Personal Progression

It's great that my project is making such superb progress, I'm so happy for her that she's making great gains every week.
With all of her improvement, gains and huge leaps this week I decided to test myself, see how far I can push my body and see what effect my training is having on my strength.
At present I weigh 83kg.

Well, it's been an amazing few days for personal bests!

In February 2013 I was squatting 100kg for 3 reps and I could deadlift 100kg (but it wasn't pretty)

On the 8th of April I set a new barbell squat personal best of 135kg.
Last week (19th April 2013) I achieved a new personal best deadlift of 185kg

19th April 2013 - 185kg deadlift

Yesterday (22nd of April 2013) I decided to have another crack at the deadlift. I lifted 195kg - that's just short of 2.5 times my bodyweight.

22nd April 2013 - 195kg deadlift

Today I was due to train legs as part of Phase 2 of my Jumping Power programme. I also wanted to have another try at maxing out my barbell squat. After my training I felt a little less than confident and decided not to go for a new personal best today. I started on some accessory training and decided that I would have a try after all, I didn't want any negativity in my training. The only thing holding me back was me.
I was especially fortunate that Will Wayland was in and training today.
After I'd worked my way up to 140kg Will offered to spot me if I needed him.
As I loaded up the bar with 145kg I felt nervous. I wasn't totally sure that I could lift this load.
I got under the bar and told myself that I could do it, I wouldn't let myself down.
I did it, lifted 145kg with no physical assistance.
So today I got a new personal best of 145kg on my barbell squat.

At this point I mentally slapped myself and decided I could do it.

22nd April 2013 - 145kg barbell squat

Thanks again to mi-gym for giving me a great place to train; somewhere full of positive and enthusiastic people and full of awesome equipment (thanks to Jordan Fitness)


Here's another little personal story:
Quite some time ago I worked for a major health club chain, we decided to have a 'Deadlift Challenge' on the gym floor to get more members involved in lifting weights and stepping away from the cardio machines (this mission of mine has been going on quite some time).
At this time my training was predominantly bodyweight so I had no idea what I could lift.
Over the course of the day all the 'big' guys came over to show off, they were generally starting to struggle at about 100kg. A few went over 100kg and got towards 150kg.
I'm not afraid to admit that at the time I felt intimidated by these 'big' guys and I didn't even attempt a lift of over 90kg for fear of appearing weak if I failed. After all, I only weighed a little over 80kg.
Funny thing is, I weigh the same today as I did back then.
You don't need to be huge to be strong, and a little confidence goes a long way.

The past few weeks have drummed home again and again that training is as much mental as it is physical. First believe that you can achieve your goals, then go out and smash them!

Increased Jumping Power Phase 2

After 5 weeks of the French Contrast for jumping power I have noticed significant gains in my leg strength and in my jumping power.

But sadly, all the strength in the world is no good if it's not transferrable to your sport of choice. In my case I am training for Parkour and powerful jumps.
As the saying goes; "Power is nothing without control" and strength is nothing if it's not accessible in your chosen activity.
Therefore the next phase of my leg training will look at transferring the strength into more familiar movements to Parkour.

As previously mentioned, I'm continuing with the French Contrast for another month but the exercises and weights are changing.
So the next 4 weeks looks like this:

3 reps - 80kg Barbell Squat FAST eccentric push (just under 70% 1RM)
5 reps - Standing broad jump
3 reps - 50kg Barbell half squat jump (just under 40% 1RM)
5 reps - Band assisted jumping lunge

The above exercises are performed as a circuit with no rest between exercises, followed by a 2-3 minute rest. The circuit is repeated 3 times.

In addition to the French Contrast circuit I will be performing the following exercises:
Kettlebell band-resisted swing - 3 sets of 6 reps
Lunge position to broad jump with 8kg in each hand - 3 sets of 6 reps (power from front foot)

To finish up I am performing the following unrelated exercises:
3 sets of 6 40kg barbell bicep curl
3 sets of 10 press ups
3 sets of 4 muscle up on rings


The above workout will be alongside my new Pulling Power workout for the next 4 weeks.
I'll keep you posted on how it's coming along.

Can't get enough of those squats!

Once again a massive thanks to mi-gym.com for use of facilities and for letting us film and photograph there. Huge thanks also to William Wayland for all his crazy ideas!

Increased Leg Strength

In February this year I started looking into the Hepburn Method to increase strength. I was looking at lifting heavy loads over a short rep range.
With regard to leg strength when I started this programme, I was performing barbell squats in sets of 2 reps at 100kg.
As I only weighed in at 85kg I was happy with this.
By the end of March I was performing sets of 3 reps at 100kg.

