So you are probably wondering what I am talking about? When you see the words “factory farming” what comes to mind? Get as many in as possible, left fighting for food, development not occurring in a natural process but rather forced, and the turnover is quick…well to me that’s what comes to mind. Over the past eight years (my time actively involved) I have noticed a drastic change in the health and fitness industry, one that matches the description of factory farming. It is far from pretty and positive, which is where we would have liked it to be. We are trying to be more active or increase activity levels of people throughout the world to prevent the number of health related issues arising with inactivity….

Well at least you would think we are doing that, but it seems the employees in these farms have been indocrinated and turned into zombies that they to have become part of the problem. If you have not figured out what I am talking about by now then you are probably on your way to being converted into THEIR zombies… I am talking about gym owners and their trainers, institutions, businesses selling and promoting health & fitness. Now when I mention gyms I am talking about franchise gyms, that pop up faster than you can say Jack Robinson.

We are trying to tackle a massive health problem with incompetent employees (trainers & educators), caused by money hungry businesses (factory farm owners) that drive a quick turnover of qualifications because….DING DING DING money in the bank. To hell with what happens after they leave here, you paid in full well done and best of luck. With the quick turnover of two weekends in some cases of “practical” training you are sent off to start being responsible for others lives… the worst part is big gyms offer their own training & education programs that new aspiring trainers can go through, of course for X amount of money. They then have to spend X amount of time with trainers within in the same building, who went through the same process… can you see whats happening here, one big CYCLE OF SHIT.

I must hand it to these owners though, they are getting very large pockets….but with money being at the top of their list, the competition between rival gyms become so fierce that the magnitude of their stupidity to out do one and other shows in their programs, training, and coaching styles. Sometimes I feel Stevie Wonder would still have better vision than most people at the root of these problems. If you got this far in reading and are slightly agitated by all of what is said, then you need to stop now slap yourself and hopefully you wake up and see exactly what’s going on. Now it can be tough for trainers because they get clients coming in and want things to be “exciting”… but here is the problem they do not have sufficient education to explain to their clients there is a process involved in training and adaptations do not happen over night or how you think it should be.

We are in the “siri generation” or what I like to call “3 click trainers & coaches”, they can read anything online (like this) or ask siri and boom they have all the answers and it’s the truth. This is where education comes into play, and by education i'm talking about the ability to identify a credible source vs a swayed opinion for self gain. This applies back to the owners, if they have not been educated to identify the good from the bad then you are fighting a loosing battle. Because this lack of education trickles down the pecking order within large businesses and franchises. It’s a snowball effect, where one bad action/decision leads to the next bad action/decision, and the next. So often when there is a bad reputation associated to a business, I am asking questions regarding the person hiring people, not the ones being hired.

Now I have only highlighted how I see the health & fitness industry, and whats’s happening with the masses. There are some amazing work been done out there in private gyms, trainers, institutions, and business promoting health & fitness. These are actually smart people because they asking questions and being guided towards credible sources that will help them and benefit the people they work with. DO NOT BE AFRAID TO BE DIFFERENT, following only gets you so far. Create your own journey not one that is planned by someone who doesn’t even know your story, because that’s exactly what it will be…their story & journey driven by you. No one will know who you are…after all you are #7648 clock in & clock out…SHIFT OVER.

Take away Points:

• Do not be afraid to question something if you feel it is not correct. If you are not sure ask someone who you believe has more knowledge in the area.

• It does not hurt to ask, “pride comes before the fall”.

• Make sure you are not just an ID number, and your employer knows exactly who you are, and YOUR story.

• STOP chasing money, be passionate about what you do and serious about helping others and the rest will happen.

•LET YOUR PASSION DRIVE YOUR PROFESSION.

This term gets thrown around pretty often amongst training circles...that's as far as it goes. Thrown and forgotten, either because they do not understand what it is, or it might ruin their popularity. I feel the trend of social network platforms have infected people today. Just like a zombie from the walking dead bitting on your ankles...society today is well infected. Like the social media platforms the more you post the more you get noticed, and potentially more popular...winning. Sorry to burst your bubble sunshine but you can not apply that to your training. The body is not fuelled by likes and followers, you are more likely to have your body unfollow you for your stupidity. Now I have been around the health and fitness scene for a long time, from being a competitor to now a coach. We trained, and we trained very hard, more hard than smart yet we still never matched the volume of training some people are doing today. Now the crazy part is, why all that training?? what for? so many damn questions to be answered but sometimes I feel I don't really want to know because it's most likely going to be bullshit.

