The first is of Oscar Figueroa of Columbia, who defaulted from the 62kg division of the weightlifting competition after failing to make a single lift. The proceedings initially appeared somewhat comical - a world class athlete who couldn’t hold onto the bar - but as the story unfolded and we learned that Figueroa, with tremendous spirit, was competing with an injured thumb, the comedy gave way to tragedy.

The second highlight, and my personal favourite, is of Matthias Steiner of Germany, winner of the gold medal in the super-heavyweight division of the weightlifting competition. In this moment, his third and final lift, Steiner fulfilled a promise he made to his wife Susann as she lay dying in hospital after a car crash only a year ago.

Steiner, who won the competition by only 1kg, managed an incredible total weight (across the snatch and the clean and jerk) of 461kg. It was a truly inspirational moment, made even more special when he held up a picture of his late wife at the medal ceremony. Call me a sucker, but i was holding back some serious tears.

1. Run often.  Run sensibly.  Ok, this is an obvious but important point.  You may be able to maintain the status quo with a weekly run, you may even improve to a point, but if you are serious about continued growth, you need to hit the pavement 3 to 4 times each week.  Any more than this, particularly when first starting out, and you risk overdoing it, for your body needs time to recover, and the longer the run, the longer the recovery.
2. Watch your form.  When pushing hard, or when running longer distances, it’s easy to grow sloppy and lose form.  Take note of how your feet are hitting the ground.  Keep yourself balanced.  Keep your upper body relaxed, and your movements fluid.  Be sensitive to your style and your body will thank you for it.
3. Keep it fresh.  If you only run in circles, you’ll soon grow bored and lose motivation.  Try new running paths, seek out locations that are inspiring: a lonely coastal road, green rolling hills, or a treadmill at the gym behind a girl/guy with a nice butt.
4. Stretch.  A simple rule of running is this: if you don’t stretch after a run you are inviting injury with open arms.  Take it seriously.  A quick touch of the toes is not enough.  Ensure you cover all of the major muscle groups and try to hold your stretches for at least 30 seconds.
5. Mix it up.  Real growth comes when you push beyond your comfort zones.  Get off the flat and start climbing some hills.  Alternate jogging with spurts of short distance sprinting.  Even if you’re training for a marathon, a training program that incorporates incline and sprint training will dramatically increase your overall running speed.
6. Shoes with support.  It all starts with the feet.  You will tear your body to pieces if you run in a pair of shoddy shoes that don’t provide proper support.  A typical running shoe has a life time of around 800km.  That may sound like a lot, but if you’re running 30km a week, that means replacing your shoes every 6 months.
7. Keep the fuel coming.  It’s incredible how much fluid and energy is expended in even a middle distance run.  I wouldn’t consider running more than 10km without water (or an energy drink) on hand.  Your body needs energy to recover, and after losing a couple of litres of fluid, and burning over a thousand calories on a middle distance run, you need be diligent when it comes to refueling.
8. Soft footing.  You cannot regularly pound the pavement without risk of injury unless you have incredible form and are blessed with a body tailor made for running.  The stress on your ankles, knees, and hips, when running on a hard surface is severe.  Look to ease the stress by regularly running on soft surfaces: grass instead of pavement, treadmill instead of concrete.
9. Record time.  Up the motivation levels by charting your progress.  Give yourself a time to beat.  Set a goal and pat yourself on the back as you edge closer week by week.  The psychological impact of observed improvement is a powerful motivator.
10. Listen to your body.  A niggle in the knee, a warm surge in the calf, is your body’s way of saying that something is wrong.  Listen carefully.  Adjust your speed, correct your form, and if the pain persists, call it quits for the day.  An injury will set you back weeks, if not months; you may feel a hit to the ego in pulling up early, but the alternative just isn’t worth it.

Not all fat is created equal. There is fat which is essential for good health, and there is fat which is down right dirty, and should be avoided as much as possible.

Saturated fat is the bad guy. It is known to increase the risk of cardiovascular disease by raising the “bad” cholesterol in your blood. With the exception of palm and coconut oils, the majority of saturated fats are derived from animal products. Red meat is a major source of saturated fat, along with whole milk and whole milk products (cheese, cream, ice-cream, etc).

