Trust

When you take the first step of  a journey, you never really know where it will end.

Where.

Or if.

Check the map.

Plan your route.

Nothing ever happens the way you expect.

Nothing.

Do I say that like it's a bad thing?

Of course not.

Fate, Destiny, call it what you want.

It's for people who abdicate control.

It's for people who give up freedom.

It's for people who sacrifice their right to choose at the altar of an easy life.

Today's Training:

a1) Tactical Pull-Ups x 24kg KB x 2

a2) Tactical Pull-Ups x 3

a3) Halos x 24kg KB X 10

Repeat x5 Rest 60s between sets

b1) Tactical Pull-Ups x 5

b2) Swings x 20

Repeat x5. Rest 60s between sets

c) VWC

x 10 Minutes

d1) Tactical Pull-Ups x 5

d2) Decline Push-Ups x 10

Repeat x5. Rest 60s between sets

My life has changed direction.

Things I thought were true proved to be false.

Maybe they had always been so, maybe I only just realised.

Either way, the path I started out on, the destination I had intended, have shifted dramatically.

We can't choose our destination, only aim at it.

And we can't choose our travel companions either.

But as my direction has changed, an unexpected number of people have changed with me.

As a trainer, I know people put their trust in me.

As my direction has changed, the people who trusted me have changed with me.

But today, two people who have no reason to trust me, who barely know me, also changed direction with me.

To quote Mathew Broderick's character Ferris Bueller, from the excellent movie 'Ferris Bueller's Day Off'
"Life moves pretty fast. If you don't stop and look around once and a while, you could miss it."
It's all too easy to forget to stop and look around.

But sometimes you get a reminder.

Like I did today, when these two people - let's call them strangers, because that's virtually what they are - changed direction with me.

And what did I say when I stopped to look around?

I see all the people who trust me.

As a trainer.

As a friend.

As a man.

And I see me.

Is the me I see always worthy of that trust?

Not always.

But today, I am.

Because today, I stopped and looked around.

And I realised that these people who trust my honesty, my knowledge, my skills...

These people deserve to be able to trust me, and to believe in me.

And so do I.

And as of today, I believe.

Believe with me.

Or not.

Your choice.

That's the nature of trust.

General Out

Today

Today's Training:
a1) Tactical Pull-Ups x 5
a2) Sprawl  Push-Ups x 10
Repeat 10 times, 30 secs rest between sets

b1) Tactical Pull-Ups x 5
b2) Wrestlers Bridge x 10
Repeat 10 times, 30 secs rest between sets

As of today, I weigh 86kg. Fight date is, I believe 16th April, weight limit 90kg - it's nice to be this relaxed about my weight before a fight, I feel so strong at this heavier weight, and I know there's more to come - much more.

Any other business?

Yeah.

Whoever you are
Why ever you're reading this
Love me or hate me

Take the past...
And just let it go.

Now is all we have.

Treat every rep like it's your last,
Treat every word as if it's important..because it is.
As my friend Mitch once said to me
"The mike is always on"
And if you have someone in your life that you love...tell them.
Because, even without dead birds falling from the skies and three full moons in a row, there's still no tomorrow.

          What are you waiting for?

          Or better still, start your own.

Is my mike on?
Good.
Pay attention:
There's NO tomorrow.
Coulda-shoulda-woulda...
If you have to do something important:
Do it now.

General Out

Turn Up The Volume

Today's Training:
(throughout the day)

Burpee Pull-Ups x 150
Decline Push-Ups x 300
Pull-Ups x 150

Yes, really. Just that.

And this is how it's gonna be for the next few days.
Partly because really want to see how high volume of such simple exercises affects my body.
And partly because it's all I can do at the moment (although tomorrow may see the addition of some swings)

Further to yesterday's post, I'd like to thank those of you have mailed and texted your support and backing, even, in fact especially, those of you who don't know what'[s being going on in Craigy-world recently.

In adversity, we know our true friends.
And as I've said on this page before..
If you're not my friend, you really don;t want to be in my way anymore.

No more Mr Nice Guy?
If you know me, you know the truth of who, and how, I am.

