Boarding the holiday flab fight

With summer in full swing once again, it is that time of year where we all jump on the ‘battle for a beach-body’ bandwagon!

I for one have taken pride over the years not to be sucked into this fruitless challenge; rather being at ease with the year-long preparations that had already transpired.

But I’m embarrassed to announce that it has not happened for me this year!

For one reason or another, every time I look in the mirror, I just see a big, round ugly monster glaring back at me.

And believe me, it does not want to go away!

What is worse is that I remained oblivious to the wicked problem until I tried on last year’s summer shorts.

As muffin top spilled over in all directions, it became clear that I had entered unchartered and treacherous territory.

As a guy who has always had a high metabolism and stuck to the gym, I have never endured the popped-belly pig syndrome before and so I had no idea what to do about it.

But in typical C&J style, it was immediately regarded as the challenge of all challenges.

With Jonny knee-deep in army duties though, I had to tackle this one alone.

At first, I just thought I could solve it by beasting more weights in the gym, but after a few weeks resulted in a pile on of further pounds, it was clear that it would not be that easy!

With only 4 weeks left before braving the beach, it was time to take drastic action.

I figured if I was going to satisfy the stereotype, I would at least smash it like only we know how.

That night I spent hours working on the mother of all fitness plans.

4 weeks of pure brutality and regimented meals were added to a set menu which was to be strictly served until the day of flight.

What’s more I also issued goals, noted down my pre-workout weight and added a slot for a weekly analysis.

I needed to consider and record everything if I was to have any chance of winning this war!

It took several hours to conclude this cauldron of pain, but I was pleased (if not slightly terrified) by the final product.

Determined not to waste any more time I started the plan the following morning.

This would usually be the part of story where I talk about how it all went swimmingly for a few days and then got difficult blah blah blah.

Oh not.

Within a couple of hours, I was starving at work and had vicious craving for one of the cup-cakes our manager had bought it.

Several hours of misery were compounded when I got home and had to endure hot yoga and an ab blast but then could only look forward to a carb-reduced meal.

This was just the beginning.

For day’s I endured hunger and mood swings; but to make matters worse the beastly gut refused to budge.

It was only after pretty much a whole week; did I start to adjust to my new diet.

The work outs were becoming more tolerable and I (at last) noticed some slight reduction on belly-size.

But then I had a junk blow out at the weekend, as a reward for my efforts.

This was a mistake.

I learned the hard way when I mounted the scales 2 pounds heavier than I had started out at.

With this I picked up the intensity in week 2 and interestingly ate slightly more (but spread throughout the day) and after day 10 or 11 I started to feel great.

Come the end of week 2 I had lost 4 pounds.

Now with only a week to go, I plan to stick with the diet, stick with the abs and cardio intensity but also start stacking heavy weights too.

Assuming nothing drastic occurs, I now see no reason why I’m not on to a winner.

In fact, I can almost hear the beach calling me already.

I just prey that (belly) doesn’t hear that call too!

 

Until the next time

(Chris speaking) from C&J Active

Your everyday fitness friends.

A hack to get it back

Wood chopping success!

During a deeply difficult few months, my fitness routine was strangled by the fate of circumstance.

As endless days tormented with stress sat firmly in the driving seat, I had little time to dwell on gym days, never mind endure them.

Hour after hour I remained glued to my screen applying for jobs.

Redundancy is a cruel mistress and unfortunately it was only chocolate that stood by my side through the thick and thin.

Things were not looking great.

So as gym time stood sulking at the back of the priority queue, there was one unexpected savour which (regardless of my situation) dictated my attention still.

Quite simply this was the need to survive.

I know this doesn’t exactly sound too taxing. I mean a 10-minute dash around the supermarket doesn’t exactly equip you for a marathon, I know.

However, I happened to have a tool in my arsenal that dug me out of a grave and arguably transformed my fortunes.

It all started on a Sunday afternoon when the missus forced me out of my pit to grab some much-needed fresh air at a local lake.

Here at C&J we love the great outdoors, so it was the perfect idea.

