Preparing for your first Hyrox and Overcoming the December Blues!

Are you struggling to keep fitness on top of your December priority list? Trust us, you're not alone - it's a challenge even for us, the hosts of your favourite fitness podcast!  In this episode we touch on what can help get us through this month!  

Are you interested in Hyrox? If so, tune in as we discuss this unique fitness challenge that's taking the world by storm and offer some insights on how to make your first Hyrox event a success!  

Lastly with Xmas around the corner who has got their tree up ?    

Transcript

Speaker 1 0:01

Hey guys, how you doing. We're back again myself, Barry Steven, in case you've forgotten who I am and my friend. He's still my friend. Nice, go on.

Speaker 2 0:12

Matthew. First of all. Thanks, barry, I appreciate that. How are you? You doing? Well, I am doing fantastic, guys. This is the second time we've started this recording, because I messed up the first one.

Speaker 1 0:23

I'll take responsibility. Thank you very much. Yeah, guys, so we're very aware we haven't met up for a long time, as always with this podcast. Hopefully we still have some valuable people listening in and interested in what we've got to say. Yeah, but it's a bit of a catch up session, isn't it Matthew? Yeah, it is going to be.

Speaker 2 0:47

We're going to chat about stuff Very chill, isn't it? But again, as I said in the previous recording, the old guys will never hear We've been bad with it, haven't we? Prioritising doing this? And again, it's relatable to people who are not prioritising their fitness and prioritising going to the gym and their health and we have not been prioritising this. You leave on the back burner. Do we have time to do it? Yes, have we given time to do it? No, but we're back now.

Speaker 1 1:08

And I feel like we're going into a month where a lot of people are going to not prioritise their health and fitness.

Speaker 2 1:16

So what we're going to be, we're going to motivate you by us prioritising. Doing this, Harry, aren't we? If we can prioritise this you guys can prioritise your fitness.

Speaker 1 1:25

Put it this way right, If we can get four episodes out in December?

Speaker 2 1:28

We're calling ourselves out right now.

Speaker 1 1:30

If we can get four episodes out in December and we're only doing one tonight, by the way, you guys can get to the gym and get your sessions in every week in December. Yeah, and we're going to do it Because I get December for one of those months where people are feeling in the party spirit and there's things on at the weekend. You know I get that.

Speaker 2 1:50

It's inherently miserable, isn't it really? It's dark all the time. It's been raining for the last two weeks. I swear I've seen a sun for about an hour.

Speaker 1 2:00

It is one of the. I don't want to say December's a depressing month, because December's Christmas.

Speaker 2 2:07

Yeah, I feel like the end of November's a tough time for people. Though that November spell, december's nice, it's like, oh, it's Christmas time, going to have some time off, I'm going to see my family, etc. That sort of stuff. You know we're going to have a big Christmas dinner meal and all that sort of stuff. It's good. But I think this time of year is quite difficult for a lot of people.

Speaker 1 2:24

So if there's people out there that are thinking, nah, I can't be bored with the gym, can't be bored with the gym, it's too cold, it's too dark, do it. I'm not getting up. I said let's do it.

Speaker 2 2:33

Now I think I, how do we motivate?

Speaker 1 2:36

them.

Speaker 2 2:36

Vitamin D and then make sure Vitamin D that's all you need Genuinely. It makes a big difference. I wasn't taking it and I stopped for a while and then recently I've started retaking it over to go with it being so dark you don't get any sunlight. You feel a lot better. You genuinely do feel a lot better. It's not super noticeable, but it's slightly noticeable.

Speaker 1 2:54

I definitely think people should be getting outside in the daylight hours.

Speaker 2 2:57

Yeah, if it's daylight outside. Yeah, don't wait for it to be daylight and then go oh, maybe I'll do something later because suddenly it's going to be dark again. Get out, because it's quite possible.

Speaker 1 3:06

You'll be going to work when it's dark, come in home when it's dark, so if you've got that opportunity at lunchtime to maybe go for a wee walk, yeah. Get the fresh air. Good idea, pleasant idea Breathing the sea breezes of Aberdeen, then you should do it. Yeah, make you feel good. Make you feel good the sea breezes of Aberdeen.

Speaker 2 3:27

What a time. So how have you been, Barry? You've been doing some exciting stuff. We were chatting earlier about your high rocks event.

Speaker 1 3:34

Yeah Well, I did mention in some previous episodes that I had entered a high rocks event and I'm pleased to say that I followed through with it, completed it. You completed it. Yeah, did it in a time that I felt was respectable.

Speaker 2 3:48

One hour and 35 minutes. One hour and 35 minutes, one hour and 35 minutes and eight seconds.

Speaker 1 3:52

She was I looked up so I wanted to do in an hour and 30 minutes. That was my goal.

Speaker 2 3:58

That's fair though isn't it Five minutes off? So it was five minutes off, but I felt one hour and 30 is pretty fast, right? I?

Speaker 1 4:06

have to say like there was. Maybe it was kind of funny because maybe for the first third of it I'm thinking I'm doing so well, I feel so good, I've smashed this bit.

Speaker 2 4:17

I've smashed that bit. What was it? And then you had the wall balls and it all went downhill.

Speaker 1 4:21

No, it was way before then. Then I think, maybe two thirds, or just over half way, two thirds way through, I was saying to myself I've never done this again, this is way harder than I thought.

Speaker 2 4:31

it would be Anything to keep you going during it, like to eat or drink or take or anything. I guess it's endurance. I want 35, so quite a while. I didn't, would you this time, if you do it again.

