New Year, New start?

So now we're in 2013, no better reason than a new year to start hitting the gym again.
Oh, and I'm turning 30 this year...

Although I've never been 'out of shape' I have been in a less than desirable shape for my own personal happiness.

For Christmas 2012 I asked my nearest and dearest for some training aids like Kettlebells and weights in order to train at home and get back on it hard!

From Christmas Day until mid-January 2013 I trained every single day in my living room at home.
Tabata intervals, kettlebell swings, squats, bent over row, crunches etc...
I was feeling good for training again, this was great.

Then something magical happened:
An old friend and UK Fitness veteran (who also donated a bed to me in my darkest hour) called me up and asked to meet so she could tell me about her new plan. This friend of mine was opening a training facility in Chelmsford, somewhere I could train, with good equipment, with other EDUCATED trainers. Best of all, she wants me to teach a class there and in return I can train any time I like and even take my own clients in there too.

My prayers had been answered, this was awesome!

In February 2013 mi-gym.com opened in Chelmsford, and this is what it looks like:

Incidently, the video was shot and edited by me. I love this gym!

Who the hell is Brad Wendes?

Brad Wendes

Here's a little background on the author of this blog.

Brad Wendes on a photoshoot

I am currently aged 29 (and never going to have another birthday). I started gymnastics at the age of 10, and during my gymnastic career I have had the honour of performing in front of the British Royal Family and held 3 Guinness World Records. (I currently still hold the World Record for most vaults in one hour). I have worked in an around the Fitness industry since taking my first part time job in a gym at the age of 16 and being inspired by a number trainers and instructors.
From here I gained as many coaching qualifications as possible and trained under as many coaches as I could. This huge variety of influences helped shape me into a very well-rounded coach.

Over the years I have worked for a number of large fitness chains in a variety of roles, this really helped give me an insight into the fitness industry. I really found my feet by pursuing a dream of performing Parkour, Free Running and Acrobatics professionally (follow your dreams kids!)
I now run Team Kinetix, a coaching and performance team.

As a performer I have travelled around the world, performed on stage, television and film, even spent some time having literally run away with the circus. I led 'The Free Runners' to the semi-finals of Britain's Got Talent in 2007. At present I still perform professionally as well as coaching future stunt performers at a top London Drama School.

In 2009 I purchased a Canon 550D DSLR to take pictures for my website and generally get nice images for promotional purposes. I fell head over heels in love with photography and now have a full studio lighting setup, backdrops and a wide selection of lenses for all situation.
All the time I've spent in front of the camera has really helped develop my skill behind the camera.

I am available for 1:1 coaching, small group training or seminars; I use my wide and varied experience in my own unique approach to training and coaching. Make it fun, make it challenging, make it relevant and make it work!
I am also available for general photographic work, portraiture, actors headshots, family portraits, fitness photography or event photography.

Brad Wendes on Britain's Got Talent 2007

Performing at Newquay Boardmasters 2010

Performing at British Fashion Awards 2008

Brad Wendes 2011

Parkour Training

Performing at Sex & The City World Premiere 2008

Where to start..?

At the end of 2010 I had to start fresh, finding somewhere to live, running Kinetix on my own. I won't go over old ground but in brief I was alone and completely unsure what the week ahead had in store, let alone the more distant future. Very dark times.
Having nothing to do (and feel most significantly NO INTERNET ACCESS!) I was kept sane by training every day, I had one 14kg Dumbbell and nothing else.

Every day I would do the following at least once:
100 Press Ups (minimum sets)
100 bodyweight Squats (2x 50reps)
100 Crunches (2x 50reps)
18 bicep curls with 14kg (3x 6reps)
30 bent over row with 14kg (3x 10reps)

Most days I would do this workout twice.

There was no method or thought behind this workout, it was simply something to occupy me and keep me sane while the world around me was crumbling.
During this time I was generally taking in 3 protein shakes per day as well as a portion of berries each morning.
Aside from the Maximuscle Promax 3 times per day and the berries, there was no diet plan.

In the space of 3 weeks I had acquired 16" upper arms and had less than 7% body fat, i could see every muscle and had visible veins where I didn't know veins existed.
My biggest regret about this time was that I have no photos of myself from it, I had the physique of a cover model!

By February 2011 there was light at the end of the tunnel, I had a new flat, I had a new car, work was coming in and I was dating a lovely girl.

I got content, I got complacent and priorities changed.

Don't get me wrong, I was much happier when my life started to come back together. But I no longer had the time or inclination to carry on my obsessive training regimen.

Over the course of 2011 I trained less and got on with life.

February 2011

Anti-Progress 2011

New Start, Blogging 2013..?

Well, it's certainly been a while since I've blogged.
Over the past few years my life has been all about Kinetix, building the business to where it is today, promoting classes, getting the name known...

So now I'm going to start blogging for me again and I'm going to be writing about my own training, goals, methods, references and how much fun I'm having training for my own goals, training for me.

Incidentally, if you're interested in Team Kinetix, want to learn Parkour, book arena displays, performances, classes, workshops or anything Parkour / Freerunning / Acrobatic related:
http://www.teamkinetix.co.uk
http://www.youtube.com/teamkinetixmedia
@teamkinetix
http://www.facebook.com/corporateentertainers

I'm off to Mi-Gym (http://www.mi-gym.com) to train now.
Later on I'll write up some background, my programme and how I'm getting along...