Sydney
Train for Pain
Pain is temporary. It may last a minute, or an hour, or a day, or a year, but eventually it will subside and something else will take its place. If I quit, however, it lasts forever. Lance Armstrong
Last week was one of the biggest weeks of training I have ever had. I was pulling three a day sessions for the first three days, then two sessions for the next three, finishing the week off with a 90 min Bikram Yoga session which nearly killed me. Bikram is the one class where I’m at the very bottom and will be there for the forseeable future, the pregnant women can pull off better poses than I can. Our session Sat morning was a brutal one that everybody at home must try out, I was in pain from the beginning to the end. Don’t sell yourself short by using a light bar, 40kg was tough but its better to struggle through it then to use a light weight and not achieve or learn anything.
Using a 40kg total Barbell. Start with ten reps of each exercise, then 9reps, 8reps, 7reps and so on finishing with 1 rep.
The session was called 10-1
Dead lift
Row
Clean
Push Press
Front Squat
Reverse Lunge
Finish Time 24.45min
After this session The Revolution X promo video was going to be made. It was a professional shoot and they needed a class to put on a workout so they could get some good footage. A 5min AMRAP was chosen which I thought would be a piece of cake, it absolutely destroyed me, almost as much as the morning session. When the video camera was rolling showing weakness was never an option. Give this a go on your lunch break.
AMRAP 5min (As Many Rounds As Possible)
Dead lift 80kg x 5 
Burpees x 5
Push Ups x 5
Sit Ups x 5
Pull Ups x 5
Finish- I completed 6 rounds exactly.
March 15th, 2011
AMRAP (As Many Rounds As Possible) This is a new term I learnt yesterday when I went to train with the Rev X staff just after lunch. Luke, Rob, Kat and myself got pumped up to try a new workout called Ultra Fit 25. Which is only a 25min workout but one of the toughest I have done in a very long time. There were 5 exercises for 5 reps each that we had to keep rolling through to see how many rounds we could complete in the 25min. Take a look, the weights we had to complete the exercises with to keep in RXD (recommended weight) is ridiculous,
Dead lifts 90kg x 5rep
Pull Ups +20 kg x 5rep
Thrusters 60kg x 5rep
Kettle Bell Swings 32kg x 5rep
Burpees x 5rep
25min Finish Time- 9 rounds + Dead lifts
I was shattered after that but smashed some sushi with BCAAs and I jumped in for the next session at 6pm. It was the same session that we had completed in the morning, but I knocked my finish time down from 13.13min to 11.36min. Was a top day
X Fit Lifestyle
Destiny is no matter of chance. It is a matter of choice: It is not a thing to be waited for, it is a thing to be achieved. Paul Coelho
These words written by Paul Coelho ring true to me when I think about my current position and the way I’m heading. I left the coal mines in Oct last year with a dream to climb mountains but without the means to do so. I now find myself surrounded by great people in Sydney, training in state of the art facilities at Revolution X and having found the means to summit Aconcagua in Argentina and have Mt McKinley in Alaska ready to go in five weeks. If I had stayed at work to save and plan for these adventures I can gurantee you it would never come to fruition.
Sometimes grabbing life by the balls and putting yours on the line is the only way to get there. Luke Richmond
Not as politically correct as Mr Coelho but you get my point. Have a go at the following workouts, you will love them.
The Fireman-Team of two Workout
1000m Fireman Walk-50kg
100 Kettle Bell Swings -28kg
100 Pull Ups
100 Push Ups
100 Dead lifts-60kg
100 Push Press-Olympic Bar
Finish Time 27.20min
Row 400m
21 Kettle Bell Swings-28kg
10 Pull Ups
21 Push Ups
Repeat x 3 for time. Finish time-13.13min
Mountain Strength
March 10th, 2011
When you think of climbers and mountaineers, you stereotypically think of wiry framed little spider monkeys racing up cliff faces. You generally wouldn’t picture a rugby player standing on top of mountains, but I’m going to pioneer a new build of climber. There is no proof out there saying that you cannot be big,strong, powerful and have a climbers endurance. Today as part of preparation for the Denali Expedition we had strength conditioning, Dead lifts, Shoulder Press, Chin Ups and Front Squats. I was feeling great and decided to try for a PB on the dead lifts.
200kg Deadlift 3Rep max
To be a well rounded athlete, the ability to run, jump, swim, have strength, endurance and be powerful is very important. Whatever physique you have when you attain these traits, is the physique that will carry you to the Summit of Everest.
