Webster OBE

This is a fantastic short documentary on the life of the amazing David Webster OBE. David P. Webster is a world renowned historian on Weightlifting, Strength Sports and Highland Games, and has been involved in the industry since the 1940’s. He is author of over 40 books, still holds world records in Strand Pulling and received the OBE for services to sport from Her Majesty the Queen at a ceremony in Buckingham Palace in 1995.

I was lucky enough to visit David's house a see his incredible collection with David Horne, Lee Morrison and Mike Thompson in 1998. It was David Webster who officiated on our lifting of the Dinnie Stones along with Gordon Dinnie.

Congratulations David Webster OBE!

Nick

biglozstrongman.com

My friend and World's Strongest Man Competitor, Laurence Shahlaei, has a new website. Check it out here...Big Loz Strongman

Laurence and I trained together last week. Loz is working on bodybuilding to bulk up his upper body with LOTS of conditioning work. You would be amazed at how fast he moves for a 310lb man! Our workout consisted of bench presses and LOTS of bicep and tricep work, ending with a massive set of 'you go I go' on the tricep pushdowns. We did 10 sets of 10 which was a serious PUMP. After that we did 20 minutes on the Cross Trainers. If you haven't used these machines then give them a go.They are excellent for heavier people who find running too hard on the joints.

The next morning we did 1000m rows with pushups and mobility in between whilst the other person was rowing. Loz SMASHED the last set doing 1000m on the concept II in 3mins27secs!

Look out for the Big fella on TV later this year.

Nick

Loz pushes up another big log press