Little did I know this decision would be one of immense inspiration though.

The light-bulb moment happened about half way around the lake when I registered a freshly felled tree, that was cut into fairly movable chunks.

As a proud owner of a wood-burning stove, my brain instantly established a connection; particularly as we were out of logs and potentially strapped for cash. What’s more it was an opportunity to think about the environment in terms of recycling and becoming self-sufficient.

I instantly wanted to take them home.

I resisted the urge however, just in case they were ready to be used by someone else.

However, after returning home, I couldn’t stop thinking about them.

And so, after a pain-staking week’s wait I decided to return to the scene. I decided if the logs were still there, they were coming home!

As I hunted down the goods it became clear just how far away they were from the car, even though I had parked as close as possible to the treasure.

I was like a kid at Christmas however when I discovered them once more, perched just as I had left them.

I hauled as many as I could handle under my arms and began to lug them back with me.

I quickly realised this would be an intense test of physical endurance.

My arms screamed in agony and sweat cascaded off my face under the beating spring sun.

Rather than despair however, my inner fitness freak was unleashed! As far I was concerned, I was taking on C&J’s latest fitness challenge.

The trek back to the car was even longer than I expected, but I was a man on a mission.

I eventually made it back, completely exhausted.

I was stunned to learn that this endeavour had burned off 300 cals and my heart rate had peaked at 156.

For the first time in weeks I felt pumped!

It felt even better bringing home the bacon. There was no longer an immediate need to fork out for more goods.

This success then introduced another challenge. Even though the trees were chopped, I had to break them down further to fit them in the stove.

I fished out the axe and hacked into a log. It immediately became clear that this task was also going to prove taxing.

This reality filled me with joy and a hunger.

From here on in I spent several hours every dry night (after the job hunt) smashing through dead wood, hardcore tunes blasting in the background.

I turned into a man possessed. An inner cave man I didn’t know existed was unleashed in my back yard.

After a couple of days, I was smashing through the gear with much more ease and my inner frustrations were being released.

I felt like Rocky Balboa.

3 or 4 nights in, the temperature was unusually high for the time of year and so I chopped without a shirt. At one point I caught a glance at my reflection in the window and I am not ashamed to admit that I was starting to look incredibly ripped, and I hadn’t been the gym in weeks!

It was at that point I realised I was on to something.

I started to track each wood chopping session as a workout and it became evident that each session was burning off at least 350 cals.

My resting heart rate soon dropped down too.

What’s more I was no longer feeling like a depressed slug during my job search.

Even after many rejections, I was able to see the positives and remained committed to the cause.

It proved worthwhile in the end as I secured a job.

And so, after many weeks I eventually returned to the old gym routine again.

But if I’m honest I think I prefer the raw nature of the humble wood chopping.

I know not everyone has a wood burner to make this a task a feasible addition to your routine.

But I couldn’t recommend enough, the power of natural exercise.

I think we should all find a way to go back to basics.

Until the next time!

(Chris speaking) from C&J Active

Your everyday fitness friends.

Busy, not broken

Fitness on the brain

The last few years have been a blur for me and Jonny.

As our lives continue to open like a vast canyon, straying off in different directions, C&J remains rooted as a mere memory of ferociously fit times gone by.

Immersed by the manic joys of home building, trips away and career changes, my fitness thoughts have been cast to one side and suffered neglect.

Meanwhile Jonny has been busting a gut for queen and country the past few years doing god only knows what to equip himself for a career in the military. Again, forcing the fitness blog ideas to gather dust.

With everything going on, we don’t even get the chance to meet up too often these days. But every time we do, one thing remains a regular topic for discussion…

We always talk about our continual battle to keep fit.

So even though we may have slacked off posting about our crazy, sweat inducing stories, we both continue a solitary fight against the grain to keep in shape.

But our most recent meet up just happened to open the memory box of C&J Active’s life in the fit lane.

We were in stitches looking back at times when we were forced to endure leg lifts in public places and conjured fear as we thought back to the time when we endured an all-day rowing challenge.