But never enjoying a bowl of ice-cream after a juicy steak is no way to live, so the way to make healthier choices is to avoid manufactured meat products, such as sausages and salami, trim visible fat from meat before cooking, and when shopping, choose meat without visible fat or marbling. When eating poultry, you can reduce the fat content by not eating the skin and by choosing to eat the white meat rather then the dark meat which contains more fat. Also choose low-fat or fat-free dairy products.

Unlike saturated fat, a diet high in monounsaturated fats, which is found in plant oils, avocados, and nuts, help lower levels of “bad” cholesterol, without lowering the levels of “good” cholesterol in your blood.

Polyunsaturated fat is also very important for your health. There are two types of polyunsaturated fat: omega-6 and omega-3. Omega-6 is found in vegetable oils such as canola and sunflower and is essential for growth, cell structure, and maintaining a healthy immune system. Omega-3 is found in oils from cold water fish such as salmon, tuna and sardines. Another great source is flax seeds (linseed oil). Omega-3 is essential for the body as it plays a role in regulating blood pressure and blood clotting, helps to maintain a healthy immune system, and assists in brain and spinal cord function.

When replacing saturated fat in the diet, monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat can help reduce the risk of cardiovascular disease.

Trans fat is the ugly fat. Technically trans fat is an unsaturated fat, however it acts like saturated fat, causing your cholesterol levels to rise. Some studies suggest that the effects of trans fat are worse then saturated fat. Trans fat occurs naturally in very small amounts in meat and dairy products, but is also manufactured. Trans fats are most commonly found in processed food - cakes, biscuits, pies, and take-away. Trans fat should be avoided as much as possible.

In summary, fat is an essential part of a healthy diet. You just have to choose the right types of fat, and enjoy it in moderation.

I’ve been a reasonably frequent attendee at the local fitness centre for the past couple of years. I’ve somewhat consistently fallen out of bed at 5:45am a couple of mornings each week, and with hair pointing skyward, and sleep still in my eyes, taken up my position at the gym. However, although attendance has never been a problem, i’m like the guy in the sporting team that shows up each week only to sit on the bench and do bugger all while the rest of the team works up a sweat. I’m the guy who more often than not uses a workout bench, not for lifting weights, but rather as a stool upon which to sit whilst i stare blankly at the wall mounted plasma television. I’m the guy who knows everyone in the gym - if not by name, at least by behaviour; i know who’s dating who, who’d like to be dating who, and who was dating who only last week, until their partner did the dirty on them. The untold social life of the gym is quite bewildering. Unfortunately, my acute social observation has done little for the luster of my biceps, or the grit of my abs, and so it was time for a plan. I sat down with my wife Megan, and with my aspirations, and her common sense, we constructed a workout program.

Firstly, i had an aim. Apparently this is important. I wanted to gain strength and muscularity without looking like a brick layer.

I also had four key guiding principles:

1. Same day, same exercise.

   I wanted to ensure that i worked the same body parts on the same day each week. If i worked chest on Monday this week, i wanted to work chest on Monday next week. I’m a structured kind of guy, and a repeating week-long cycle was going to be important to keeping me at ease and focused.

2. Each body part twice per week.

   Following on from the first principle, if i was to work any body part less than twice per week and i was to miss a session (through travel or sickness) it would be a two week break between bouts. I had to shoot for twice a week.

3. One hour session.

   Time is precious, and although i was committed, i was only prepared to commit between 6am and 7am each day. I wasn’t signing up for any crazy marathon workout session, or any of this “two workouts a day” kind of crap. A man needs to know his limitations.

4. Run, baby, run.

   I love running. It had to make an appearance in the program.

The resulting program is shown at the end of this post. It’s a real cracker. In a nut shell, it’s a three day cycle that runs twice per week, with one “weight free day” where i go for a 10km run. Here are some of the principles that have shaped the schedule:

1. Compound exercises first.

   I start each muscle group with a compound exercise, which are basically the “big” exercises, like squats, or chin ups, that work a number of muscle groups at once. These suckers are hard. Your body needs to be fresh and feeling powerful. To attempt these exercises when you are drained is to flirt with injury.