In March I started using the French Contrast method to start building power in my legs and increase my vertical jump.
I was performing 3 sets of 3 barbell squats at 105kg over a 5 week period. Now we're at the end of this phase and I've increased my vertical jump by 2.5" from 45" to 47.5"
Clearly my legs are now stronger and more powerful.

Interestingly, I also started squatting in my Vibram FiveFingers and found them to be much more comfortable in this range of motion than regular trainers. I felt grounded and stable. Definitely going to lift in them more often!

110kg barbell squat

So today I wanted to find my barbell squat 1RM, just out of curiosity. I warmed up with 80kg, then a couple of reps at 100kg, then loaded up the bar with 130kg (that's 20kg heaver than I had ever lifted).
I performed 2 comfortable reps at 130kg and decided to try 135kg.
With the bar loaded up to 135kg I went down comfortably, waited too long at the bottom then ditched the bar, feeling that I was unable to safely lift the load.
Determined to get that lift, I waited 10 minutes for my body to recover, staying warm and mobile while resting.
Then I got under the bar and performed one rep at 135kg.
Very pleased with myself and quite fatigued, I called it a day.

Using 3 weeks on the Hepburn Method followed by 5 weeks of French Contrast I have added 35kg to my squat and added 2.5" to my vertical jump.
I'd say that's some impressive gains in a relatively short time!

 130kg barbell squat

 135kg barbell squat

Isometrics for Strength

Firstly let's briefly go over the different ways in which our muscles contract:
Concentric Contraction - Where a muscle contracts as it shortens (eg. bicep while lifting a weight during bicep curl)
Eccentric Contraction - Where a muscle contracts as it gets longer (eg. bicep while lowering a weight during bicep curl)
Isometric Contraction - Where a muscle contracts without shortening, lengthening or moving any of the bones attached to the muscle (eg. pushing against a wall or trying to lift something too heavy for you to move)

Now I'm a big fan of Isometric Contractions (static holds) as part of my training, particularly holding at the top of a pull up movement and holding the bottom of a press up movement (chest off the ground obviously).
In fact I've been holding these positions as part of my general conditioning for as long as I can remember (having a Pilates instructor as a mother is partly to blame) so when I started introducing clients to these holds I was surprised at how difficult they found them.

When I recently read an article by Superlife Nutrition co-founder Stephen Kirlew, I was pleased to see that he was all for the use of Isometric contractions:

"Your muscles make up approximately 60 -70% of your body's power" says Stephen, "the rest comes from the tendons which are often neglected when training." Tendons are tough, flexible bands of tissue that connect muscles to bones and are extremely strong. "I weigh 176lbs and can lift more than guys double my size because my power comes from a combination of muscles and tendons and a lot of these huge guys don't realise that."

Stephen is British armwrestling champion, so he knows a thing or two about pushing against an immovable force.

A massive plus point in strengthening tendons is that you gain strength without adding any bulk.
I know this is definitely something that's of interest to my female clients.

So, in keeping with trying to increase your strength without adding bulk. Here's some challenges for you to train your tendons;
- Hold at the top of a pull up, at least chin above bar. Hold until failure or 20 seconds, whichever comes first.
- Hold at the bottom of a press up, chest 1" above the ground. Hold until failure or for 60 seconds,whichever comes first.
- Perform a barbell bicep curl with your usual weight (comfortable 6 - 8 reps) and hold the bar with your forearms parallel to the floor until failure or 30 seconds, whichever comes first.

You might be surprised at how difficult these challenges are.
If they're tough, try putting them into your regular workout to strengthen out these weaknesses.

Let me know how you get on.


Full article by Stephen Kirlew:
http://www.superlifenutrition.co.uk/blogs/news/7518902-tendon-titan

Pulling Power

It's getting towards the end of the month and time to start thinking about tweaks to my program for April.
For my legs I'm changing the French Contrast to focus on explosive power and increased velocity, this will involve lighter loads, faster movements and slightly modified exercises - more on this in a future blog post.

I am now looking to increase my explosive upper body pulling power, this prompted a discussion with Will Wayland (http://www.powering-through.com) about possibly using French Contrast for upper body pulling.

The French Contrast method is best used to increase ballistic power, so it lends itself to jumping or pressing very well.
But upper body pulls tend not to be ballistic or explosive. However I do want to develop explosive ballistic power in my upper body pulls. This power will make muscle ups and Parkour climb ups easier to perform.