If you are not familiar with the carnage we used to cause, check out https://candjactive.wordpress.com/2016/07/29/row-row-and-row-some-more/ This was just the tip of the iceberg!

There’s no doubt we’d love to reignite our fitness partnership once again, but for now we must continue to crack on alone.

But we have both agreed we should take 5 every now and then so we can continue the fight to inspire healthy living once more.

And the proposition excites me because we’ve both picked up so many solid strategies for successful results in the past few years.

Our workouts may not be as wild as in our younger days (I can’t speak for the army boy) but they still remain innovative, fun and more importantly, easy to fit into every day life.

I’m also excited to announce that we can now officially back up our fitness credentials. Drum roll please!

I did say Jonny has been busier than a blue ass fly lately; and it has certainly paid off.  He is now officially a qualified personal trainer.

So, when he’s not busy on the battle field, watch this space for tried and tested fitness tips.

We look forward to sharing our fight for fitness stories with you again, real soon.

 

Until the next time!

(Chris speaking) from C&J Active

Your everyday fitness friends.

No need for New Year resolutions

We kick off 2017 on the blog side very differently to our approach to training.

My observations conclude that it seems to be a good sign that sharing our stories with you fine people comes a little later than anticipated. And I mean that in the nicest possible way.

So I’m proud to announce that Jonny and I have been blasting the gym throughout the most of January and its only a current set back (a story for another time) which provided me with time to breath and write.

We approached the new year with energy and new equipment that we had obtained before Christmas.

The addition of 2 20kg dumbbells essentially transformed our circuit style workouts and enabled us to keep up the high intensity whilst rapidly promoting explosive strength. This has ensured quick results in a month that demands just that.

I must admit it was looking sketchy for a while over Christmas as Jonny and I were struck with the flu.

Fortunately this eased off just in time for the new start and then it was very much business as usual, albeit with some new challenges and workouts to endure.

However there’s no need for me to harp on about how we were psyched to succeed with it being the new year blah blah blah.

I mean of course we were psyched. The only difference this year is that we felt equally as psyched as we did in 2016.

Although this may seem slightly anti-climax, for me its more than encouraging.

It demonstrates that my commitment to the gym is more than just a flame that is destined to fizzle out.

It has reminded me that I am not a January gym jester who only enjoys one 4 week boot camp a year.

So all that remains for us to do is to keep hitting it hard, keep feeling the results and just hope that we are not getting complacent as the final stretch of C&J approaches, along with some final challenges to end all challenges.

So if we pretend I’m writing this when initially intended, all that remains for me to say, is I best get back to it.

Until the next time.

Chris speaking from C&J Active.

Your everyday fitness friends.

I got 99 problems but my reach ain’t one

I found this quirky little edited song lyric on a t-shirt once and I’ve been dying to share it with the world in some way since.

I think what’s great about it is that it is actually really funny to a select few who get it. However not only is it humorous to certain enthusiasts, it also hits the nail on the head about the joy of a passion that is niche but growing rapidly.

If the term ‘reach’ didn’t give away the lyric’s true meaning for those not in the know, I am of course talking about the benefit of rock climbing.

I had an open minded moment a good few years back and embraced my first ever climb at the Climbing Hangar bouldering centre in Liverpool. I fell in love with the walls and developed an insatiable thirst for the sport.

Although life’s commitments make it hard to saturate my addiction these days, the walls always greet me like an old best friend; every time. And boy do we have fun!

For those who yet to be acquainted with the art of bouldering, it basically involves climbing (in or outside) on medium height surfaces that do not require the use of a harness and ropes. What no ropes I hear you cry!? Don’t worry you land on big, soft crash mats.

Rather than scaling huge heights, this sport is all about working out complex routes and utilising your body to ‘match’ a route, or in non climber talk, successfully finish the route.

The climbs vary significantly in difficulty and movement range. The place I go to categorises the routes in different colours depending on their difficulty. In terms of movement, the only way to describe it is sometimes it seems like your climbing a nice easy set of ladders and other times you might be hanging pretty much upside down like Tarzan scaling the underside of a thick branch.