Now when I refer to overtraining I am simply talking about over taxing your body, inadequate work to rest ratio. In the science or more sport science world, in literature the term overtraining is generally referred to prolonged fatigue leading to other immune system dysfunctions. I guess over taxing will lead to this, but for now let’s just focus on why are we getting caught up with training for hours and hours each day. Then we get injured through overuse... Now I am not one to shy away from injury or ignore it in regards to training and sport. If you want to be the best at whatever it is you training for, you have to be prepared to get injured at some point when you are pushing yourself to the limit day in day out. Some of you might think I am crazy for saying it’s ok to get injured. All I am saying is be prepared to get injured so when it happens you don't break down into an uncontrollable mess.

So as mentioned I have been around for a while now within the health and fitness scene from different gyms and organisations and I love how we have become such an "active generation". Now there is a bit of sarcasm in there as the active is more so for social media and acceptance in society. I feel training to some people is like an obsession, in all honesty I would rather people be obsessed with training than drugs. There is a limit though even if the obsession is with training, too much of anything is never good for you. Is the obsession driven by image? the image of skinny models walking down the catwalk? People will know I am "active" and feel I am an "inspiration" to them, the feel good hormones from training? I am really interested to know what it is....I lie I really don't want to know because as mentioned its going to be bullshit. Sorry to be so blunt but even if you feel it's your time, or way out to escape from the pressures of society, your job...then you doing it wrong if you training more than you are resting. Sooner or later you will crash and burn, that will only set you back further. Did you ever stop for a moment and think about it and when this does happen how much further behind you will be?

No I guess you to caught up in the moment of being "active" and showing the social media world how active you are.

Now I am not completely eliminating athletes from this as there are some and in my experience feel they have to stay on top of their game now that they have made it....so they want to go "beast mode".. The hard work over the years have got them there and the fear of being "cut" is driving them insane. Well sunshine again if what you have done separated you from the rest and got you in, is that not a sign to tell you it worked? Now why don't you just work on the same things and make them even better, not add more training. You do get athletes across different disciplines that will require them to train a few times a day based on their sport. Multi discipline sport like ironman and mixed martial arts will require athletes to carry out more than one training a day. However if they have a smart coach it will be well regulated and monitored to ensure there is no "burn out". Now the not so elite athletes or wanna be athletes try and mimic this, the smart ones will general get in contact with a coach, but whether they listen is another story (thats another post).

So there are a lot of people that will be offended by this and in disagreement of everything I have just said, and thats totally fine by me. But if you training more than once a day please have purpose and intentions for what you are doing don't just go 100% mad on everything and be this sweaty mess for absolute no reason...... well maybe you do like the crash and burn feeling 5 weeks down the line. If you are tired take a day off, if you miss a lift, failed to run a good time, and training is not going to plan, its totally fine to take a day off, it is not the end of the world. Assess what has happened and continue from there. I am not saying be a weak little shit and at every little struggle walk away and be ok with not getting your goals. I am saying that if you have truly given it your all (trained smart, not stupid) and can tick off the last two weeks of work and it was done to the best of your abilities with 100% PURPOSE and INTENTIONS, then it is ok to have a bad day after 12 good days, it is ok to run a bad run after 10 good runs. Be hard on yourself but know when to.

Image taken from Essentials of strength training and conditioning 4th edition.

So what to take away from this:

Have a training plan in place and stick with it, don't do your friends workout.Plan training intensities and work load appropriately, if unsure get a suitable coach to have a look over it.DO NOT use training as an escape as this will lead to an overdose aka over training.Train with PURPOSE and INTENTIONSDo not be fuelled by social media.Lastly listen to your body, it’s not a robot where you can just go exchange broken parts. Pay attention to all signs from training; be aware of what is going on.

Team NZ Dinner Potchefstroom (Missing: Jade & (Gerry Took the pic and left) resting for comp, Matt and Delwyn Already left).