The discussion then moved onto how it could be achieved by varying the exercises slightly so as not to completed destroy yourself. Will was of the opinion that weighted pulls ups and variations thereof would be a good start but was concerned that a lack of variation would fatigue the upper body. I wanted to take a slightly different approach and look at using barbell bent over row and kettlebell bent over row in addition to pull up variations to avoid excessive fatigue by just using one exercise.
After some further discussion and different ideas on exercises and contrasts, we settled on what we both think will be an efficient French Contrast method for building upper body pulling power, specifically with regard to the muscle up.

As much as I don't want to turn into a 'one trick pony' the increased power in my legs is phenomenal, so I am going to try French Contrast for upper body pulling during the month of April.

One session per week will be as follows.
3 sets of the following French Contrast circuit:
3x Weighted (high) pull up, 14.5kg
5x fast medicine ball slams (driven by lats)
3x Resistance band speed row
5x band assisted muscle up (on bar)
With 2-3 minutes recovery between sets

Each of the pulling exercises pull will involve taking the elbows back as far as possible, the pull ups will all be chest above bar (I hope)

After this circuit I'll then perform these additional exercises:
3 sets of 10reps 2x 20kg kettlebell bent over row
3 sets of 5reps Bulgarian dips on rings (must not forget top phase of the muscle up)
3 sets of 6 band pull/push (featured in this video)
3x 30 second static hold, chest to bar (top of pull up)
3 sets of 6reps 70kg Barbell overhead press 

That should be enough to blitz my upper body and increase ballistic pulling power.
I'll keep you posted on how it's going.

This is purely me experimenting on myself to see how it works out.

If you want to try it yourself please let me know how you get on

Barbell bent over row can wait until next month

Ladies Who Lift

What women think vs. what actually happens

"women can't lift weights, it's dangerous", "if women lift weights they'll look like bodybuilders", "I just want to 'tone up' with cardio"... These statements are nonsense!

I'm quite pleased to say that I'm hearing more and more people ignoring the "ladies can't lift"myth, I even had a lady call out "strong is the new skinny" during one of my circuits classes. Quite a proud moment.

Becki bodyweight deadlift

I've been training a couple of ladies at Mi-gym.com recently and it's been great to see former traditional gym goers (studio class and 30mins on a cross trainer) having a go at Olympic Lifting as well as some large compound lifts. Not only are the ladies seeing gains and progress towards their goals, they're also quite enjoying themselves (having fun while training hard, surely not?!)

Rachel smiling with a barbell

For anyone that's still not convinced; please remember that the people who compete in bodybuilding contests train really really hard every day, they eat thousands more calories than any of us on a daily basis, and generally speaking they have genetic advantages. There is also a large recorded use of drugs to help achieve the correct aesthetic.
If it was as easy as lifting something heavy a couple of times per week at the gym, we'd ALL look like Mr or Mrs Universe.

Rachel squatting 80kg

I'm not sure who first started the myth that heavy weights will bulk you up, but it has stuck over the years and wrongly makes many people—both men and women—afraid of lifting heavy weights. While there is some truth to the idea that lifting lighter weights for more reps does a better job of increasing the muscular endurance, lighter weights will not help you "tone" better than heavy weights. In fact, because heavier weights build the strength of your muscles (and the size to a small degree—but not to the Hulk effect), thereby helping to increase your metabolism and burn fat, lifting heavier weights with lower reps (8 to 12 on average) and working until you're fatigued is more effective at helping you reach your toning goals than lifting lighter weights. Not to mention that it's more time efficient, too!

So ladies, get yourself to the gym and pick up something heavy.
Don't be intimidated by barbells and dumbells, firstly think of the least intelligent man you know at the gym, does he lift weights? How hard can it be then?
Get yourself booked in with a trainer to show you how to safely and correctly perform a few major lifts; deadlift, squat, bench press & bent over row would be a good start.
Anyone local to myself, drop me an email: brad@bradwendes.com and we'll get you down to mi-gym.com for some serious results-based training!

DO YOU EVEN LIFT?! Hopefully the answer will be 'yes'.

Lift like a man, look like a Goddess

On the left is 'diet skinny' on the right is a trained posterior 

Using more muscle will burn more calories. Simples...

For some further reading, here's a couple of great articles that explain in more depth about the 'Toning Myth':

http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/goulet5.htm

http://www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_articles.asp?id=1662

How to increase your vertical jump

I know we discussed the French Contrast and how it fits into my current program earlier this week.
But I really feel the need to share the workout again as I've now added TWO INCHES to my vertical jump in two weeks.
I'm really impressed at how much of a difference this has made and how quickly I'm noticing gains.

If you want to give it a try yourself, here's a video tutorial I uploaded this evening:

Let me know how you all get on...

Brad Wendes 110kg barbell squat

Training with Will

Few pictures from a session at Mi-Gym today with Will Wayland

Brad Wendes 105kg squat

Front squats with chains

Will Wayland front squat with chains

Check out the guns!