So anyway I think my latest visit really reflected this rather catchy song lyric/saying the most.

I went at a time when my whole life was in upheaval. My job security was in serious doubt, I had just undertaking a mortgage and money was scarce.

Despite all of this and the thought of spending money I didn’t have, I went along for a climb anyway.

I had been a few weeks earlier and was determined to complete several routes, that only a few months back would have seemed impossible! I had been making great progress though and although I had previously struggled to complete these nasty little brutes, this time I was hopeful.

I started off on the easier routes to warm up.

I then took on a few new blue routes which were of moderate to hard difficulty for me.

I then went back to the 2 purple beasts which had slayed me on my last visit.

The first involved a carefully worked out start where the correct foot positioning was key. This then involved moving up into a position that prepared for a slightly overhanging leap of faith finish. And it was the last bit that tormented me.

But this time I was poised for glory and defeated the leap of faith on my first attack.

It was then on to purple route number 2. This involved a long climb with a nasty twist and overhang finish at the end.

It was the twist and overhang that butchered my spirit and my fingers the last time. But this time I was hungry for vengeance once more.

I quickly made it to the twist, this time planting my left foot on a lower hold. It gave me stability and from here I powered up with my right hand to finish the job.

The satisfaction gained from those 2 climbs for eminence. It felt like conquering Everest for a moment.

What’s more I hadn’t given any thought about anything else other than the wall until I had finished.

However when I did give real life some thought I started to think of things as a problem that can be solved- just like the wall!

Since then life has become much more stable and even though things are still getting tough at times, I just think of the time I completed not just 1, but 2 climbs that I had deemed impossible; and it gives me hope.

And even if all else fails I know I can venture back to my sanctuary and at least for a few hours I know my only problem in life is how to scale that wall!

Ps. I should note, Jonny and I both thrive on the climbing buzz and next time Jonny will introduce you to the world in which ropes and new heights offer an all together different kind of thrill and escape!

Until the next time!

Chris speaking from C&J Active

Your everyday fitness friends.

Half hours of hell

The ever evolving journey of life has launched me into a vicious storm!

It seemed only 2 minutes ago that I was conquering my ambitions, both in the gym and at home; but in an instant this was plunged into anarchy.

I think it’s a given that nothing comes easy at C&J. We get intoxicated by a challenge and so were probably asking for it by having things so easy.

To put in bluntly, I was hit with redundancy with a baby mortgage to feed.

From training 5 days a week, I immediately nose-dived to 0 and all Jonny could do is watch helplessly whilst I crash landed.

After the initial shock was absorbed however, I decided to peel myself off the curb in typical C&J fashion.

Jonny convinced me that we could still train, regardless of the sorry situation and that it would do some good.

Herein the half hour blast was born.

I was less than up for the idea given the magnitude of my task, but reluctantly ran with it.

I turned up thinking let’s work up a little sweat, achieve some small gains and quickly move on to job jousting but Jonny had other ideas.

It quickly became clear that any hell I was currently enduring was about to be intensified. Like a flash of lightning in a storm, it upped the ante by a few thousand watts.

I was faced with a savage circuit in sauna like conditions as Jonny cranked up the heaters to achieve maximum sweating.

Our menu was a concoction of medicine ball slams, burpee dead-lifts, and brutal complex compound movements as well as many other devious endeavors. Anything to bring maximum pain in minimum time was invited to the party.

Each half an hour lasted a lifetime! It felt far longer than any full hour and an half session.

Even the full day row didn’t feel as long.

Sweat poured from every orifice as the heaters did their work and after every session my limbs shook from the impact.

At first I didn’t think I could cope with everything that was going on. It felt like the saying ‘go hard or go home’ had gone too far and going home was no longer a safe haven anyway.

After a few weeks however, I remarkably started to grow in strength; both physically and mentally. I started to enjoy the pain in the gym and outside of it.

Moreover I was stunned at now easily I could slip in time for intense training without it affecting a situation that was burdened by grave time constraints.

