World Gym Challenge Ultimate Event

Preparation for the Ultimate Gym Athlete began in February. A gym was needed in central England that had Life Fitness Equipment, so traveling to the event, was not too far from any point in the UK and also WGC’s favoured equipment was used. Also entry fees were at their lowest ever, at just £10.00 to ease on the cost of travelling would invite the very best Gym Athletes  to take part in these harsh financial times.

No prize money at stake, no advertising, no marketing. This event is for those, who have submitted a pre race time to race somebody of equal fitness, the best of the best in gym fitness. Fortunately Andy Tee at Abbey Sports and leisure Club answered the call for  the use of a gym studio and the first and most crucial part of the event fell into place, a venue.

Move on to September this year and the entries into The Ultimate Gym Athlete started to arrive in Leicester for this event.  Some had flown in from Belfast, returning that evening and others from Bristol, London, Scotland and Hampshire, a real mix of what was described by one “ It’s nice to be amongst like minded athletes , who are into their fitness” and this summed up at the atmosphere. Wherever you looked somebody at some point was chatting to somebody who had a similar interest in X Training and fitness.

The Gym Athlete

Without any sponsorship , prize money , endorsements , winnings, hired help , and really against the odds, this event took place. Why ? Because there is a need to show gyms what they have created – The Gym Athlete. Having a reason to train and get results not in weight loss but in gym fitness and this is what separates a normal gym member from that of a Gym Athlete.

Getting graded

Each gym and gym member  that competes in The Ultimate Gym Athlete, has access to a unique database. This database is given to the gym member  for free, so that any one member of the gym can try this challenge. Not at the advanced level, but at a stage that suits their fitness, Beginner or Fun Runner , Intermediate (Silver) and Advanced (Gold) and Elite (Premiership) . A pre determined race will give a gym athlete a measure of fitness to fit one of the classes, and then we have a race. Somebody from within that gym , will be able to race you and that somebody could be female! It’s a unique blend of inter gym gender challenges, that really sorts the men out from the boys! (If that makes sense) As soon as you race , you are graded in the the time that you finish.

Gender Racing

Keith Pockett who had submitted a 17:20 pre race time and Claire Boyce had submitted a 17:00 race time was paired up to race each other. This was a first in the history of X Training for a main event to have a cross gender race. And sure enough when the race ended, Claire had done it for the girls. Her performance was incredible and she had given her all to achieve her best ever result, resulting in winning the title Women’s Ultimate Gym Athlete 2010. Keith was gracious in defeat and congratulated Claire. So have we seen the start of something here? I think so. Inter gender racing – sounds very promising.

Bringing them back

Claire was a former Ultra Fit contender back in the 90’s and so was Richie Hanson from North East Muscle up in Blyth Northumberland. Making the journey down it had been a long time since he last competed, but when asked why he was competing, he replied “I have always trained this way” But he firmly added,” I am the only one in my gym who does”.  Which is something that Gary Nicholas, the oldest man in the event also stated “ They watch me train and say No way” that’s how it is, with X Training and the Gym Athlete.

The New Face

Cat Trentham is a fitness/glamour model. She has featured in Ultra FIT magazine, TRX campaign, Zoo magazine and many others. Her portfolio grows stronger because her image is one that not only competes, but represents the all important challenge factor – that is somebody, who will give it a go – show strength in character and be prepared to step that one foot on to the challenge. Beauty, elegance, determination , no wonder high profile companies are choosing Cat over other fitness models.

The new face of the Gym Athlete, is emerging, and this now means that personal trainers and gym instructors can focus on training for a reason with their clients – weight loss as a measure of success in a gym was old school and has no place in the gym challenge concept. Fitness results – giving it a go and showing some grit , is what is driving people forward this day as they loved to be challenged. All of them? No ! That is where the Gym Athlete differs from a gym member. You either aim for results in fitness or you do not. You are either a Gym Athlete, or you are not. Cat Trentham, is a Gym Athlete and a welcome addition by World Gym Challenge.com.

The Bike Issue

Modern day upright bikes are developing more and more into more or less the real thing. But on this occasion the Life Fitness 9500 series had pre dated technology to which everybody was not use to. A ‘race mode’ button was needed to be pressed to give an even chance of racing faster than anybody else, on this occasion and with regret, this function was not used, meaning the first station, was completed in tandem, with the majority of the times being the same – having raced on level 12. Steps have been taken to prevent this from happening ever again, and as organizer I take full responsibility for the Bike Issue. Having said that anybody who thought this was now an easy challenge, would need their head examined, some of the best and closest races ever witnessed took place and those that were there will remember Alex’s Woods and Richard Vin’t ‘s race for a long time ……

Andy Stubbings.