2. Big muscles before small.

   In each session i work more than one muscle group, but i always start with the biggest muscle group first. The chest muscles are bigger than the triceps, so when working these two body parts on the same day, i start first with the chest, and then move onto the triceps. It’s the same on the other days: legs before shoulders, back before biceps.

3. Short sets.

   If you want to build stamina, go for light weight and high reps (12 - 15). If you want to build muscle, go for heavy weight and low reps (8 - 10). I’ve typically settled on 4 sets of 9 reps for each exercise.

4. Focus on one muscle group at a time.

   The program repeats every 3 days, which doesn’t allow much time for recovery. It’s therefore important that i’m not working the same muscle group on multiple days within each 3 day cycle (with the exception of abs, which can handle a daily blast). For example, most chest exercises also work the triceps, so these two muscle groups have been combined on the same day. Likewise, most back exercises work the biceps, so these have also been combined. This approach ensures each muscle group gets the hardest workout possible, but also the maximum time to recover.

5. Give the legs a break.

   I don’t work the legs for a day either side of the 10km run. This once again aids recovery.

I’ve been following the program for almost two weeks now with really positive results. That’s not to say i look like Mark Wahlberg, but i’m still motivated and still injury free, and that’s got to count for something. These are the key points i’ve noticed:

1. Prepared for action.

   In the past i would rock up to the gym, take a look around, and make up the session on the spot. There was no structure. No plan of attack. I wasn’t accountable to anything except the whims of my own idleness. The end result: i spent a lot of time watching television.

2. Record for motivation.

   I’ve been religiously recording the exact weight i lift during each exercise. This not only allows me to track progress over time, but it provides motivation to improve. If i know i lifted 50kg during the shoulder press last session, to lift less this session would be a real kick in the pants. This helps push me through the days i’m feeling lazy.

3. Spurred on by the clock.

   I’ve only got an hour for each session, and on one day i have to knock over 12 exercises. I make a conscious effort not to rush but i do cut down on the time between sets. In the past i’d often take up to a 10 minute break between two sets of the one exercise. I’m now down to 45-60 seconds. I just don’t have the time to lose focus.

4. Working the whole body.

   Without a plan i used to work what was convenient. The bench press was an all time favourite. I could lay flat on my back and almost nod off between sets. The problem is, i avoided body parts that were tough work. Like the legs. And the more i avoided them, the harder they became, and the more excuses i invented for doing something else. The program has forced me to face the enemy, and in doing so, what was once difficult and therefore painful, has become easier, and even somewhat enjoyable. And if that wasn’t enough, it’s ensured that i don’t become a brick shit house with tooth pick legs.

Here is the program. I plan on sticking it our for probably 3 months. After that i’ll mix it up a bit to ensure that the body (and the mind) don’t become stale.

• Monday / Thursday

  • Chest

    • Bench Press (4 x 9)
    • Incline Dumbell Press (4 x 9)
    • Peck Deck (4 x 9)

  • Triceps

    • Assisted Dips (4 x 9)
    • Rope Tricep Pulldowns (4 x 9)
    • Bent Over Tricep Extensions (4 x 9)

  • Abs

    • Oblique Crunches (3 x 15)
    • Incline Situps (3 x 15)
    • Swiss Ball Situps (Feet on Wall) (3 x 15)

• Tuesday / Friday

  • Legs

    • Squats (4 x 9)
    • Lunges (3 x 9)
    • Hamstring Curls (4 x 9)
    • Seated Leg Extensions (4 x 9)
    • Standing Calf Raises (4 x 9)

  • Shoulders

    • Behind the Neck Shoulder Presses (4 x 9)
    • Seated Shoulder Presses (4 x 9)
    • Side Dumbell Shoulder Reaises (4 x 9)

• Wednesday / Saturday

  • Back

    • Assisted Wide Grip Chinups (2 sets)
    • Seated Lat Pulldowns (4 x 9)
    • Seated Row (4 x 9)
    • T-bar Row (4 x 9)
    • Back Extension (3 x 12)

  • Biceps

    • Chin Ups (2 sets)
    • Seated incline Dumbell Bicep Curls (4 x 9)
    • Seated Barbell Bicep Curls (4 x 9)

  • Abs

    • Incline Leg Raises (3 x 15)
    • Seated Knee Extensions (3 x 15)
    • Medicine Ball Twists (3 x 20)

• Sunday

  • Run 10km

Your health is important. Set yourself a program and become accountable. You may be surprised at the results.