Every bit of anguish is making me more determined and with small steps of progress now being made in every aspect of life, I’m confident that I am sailing towards blue skies once more.

Until the next time!

Chris writing from C&J Active

Your everyday fitness friends.

A whirlwind of workouts

Me battling the morning run

So here we are again. And no it is not deja-vu.

It only seems like last week I was here reminiscing about a year of work outs and the end of an era, but bizarrely I’m here again with a similar story.

It was sudden surprise when Jonny announced he was heading home back in February, but I wasn’t surprised to learn it would again be a semi-permanent arrangement.

Moreover, there was little time to bask in the joy of a rekindled C&J, as it was straight back to work.

Jonny needed to prepare for his next adventure to Nepal and I was in drastic need of renewed gym motivation and gains.

So with these goals in mind, we embarked on round 2 and below is a summary of a hectic 5 months…

It all started with circuit hell! And the first few sessions were nothing short of torture.

Each rep was agony, with each and every muscle screaming out for sanctuary. Our initial ambitions were unrealistic and muscle recovery took far too much time to achieve.

After a few rough weeks though, we eventually got back into the swing of things. Workouts were becoming a success once more and definition was beginning to make a welcomed return to the party.

We then decided to innovate, with Jonny buying a bane style oxygen restriction mask and introducing the savage squat rack to our strength sessions.

Unfortunately Jonny’s flight feet then threw a spanner into the works as he spent a few weeks jetting off on a number of untimely drinking holidays. When I later followed suit with a drinking holiday of my own, its was quite clear that things had taken a turn for the worst.

To make matters worse, the weather decided to revert back to the typical British diva we all know and hate and cast a its miserable spell on us, ruining session after session.

Regardless of this, we eventually got back on track, but it meant we had lost a lot of valuable time. To counteract this Jonny had a master plan to promote success; and fast!

Here-in the diet challenge, morning running and 30, 30, 30, 30’s were introduced. I will be going into more gritty details about these nasty little endeavours in my next instalment.

Put simply, the morning runs created more time to train and the challenge offered the motivation to see things through. Twinned with this, the 30, 30, 30, 30’s enabled us to achieve great abs to reward our fat burning efforts a little more.

Unfortunately fate would smite us one more time as I became ill and out of action for over a week with only a week to go before our challenge. Luckily when the storm blew over I was gifted with one last week to put things right.

And boy did we use that week. Jonny’s trusty diary confirmed that we hit the gym harder than we had ever done before. Everyday was filled with some form of gain through pain activity. Put simply, everything we could do, we did.

So now we have parted again for now. We finished our challenge and achieved what we set out to. Jonny has gone to scale mountains full of beans and I am again back on track to maintaining a healthy lifestyle.

But from here-on in, the future looks uncertain. As I prepare to move house and Jonny looks set for military action upon his return, things at C&J could once again seize to remain. Or should I say seize to remain the same. I think the motivation for health is deep rooted in our veins now and I think February just proved that our endeavours would be a life-long struggle.

A new adventure awaits and as our motivation to write and inspire remains, all that is left to say is…

Until the next time!

(Chris speaking) from C&J Active

Your everyday fitness friends.

Row, row and row some more

Jonny endures Rowing pain

A lot has happened since I last touched base on here.

Considering this was only a few weeks back, the mere thought is an exhausting one.

But the fact that I am here is a relief, as our last challenge was set to push Jonny and I to our absolute limits!

Last you may recall, we were both charging ahead with our preparations, but the sheer magnitude of what lay ahead was overwhelming.

So just to recap, the battle ahead dictated that Jonny and I must strip down by a staggering one stone. And for every pound over they must endure 1000 reps on the rower. All reps must be completed in 24 hours.

With literally days to go before the main event I was feeling sick to my stomach. The weight wasn’t shifting and I missed out on a crucial cardio blast.

Fortunately this was putting me off my food and I restricted myself to war style rations.

Meanwhile Jonny must have been feeling the heat too, quite literally, as he endured hours in sauna style gym conditions, pouring into a sticky sweatsuit.

