Weighing in at just over 88.4 kg after the festive period, serious action is need to prepare for the Gym Ironman, just over 7 weeks away.

Over the next few weeks a training diary of the preparation to compete will be published,  so others can see the type of training that goes on.

As long as I don’t suffer injuries or catch the dreaded lurgy - a regular post will follow.

Other X Trainers are free to post comments too.

All comments are the view of the author. Any interpretation of training methods are suggestions only and you should always seek the advice of a trained fitness professional before embarking in strenuous physical activity.

X Training … to adapt and be versatile.

X Training’s role within a gym is based on certain criteria. For instance the personal trainer - is he or she interested in it? Do they compete? Can they see income benefits, have they developed client relationships? Do they get satisfaction from seeing their clients compete? Do they get more satisfaction seeing their clients win?

Actually the list is endless - but what is without question is the ability to achieve - X Training, like so many other sports gives a huge degree of satisfaction on completion.

But it’s getting to the events or a X Training competition that is sometimes the biggest hindrance - not that the client doesn’t want to do it - so the jewel in the crown for the sport of X Training is to be able to adapt and be versatile to suit the terrain of the environment so that members of gym can compete at their own gym.

For instance many gym weight machines these days are just too heavy to transfer into the the gym studio - take the Lat Pull Down Machine - excellent kit - but boy the new ones are big and so you already have a barrier that prevents the set up of an event in a gym studio - in some cases treadmills have to be taken upstairs and then back down again, putting a drain on resources within the gym environment - so obviously steps have to be taken to combat this or develop ways around it ….

One such way has been developed by lloyd Millichap of Camberley Fitness First, he has developed a course which as true a X Training event as any other, but reads to the tune of what is practical in terms of set up in the gym studio space available.

February will see the addition of The WGC Camberley X Training Fitness Challenge go into Personal Folders. There is no treadmill in this event and so it can be set up in any gym that has certain issues with the transportation of equipment.

The event will be trialled on the 1st Feb for FF Camberley members and also X Trainers that want to try it (max number competing 32)

If successful the possibility to create this challenge either at Camberley or other gyms will be available and huge leap forward in creating another quality event on the WGC database - run by  slick, dedicated, fit  and very professional personal trainer/s.

The sport of X Training is a funny ol thing! And the path to get it recognised has been quite a journey.

The first instance that WGC had to deal with was fighting the second biggest gym franchise in the world (World Gym) in the right to keep it’s name as a trademark. After months of endless solicitor phone calls and the Patent Office being contacted - WGC was finally able to keep its name.

It certainly sent out signals that this was not going to be a walk in the park.

I don’t think anybody will argue that founders of  what is considered the cornerstone of X Training will always be considered as the Ultrafit events in the late nineties.

A couple of years ago WGC spoke with Charles May (Editor of Ultrafit) and informed him of what it was trying to do. He wished WGC luck but knew from experience what a difficult path  it is to get the sport into gyms - this is a national magazine and over a couple of long lasting friendly phone calls and a small article published in the magazine, WGC continued its quest to get the sport recognised.

later WGC spoke with Peter Muir of Men’s Fitness. It suggested doing a gym challenge and that possibly Men’s Fitness would like to promote it in their magazine. Again a few friendly open phone calls ensued, but ultimately Men’s Fitness created their own challenge and Fit Brit was ran throughout Fitness First chains. By all accounts very successfully and we later interviewed the female winner Bella Weaver.

WGC again focused on Health magazines and one of the most charming of Editor’s, Christina Neal from Women’s Fitness was contacted to try and push more females from their readership into the sport. Again a few conversations took place, but nothing really came of it except  a lasting impression of how nice some people are on the phone.

During the course of last year saw WGC communicate quite regularly with the FIA - but it became apparent as a Trade Body - the FIA does not represent the member of a gym and it seemed pointless in remaining part of this body, but wishes the FIA well in its drive to get more people into gyms - which is quite ironic - as once they are in gyms who  then does the member turn to for support?

And then there is the gym - a place which is receiving so  much publicity lately it’s hard to pick up a news paper and not see the benefits of taking up gym membership (especially at this time of year) and getting on the drive to be fit and healthy.

Why then is a sport which has been nearly fifteen years in the making still struggling to be written about in the mainstream magazines, does not receive any notable TV coverage and any athlete who performs exceptionally well be encouraged to go into other sports and leave X Training alone?

It is a bit of a mystery to me and WGC welcomes any comment that suggests what the bad points of this sport are (If indeed there are any) ? And why gyms who have so much to gain through its growth are reluctant to embrace it.

The point being that WGC realises that there are incredible Gymathletes in gyms. A world where the guy  who works in the street goes to train . He has a focus about him which is scarily daunting as he will push himself to the limit in pursuit of the ultimate fitness body.

It has been suggested in the past that runners, cyclists, football players, rugby players and all the other athletes out there who have achieved an image of being physically fit will not go down the X training path as for a individual that is perceived as being ultimately fit - will be found wanting in this sport.

So the opportunity was created for the ultimate gym challenge to happen. A world gym challenge, something that has an infrastructure already in place to be carried out - members , venues and equipment all over the world and give individuals at gyms the chance to shine. And more importantly a searchable database that can define results by order of sport, age, location and to a degree profession.