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Warrior Weekend
March 8th, 2011
Isn’t it funny how times can change, a year ago a weekend would consist of beers with mates, movies and eating out. On the weekend just gone I squeezed in two hard training sessions and some Bikram Yoga, but let me tell you the latter option for a weekend leaves you refreshed and ready to charge into Monday training instead of reaching for the Panadol. Check out the training below.
150 Degree Workout – Teams of two
Thrusters 40kg x 150
Push Ups x 150
Wall Ball Throws x 150
Sit Ups x 150
Sumo Dead lift High Pulls x 150
200m Run x 8
Finish Time was 28min29sec
Using a weight vest for Pull Ups + 11kg
Tabatha This – 20sec work 10sec rest for 8 sets (Record lowest rep set)
Chin Ups = 3
Push Ups = 9
Sit Ups = 14
Squats = 20
Row (Calorie Count) =63
Total Rep Count = 106
Laying Pull Ups + 11 kg Vest
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A day in the revolution
March 4th, 2011
I’m as sore as Ive ever been after a solid week of training, the first week back after the Aconcagua expedition. We had a Strength Training session in the morning and a cross fit workout of the day (WOD) in the afternoon. I’m loving the training at Revolution x with the crew but am not up to nailing three a day training just yet, next week ill bump it up a bit.
Morning Training
Dead lifts 5x 5 rep max = 175kg
Barbell Shoulder Press 5×5 rep max = 65 kg
Chin Ups wearing 11kg vest 5 x 5 rep
Front Squats 3 x 20 sec sets for max reps = 31, 36, 41
Afternoon Training
Lunges – 25 kg plate held above head x 10 reps
Push Ups x 10 reps
Kettle Bell Swings (20kg) x 10 rep
This workout is completed as many times as possible in 15 min, I managed 11.
Thought Id throw in a couple of pics of our pad work in the Gyms full size cage.
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Living the cross fit dream
March 3rd, 2011
I am back in my element with hard training and feeling strong again, the weight loss from the Aconcagua expedition has hurt my strength a little bit but everything else has improved. Chin Ups, push-ups, and interval training is close to the best its ever been. Yesterday was a tough day at Revolution X, my new adopted home of training, but I am loving the sessions and the crew of guys and girls are fantastic.
Morning session
10 x Sit Ups
10 x Lunges
100 m Sprint 100% Effort
10 Push Ups
10 Squats
9 Sit Ups
9 Lunges
100m Sprint
9 Push Ups
9 Squats
Continue the countdown completing 10 x 100 Sprints at 100% Effort, If you can walk at the end of it you haven’t gone hard enough.
Afternoon Session
10 x Dead lifts 100kg
10 x Push Ups
10 x Chin Ups
200 m Run
9 x Dead lifts 100kg
9 x Push Ups
9 x Chin Ups
200 m Run
Continue the countdown for 10 sets, this is a very tough session. My completion time was just under 20 min.
Parramatta Base Camp
March 1st, 2011
I have found my new training grounds to prepare me for my next summit in seven weeks time. Denali (Mt Mckinley) is going to be my hardest challenge so far and I will need to be in the best shape of my life to stand upon its summit and here in Parramatta Sydney I think Ive found a winning combination for achieving it. I came down to visit John, a mate of mine who trained with me at Tiger Muay Thai before the first summit, and apart from falling in love with the people here I have found a great gym to call home. He took me to a bran new facitlty called Revolution X owned by Rob Kastoun, It has a state of the art weights gym, a full size cage for fight training but also has some of the best cutting edge crossfit training I have ever seen with great coaches to pull it all off. I squeezed in three sessions yesterday and it was some of the toughest stuff I have ever done, shorter durations from what im used to but very intense. Yesterdays morning session was a 21-15-9 combination of Thrusters, Boxing and Burpees.
21 x Thrusters using 40kg barbell
21 Punches on 28 Bags
21 Burpees
15 Thrusters using 40kg Barbell
15 Punches on 28 Bags
15 Burpees
9Thrusters using 40kg
9 Punches on 28 Bags
9 Burpees
Completion time was 15min59 sec, I joined the night class and gave it another go yesterday and ran a 17min38sec, however before the night session I joined the trainers for a quick 5×5 sessio
5 Double Kettlebell Swings 16kg 
5 Kettlebell Clean and Press
5Kettlebell Squats
5 Pushups
5 Chinups
Repeated 5 times
With any training I have always said that the crew and where your training can have a massive impact on what your trying to achieve, with the gym and team of guys and girls I have now become part of, Parramatta Base camp is going to be my staging point for the remainder of the Seven Summits, and I can only see success.