Jonny weighed in and went first. He came in 5 pounds over the target. This added to my nerves as I was convinced he would hit.

His stint started early in the morning and went on for what seemed like a lifetime. I only received the occasional update and it did not sound pleasant!

I’ll never know exactly what happened during his date with the rower, all I know is that 6 hours later I at last received confirmation that the deed was done.

To add a twist to the tale, in a rare occurrence, Jonny admitted his potential for punishment had reached a step to far and limited my row to the same distance as his; should I exceed the weight count of course. This filled me with a mix of relief and sheer terror, but more so the latter, as I knew this challenge could only spell hell!

I weighed in on Friday night, 9 pounds over the target. I usually weigh in roughly 2 pounds under in the usual morning weigh, so I concluded it was 7 pounds over in total. It was disappointing but still pleasing when I considered my achievement in the wider scale of things. I had lost almost a stone.

So the next morning, it was simply pure punishment for me.

I started at 2.30pm and was feeling good. I was loading with energy items and water and began with a good stretch.

I had pondered the best strategy for a few days, but Jonny was quite adamant that I go with a 100 rep approach with small breaks, until 1000 reps and then have a slightly longer break. His reasoning very soon became clear.

Jonny also suggested that I should aim for each 100 within 5 minutes if I aimed to make good time.

So after starting my quest, it didn’t take long until the reality of the task hit me like a wrecking ball. I was already breaking a sweat.

Soon enough however, Jonny put on the second Hobbit film for me and I was suddenly finding my rhythm.

I was making great time and felt optimistic. I had a vision of knocking out the reps by the end of the film and enjoying the rest of the day, chilling with a burger and beers.

Jonny soon got bored and left me to endure my endless fate alone.

This was fine for a good while, but at 2000 reps I was suddenly hitting some kind of sailor wall. It was like a form of sea sickness. The constant movement back and forth was sending me doolally and a crippling ache in my lower back and arms was starting to kick in.

I was lifted from this trance with a great action scene in the film, but this proved only to be a temporary grace, as shortly after I lost all focus on the film and could only think of pain.

The half way point was an interesting marker. It felt good to make it half way, but disillusioned at the though of doing it all again.

Jonny came back to join me as the film finished and it was becoming clear that I was dropping off the early pace significantly. So much for my early film finish.

I was pre-warned about the torturous nature of the last 2000 reps and oh boy did they deliver! The arm and back pain became more intense with every rep and every rep got slower.

All I could do is slog it out and try to ignore the pain. It must have looked grotesque; sweat stained, red faced, angry and deranged. To make matters worse, the sun started to blaze through the windows.

A powerful hunger came over me with 1000 reps to go and I craved beer and burger like oxygen.

With a few hundred reps to go it was confirmed that Jonny had finished before me. It this point I did not care.

I battled for each and every rep. Jonny assured me that the last 200 were not too bad, due to the finishing line being in sight. I failed to feel that benefit until the last 100 and then suddenly it felt like magic. A burst of energy took over and I at last reached the shore!

A marathon on the rower was complete; and it took 6 hours 20 minutes. I was elated. However it didn’t really stem for pride, but rather relief! It’s only now upon reflection I can appreciate the achievement.

It was odd because after all those hours, the pain was less intense than in previous challenges. It’s quite clear that this challenge was one for the mind. Unexpected but ultimately we couldn’t have asked for anything better.

Getting yourself to the gym is a mental challenge; it is mind over matter and getting through life is exactly the same!

So if this does turn out to be mine and Jonny’s last challenge for many years to come, I’ll leave C&J content.

After all Jonny stated in his last blog, he believes that we should constantly push our limits and never give up. I believe in this too and think everyone should follow suit.

If you don’t quite understand what I mean, try doing the challenge for yourself and everything will soon become clear…

Until the next time!

(Chris speaking) from C&J Active

Your everyday fitness friends.

