Exercise for LIFE

Since beginning The Everyman Olympics I've noticed a few things about exercising - it turns out it's mostly good for you, and here's why:

L is for Love. It's also for Libido

Ever wonder why the the other chaps in the gym all have hungry eyes? Exercising regularly raises your A Game in the sack and also makes you as horny as a pube-sprouting teenager.

Lance Armstrong's Live Strong campaign site have researched the researchers and relayed the scientific facts behind this claim, here's a link:

http://www.livestrong.com/article/12125-boost-sex-drive-with-exercise/

The race is on for another boner

I is for Intelligence
Not only will doing exercise improve your basic maths (3 sets of 15 reps = 45 reps in total) but it'll also increase your brain power in other ways too...

The bods at the University of Illinois did some tinkering with the lives of 100 couch potatoes and found that these thick twats were capable of more than just using the remote control when pushed to simply go for the odd walk:

http://www.telegraph.co.uk/health/healthnews/7967836/Gentle-stroll-can-help-boost-intelligence.html

Though I'm not sure I buy into the rumour that Professor Stephen Hawking's physical state is down to him unsuccessfully attempting a 200kg Clean & Jerk without spotters!

Arnie had nothing on me

F is for Fashion

Get to work on ditching the wobbly bits and you'll find you don't need to appear as if dressed like a sack of spuds.

Once the loose lumps turn to firm bumps you'll be wanting to buy some new trendy togs to go with the new slimline you.

All that money you save on not eating fatty nonsense will come in handy.

Not exactly Harvey Nichols

E is indeed for Ecstasy (though not the kind the Shamen harped on about in the 90's)

E is also for Endorphins...Energy....and Ego

All of these E's are boosted when you Exercise!

Why diets work better in Winter...ish

OK so on first glance this argument may appear irrational and misguided, surely the Summer months are better for shedding the pounds right? Wrong! Here's why diets work better in Winter...ish

Social Gatherings

Social Gatherings add pounds - bring people together in groups and they'll inevitably involve food and most likely alcohol to the occasion. Both of which are packed with calories and both of which you're likely to over-indulge in.

Seasons may be the result of the yearly revolution of the Earth around the Sun and the tilt of the Earth's axis relative to the plane of revolution but as simple folk we like to put a date on them and hence regardless of which Premiership Church Team you follow, for the foreseeable future there is only one 'must attend' big bash in *Winter, and that starts right at the beginning - so you've almost the whole season to redeem yourself on the dietary front!

*Refers to Northern Hemisphere

Don't worry fella, there's time to shed those Christmas pounds!

Going Places

Jack Frost will inevitably show his ugly face some time in Winter, and usually he brings along his pals Snowy Dave & Cold-As-Ice Carroll: together they set about covering everything in monotone glory before mixing it all together to form a nasty brown mush before Spring turns up for The Big Clean.

The arrival of Jack and his mates signifies a period where your chances of travel dive like your libido in a cold snap.

Going Places always involves extra snacking and not in a healthy way; show me a service station that has a juice bar rather than a fast food chain outlet?! Hence not Going Places reduces the likelihood that you'll snack.

Getting Stuff

Linked heavily with Going Places - when the snow and ice take over your travel plans, you first cancel going to work, then you cancel going to unnecessary Social Gatherings, then you cancel going to the shops in favour of finding out what's at the back of the kitchen cupboard (always the healthier 'less exciting' food stuffs), then when you've finished eating the tins of tuna with remarkably long shelf lives, you venture out to the corner store only to find that their deliveries haven't arrived, or they couldn't be bothered open the store that day.

Getting stuff becomes a chore, especially when you have to spend half an hour layering up with hats and coats and scarves and wellies before you even leave the comfort of your nice warm home....mmm it's nice and warm here...do I really need to go to the shop?...I wonder what's at the back of the kitchen cupboard!

Winter Warmers

With the weather here in the UK looking to show early intent that we're in for a harsh and drawn-out Winter I'm looking to move my focus to indoor sports, so what sporting options do I have available for The Everyman Olympics?

Swimming I've just bagged (report to follow soonish...I know I owe you a few) so what else do I have left to tackle in The Great Indoors?

Fencing - a sport I've been keen to start for a while; its got swords and cool outfits, plus the added benefit of decent war wounds - what more could a lad ask for? Having just noticed I'm being followed by @britishfencing on Twitter I've sent them a message, fingers crossed they'll come back with a way for me to get started!

Wrestling - I've a tenuous link to this one: a pal of mine works with someone connected to the GB team for Greco Roman Wrestling - if you read this Chris, lets talk more on this when I visit Friday.

Basketball - 'Pat Ball' as my ol' Grandad used to say (bless him). Apparently a girl very close to me knows someone who may know someone who can help, but you know how those kind of contacts tend to go...

Football - OK so really this is an outdoor sport but I'm up for a game of indoor footie soon if YOU are? (Hoping to bag this one in December)

Water Polo  - @GB_WaterPolo have got back to me on Twitter and I may be able to hook up with the actual GB teams in late January (thanks to both Ollie from the BBC, @BBCSport_Ollie.and Una - @aqua2swim - for the contact via Twitter)

Diving & Synchronized Swimming - here's hoping Una and Lauren can help me here too x*

*Over-friendly kiss - hoping it helps!