Speaker 1 4:45

Do you know what? I could see that people were taking gels at some part of in the race because they were sort of lying on the floor and stuff like that when you're running around, because I hadn't really done any of that in training, I didn't want to start doing it on the day. In case you know something's here, your stories, yes, your first time. People getting a sore stomach or whatever.

Speaker 2 5:05

You didn't want to Gary Linnaker at the side of the page, so I didn't want to take any unnecessary risks, Fair yeah fair.

Speaker 1 5:11

But I would say that I felt like I prepared really well the week leading up to it with in terms of like I went into it very, very hydrated. I took electrolyte tablets and things like that, which I felt helped as well, and you know, I increased my carbohydrates with my meals throughout the week and I did actually feel pretty good on the day.

Speaker 2 5:37

Good it is mad, isn't it? How many K do you run?

Speaker 1 5:42

So you run 8K but you end up running probably close to 9K because you've got to do a little bit of movement in between, like the rock zone and the running area, which the rock zone is basically where all the workouts are Okay. Yeah, yeah. So you do an event in the rocks, so you run your K, but you run in there to your station, do your work at your station, then you run back out again. So I think it accumulates up to something like 9K or something like that.

Speaker 2 6:09

Yeah, and then you're doing. How many events is it?

Speaker 1 6:12

It's eight different events. Well, they call them workouts. So there's 1K ski, then it's a sled push, which is 152 kilograms for 50 meters, which I was very anxious about because I didn't do any preparation for this. We don't have one in our gym.

Speaker 2 6:33

I stupidly didn't want anyone else's gym. You messaged me like two weeks before I'd be like have you got a sled in your gym? No, do you think there's?

Speaker 1 6:42

not many that, To be fair. That's kind of classic me.

Speaker 2 6:48

He did it and I respect that. I've always heard people who do things that don't prepare properly, then people just don't do things.

Speaker 1 6:53

I was quite worried about that because I've heard a lot of stories of people that basically just die as soon as they get to that like, and they don't recover very well for the rest of the race.

Speaker 2 7:03

Was it that hard? Was it really hard?

Speaker 1 7:05

Well, I was 800 to 900 men that were doing it that day. I think I did it 93rd quickest for the sled.

Speaker 2 7:17

So I actually did quite good at it.

Speaker 1 7:18

I did quite well and I felt like I was doing well when I was doing it. Don't get me wrong. It like my legs were fucked.

Speaker 2 7:25

Toast.

Speaker 1 7:26

Yeah. Quads burning calves gone I tried, like I tried my best, to get straight into a run after it.

Speaker 2 7:32

It's too fast, brutal. Legs are fried. Yeah, go run, okay. Oh great yeah.

Speaker 1 7:37

You know I looked like I seriously looked like I was pissed. My legs were fucked for a good couple of minutes but I got through it. Like you know I'd heard you know, just get into your run try and get yourself moving and eventually your body will adapt and pick up and you'll get back to normal speed. And it was a little bit slower with that run, but it was to be expected.

Speaker 1 8:00

Yeah 100%, but yeah. So sled push, sled pull, which is 102 kilograms on a big rope. When you've got to pull it, you've got to pull the sled all the way up to you and then you spin around and do it all the way back. You do that four times. I think that's 50 meters as well. Yeah, 50 meters. There's a little knack to doing that. I actually quite enjoyed it. I thought I did okay, I think so I had never practiced that one as well.

Speaker 2 8:27

Could you just?

Speaker 1 8:27

have a sled, because I don't have a sled.

Speaker 2 8:30

But what events did you practice rowing? Rowing did I?

Speaker 1 8:34

practice rowing. No, okay, skier, I did have a row.

Speaker 2 8:37

You don't have a skier. I did actually get a row, I got a row, so you did the skier, I did practice a row, I practiced a skier.

Speaker 1 8:44

I practiced a rower. I did a lot of lunges. Shout out to the ball post. By the way, this is off your high rocks topic.

Speaker 2 8:51

There's a guy who comes to our gym and he and a team rode across the Atlantic and he would come into the gym and row for like two and a half hours and I've never seen anything quite like it, like fast.

Speaker 1 9:05

You had to make my challenge look pretty mediocre, didn't you?

Speaker 2 9:08

No, your challenge is great, but you said rowing, I thought distance on a row and I just remember him doing it and you'd go over and like his pace was fast and you're like how are you doing that for two and a half hours? You're an animal. Anyway, back to the wall balls. How heavy was the ball you had to throw for the wall balls? So the wall balls is at the end.

Speaker 1 9:24

Is the last one, is the very last one that you do.

Speaker 2 9:28

And you do 100 repetitions. Of what weight? Six kilograms 100 reps that was brutal To. I think it's like.

Speaker 1 9:35

And you got a target. I'm guessing you got to 10. I think 10 foot or something like that. I don't know what the target is, but it's pretty high. I quite like doing wall balls in the gym and in a workout. I feel like I'm quite good at them. But it was a two me. Eight minutes yeah, it's brutal. Two me eight minutes.

Speaker 2 9:54

Like wall balls are hard. You do like 10 reps and your heart rate is pretty high up. You know what I mean.

Speaker 1 9:59

Yeah, you can see the finishing line. It's just literally five meters away.

Speaker 1 10:04

And you've got 96 wall balls to do before I can cross that 92, 86. But you know what, matthew, I had a really good sense of achievement once it was done. It was one of those things where I knew that I'd pushed myself. I'd pushed myself out of my comfort zone, I'd trained harder than I would have been training for it. And then I got there and I sort of felt followed through with my actions and I got it done and I kind of enjoyed it as well, although it was really hard. I kind of enjoyed it and I can see why lots of people are really interested in it.