By entering the WGC Gym Fit Database Tables you are entering times that say - I train a t a gym and this is what I am capable of and in the process you are highlighting a sport that is waiting to be developed.

That was why WorldGymChallenge was created and it’s up to members of gyms to ask their gym to subscribe to gain a free membership - or pay the annual subscription of just £11.75 per year to be entered into the WGC Gym Fit Database and belong to the Cyber Gym.

WGC can replicate any gym challenge in the world and publish results on line specific to any gym and their members and gives a personal folder to each member to chart their progress.

The sport of X Training needed something to promote the athletes who compete - the events that happened and publish the amazing times that’s possible in this sport and 2009 will see far more initiatives happen to promote that, starting with on line booking facility which enables you to enter events in just under four minutes to those organisers that want this option.

The gyms that continue to support X Training are keeping the sport going and particular thanks goes to Fitness First Rochdale, Luton, Gorton. The Esporta Hampshire - Calso in Kent and  Inverclyde Leisure in Scotland.

And also to the organisers Stuart Leng, Aidy Cartwright, Jon Masiano, Gary Nicholas, Frances Walton, Rory Macquisten, Mark Drury  and Ty Whitlock - and to Men’s Fitness and  Ultrafit Magazine without who there would be no X Training events.

2009 sees a great oppurtunity to push the sport forward and WGC will work tirelessly to promote the sport and the Gymathletes who represent the UK in one of the toughest sports ever developed, X Training.

Good luck in any event you enter and see you at the WGC Gym Ironman in Manchester (The next WGC event)

X Training is the only sport that you can carry out in a gym that is totally gym orientated to gain results.

The new year will see WGC step up a gear towards getting recognition for the sport, but it feels it may have a slight problem.

Your help is needed.

An example of why X Training struggles to gather momentum is the reason that I have chosen to leave my current gym  ROKO in Gillingham. The fitness manager has refused to acknowledge the potential of the sport and has literally closed doors on the concept of a X Training gym challenge being held there.

The reasons for this are for the gym alone to decide what they offer their members , but what I can say,  is that the event that was recently held at the Hampshire (Esporta), which raised over £1500 for Help The Heroes and was attended by the Royal Marines and the fittest gymathletes throughout the country - and went on into the night with an excellent party - was something that sadly ROKO Gillingham could not do at this moment in time, but they could.

And sadly much is the same throughout the UK.

This then is not an attack on ROKO or any other gym. It’s the realisation that for the sport to succeed it needs the backing of Fitness Managers that have vision in a common focus that runs throughout a gym, from personal trainers to gym instructors encouraging members to take part in events or challenges that are instigated by that gym to increase motivation in training.

Or another way to look at this is the very routes of the sport and the influence that parents play in the future of the sport. 

The picture that defines the young being influenced is a generation away to the next gym member - but if the sport is being repressed now - it will always struggle.

WGC urges Fitness Mangers throughout the UK to embrace the concept of Gym Challenges as a means of inspiration to run throughout any gym and respect the fittest members of gyms what can act as perfect role models for your gym and encourage through means of personal trainers and gym instructors the setting up of recordable events within a gym environment.

If one gym in the UK can raise £1500 on a single day and there are over 5000 gyms in the UK, then surely the future based on charitable events based on the current climate is a very positive step, whilst at the same time leading the next generation gym user on the right path to a healthy lifestyle - something that I believe the goverment is setting it’s sites on to prevent a future catastrophe with the nations health in future years.

The X Trainer needs to be heard.

Over the last week or so WGC has been recieving some very critical emails of the way it deals with promoting the sport (from a non member) and the way it is focused on gaining recognition through Sport England. Although critical they are nonetheless worthy of genuine concern for the future of the sport and as such contribute towards future decisons that are taken in pushing the sport forward.

The beauty of this sport is those that compete or organise  have the right to contribute towards it’s growth. Although WGC would like to think it offers a good service with clearly defined roles. It welcomes in the form of this blog page any contribution towards the growth of the sport by the people who do it.

WGC welcomes any constructive comment on the proposed acceptance of Sport England for the sport of X Training or any of the initiatives that it has taken over the past couple of years.

Due to comments made by WGC being interpreted as upsetting the harmony within X Training - the latest comment has been withdrawn.

You are free however to suggest by definition if the Ironman - the Gorton Grueller and Gymxtc are considered X Training events

How appropriate this Blog remark is when following on from the FIA.

On Saturday the 6th December an incredible array of X Trainers gathered at The Hampshire (part of the Esporta Group) to compete in the one of the toughest Gym Challenges in the UK. Each and everyone who entered this event had spent weeks training in the gym , so that they could give a 100 per cent performance on the day.

Over the next couple of weeks, interviews, profiles, pictures remarks and News Letters  about the day will be on the Latest News section or sent out via the mail shot system, so that the word of X Training and the so many benefits it has is made availibale to those who count - the people who do it and more importantly those that did not know of the sport.

To read the Latest News you will have to be logged in via the WGC website.

