So after finishing 4th place at the British Nationals pulling 230kg @74kg BW, I was a little downhearted to think that I had missed out on a spot at Worlds by only one place. However to my delight I have in fact qualified! This is down to being part of the Scottish region and so I now have 2 months to try and add some more kilos to my deadlift and hopefully finish in a respectable position.
In my lead up to the Nationals I decided to do a bulking cycle, upping my body weight to 78kg and then spending 4 weeks cutting it back down to 74kg. Due to having an insane metabolism and also training twice a day, I was having to eat 4000 calories a day and only through choice (so as to not get too fat) the majority of these came from clean foods. It’s a lot of eating!
During my cut I went down to 2800 calories a day and this surely showed with me becoming agitated and snappy the majority of the time. Apologies to all those who it affected!
My training focus on the lead up was mainly targeting my hamstrings and glutes as this is where all my power comes from. I have seen huge improvements in both my squat and deadlift and so I’ll continue to do this while its working. Although I deadlift with a conventional style I still like to train sumo, I feel that this really hits the hammys and glutes and also other muscles and tendons that don’t get worked during a conventional deadlift. Along with this I worked hard on my back squat, front squat and also front rack lunges and then accessory work such as single leg press and kettle bell good mornings.
With only 2 months to prep for the Worlds I am doing another 4 week bulk and with any luck I will improve on the Nationals. This has all come around in the space of just a year, after making the decision to step back from football and focus solely on lifting. I do miss the game, however my decision mainly came from a lack of discipline from team members in terms of training and nutrition. My decision was based on the fact that this is a solo sport and the effort I put in will hopefully show, and I’m pleased to say that it has.
Those of you who are avid trainers like myself know only too well the sacrifices that you make in order to achieve anything within your chosen sport. The hours of training in the gym, the nutritional discipline and the lack of social life because of it can often become a burden and I have found myself asking why I do it. Until you’re on stage and achieve something you have been working towards for so many months, when it all comes together, you realise why you’re there and that it was all worth it in the end.
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