Whilst going on my weekly grocery shop, and perusing the aisles, it occurred to me just how many products are marketed as “cholesterol free”, leading people to believe that if they are concerned about their cholesterol levels, they should focus on eating products which are low in dietary cholesterol. It sounds simple. Eating less cholesterol = less cholesterol in the body = lower blood cholesterol levels. Not exactly true. Although it is still important to limit the amount of cholesterol you eat, especially if you have diabetes, dietary cholesterol isn’t nearly the bad guy it’s been made out to be. Cholesterol in the bloodstream is what’s most important.

Studies have found that diets high in saturated fat have a greater impact on a person’s blood cholesterol levels and associated health risks, than the intake of dietary cholesterol alone.

Cholesterol is a very important substance in your blood. It is required for the production of some very important hormones, such as the sex hormones - oestrogen and testosterone, and occurs in very high concentrations in the brain and nervous system. Cholesterol also helps to assist with the absorption of fat from food. Unfortunately though, a diet which elevates cholesterol does not mean we can speed up fat metabolism.

Most of our body’s cholesterol needs are met by the cholesterol it manufactures. Diets high in saturated fat – butter, cream, fast food, chocolate etc – will elevate your cholesterol levels. The result is nasty: cholesterol is stored like garbage on the walls of your arteries, raising your blood cholesterol levels and increasing your risk of heart disease.

If you need to watch your cholesterol levels, look to lower your saturated fat intake - less chocolate, less fatty red meat, less cake. Look at the nutrition tables on your food packaging and compare the saturated fat content, not total fat or other fats. Monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fat have important roles to play in keeping your body healthy - but that’s a post for another time.

Once a week, for a period not exceeding 6 months, i pumped iron in a make shift gym crammed into the rear corner of a tiny backyard shed. To be honest, the sessions only lasted about 45 minutes, and most of that time was spent flexing in front of the mirror. Yet, even so, these sessions proved pivotal in my development. Whilst contributing almost naught to my physical well being, and absolutely nothing to the splendor of my biceps or the roundedness of my glutes, they at least gave me the confidence, false or otherwise, that nerds could be cool. At least until that gut wrenching afternoon when the “in crowd” of girls stole my collection of home bodybuilding snaps. To this day i’ve never truly understood their excitement; the incessant giggling would seem to suggest that the assessment wasn’t positive, yet i’m not one to jump to hasty conclusions, and i’m still open to the idea that their laughter was just a nervous expression of giddy delight.

Anyway, it was during this body sculpting period of my life that i became somewhat obsessed by Arnold Schwaznegger. I even sported a life size picture of the big man on my bedroom wall (which formed a nice contrast with the framed Luke Perry poster on the neighbouring wall (yet another example of how i aimed to smash the stereotypes of jock and geek). I read Arnie biographies, studied his training schedules, watched his films (even Conan the Barbarian), followed his diet, and imagined i had his success with women.

Of course, the teenage years aren’t known for their patience, or persistence, and soon the Arnie posters were torn from the wall and replaced with pictures of scantly clad surfer chicks from Billabong summer catalogues (for reasons still unclear, the Luke Perry poster remained). A week later all the mass and definition i had accquired through the dedicated and fevered sessions of the previous 6 months had vanished. Not that anyone could notice the difference under the trenchcoat.

As i lay in bed the other night, thinking random thoughts, i started to think over the days i spent in that steaming hot tin shed, squatting, benching, curling, and mostly flexing, and i recalled a quote from Arnold that had stuck with me through the years. He said:

Get nine hours of sleep every night. Don’t go to bed and lie there dreaming of tomorrow… Go to bed to sleep. Simply and forcibly refuse to think of anything. Make your mind a blank, and you’ll drift off to sound sleep and wake totally refreshed.

After several hours in bed, with a head swimming with thoughts, and no a hint of sleep in sight, this was sound advice. I forced my mind blank. And i went to sleep.