The volume experiment continues tomorrow...you can sit back all day, log onto your PC at night, and read how it's affecting me...
Or you could get involved and do it yourself.
Get in the game.
Get off your ass, every hour, on the hour:
5 sets of 10 push-ups - how long is that gonna take?

If you don't fancy burpees, or can't do pull-ups where you are, just hit some bodyweight squats, maybe some planks.

Stop reading.

Stop thinking.

Start doing.

Your life is ending right now
But the rest of your life starts...
right here
right now

Don't be a spectator.

General Out

Dawn

I am back.
I know you have missed me.

Every moment we die and are re-born.
More than ever, that process makes sense to me now.
This evolution, this revolution, overtakes everything.
Truths we knew turn out to be false.

When the sun shines, everyone is your friend.
In the Darkness, you find out the truth.
The truth of who will stand by you, and who won't.

How you use this truth shapes your future...
Your relationships,

Your path,

Your whole life.

The sun is rising.
I am re-born.
Tougher.
Stronger.
More Alive.

The General...

Squared

Version 2.0

Upgraded

Improved.

And knowing who my friends are.

Training, Day One, starts tomorrow.
We attack at dawn.

General Out.

Ask yourself this question:

Nothing I could say today makes more sense than this, from my good friend Snake:

"I often get asked why I train so hard. I do it because one day I will need to be strong. Someday, somebody will find themselves in a situation when they will depend on me being strong, and when that happens, that child or mother or elderly person will get saved. So, don't ask why I train, instead ask yourself why you don't?"

You can answer this question, right?

General Out

Wake Up.

Before I comment on anything else:

I failed to post yesterday.

So...

Yesterday's Training:

am

a) 5 x Tactical Pull-Ups/10 x Sprawl Push-ups on the minute every minute for ten minutes

b) 10 x Wrestlers Bridge/10 x Spetsnaz Rolls (all with 5kg Medicine Ball)

Repeat 5 times, 30 seconds break

pm

a) Weighted Tactical Pull-Ups x 5 x 5

b) Deadlift x 90kg x 1rep every 15 secs x 25 mins (total volume 9 tonnes)

And, furthermore...

Today's Training:

a) Weighted Tactical Pull-Ups x 5 x 5

b) TGUs x 3 x 3

c) VWC x 20 minutes

Total Swings for The Month: 3530

If you're still reading...thank you.

I've been getting a lot of feedback about my opinions recently, most of it good, and I'm genuinely surprised at how many of you are reading this.

So, again...

Thank you.

I'm pretty tired and achy today, so I'm not going to post loads.

I'm just going to wonder out loud, again, how so much dis-information and BS turns into main stream 'gym knowledge'?

Why

Do the scrawny boys with no functional strength or muscle size feel the need to do a nonsense of an exercise like decline bench press?

Why

Do the overweight guys with no functional strength or stamina think that endless bicep curls will help them towards the look they desire?

Why

Are so many women - and some men - afraid of lifting either themselves or iron because they believe they'll get 'muscle bound'

Why

Is form valued so much over function in the west?

Am I always right?

No.

Ov Corz not...but I'm never wrong - my opinions are just different.

If you're reading this, chances are that yours are too.

So please...spread the word.

Speak out.

Before we become drowned out by the flood of vanity based training and cookie-cutter programmes that are designed to be 'easy and do-able' rather than effective.

Mitch and I have a programme.
Is it do-able?
Ask me in March.
Is it easy?
Hell no!
Because if it was, it would be pointless.

The guys I train have a programme - even if they don't always realise it.

You should have one too

Without a programme,

Without goals,

You're not training...

At best you're exercising, at worst you're lying to yourself.

And this isn't just about being big, being strong, being fit.

Because...

If you're the guy who can't walk upstairs without getting out of breath.

If you're the guy who can't push or pull his own weight around.
If you're the guy who can't act when action is needed.

Then really...

What use are you?
To your family, your friends, your neighbours.
I'm not saying we should all have skills and training.

But I am saying this:

If my kid had fallen in the street, I'd want to be able to run out in front of a car and scoop him to safety.

Wouldn't you?

Would you?
Could you/

Wake up and smell the coffee.

Because too many of you are sleeping.

General Out

Responsibility

Today has so far been an irritated mix of cancellations and lost time.

I had 2 last minute cancellations (not you, Croc), following on from another of the same Friday evening.