Farewell For Now

So it’s that time of year and I’m heading off on expedition again. What a year it’s been already, fears over global warming, terrorist attacks seemingly on a weekly basis, millions displaced due to the conflict across the Middle East and Africa, at a time when all nations, all people, need to come together, the United Kingdom votes, for better or for worse, to leave the European Union. Across the pond the USA looks, from my perspective, to be as (if not more) divided as us here in the UK. The world looks to be going mad.

All this uncertainty, all this tragedy, all the discrimination and riots and uprising. It makes our petty gripes here at C&J trivial unimportant. It simply puts life into perspective. I cant speak for Chris, but these awful events, they are the reason I go on expedition. The reason I train so hard. If I can go on expedition and use my skills, my strength to truly make a difference to even a single family then I have a responsibility to do so. If I can push my body to it’s limits; summiting a mountain, journey a jungle, crossing a desert. Then I am obliged to do so.

Expedition’s very nature is to explore the unknown. This doesn’t have to mean flying off to remote location never seen by man. Every day is an expedition. Life its self is an expedition. It’s a journey of self discovery and that for me is the true meaning of expedition because you will always find something unknown about yourself. Expedition is hard, it’s challenging and you have to be willing to put in the effort, you have to see how far you can go both physically and mentally. That’s why been active is so important; unless you push yourself every day, squeeze that extra rep out, run the extra mile, increase the weight till the bar bends then how do you know where your limit is? how do you know if you can get past the burn and reach new heights? how do you know if you have the perseverance to keep getting back up when your knocked down unless you train yourself to keep moving forward?

Everything I do in life, every decision I make is to make myself as strong, as durable, as versatile as possible so that whoever I come into contact with can hopefully find inspiration from me and in turn spread it to others till it becomes an epidemic. In these seemingly dark times of the 21st century the world needs heroes, and you don’t need to be worth billions and fly round in a iron suit or dressed like a bat, you don’t even need to part of a government super soldier experiment or even an alien from space. We can all be heroes, you just have the ambition to become one.

So this is goodbye from me and I leave the blog in the capable hands of Chris.

Farewell from me, Jonny and remember to

#BeAmbitious

 

 

Dicing with diet

I’ve been a ghost somewhat on here of late. Like a creature lurking in the shadows I’ve been quietly observing and correcting the odd word of Jonny’s.

Although it sounds creepy, the real reason for this unusual behaviour is in fact life’s commitments have allowed me little time to reflect.

Yet as we approach the penultimate stage of C&J round 2, I feel it is my duty to share my side of the story of where we are.

I could reel of an essay on training so far, but at the moment I can think of little more than the titanic battle that lies ahead.

A challenge to topple all other challenges, what could be our final hour may well be our most lethal.

Those who have read up on the task ahead (on our challenges tab) will know that its suicide.

Each brave (and extremely foolish) victor must strip down by a staggering one stone. And for every pound over they must endure 1000 reps on the rower. All reps must be completed in 24 hours.

A toxic concoction of intense cardio and unheard of starvation, the unveiling of this beast made me weak at the knees.

However it is not the cardio that phases me. It’s the strict dieting that’s been the constant Achilles heel for me.

Once upon a dream I could lose pounds like throwing them in a slot machine, but these days the dreaded gut has made itself a comfy lair.

So I started off in the challenge in complete denial and blocked every thought of it out of my mind.

But about a week ago it hit me! The weight was going nowhere.

Since then I succumbed to a razor throat which threw me out of action for over a week.

It was tense and frustrating times for both myself and Jonny.

But remarkably the throat issue suddenly made food unappealing, and for the first time I was able to channel what I ate.

Furthermore I’ve been able to keep it up! All snacks have been eradicated. Meals have been protein based with only minimal carbs and fat has been thrown out the window.

Now Jonny and I have been able to pick up on the most intense week of training and we at last look to be in the battle.

However my stomach took a huge lurch yesterday when the demonic scales still told me grave news.

Today has been an improvement, but what will happen come weigh in day on Saturday is anyone’s guess.

I should have known that the final role of the dice would offer a show to remember. Only time will tell if it will be one to forget.

Until the next time!

C&J Active

(Your everyday fitness friends)