Speaker 2 10:40

Yeah, we're saying it's really really popular right now, isn't it?

Speaker 1 10:43

Crazy popular.

Speaker 2 10:44

Again. If you go, you're looking at the podcast. Barry had to explain what it was. I've never heard of it before and now I've. I hear everyone talking about it, like literally everyone. It's on social media. People in our gym are doing high rock training. Like you see people in the gym, they'll come in, they'll go on a treadmill and you're like oh they're going for a run, they're off a treadmill, they're on a skier.

Speaker 2 11:03

I'm like what's going on? And then they're in the RER doing like wall balls. I'm like so yeah, it's crazy how popular it is. You know what they're up to? Yeah, it's quite blatant. It's definitely high rock training. But we did. I was telling you off the podcast that we did a skier challenge to the North Pole and there was like four or five guys doing it and it was brutal. It was so hard and we couldn't get people onto the skier to get to join in, couldn't drag them onto it.

Speaker 1 11:27

And now we can go on for a skier. Now you're buying natural skier, aren't you?

Speaker 2 11:31

It's an idea, cause the one we've got is getting you so much.

Speaker 1 11:35

The thing is, the ski is right at the start of that. It's not a huge component of it either. A thousand meters is not brutal, and if you do your your research you don't really want to tank that either. You kind of want to cruise it, Cruise it ish. You know what I mean. You don't want to go too slow, but you don't want to absolutely kill yourself.

Speaker 2 11:57

I was doing like 5k up to that time. I think a thousand meters takes me like trying to remember a couple minutes, no, four minutes. Yeah, that's what I mean. Yeah.

Speaker 1 12:07

Four minutes? I was trying to think of about four minutes, like four or five minutes maybe. Yeah.

Speaker 2 12:12

Something like four or five K was like 20 odd minutes somewhere on there Fair play.

Speaker 1 12:14

You stayed on for that long Like.

Speaker 2 12:18

I think one guy came in when we were doing it and did a marathon on it, shut up. Yeah, he came in for three hours. I think it was two and a half three hours he was. I just want to see how I can get on. Thank God he did it because we we needed the distance, we needed it. But yeah, it's really popular right now and it's interesting people obviously getting more, as you use the word interest again, interest in doing like fitness and improving their fitness, of fitness challenges, rather than like the strength challenges or like the bodybuilding, like the aesthetics, et cetera. Sometimes like fitness is a new trend. Everyone's doing it.

Speaker 1 12:51

Well, the gym, the gym doesn't have to always be about, you know, aesthetics, yeah, doesn't have to always be about that. Doesn't have to be about bodybuilding and how we look or power lifted and how much we're lifting and things like that. Or it doesn't have to be about running. You know what I mean? Yeah, and obviously you know CrossFit kind of like combines a lot of different elements of different parts of fitness.

Speaker 2 13:16

Yeah, Well, hirox is similar, but I would say without Olympic lifting really, and it's nice as a fixed event as well, as you're saying like it's always the same event, so you then you can improve or you can go the next time.

Speaker 1 13:27

I think that's why people like it because it is a fixed event and you know, I now know that that took me one hour 35 minutes to complete and eight seconds Complete a Hirox event. Yeah, so You're going to smash it.

Speaker 2 13:40

The challenge is would you do it again?

Speaker 1 13:43

To try and beat that time. Yeah, definitely I would Glass go March. So I'm doing it in Glasgow, but I'm going to do it, do the doubles. I'm doing it with one of my nice, one of my good friends, kevin Cuthbert, from Perth.

Speaker 2 13:56

Kevin Cuthbert Perth, nice, that's 300 or no.

Speaker 1 14:00

No, that's one.

Speaker 2 14:02

No, yeah, okay, yeah, I know, I know, I actually do know you mean Mike Lindsey club 300 Perth.

Speaker 1 14:07

God you know what it's crazy.

Speaker 2 14:11

I hate you. Right now I can't name names that you can use a shout out whoever you want. He's like. You can't name that. You can't name that Shout out people.

Speaker 1 14:18

Terrible. That's nonsense. She's talking Absolutely crap. But yeah, I thought we there might be one or two people that.

Speaker 2 14:28

I thought you could do like a relay with no one in your like. Chris is quite into that sort of stuff as well as me.

Speaker 1 14:35

I think he would be. I think there's a few in our gym now that would.

Speaker 1 14:38

I suppose I think that's a lot of people that are interested in it, and the good thing about about an event like that is that, okay, you might. You might look online and see like some really super fit people, you know, promoting high rocks or whatever, and think, oh, that's not for me, and it does look hard, and even Barry says it's hard to set the next thing. But you know you can do it in pairs, which in some ways makes it so.

Speaker 2 15:03

do you take an event of each, or what do you do so?

Speaker 1 15:05

when you do it, you do it in pairs. You still have to do the all the running, so you have to do all the running together. But each workout, each element, so the lunges, the wall balls, the sled, all that sort of stuff that we spoke about a second ago you break it up, so you if we do it.

Speaker 2 15:19

So if we do that we run together.

Speaker 1 15:21

but then I say you're doing the lunges, I would do it with you, but like I know that you do not like your running.

Speaker 2 15:28

I can run 10K Like maybe I won't have to walk afterwards, but I'll run 10K.

Speaker 1 15:32

We should do one together in the future. Why not? That would be fun.