As a trainer, it's frustrating to put time and effort into helping people, only to be left feeling that their goals are more important to me than they are to them.

It's something that's all to common in today's society...

Abdication Of Responsibility

It's not just training related.

It's life related.

It's society related.

It's personality related.

How often do we see a crime or incident on the news, and we're either told, or it's glaringly obvious, that passers by could have made a difference, but they didn't.

Didn't stop and help, or just didn't care.

Either way, they then share the responsibility for the bad thing that happened.

Because if you have the power to prevent something happening, but you choose not to, you are responsible for that thing happening.

Just because something is not your fault, it doesn't mean it's not your responsibility.

Every time you, I, or anyone abdicates responsibility, the world around us becomes a fraction worse. It slips a little deeper into decline.

Isn't today's blog about training?

Of course it is.

When you hear people say 'training is my life' they are often laughed at.

But if we take the lessons that we can learn from the Iron and apply them to everyday life, then we become better people, better members of society.

Hopefully, better Sheepdogs.

At the very least, better sheep.

Today's Training:

am:

a) Renegade Rows x 5 x 5

b) Double KB Front Squats x 5 x 5

c) VWC x 20 minutes

pm:

a1) Clean & Press x 5L/R / 20 Swings

a2) Halos x 10 / 20 Swings

a3) Snatch x 5L/R / 20 Swings
Repeat 4 times, minimal rest
b) Swings x 25 on the minute every minute for 10 minutes.

Total Swings for The Month: 3090

And not abdicating responsibility applies to ourselves as much as anyone else.

I sit here irritated by lack of commitment...but then I think.

How many days of my life have been wasted in pointless activities, in doing nothing, when I could have been training, or learning?

I've written on this page before about how my training was limited by time.

But it's just an excuse.

How long does a 20 min VO2 Max VWC set take?

Yeah, that's right, 20 minutes.

How long do 10 minutes of Tabatta swings take?

10 minutes.

Correct, have a gold star.

Is anyone's day really that busy?

No.

Maybe you choose to prioritise training below other things.

That's fine.

Just don't claim not to have time.

And don't bitch that the results aren't coming.

Effort In = Results Out

Providing you have a solid training plan, that is.

But we've talked about that before, haven't we?

I lose count of the number of people who say to me:

'But I spend 2 hours a day in the gym, why aren't I getting results?'

Because I have no idea how long you spend training, but in my experience the more time someone spends in the gym, the less time they spend training.

Does this sound familiar?

Stop dreaming...
This is real life.
Stop talking...
When you should be acting.

Whay you know doesn't matter.
What you do, matters.
Becasue you, I, everyone of us...
We become what we do.

General Out

Rule 1

Think about what you do.
Is that too much to ask?
Apparently.
People don't understand why I'm so 'fit' because they 'never see me do cardio'
True.
Anyone who trains with me, or like me, knows the real truth.
Mitch, Snake, Pete The Animal - you are laughing now, I can hear you.

Today's Training:
Weighted Tactical Pull-Ups x 5 x 3
TGUs x 3 x 3
VWC x 15 minutes
(I know this isn't quite with the programme, but I missed last Monday and yesterday, and I wanted to train!)

So, have I done CV today?
Damn right.
15 minutes of heart pumping Snatches on a 1:1 work to rest ratio.
My feet never moved.
My heart and lungs sure did.
Did I grind out rotation after pointless rotation on a Cross-Trainer or Static Cycle.
Absolutely not.
And if I had, I wouldn't have done as much 'CV' as I did in 15 minutes of 'standing still' today.

I have done sessions with people who breathe like they're having an asthma attack by the end, then ask me when we're going to start doing CV...

If deadlifts and box jumps don't raise your heart rate, you may well already be dead

If tabatta swings don't leave you breathless, you really aren't trying.
If you think plodding along on a treadmill is exercise...
You really aren't paying attention.
And if you don't think you need to do cardio at all...
Watch the excellent movie, Zombieland.

And then mail me, and we'll talk...

General Out

You Shoulda Stayed Away...

Another day into the 2 month plan, and another pointless trip to the doctor/physio about my nagging wrist injury preceeded the first serious Viking Warrior Conditioning workout.