On this occasion, the remark is made towards Ty Whitlock the organiser of this event.

Ty, a serving Firefighter has an impressive history in fitness, having won fitness events himself and been a personal trainer with a degree in Sports Science. Ty uses his skills in developing a course that has over the years been almost a migratory exhibition of X Trainers from all over the UK, who descend on the Hampshire to compete in what is generally regarded as one of the best events of the year.

What happens at this event is a celebration of fitness - in both the senses. To those that are starting off and to those that would be considered elite and skilled in training methods within a gym environment.

The journey for some yesterday began as they experienced their first taste of a X Training event - with comments said that echoed, in similarity,  “loved it” …  “that was hard”…  ! “Great … When’s the next one” ? And for those that stay on the path, they can be rest assured that their training now moves on up a few gears and the opportunity to find inspiration from within develops more quickly as you desire to increase times and train harder gives you that all important focus and motivation.

How I wish more gyms had the vision that Ty Whitlock and Ben Williams (Personal Trainer from the Hampshire and winner of the Intermediate Male)  have when they see the results from yesterday. When they see their members and clients sharing in a Gym Challenge that is respected as one of the toughest in the world, yet giving opportunity for members of gyms all over the UK (some traveled from Scotland) to show what they have been doing in their gym, these past few weeks and in some cases many years and celebrate their fitness.

So this then is a personal thank you from WGC, to Ty Whitlock, Ben Williams and The Hampshire for giving X Training the  exposure it so desperately needs, so that members of gyms can compete.

If you would like to leave a comment, or just say thanks to Ty or  about this event - please sign it at the top of the page and a password will be sent to you.

Support Help For Heroes here

Early indications are that this event raised over £1500 for the above Charity - Well done to everybody

Over a turbulent few years as member to the FIA - WGC has decided that with regret it has to part ways.

There is no denying the good work the FIA do with increasing fitness awareness and the opportunity it has for good health, but WGC has over a period of a few months been restricted in it’s communication with the FIA, whilst paying full membership fee’s. In essence paying for a membership to which WGC is not receiving the full benefit of.

Has WGC been critical of the FIA ? To a degree a little. It asked as an agency that represents the fitness industry where results from gyms are published and do members of gyms have an avenue to turn to if they are dissatisfied with the service they receive from gyms. It turns out that the FIA are a Trade agency and as such are not responsible for the actions gyms take towards their members - it is much the same case: if you don’t like the gym you are at, you are free to leave , which ironically is the option WGC  had from the FIA, as well as being told you can only receive part of this service too.

Turning up at a gym or simply belonging to a gym, will not get you fit. It’s what you do at that gym that counts and results should be the most important retention tool of any gym. Figures that are commonly released are how many people go to a gym, which effectively is saying how much the dollar sign is generating for the industry - but of those people - where are the results? Did they achieve anything of note in relation to fitness? Did they increase in fitness levels? Have they lost weight? Would they consider since joining a gym they have changed their lifestyle - not just in the short term, but over a period of years? Many questions that WGC would like to see published. Surely if government money is used in any way - then as with results from schools - results should be published on a national scale from gyms?

WGC remains committed to highlighting the case of individuals who have achieved much in the time they have spent in the gym and the results they have achieved. It wishes the FIA every success in it’s commitment to get more people, more active, more often. But there comes a time when those members actually deserve the chance for recognition in achieving incredible and inspiring levels of fitness and for the FIA to simply turn a blind eye - is a bit like the Football Association saying - so what, you are good at football, what’s it to do with us?

I think the term “The Fitness Industry Association” by its descriptive term implies, that this  Association should have influence over gyms and act responsibly towards members of gyms who have shown great spirit and determination to achieve levels of fitness, that is developed in the gyms and uses the equipment, the Personal Trainers that the Fitness Industry Association helped promote in the first place.

WGC priority has always been focused towards developing the sport of X Training. A gym sport totally focused in the confines of the gym, that is a celebration of fitness levels achieved whilst working out at the same time. It hopes that either Sport England or the FIA will at some stage see the incredible sport that is happening at the moment and maybe one day realise just how beneficial this sport could actually be towards the industry as a whole.

Recent remarks made by a outstanding X Trainer with regards to world fitness records would indicate that maybe he would try one of these?

Anybody who achieve that record (World’s Fittest Athlete)  has certainly earned the title. It’s really about the chance to be it, then who holds it, that is what counts and that is what will make people attempt this record.  To be that person - you have to do do it.  Just thinking about it, or talking about it is not enough.

Paddy Doyle is a friend of mine, he has over the years been nothing but supportive of WGC, it’s aims and ambitions - what he has achieved over the years with his 160 plus world titles is nothing short of amazing.

Regardless of who  holds the title - the time to beat is Paddy’s.

As with the four minute mile (Roger Bannister) many people will break the record, but Paddy was the first UK Brit to achieve accolade of Worlds Fittest Athlete it and is an outstanding sportsman in all does and  achieves.

WGC is all about setting records in the gym - the time it took you to do it and as such provides valuable information about the sport of X Training and more importantly the incredible people who visit gyms and train hard - something that gyms seem to ignore for some reason.