Speaker 2 15:36

I will. There's something in my head that if you gave me a challenge that I wouldn't be good at, I would still do it. I've run a 10K with no training and I couldn't walk for like two weeks afterwards. My hip flexors were gone, my calves are gone, but I'll still do it. I would complete that. My time would not be good, but I will finish it.

Speaker 1 15:53

If I started, I'll finish it Well you can do it in pairs, which I'm not saying it's easier, because I'd imagine you'd probably push a little bit harder because you've got those little recovery periods that you don't get when you're doing it on your own?

Speaker 2 16:04

Yeah, it'd be quite nice.

Speaker 1 16:05

So I think it would still be really hard, but, like, I think that would maybe be slightly easier and also With the events again I'm asking for I'm quite ignorant to it. You're asking for a friend.

Speaker 2 16:17

Yeah, but I'm asking for interest. You know, If you were going to do like the wall balls, would you have to do all 100? And I just sit there and watch, or could you do 50 and I can do 50?

Speaker 1 16:28

I think we can mix it up, so we could. Ah, okay, that's right I can do 20, you can do 20,. Or I do 25, you do 25, I do 50, you do 50. I think it's like that.

Speaker 2 16:36

That's pretty cool, Because then in a relay you can tag in, et cetera.

Speaker 1 16:40

I'm no expert, but I'm willing to give you my insights into it if you want them.

Speaker 2 16:48

I would do it, but yeah, I probably can't get it running, wouldn't.

Speaker 1 16:50

I. There's a relay as well, and I think how the that's what four. Yeah, and I think how the relay works which this is how I think it makes it more accessible to wider ranges of fitness is that you would split the race into four sections so you would only do quarter of the race each. Does that make sense?

Speaker 2 17:12

Even the running.

Speaker 1 17:13

Yes, I think that's how it works. Yeah, so you'd only have to say run 2K each. Seems a bit and then do two events each. That's what you're saying. Seems a bit what.

Speaker 2 17:26

I'm not announcing right. It seems a bit easy. That seems a bit easy. I could do that tomorrow if you asked me to 2K in two events.

Speaker 1 17:33

Yeah, well, it would be easier, wouldn't it? But it may be.

Speaker 2 17:36

Get it running. Maybe allows You're doing your 9K, get running.

Speaker 1 17:40

Maybe allows more people to get involved. Yeah, true, it'd be a good fun day out.

Speaker 2 17:45

I feel like yeah, solo is pretty brutal in comparison, right.

Speaker 1 17:50

Yeah, it was brutal, but it was also very rewarding, and if anyone is going to do it for the first time, like you know, you could probably learn from a few of my mistakes or things that I did good. So, for example, on the day, my number one would be make sure you're organized, make sure you know exactly where you're going and make sure you've got everything that you need.

Speaker 2 18:15

So this is coming from the guy who's left his phone in his van tonight. I'm just stressing to find it.

Speaker 1 18:20

So I turned up at the wrong actual location.

Speaker 2 18:23

Where did you turn up? I don't know, I was at the Guinness Factory. I don't know how I managed there, but I had a couple of binds in that little room, Do you know what it was right.

Speaker 1 18:32

So, like I was in Dublin and the Dublin Marathon was on that weekend, Okay, so the weekend. So, like always before the marathon, they'll have like an expo, Like you know if we're all the runners and that can go and I don't know. Pick up their bebs and their merchandise and all that stuff.

Speaker 2 18:51

You'd look around and go like these guys are seen here and I thought they're gonna be here.

Speaker 1 18:54

No, no, I'm heading in the right direction following a little map, but I start seeing all these people like, look like they're high-rocks people doing a sport event. So I put the map off. I'll just follow them because I think that's the right people. I turned up at the wrong place. I turned up at the.

Speaker 2 19:09

The marathon.

Speaker 1 19:10

It wasn't that far away. To be fair, I eventually got to the right place, so it was fine, but then I realised I forgot my ID.

Speaker 2 19:22

So you walked home and barred and they went prove it. And you went ah, I can't, do you have to go back and get it?

Speaker 1 19:29

Nah, she accepted my bank card, I think, which I had with me, so that was except.

Speaker 2 19:34

Here's a good tip for you. This has saved me a lot of times in my life. I have a screenshot of my passport that I sent to my dad. And whenever I'm somewhere like I've got my ID, I'm like, oh, I do have a screenshot.

Speaker 1 19:45

Did they accept that?

Speaker 2 19:47

I've got away with it once or twice, obviously not travelling, but other places, yeah, yeah so, yeah, be organised and get there early.

Speaker 1 19:55

So you've got plenty. I did get there. I would have been there early. I wasn't as early as I'd like to be but, get there early, but maybe not too early. That you're, you know.

Speaker 2 20:04

Sit in the bell Sometimes when you go to.

Speaker 1 20:06

I don't know what you think of it like. If you've done an event in the past or a power lift and stuff, if you're there all day and you're there way before you compete, you're kind of fatigued a little bit by the time you get started. Eh.

Speaker 2 20:16

Yeah, probably, yeah, yeah. And then you have times like overthink it right Mentally, I think you know, yeah, yeah, you're overthinking it. Right, you're signifying for ages. I can see why that would be a problem.

Speaker 1 20:24

yeah, so I wouldn't get there too early, but just early enough that you can have a wee walk round the place.

Speaker 2 20:28

Yeah, settle in a little bit, then Figure out your bearings.