Testing gave me a target of 7 reps per 15 seconds, which is a nice steady pace of pretty much 1 snatch every 2 seconds.

Although perhaps nice isn't the right word.

Today's Training:

Midday:

5 x 5 x TGU

5 x 3 x Weighted Tactical Pull-Ups

VWC 15/15 x 20 minutes

Evening:

5 x 20 Swings (32kg) with 15 second rest between sets

VWC x 10 minutes

Swings to date: 2020

If you haven't tried Kenneth Jay's VO2 Max workouts, google it, buy the book, or mail me:

This is the daddy of all endurance training, with science and studies to back up the claims it makes.

I don't care if you don't think it will work.

I don't care if you don't believe in it.

I don't even care if you don't enjoy it.

Because you will enjoy the results.

You will believe.

On a totally different note:

Who are your friends?

To me, your friends are the people you trust with anything.

Your friends guard your house if you are away.

Your friends do not try and steal from your house when your attention is elsewhere.

Your friends do not try to take over your house while you're not looking.

But sometimes we trust the wrong people.

Unfortunately for these wrong people...The truth will always surface.

So...

Both of you,

I know what you tried to do while I wasn't looking.

And  now you know that you've failed.
And that I know.

Because my clients are also my friends.

Truer friends than you proved to be.

Payback is coming.

It's a bitch.

But you invited it into your house when you disrespected mine.

And to my true friends, whether I've met you or not, wherever in the world you are...

I thank you.

Loyalty and friendship can't be bought.

They have to be earned.

I'm happy with what I earn.

General Out.

All The Gear, No Idea.

This is not a rant.
This is what it is.
This is a story about Trainer 'X'
And about egos.
And the truth.

Trainer 'X' works at one of the gyms I use.
He is a very popular trainer.His business is booming.
Why?
People train with him because of how he looks.
He looks big. Ripped. To some people, he looks good.
To me, he looks like a Dr Frankensteins monster...a collection of disproportionate and exaggerated body parts that don' function together as a unit.
But each to his own.

Why is 'X' Popular.
Because the guys that train with him wanna look like him.
So he takes their money and he trains them like he trains.
What happens?
Sometimes nothing.
Sometimes minor gains.
Often Injury.
Progress is measured in post-workout pain, and in-workout puking.

Is Trainer 'X' a bad person?
No.
He is, in fact, my friend...Although I don't agree with what he does..
Am I criticising him?
Again, no...because he doesn't know any better, but I'll keep trying to steer him towards the light.

Who am I criticising?
The people who mindlessly want to train with him because they think they'll look like him.
They won't.
Why?
Because he doesn't know why, or how, he looks like that.
I do.
He looks like that because of:
1) Steroids. Gear. Juice...call it what you want
2) Genetics
3) The way he trains.
4) In that order.

If you train in any gym in Coventry...and I'm guessing in the UK in general...chances are you are surrounded by gear monkeys.
They are easily recognised.
Their training is characterised by:
Boasting.
Overt aggression.
Limited range of motion.
Functionally redundant isolation exercises.

Why do they do this?
Because they train their egos, not their bodies.
And they..and the wannabes who want to look the same but haven't yet fully turned to the darkside...don't understand what their bodies are meant to do, or how they are meant to perform.

Yes, you can bench press more than me.
Let's run a mile.
Let's do some box jumps.
Or some bear walks.
Now who can bench more?
Now who can bench at all?
Now you can hear me...but you're till not listening.

But people still won't realise the truth.
The best trainer and the biggest trainer aren't the same things.
Trainer X is my friend.
He regularly rings me up for advice.
I regularly give it.
He regularly ignores it.
Such is life.

 

But, as my friend Mitch would say..we keep on keeping on.

Because this is what we do.

This is who we are.

Keep on being yourself.

Resist the gear freaks and the Men's Health workouts.  

Don't train your ego.

Train your body.
Train your mind.
We're all just animals.

General Out

Hand your Man-card in on the way out, please.

After several false starts, I have at last embarked upon the training programme that Mitch and I agreed upon for the next 2 months.
How does it feel?
Damn good!

Today's Training:
Cable bicep curls
Tricep Pushdowns
'21' barbell curls
Triceps Kickbacks
Crunches on Powerplate
Some sort of bizarre attempt at what I believe was a Russian Twist, again on the Powerplate.