Road To The Comp

It took a while for me to get excited about going to South Africa, I think it was right up until the night before we left that it hit me, “oh snap we going now, maybe I should pack”. I am going to skip pass the travel to get there by just saying it sucked and felt like it was never ending. It could have been worse if I was alone, but luckily I had two of my athletes with me, Brendon & Gerry who provided some good entertainment. So we finally land on the 5th of September giving us eight days before Brendon competes and ten days before Gerry competes. I Felt like this was a good enough time for the boys to settle in and get the jet lag out of their systems and climatise to the weather. So we settled into our hotel and the first two days were literally just keeping busy so we stay awake. Third day in we found a gym to get our first training in and remind the body what we are here for. Brendon was feeling the worst and he’s first session did not feel great at all, again it was he’s first international comp so he hadn’t taken into account the travel, climate, food, and everything else that comes with traveling and competing. Now for the first three days even though we have been training and moving around, we were fighting the midday sleep gods so badly that on the fourth day we gave in. Crumbled and had a midday sleep.

So we finally on our way to the comp venue in Potchefstroom, and decided that why not make a day of it and visit some local places and some historic places, by this I mean the late Nelson Mandela’s house in Soweto. To be honest with you we had no clue we were going there. Next thing we in the middle of Soweto thanks to my cousin Yash. What an experience this was to walk in the GREAT Nelson Mandela’s house. I got goosebumps as we wondered through the house and the yard where there had actually recordings playing about the violence and struggles during the times of apartheid, bullet holes on the walls, if you closed your eyes and listened to the voices you could almost feel it in the air, a truly unreal experience. After this we did the tourist thing and bought some goods from the local arts and crafts markets, it would be rude not to.

Game Time

So we arrived in Potchesftroom and I was not expecting it to be this quiet, it felt like I was in a scene from the walking dead or I am legend. Sunday 2pm and everything is closed, there is a deadly silence as we walk the streets. At this point I am thinking to myself is the zombie apocalypse actually happening???. We finally find our accommodation which wasn’t to bad to be honest with you, a nice little country club setting so I was happy with that and away from any zombies. We then go to the comp venue to have a look around, and we spot the ferns. The excitement in my eyes to see fellow team mates and familiar faces was similar to when I first held a girls hand. Being in a foreign country or place where you don’t know many people, this happens to you so seeing team mates made me want to loose my shit “IT’S ABOUT TO GO DOWN’ (Kevin Hart’s voice). The lifting stage was amazing and pretty big so I think when the guys seen that it hit them and slowly got them into comp mode. The first two days we relaxed and got familiar with our surroundings (not much to be honest) as it was Brendon who was first up on the Wednesday.

Bendan Chaithoo U23KG Junior

Weighed in at a massive 51.25kg’s and feeling great. First up squat, the opener at 145kg’s and that went up with ease, second attempt 155kg’s (just over 3 times bodyweight) which moved with a constant speed and didn’t give him too much trouble, but it made him work for it. Third attempt we go for the Commonwealth record of 160.5kg’s, which unfortunately did not happen. Just not strong enough on the day, he will crack that soon. He was disappointed in not getting that lift but he had to gather himself and focus on bench which was next. Warm up feeling good and we open on 97.5kg’s which was easy and got that three white lights and set the mark. Second attempt 102.5kg’s (double bodyweight), three white lights but again he worked for it. Third attempt we go for 107.5kg’s and he came out the groove and it got the better of him. Onto deadlifts and he is slowly fatiguing, the heat is defiantly not helping as well. So we warm up and get to 100kg’s and he’s back starts playing up. Now I can see the emotions in he’s face and he is starting to worry because this back issue has been bugging him for a while. I try my best to calm him down and the support from fellow Kiwi team mates were unbelievable. so we get our opener of 175kg’s ( 3.4 times bodyweight), out of the way and he was in pain. So we make the call and go straight for the Commonwealth record of 190.5kg’s (3.7 times bodyweight). We summoned every god possible for that lift and reminded him why he is there. He zoned out and numbed out from everything, he went up on that plat form and pulled with everything he had. Three white lights and new Commonwealth record. We had to scratch the third lift as he’s back was not playing ball at all. All in all it was the best he could have done on the day and come away with four gold medals, four national records, and two commonwealth records.

Summary of Results