Speaker 1 20:31

You know, watch other people do it, see how it works, and just calm your nerves a little bit, because that's what I did and it helped a lot actually. I walked around the building and I just watched people doing the sled and all that and I was like, okay, you know, he looks like he's dying. Yeah, that's gonna be tough. He's doing it this way, or. I just picked up little tips last minute which kind of helped me.

Speaker 1 20:53

So get there early, make sure you're in the warmup area, ready to get warmed up in plenty of time.

Speaker 2 21:01

Do they give you like a warmup, or do you have to just do it yourself?

Speaker 1 21:04

There's an area you can warm up and all the kits there. There's floor space you can practice the sled and all that sort of stuff. Just get to the warmup area. Like again, you don't need an hour to warm up, you need about 30 minutes is probably good, you know.

Speaker 2 21:19

Yeah, it's fine.

Speaker 1 21:20

Give yourself, if you wanna just like, ease yourself into it. You know, give yourself a little bit more time, but you don't need to be there you know way, way, way in advance You'll be mentally fatigued before you start. So, as it turned out, I I was a bit lachi getting to the warm up area and I did quite a quick warm up and it probably was good, actually, because it just meant I was straight into the race and done you know.

Speaker 2 21:47

But I would do a quick warm up. I wouldn't want to be there for too long Again because I would overthink it and get stressed Exactly.

Speaker 1 21:52

Exactly so 20 to 30 minutes, I think I think is good enough, and if you've practiced a warm up that you like to do, just do the same thing. Have I go at one or two? Yeah?

Speaker 2 22:03

I would. Can you just like do the stuff that's there? Yeah, yeah.

Speaker 1 22:08

So I saw the sled sitting there. I was like right, let's see if I can push that a little bit. Push that a wee bit. That's good Cool Scare. Pull it a little bit. So I was going into the race with a little bit more less anxiety, more confidence, more chill.

Speaker 2 22:18

Getting a feel for it, yeah.

Speaker 1 22:19

Exactly. And then just simple things like make sure you're well rested taper into it. We've spoken the podcast before about deloads and things like that. It makes no sense to smash yourself the week before.

Speaker 2 22:32

Yeah, don't do the whole Hierarchs event the day before. Doing the Hierarchs event. No, no, I think I guess in your last week was pretty chilled as a whole, like you're going to keep moving and doing stuff, but like nowhere near that sort of intensity.

Speaker 1 22:45

Yeah, I think my last hard workout was on the Monday and then the event was on the Saturday and I very much just did like really easy, light stuff, just keeping the body ticked over what was sort of stuff for you?

Speaker 2 22:59

were you doing the train for it? Were you doing like your bootcamps, etc. That sort of stuff.

Speaker 1 23:05

So, training wise for it, I think what I think is really really important is well, one for me was to get good at running, because that was a week, that was the first thing you did remember.

Speaker 2 23:17

That was a week Speaking of a Hierarchs event went off for some 5Ks and stuff.

Speaker 1 23:20

And I'm glad I did, because it's basically a disguise running event. So if you're not good at running, or you're not prepared to run or you don't like running, it's maybe not something that you're going to enjoy.

Speaker 2 23:31

To me, the way things sound bad are the running and the 100 walls. The rest, of it. I'm like yeah, you know what? That's not bad. That's not bad the rest of it sounds pretty real.

Speaker 1 23:40

So incorporating running into your routine is quite important. As I wasn't a runner and hadn't done a lot of running for a long time, I thought it was important just to start getting running into my sort of schedule, into my routine and getting used to it. And at first, you know, I found it difficult. I didn't enjoy it as too much at the start, picking up little niggles, but eventually I was like, oh, I'm starting to enjoy this, I'm adapting Body's getting stronger.

Speaker 2 24:05

Would you say that you're like the fittest you've possibly ever been, then, from doing this sort of training? Or would you say, have you been fair?

Speaker 1 24:13

Probably.

Speaker 2 24:14

Yeah, you've done a bit of like everything. Now, really, when you think about it, you've done powerlifting, you've done bodybuilding, you're doing like fitness challenges and all that, I'll do anything. What's next? Yeah, bloody hell, you must be the fittest you've ever been if you're doing that. And people said to me I remember a girl came in and she was like she was coming in for a day pass at our gym and she changed in Glasgow and she's like, oh, I've one of my gyms doing high rocks, blah, blah, blah. And she's like one hour 30 is like a really good time. And I remember you're like, oh, you got one hour 35. So it must be good. Again, I haven't looked into it much, apart from speaking to people about it more than anything else. I haven't googled it and looked at high rocks.

Speaker 1 24:48

But I think for your first time I wouldn't get too caught up on the numbers.

Speaker 2 24:53

It's like powerlifting, though you could go to get a fuel for it the first time and just take the box, the fact that you've done one and you've completed it is probably achievement and you'll be more confident next time. You know things you might have to improve on, etc.

Speaker 1 25:06

And it's like. You know. That's the advice I'd give anyone if they were going to power lift or bodybuild or anything like that. If it's your first time, just enjoy it. Don't expect to win it.

Speaker 1 25:17

You never know, you might you never know you might, but the chances are you won't. Yeah, a chance that you won't. There'll be more experienced people there that are doing it for the third time, the fourth time, the fifth time. Yeah, I've learned a lot. Who will have an edge? And you know, that's just the way it is, but you know, just enjoy it.

Speaker 2 25:31

What was the best time on the day, do you know? I think it was like an hour or just under. I had feelings of an hour Just under maybe that's brutal.