WTF?
Calm down, Comrades.
The General has not gone crazy.
He is joking, 'ov corz'
This 'workout', of course, is crazy.
And where did I get this crazy idea?
From three 'men' who spent 40 minutes doing this programme.
The same 40 minutes that my man SP spent under my encouraging gaze as he ground out sets of snatches, swings, clean & press, and offset racked squats.
Good man, SP.

If you think this 'workout' looks like something you might do, you have 2 options:
a) Carry on as you are, you enjoy 'training' like this
b) Change.

If you answered a)...fine, it's your body. Your weak, dysfunctional body. Carry on as you are, but don't forget to hand in your man-card at reception on your way out.

If you answered b)...
Correct.
Mail me, let's talk.


Shall we try again?

Today's Training:
am:
30 minutes sparring

midday:
a) Renegade Rows x 5 x 5
b) Double Front Squats x 5 x 5
c) VWC - 5 minute target pace set (this was all I had time for today)

evening:
a) 1-5 second hold pause push-ups/ 20 swings
Repeat 5 times, no rest.
b) 10 Halos/20 swings
Repeat 5 times, no rest.
c) 30 second pause squat/20 swings
Repeat 5 times. 1 minute rest. Repeat 5 times

Swings Today: 583
Swings this month: 1483

At last, it feels like the programme is underway!
And...
It's Craigy time!

General Out

Proper Planning Prevents...

The end of the Decemeber Turkish Get Up & Swing challenge was a big deal, of course.

I was worried, however, about the lack of focus following such an intense effort.

I needn't have worried.

A couple of emails with Mitch later, we're doing the 10,000 Swings in January, and we have a strength & conditioning programme for the rest of our spare time.

As trainers, we set goals and challenges for our clients and friends all the time, but the TGU/Swing Challenge has made me re-focus on the need to do this for myself.

Usually my training will be geared towards a fight, tournament, certification etc - but this leaves a lot of time where I basically freestyle my training, plan from week to week.

No more.

No more freestyle.

Everything planned.

There will be variety days, but everything else is set in stone.

If my training needs direction...

So does yours

Because without goals and planning, you're not training.

You're exercising.

Body Pump. Zumba. Spinning.

Blah blah blah.

Grab your Kettlebell.

Or your sandbag.

Or just yourself.
Make a plan.
A plan that suits your goals.
And that is realistic.

And go.

Go train.
And be yourself.
But better.

General Out

The Darkness Before Dawn

New dawn, new day.

The past year has taught me many lessons, and they are lessons I've learnt well.

And these lessons, which normally change us over time, have come together in my mind during the last few days.
One on top of another.
Until the slow evolution of learning has been replaced by a startling dawn of revolution.
Because enough is enough.
So...
Towards those of you who have lied to me, used me, and betrayed me...
Towards those of you who sought to better yourselves or your comrades by using me and my skills rather than by using your own skills...
Towards those of you who didn't even respect me enough to think that I may have realised what was going on...
I let go of my anger.

Not because I forgive you.

Because I don't, and I never will.

I let go of my anger because I believe that what goes around comes round.
Reap what you sow.
Get what you give.
And i let go of my anger because at last I realise that I don't have to be the instrument of my own revenge.
Sometimes, I will be, but I won't seek this vengeance out.
It will happen how, and when, it is meant to happen.
And when it does.
Think of me.
You know who you are.

Now relight the candles, light the midwinter bonfire.
The dark days are over.
Because for those of you who are my brothers and sisters, I'm still here.

Those of you who I have trained and fought alongside.
Those of you who help me without thought of reciprocation
Those of you who were really there for me when I needed you.
I don't need to name you, because...
You know who you are.
And, more  importantly...
So do I.

And on my first day without training since November, how do I feel?
Strong.

Renewed.

Born again.

It's 2011 today

It's Saturday.

More importantly...

It's Craigy time.

Like it's never been before.

If you're with me, it's all good,

If you're not with me, you're against me.

Because too many things have been too gray, for too long.

And now it's black and white.

Mostly black.

So if you're not with me.
Stay out of my way.
Because everything has changed.

This is Revolution,

General Out