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Date of birth: 30th October 1984
Training History - I've been training on and off since I was young but only started structuring it a couple of months before my first competition last
year. Then it stopped and only started again in Feb of this year and is going strong....never to stop again!
In the past my programmes have followed a ‘every body part’ once a week type programme. I was doing 3 sets on 3 exercises increasing the
weight each set, failing on each set getting maybe 10-8-6 reps. It doesn’t really incorporate any kind of progression
scheme which I see now probably is not the best way to maximise my gains. I have now changed this so this year holds lots of new gains I hope!
Occupation: Student – Loughborough University: Sport and Exercise Science.
Current residence: High Wycombe, Buckinghamshire and in term time Loughborough University.
Contest history:
BNBF Central Qualifier 2003
BNBF Southern Qualifier 2004
NPA South East Qualifier 2004 - 4th
Long Term Goals - My aim now is to structure my training so as to get the best out of it, to train hard and to keep my diet good to build mass until
the Qualifiers in 2005 where I want to get my first ever top 3 placing and qualify for the Britain.
I want to say thank you to my family for putting up with me whilst on the diet especially my girlfriend Kirsty who was very supportive over the whole
period of contest preparation. Also, a special thanks to Jason Rickaby who was very helpful with all aspects of my contest preparation and diet. It
was great to have someone who has been in the sport a long time to get advice from.
…And of course thanks to Gavin Laird who’s training programme helped me to dramatically improve not only my condition but to hold size, if not
gain some, and keep almost all of my strength.
2005 Update !
As you have read from my last years Bio, my goal for this year was to ‘structure my training so as to get the best out of it, to train hard and to
keep my diet good to build mass until the Qualifiers in 2005 where I want to get my first ever top 3 placing
and qualify for the British finals.
Well, most of this was achieved…apart from maybe the good off-season eating! I went into my pre-competition phase this year in a much
improved state compared to the previous year and much of this I owe to Gavin and his help with my off-season training (even if he didn’t know it
sometimes). The first thing I did was do a good base of strength training with a nice 5x5 routine ‘tweaked’ for me by Gavin. This was great fun to
do and my strength really progressed as well as some small gains in size. I went from this to a more volume based training
program and I think after having done this lower rep with higher weight work , my body reacted really well and I put on some good muscle in this
time.
I attribute my greatest gains throughout the year to have been brought about by the increase in the frequency of my training where at points I
was, for instance, squatting 2-3 times a week as Gavin had prescribed. This, as I was told by judges and you can see partly from
pictures, helped me to greatly improve my legs. It also allowed me to stay relatively lean (training often) which, coming into my diet, made it a
LOT easier.
Pre-contest, a combination of advice from Gavin, Dean Garratt and on training and diet allowed me to really hone in my condition and on stage I
was 6lb heavier than the previous year with bettered condition. This was not only through my training in the off-season but better dieting habits
allowing me to retain more muscle. Help from Jon Harris was great for motivation and also allowed me to improve my stage presentation and
posing.
Training wise I was using a very high frequency of training again, for instance, squatting and benching twice weekly. I used a 3 days on 1 day off
split training antagonist body parts on the same day. Some wonderful little tricks and exercises that Gavin constructed
into my routine saw me bring one of weakest body parts, my shoulders, up to standard. This turned my back double biceps into a strong shot for
me which is one of the major things that allowed me to place higher in my competition!
On to the juicy stuff! Here is my summary of my class. There were 4 entrants to the NPA Yorkshire U21 class.
1 – Richard smith. Richard had a small frame, but had a fair amount of muscle on it and was very conditioned with brilliant abs, on par if not
better than mine.
2 – Myself. Much improved muscle mass, 6lbs heavier than last year on stage with bettered condition! One thing I was disappointed with was that
in pre-contest pictures I looked hard and dry but on stage, from pictures I have seen I seemed a tad soft.
3 – Jay Hollingsworth. This half man half beast was huge and ripped! I’ll spoil it and tell you he
won our class and ended up placing 3rd in the overall!
4 – Aaron Mwale. Aaron was a shorter, stockier guy with a heap of muscle but was soft on the day. Anyway……in the end I managed to place a
comfortable second with Richard 3rd. I was CHUFFED to say the least! It came down to me having a better overall deal, bigger legs even if not in
the best condition and from the rear my back was wider with a lot of detail. All those high rope pulls Gav had me doing!
A few people to say thank you to! A HUGE thank you to Dean Garratt who was always so forthcoming with information on my diet! He was so
helpful even if he gets annoyed at me pestering him! His guidance after the show will allow me to be further improved in 2 weeks at the BNBF
Manchester! Another thank you to Jon Harris for teaching me the art of posing even if it wasn’t up to your standard my routine and transitions
were complimented on numerous times so thank you for that and for the motivation and encouragement you gave me! A massive thank you to
my family and friends who were so much more supportive this year and Ashley (the best training partner ever!) and Paul for
coming to watch me on the day! A big thank you to all forum members Jason, Marcel, Jamie, Jerry etc for their support I shan’t name you all as
you know who you are! A small mention and thanks to www.myprotein.co.uk who during my contest prep agreed to
sponsor me which was wonderful news and an added bonus! Finally, the biggest thank you to Jon Bibb who without I would have failed onmy diet
so many times and who without I would not have been able to even make it to the show! Truly a good friend!