Speaker 1 25:40

You know what I mean. So, like you know, fast, fast times, but yeah. So back to the sort of tips on training. For me, it was get good at running, but it's also very, very important to make sure that you're strong and your body's resilient. You're not going to pick up injuries. Strength training was a huge part of my training for the event, and you know anyone that's doing high rocks. If you're, you know, neglecting actual, proper strength work, you're probably missing a trick.

Speaker 1 26:10

Yeah, like you're going to do that sled pushing. It just would destroy you. Your legs need to be strong. Your legs need to be really strong.

Speaker 2 26:15

So are you still doing strength training, like what sort of stuff are you doing?

Speaker 1 26:19

Just your usual standard stuff that I like doing all the time. So like squats, deadlifts, lunges, single leg exercises, pulling based movements, upper body work. You know just all the usual stuff, and I think you know the more resilient you are, the more strength your body has, the more you're going to find these exercises easier, do you know?

Speaker 2 26:45

Yeah, 100%. So, you know, I feel like I've got to do high rocks now. Everyone's doing a Glasgow watch. I just do it, barry, I don't think you can get in it now. Oh well, it's fully booked. It'll be cancelled.

Speaker 1 26:57

I don't mean you do a different one. We'll look up, we'll do a different one. I'll have to get it running.

Speaker 2 27:03

I don't have to lose some weight to get it running.

Speaker 1 27:04

But also you know you're speaking about people coming to your gym and you see them hopping off the treadmill and doing this.

Speaker 2 27:09

I love it yeah.

Speaker 1 27:11

You need to. You need to get comfortable with doing workouts like that as well and feeling that feeling of what would call compromise running. So like running when you're fatigued, when your legs are fatigued, when you're already you know tired or your muscles are.

Speaker 1 27:31

I've just basically done some mad strength thing. How can you cope with that when you start running again? Because I obviously train like that and had I not, I would have probably really struggled, because and I think that's probably something I would get better at over time Because you've really got to get good at coming off these events and just getting going and that's why you'll get a quicker time, because you won't need all that rest period where you're well, you won't walk to the to the, to the gate, to get back on the track.

Speaker 1 28:06

You'll just run there. Do you know what I mean? Yeah, and you'll, you'll, you'll get faster. You'll get faster over all time because of it, because you're not fapping about as much in between things. So definitely that. But don't get injured. Don't get injured in your training. And if you are getting injured in your training, then you're doing something wrong. You're not working on, you're overloading something that and you maybe need to take a step back. You maybe have to strengthen certain areas. You're maybe not strong enough to to take that volume of training on that, that moment in time, and if, if you're, also if you're not very good at the individual exercises.

Speaker 2 28:46

I feel like there must be a less injury risk with the high rock training because the amount of variation you're doing as well, you know what I mean. See what like powerlifting? You're very repetitive in like your deadlift squat bench, deadlift squat bench. There's a lot of frequency with that. But because there's so many different workouts in your high rocks right, you're rowing, you're skierging, you're wall-balling, you're lunging, you're pushing a sled, you're doing like loads of different stuff so you must be quite strong in like a lot of different areas.

Speaker 1 29:10

Yeah, but if a lot of people are getting into it that are maybe not used to this type of stuff, they're going to pick up injuries, aren't they?

Speaker 2 29:17

Yeah, but again, it's not being silly, right, cause it's more fitness based on being like pushing yourself strength wise, to the to the brink.

Speaker 1 29:26

So I'm just saying, like you know, have a focus in your training to sort of you know, build your body to stay clear, to stay clear of injury. You know so, like you know making sure you're you're.

Speaker 1 29:38

If you're doing a lot of running, you know you're, you're training your posterior chain you know you're making sure your ankles are strong and mobile and you know, just look, everyone all have the individual weaknesses and their weak, their weak points, and maybe incorporating specific exercises to you and your training that's different to other people is important as well. But yeah, that's my sort of take on it.

Speaker 2 30:06

That's what you've been up to and you're doing the next. Well, you're doing March as well, as you're going to do another one. Would you do another one after that? Would you keep?

Speaker 1 30:11

going Well. I'd like to do one on my own again, because I feel like I've done one. Let's do another one, let's see if I can improve.

Speaker 2 30:18

Yeah, so you're gonna do this March one, then you're gonna do another one after that.

Speaker 1 30:20

Let's see if I can improve my training and get better at my training.

Speaker 2 30:25

How did you hear about it? Cause now, obviously, I see it everywhere, Like I do genuinely. I'll go on. I do have TikTok, terrible, but you go on Hirox Training. I'll go on Instagram Hirox Training. So where did you hear about it?

Speaker 1 30:39

Well, it came to Glasgow last year in March.

Speaker 2 30:44

Okay.

Speaker 1 30:45

And it probably wasn't that huge at that point, but I saw a few people that I know that took part in it.

Speaker 2 30:55

I did it okay.

Speaker 1 30:55

And that was probably the first time that I sort of thought what's that? And then I did a bit of digging about and Thought why not, let's?

Speaker 2 31:02

do it.

Speaker 1 31:02

I thought that sounds pretty cool. Maybe that's something that I can do and yeah, it's not something that's kept me focused and motivated just now. Do you know what I mean?

Speaker 2 31:13

Yeah, have you enjoyed the training more than other styles of training? Would you say, like when you're doing powerlifting or bodybuilding in the past, that you maybe enjoy this more, or what do you think?