In line RDL

In line RDL

40kg barbell curl with thick grips

40kg barbell curl with thick grips

40kg barbell curl with thick grips

Pretty face...

Will Wayland 40kg curl with thick grips

Thick grip curls

French Contrast

Now we're in March 2013 and I'm using a programme that's much much more fun!

My current goals are as follows:
Increase power and strength in legs (for jumping)
Increase upper body pulling power (for muscle-ups)
Acquire Aesthetics (don't judge me!)


I'm using a French contrast method for jumping power and I've added 5kg to my back squat in just 2 weeks!

This method is essentially 4 exercises performed consecutively, followed by a 2-3 minute rest, then repeat for 3 sets.
The exercises start with 3 reps of a heavy load, then 5 reps of minimal load, 3 reps of a moderate load and lastly 5 reps of an assisted exercise (accelerated eccentric)

For leg strength and jumping power I'm doing the following:
3 reps - 105kg Back Squat
5 reps - tuck jump
3 reps - 32kg kettlebell squat jump
5 reps - band assisted jump

I then rest and repeat this 'circuit' 3 times.

After the French Contrast (above) I'm performing 4 sets of 3 high pull ups (chest over bar) as fast and powerful as I can manage.
Then 3x 10reps bent over row with 32kg (2x 16kg kettlebells)
Lastly I barbell curl 35kg for 3 sets of 6reps.

I'm performing this workout twice per week.
In the first 2 weeks of this I have noticed significant increase in leg strength and hip mobility.


Once per week I've adding in an extra workout that's aimed more at upper body strength / maintenance and some glute / posterior chain exercises:

Ring Muscle Up - 4 sets of 4reps
35kg barbell curl - 4 sets of 5reps
press up - 4 sets of 10reps
70kg bench press - 3 sets of 6 reps
110kg deadlift - 3 sets of 6 reps
20kg Kettlebell swing with band resistance - 3 sets of 6 reps


I'll keep you posted on how this programme works out of the next few weeks....


Great article on contrast training:
http://www.musclemag.com/muscle-building/high-contrast-for-huge-gains/

Article on French Contrast method with regard to American Football:
http://www.stack.com/2012/04/04/build-power-for-football-with-french-contrast-workouts/

Hepburn Method

After training with Will Wayland in February this year, I decided to have a try at the Doug Hepburn method to get stronger. Will was using it for a month to change his training up.

This is a methodical grind to get progressively stronger using large compound lifts.

Essentially you start by lifting 80% of your 1RM for 8 sets of 2 reps (with 2 mins between sets) using 4 major lifts. 

I used:

Deadlift

Back Squat

Bent Over Row

Overhead Press  (in place of bench press due to lack of a bench)

You train four times per week, each session you add 1 rep to each lift.

So the sets on your programme will look like this for each exercise:

Day 1 - 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2

Day 2 - 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3

Day 3 - 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3

Day 4 - 2, 2, 2, 2, 2, 3, 3, 3

etc...

When you have performed 8 sets of 3 reps you add 5kg to the lift on your next session, go back to 8 sets of 2 and start over.

You can see that this is a really methodical 'grind' to increase your maximum lifts.

Every 8 workouts (2 weeks) you will add 5kg to each of these exercises.

Theoretically you'll add 130kg to each of these lifts in a year. That's quite some achievement! 

While this method is a great way (in theory) to build strength, it's incredibly dull. You perform 2 or 3 reps, then wait 2minutes before doing it again.

Every workout is the same and it leaves you exhausted.

I lasted 3 weeks before moving onto something more enjoyable - I was significantly stronger after just 3 weeks though....

Advice, information, assistance...

Now Mi-Gym is a great place to exchange ideas. There's myself with gymnastic and Parkour experience alongside traditional gym / fitness, there's a superb boxing coach, a competing Olympic Lifting Coach, a real life Triathlete / Watt Bike expert, the boss bear Rachel Young herself (if she don't know it about the fitness industry, it ain't worth knowing!) but best of all, another good friend of mine trains and coaches out of Mi-gym; William Wayland.

Although I'd never say it to his face, Will is a massive inspiration and influence on my training. Will is possibly the most knowledgable person I have ever had the pleasure of chatting with when it comes to health, fitness, anatomy & physiology, strength & conditioning or getting results.
As well as being a wealth of knowledge he's just about the most approachable and forthcoming person you'd ever hope to meet.
So if you want to educate your training then hit up his website and listen to this man!
Will Wayland's website is called Powering Through, go read it! http://www.powering-through.com/

William Wayland

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...