Who is Andy Stubbings? Andy has never competed before, but was a member of Abbey Sports and Leisure Club. What made Andy’s race special? … Andy approached me at midday asking if he could race.  A suitable time slot was not available until the end. Put off? No, Andy to my surprise , more or less stayed the whole day and witnessed each race. He gets a big thank you and a well done for completing this challenge and also Mike Jones for agreeing to race a second time so Andy could experience a real race .

Queen PEC gym in Belfast

Flying in from Belfast to compete were three guys, Graeme Acheson, Neil Weir and Greg Lucy who had heard about WGC and wanted to compete,  and there was some great performances from them all. In fact Neil Weir’s performance was that good, that he was given a special award ‘Race of the Day’ which was declared after consultation with the judges, that his treadmill finished was one of the best ever seen.

Gorton Fitness First

Gorton Fitness First is probably the most famous X Training Club in the country. It has hosted many an event and also holds claim to one of the toughest challenges of the year , The Gorton Grueller. Long time Gym Athlete Craig Horsfield from Gorton has had major setbacks with his training last year, but this year, he has performed out of his skin and has been at more or less any X Training event always achieving good results . It’s quite evident, that his friendship with Mike Jones, also from Gorton Fitness First, has matured, Craig into one of the best Gym Athletes in the UK.

The ‘Vet’ boys meet

Mike Jones turned 50 just recently and so took on long time friend and oldest competitor Gary Nicholls who is respected for his ability to perform in X Training at the highest level at the age of 56 in the Vet category. Younger guys at Gary’s  gym just refuse to train with him and like many gym athletes trains alone. But today, these guys met for the first time with Gary edging victory. Im sure there will be many occasions when these two meet again in future races.

Tim Moonen and Doug Harrison

Close friends Tim Moonen from Bristol University and Doug Harrison from Virgin Active in Canary Wharfe, travelled together to this event, raced each other and really enjoyed the experience of X Training under the WGC banner. Both results have been entered into system, and have by special privilege been given the rank of Elite (Premiership) status, due to their performances today. This decision was taken after looking at the results, and it being in balance with other Gym Athletes, who have reached Elite status.

Alex Woods and Richard Vint

What would normally have been the final race of the day, was moved forward to allow the guys who were catching flights the chance to witness, what was always going to be one of those clashes that would be remembered for a life time and it did not disappoint. Richard and Alex have raced before at Brighton, but on this occasion, with only eight stations, and a very experienced cardio and strength Gym Athletes , nothing was going to be certain. The crowd grew and you could hear a murmur of pre race chat about how good this race was going to be. It began with both agreeing to race around the same cadence on the bike, and both leaving at the same time, and then really race on. Being pushed all the way, was something that Richard needed, but also something that Alex was quite capable of and it was never really certain what happens on a X Training race day, it can and often does go very wrong. What were we about to witness today with these two?  Being there to witness these two race as I mentioned on the day was a privilege to watch one of the best races ever seen. It was neck and neck stuff and both of these guys can perform out of their skins on the treadmill and it was that last station, where Rich reached first, from a edging lead from the bench press to the fastest ever 1000m runs ever recorded at 3.47. where he pipped Alex.

Fastest Recorded WGC's Results

These performances are amongst the best you will see in the world. Both Alex and Richard are capable of riding a 2.20 2 km. It would have been one of those amazing days to have seen the record broken, but it was not to be today. But it will one day – measures are in place to ensure the ‘bike issue’ never happens again.

Next Year

The Ultimate Gym Athlete runs annually. Next year the event will take place again with as always every gym in the world the ability to try it at their own gym – so gym members can have a solid aim and goal to train towards, but I would guess, a limited number of Gym Athletes will emerge and again compete next year, whereas the mass of gym members, personal trainers and gym instructors will not. it remains for the Gym Athlete to lead the way in Gym Based Sports and show the industry just how fit the gym member can become once they have a solid goal to train towards.

Thank you’s

To  Abbey Sports and  Leisure Club (Andy, Rod, Sharon, ) To Lloyd Millichap and Andy Brown for being first class judges. To Claire Boyce, Cat Trentham, Phil Boyce, Mike Jones, Craig Horsfeild, Andy Ashurst for time keeping.

The next WGC Event ...