Powerlifting, Injuries, and Training Adaptation

Speaker 1 31:22

I've definitely enjoyed it. I feel like whenever I get my teeth sucked into something, I will enjoy it. I like, if it's involving exercise and fitness and strength and pushing yourself and sweating and that sort of stuff, I tend to just, you know, end up enjoying it and knowing that I can get better at certain things. So, like it's a motivator. Yeah, 100% I get that. But powerlifting why I didn't keep going with it was probably the monotony of focusing on just the three main lifts all the time. I know we do other exercises as well, but you it's very fatiguing as well the heavy lifting and.

Speaker 1 32:01

I have to say, like you know, it just wasn't for me on a long-term basis. I think you felt that as well, though, because you make your training.

Speaker 2 32:10

The fatiguing was hard for me, like I felt just genuinely tired quite a lot and I probably didn't do it as well as I could have done. But I just enjoy training. I enjoy the challenge of training and I'm sure I'll find something at some point. I've been. My training is not as exciting as yours. Right now I seem to be just be injured all the time and I'm trying to fix it. I rehab, I do rehab, but I was deadlifting, like I built back up, I was elevating. Maybe two and a half months ago I got trapped there every again in my glute and it was agonizing. Last time I got trapped there, though, I couldn't walk for like two months.

Speaker 1 32:42

I'm not laughing sorry.

Speaker 2 32:43

Two months I was in so much pain this one, thank God. I was like a week and then I just something I get slipped and I felt great again. I was like, oh, thank God that's gone. I couldn't walk for like two, three days. You can ask my clients. I was like I remember going into work the day after and I was like I'm really sorry, I'm going to have to sit down, like standing up with sore, sitting down for too long with sore, lying down for too long with sore. I had to keep rotating through the three to like keep myself mobile.

Speaker 2 33:09

And now I have rehab my hip back up. It's still a little bit dodgy. So again, people follow me on Instagram to see how I post about it now and again and I'm trying to increase and I'm trying to fix it. But it goes way back to when I was 18 and got a lower back injury and it seems to all root from there that I get like back spasms. So it's like locks up and then it ruins my hips and then my hips are ruined for a while and I'm off. You know, it's just constant cycle and hopefully I'll get back up and get some PBs, et cetera. I would like to hit some good lifts. I haven't got a squat PB since that 200 post lockdown, like two through two and a half feet years got smishable so Since you trained with me.

Speaker 2 33:45

Yeah. And then last time I went to go for a PB, after that 200, I was going for 210. My back went into spasm. I had 140 squat warming up for the 210. I couldn't move. I was like, oh my God, again, it's nothing wrong, I filmed my sets, didn't do anything wrong, it just went spasm.

Speaker 1 34:00

How do you feel when you're injured, Like cause? You know a lot of people get injured, yeah that's a really good point.

Speaker 2 34:06

How do I feel? It's annoying, it's demoving is, but then I'm very good at adapting. So what can I do? And then I'm like, okay, well, I'll program that, that, that. So what did I do? My hip was gone. I was like, well, initially I'll just do some machine work for my lower body and then I'll incorporate things like leg pressing and then hack, squatting and going a bit heavy with those, and then, when that feels good for a while and I'm happy with those, then I'll go back to squatting and deadlifting. So I have like a process.

Speaker 2 34:32

I do feel like a lot of people. Yeah, they get injured and they're like, oh, my shoulders dodgy, so yeah, I won't go today, I'll take a couple of weeks off. No, you've got to use the joint, you've got to keep it moving. If it's sore, don't load it too much, but try and keep it moving or try and rehab it in some sort of way. Don't just say, if I leave it it'll get better, cause it won't. And I've done that where I've been like, oh, I'll take some time off with my hip's dodgy, and a month and a half I'm like, okay, it's not really fixed, so you've got to go, you got to get moving, don't you?

Speaker 1 34:58

I actually think one of the worst things you can do when you're injured is stop, Do nothing yeah. You know? Because I think, mentally, how is it going to affect you, physically, how is it going to affect you? And adapting your training is a really, really, really good tip.

Speaker 2 35:18

Throwing the towels. It's never the good option.

Speaker 2 35:20

It's never is and I feel like, yeah, a lot of people do do that and you see it in top end sports, don't you as well when people get injured and they never come back the same Like you'll see. Obviously, watch football I watch football you'll see a football player who, like, tears ACL. Let's just take Virgil van Dyke, for example. It's recent and when he tore his ACL it was the best defender in the world tore his ACL, came back, wasn't quite there for a season, wasn't his best season afterwards. Now he's got this confidence back and he's playing very well. So you have these injuries top end athletes get them and you've got to work through them. You've got to adapt, you've got to fix the problem. You can't just go out and fix yourself. It never will.

Speaker 1 35:55

I think it's to be expected, though, that you'll go through a period where you're not going to be firing all cylinders.

Speaker 2 36:00

Yeah, a hundred percent. And then it's accepting that and being smart about it. You know what I mean. You get, you get people who train through their injuries, and I'm sure you've done it. I've done it a lot.

Speaker 1 36:10

And then it's like three months time.

Speaker 2 36:11

You're still not really progressing and you're still in pain. You're like that was stupid.

Speaker 1 36:14

Yeah, yeah, because when we say adapt and continue, we're not saying train through your injuries and train the movements.

Speaker 2 36:21

Find what works that are causing pain are we?

Speaker 2 36:23

Yeah, find what works. I've got clients, for example, who like, yeah, I had a client who's he's probably listening, he shoots, he will be listening, he shoots, and he's also, he works on all-in-gas as well. I think he's still on all-in-gas, he's a contractor, but he shoots on the weekends. He does it. He's a gamekeeper, basically sort of vibe, and he was moving a animal and he slipped and he rolled his knees. Knee was buggered.

