 Tell me about your current studies. What are you studying for what are your ambitions career wise?
I started studying a two years MSc in Physiotherapy at King’s College London in September 2013. I am really enjoying the course; the cardio-respiratory and neurological modules are particularly interesting. The dream would to work with a mixture of top athletes and with juniors at grass roots level.
What do you prefer rowing or Gym X Training?
In some ways they are hard to compare as the training is very specific for rowing, whereas the X-Training is much more varied. The volume of rowing required just to knock one second off your 2k p.b is very gruelling sometimes and is definitely less exciting than the X-training workouts. Since winning the British Indoor Championships in December last year (student lightweight category), I have really enjoyed focussing on X-Training; every workout is so different and this is a welcome change to hours of rowing. The X-Training races themselves are also much more fun as there is a good vibe at the competitions and the marginal gains are higher. You get a more immediate sense of achievement with X-Training as you can improve your time constantly, whereas rowing is more masochistic; you can kill yourself and only knock 0.1s off your time (but that would be considered progress!).
Your bodyweight makes you quite unique to be competing at Advance – do you consider this an advantage?
I often feel it is the opposite. Rowing and cycling performance are positively affected by lever length, and alternate squat thrusts and step ups are made easier by greater leg length. Having said that, box squats and the barbell lifts work the other way; favouring the shorter athlete. Hywel Davies, considered by most to be the best X-Training athlete ever, was a similar size to me so I shouldn’t make any excuses.
What has been your favourite event to date in your history of competing
The Ironman has always been my favourite as it is the most painful and has the most strict cardio stations in it. Stu Leng and everybody involved at Wildmoor Health Spa always put on a great event.
When was the moment you first discovered Gym X Training and who introduced you to it?
I think I was randomly searching for gym competitions in 2010 and then I entered my first competition in September, The Ultimate Gym Athlete course.
You train your girlfriend Steph Whitehead who is now doing very well at Intermediate level. What would you say has been her most effective training day
Her strength has always been her strong suit so she has benefitted most from cardio combinations like 4 rounds of bike, run, row, off 3-5minutes.
What would you say are Stephs’s strong points and what do you need to concentrate on?
She was built for power lifting and she is awesome at squats (85kg), deadlifts (107kg) and pull-ups (16). She needs to work on improving her efficiency at rowing and cycling but she has made big strides this year.
I need to focus on X-Training specific workouts like circuit training and high repetition sets as, currently, I spend too much time training strict cardio stations (bike, run, row) and strength training.
 Do you think Gym X Training is a way of life? You have to be 100% focused and can’t just do occasional training.
That is true. Like anything, if you want to excel at something you have to dedicate large amounts of time and energy towards it. If you train smart, you can get great results with 40minutes a day. However, if you want to be really competitive, you are looking at double that. It is worth it though; if it was easy you would lose that sense of accomplishment.
As a personal trainer, would you say it’s fair to say that Gym X Training is not in the curriculum for qualification. Gym XT is something you develop as a means of competing and finding out what works?
I think you are saying it is not in the PT curriculum but you can qualify to be a PT in other ways. Unfortunately though, as I am aware no course teaches explicit X-training workouts but they do outline the merits of circuit training, HIIT etc. The sport is in need of more exposure and advertising on such courses, especially as it is a sport designed for gyms.
Where do you see yourself in 10 years time career wise?
Hopefully a physiotherapist for Team GB J or another elite sporting institution.
PHA training has striking similarities with the way we train – do you think more people who don’t compete could benefit by just looking more at looking at oxygen transportation and blood circulation in sports?
I am sure there are numerous people involved in research in haemodynamics and respiratory physiology but their findings and applications are not very accessible to the average coach or athlete. The field of amateur coaching is still not very scientific and many hackneyed methods still persist. The unfortunate fact is that different methods are only tested against each other in elite sports, where the funding and participation is much greater. This also makes it fun and challenging though, as you can try out different training methods to see what works best.
We are a clean sport at the moment. If more sponsorship followed do you think drug uptake would rear its head? Say the taking of more EPO etc?
I have a few friends in the army and they say that a lot of illegal anabolic and recovery supplements are easily available to those who want them so you never know, without testing, who is on them or not. With increased sponsorship the lure of money always attracts the amoral athletes and even Cross Fit doesn’t administer out-of-competition testing. It is just one of those things that we will just have to hope doesn’t happen.
There is a certain break point in physical pain (exertion) what is your way of dealing with that?
You just have to go somewhere else in your head. Focus on the goal and not the pain.
How do you personally cope with injury during an event or training?
I have had a few setbacks in X-Training during races. My mid-back has been prone to spasms, which has made me pull out of a few races. It is so frustrating but I think I am on top of it now. You just have to regroup, rest, rehab and set your sights on the next race. The annoying thing is that I manage the rest of my body well and never have any other injuries.
 
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