Speaker 2 36:48

So what's the option for that? Like, okay, we can't squat right now, we probably can't deadlift. So for the next couple of months we'll focus on upper body and he's got rehab stuff for his lower body so we can still progress him and keep him moving. And then he's also rehabbing his knee Fantastic, then his knees rehab. We can go back to lower body training Rather than just leaving it and hoping for the best in the three months I'm going. Yeah, my knees still not quite there yet. Maybe I need to go to C physio or need to get it fixed or rehab it. Do that straight away. Find what you can do. Take the boxes, keep progressing, keep coming, so he could have gone like, yeah, I'll take two months off the gym, I can't manage, but we're still improving. We're still progressing. That's what's all about, isn't it?

Speaker 1 37:25

Good points, good points. So, matthew, christmas is coming up. Yeah, big question for you. Go on, we're now. What date is it today? Is it November, the? What 23rd Is your tree up?

Speaker 2 37:40

No, do you want to know someone's? I don't know why I'm gonna say this my trees still cannot down-bury. You've kept it up all year. No, so it made me laugh because I found it. So I've got, I've got to, I've got two bedroom flat and in my spare bedroom Last year I had my tree and I was like I had me bother taking this down. So I took my tree and I just shoved it in this cupboard with everything still on it. Yeah, so it's in. The guy who opened the cupboard, oh yes.

Speaker 1 38:11

I forgot about it.

Speaker 2 38:11

Take it. I was gonna be, I was take it down at some point. I'll take all off. I just forgot and I looked him and why would you?

Speaker 1 38:16

why would you need to, if you've got the room to just store a few? Also all the bubbles on yeah right, like you're saving yourself a huge job.

Speaker 2 38:24

I have saved myself a job, so my trees not up, but it's not technically down either.

Speaker 1 38:30

Do you know, like you know, like, like in my, in my house, like Emma and the boys, it's like, it's like a big event put the tree up that everyone seems to enjoy doing it. Yeah but, like I, I find it like quite stressful. I'm like this is, this is a lot of a lot of mess.

Speaker 2 38:47

I'm like, yeah, we never really did it. My mom used to just do it by herself. To be fair, we used to here's one for you we used to steal our trees.

Speaker 1 38:54

Used to steal your well we lived on a farm, been into people's living rooms and Do you know?

Speaker 2 39:00

we're running yours now. We we live on a farm and they would. They would farm, obviously, like the trees in the forest beside us. So okay. Pre-christmas, like December and Medabaco, I'm gonna get a tree Tree. We go down.

Speaker 1 39:21

Bring it back. Ah, so you went in and you cut down the tree and you took it home. Yeah, no, no do since this anyway. Yeah, to be fair, it was like 20 years ago.

Speaker 2 39:30

So I. But now my mom goes out and she my mom has a beautiful idea of finding the ugliest tree possible. Okay, and she puts that in her.

Speaker 1 39:42

Well, while we're confessing about stealing stuff, what if you stole? Tell me the tree. So when I was growing up, I left quite close to a strawberry and raspberry farm, right.

Speaker 2 39:52

Okay, I like them.

Speaker 1 39:53

They used to go to the music so I would quite often in the summer go in and get like a big, massive bag stick a bit back.

Speaker 2 40:04

Yeah, it's funny. It's a nice memory because remember being snowy and it would always go down together like me and my two brothers, my dad, and Just like pick our tree. Nick, it's nice, isn't it? Sweet, isn't it?

Speaker 1 40:14

Yeah, it's quite cute, so we did that, my mom decorate it, decorate minute, decorate it, and they bet.

Speaker 2 40:20

The strawberries were great, but they tasted better.

Speaker 1 40:22

Yeah. So Christmas is coming up and We've already said on this podcast I'm sure, matthew, that we're gonna do at least three more episodes before Christmas. Three, yeah, we'll do it, we'll manage, yeah. So I'm not gonna wish you Merry Christmas just yet not yet because you'll, because we'll three more.

Speaker 2 40:37

Yeah, but it's a tough time of year, guys, so try and stay motivated. Cal, stay busy, keep taking the boxes, keep training hard get some fresh air. It's December, it's not a right off. You know, I keep going no it's only 12 months in a year.

Speaker 1 40:50

You can't take one off and Although January is a good month for our industry and it does annoy me that people wait to January Would you say so for you?

Speaker 2 41:01

Yeah, yeah. It's like you know, change now, don't, don't wait. Don't wait to like also a certain month, now that I can start progressing, or change for the bear.

Speaker 2 41:11

December is a better month to get on board with a personal trainer, a gym or especially if you're already, like a lot people who Probably listen to this podcast, or maybe already in a gym as well. If you're in a gym and you need help, you want to get maybe some coaching, some online coaching, whatever get some programs waiting for you. Do it now, because the pts will be less busy get involved. Get ahead of the game.

Speaker 1 41:32

Get ahead of the game. Yeah, it's not. January's gonna be manic to get busy.

Speaker 2 41:36

Yeah, but you don't. You don't work in a commercial gym like me. You don't have the I'm sure it'd be chaos this year. Be good fun.

Speaker 1 41:45

We like it when it's busy as well we're not, we're not complaining, that's good fun, guys. I hope you've enjoyed this episode and we will be back soon, very soon, very, very soon. From from us both have a.

Speaker 2 42:00

have a great day. Morning, evening, afternoon, whatever time of day is, your listeners have a great one.

Speaker 1 42:04

See you later, guys.