Handball - I've no links whatsoever for this one...HELP!!!!

Boxing - Rocky famously trained outside on some occasions but the beatings usually take place in a warm and 'cosy' ring (Pete Puma - insert gag 'here')

Track Cycling - I'm in need of getting to Manchester Velodrome, or waiting till the actual Olympics one is finished in nearby London - then hoping the very helpful Karim of @catchsport can convince Lord Coe to let me use it (I see the great man follows you on Twitter)

Taekwondo - If you're out there and can help with this one, please get in touch!

Gymnastics - Artistic, Rhythmic or Trampolining - I'm even up for these if you can point me in the right direction y'all?

Volleyball - Isn't this just Netball for boys? (Just kidding ; )

So if you can help me with these Winter Warmers please GET IN TOUCH... email me at theeverymanolympian@googlemail.com or send me a tweet on Twitter

I look forward to hearing from you soon x*

The Big Debate: Trunks or Swim Shorts?

Yes it's been a while and Yes I am still marching on with the challenges for The Everyman Olympics and Yes I do owe you the write-up on The Decathlon Challenge and The Table Tennis Challenge but while work has managed to soak up almost every spare minute of my time lately, this past week I've been able to start The Swimming Challenge, thus sparking The Big Debate: Trunks or Swim Shorts?

Lets be honest, when it comes to pool or seaside fashion us Brits are not exactly known for our taste in garments; knotted handkerchiefs on heads and white socks in sandals to name but 2 of our faux pars.

Our swashbuckling European neighbours are far more at home with flaunting their tanned limbs though is it true to say that ALL of those on the Euro mainland vacuum pack their giblets into shiny nacker sacks?

As a dapper English chap in possession of many national traits, including reservedness, I'm not one to strip to the waist the minute the sun comes out and neither will you see me reach for the Speedos when its time to take a dip in the pool, but my own bloodline is a cocktail made up of Italian, French & English so surely my personal choice in aqua-wear is exactly that: a personal choice.

So what say YOU? Trunks or Swim Shorts? Debate.

The Everyman Olympics: Re-Galvanised

How 12 Events became EVERY Sport in the Olympics...

As the buzz of The Canoeing Challenge settled I started to envision putting together an event around my next task, so as to get more people involved all together in one glorious day...though this wasn't the only thing taking up my spare time: word of my tasks had started to get me noticed and this attention lead me to re-think the core idea at the very heart of my challenges - this is the story of how The Everyman Olympics became Re-Galvanised.

As you may know, this is how I first layed down the rules to myself:

• One challenge to be set every month for a year, based on a different Olympic sport

Because I work in a job where I travel around 35,000 miles per year by car, and have various trips abroad and would be organising the whole thing myself I thought that this would in itself be plenty to keep me busy.

You might also recall that my reasons for doing this series of tasks were purely targetted at weightloss - more specifically I wanted to lose a stone of the fat stuff.

Oh and there was the slight matter of beating my pal Carl in the race to lose this stone....some of us will already know how that story ended.

Back to the point in hand...

A few days after hooking up with Graham, who I'd met on The Cycling Challenge I received a phone call from Mike Miners, a journalist for the local paper - The Evening Echo.

Mike had heard of my sporting challenges through a mutual friend of his and Grahams and wanted to write a report on me.

I was already in training for my next event at the time and so after a telephone interview we agreed to meet at Southend Leisure & Tennis Centre for some photos to be taken of me in action.



The Everyman Olympian (Me)


A few days later I was staring at myself on Page 5, here's a link to Mike's great article:

http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/8382831.Olympic_Games__I___m_in_training_for_every_event/

Literally the day after this came out I was contacted on Twitter by the very delightful Shana Pearlman, a producer for BBC Essex Radio no less!

Shana invited me onto the Dave Monk Show to be interviewed live on air - naturally I lept at the chance (being an 'Olympian' and all).

(Unfortunately for some stupid reason Blogger won't allow me to upload the recording I have of this interview - if anyone out there has any tips on how to get this on, please let me know)

Before I did this chat on the radio I looked back at the interview for The Evening Echo and realised that Mike Miner's had printed a quote from me which I hadn't really taken in:

“Originally it was a 12 month project, but now I hope to try every sport before the 2012 games in London.”

EVERY SPORT??!!!....I. Must. Be. Bonkers!

Realising that I'd clearly got excited in the moment, I took the bull by the horns, marched into BBC Essex Radio HQ and ran with it.

So there you have it, the London Olympics in 2012 will feature 26 Sports (though some are broken down into more events) - I've now completed 8 of them and have 20 months left to do the rest.

Here's a list of the sports I've yet to tackle:

Archery
Basketball
Beach Volleyball / Volleyball
Boxing
Diving / Swimming / Synchronised Swimming / Water Polo.
Equestrian - Dressage / Eventing / Jumping
Fencing
Football
Gymnastics - Artistic / Rhythmic / Trampoline
Handball
Hockey
Judo
Modern Pentathlon
Sailing
Shooting
Taekwondo
Triathlon
Wrestling.

If I'm going to achieve this I Need Your Help - leave your details in the comment box below or email me at theeverymanolympian@googlemail.com to find out how YOU can help me and get involved in The Everyman Olympics.

Thanks in advance,

The Everyman Olympian

Hello Culture!

In the distant memory of the time before I started the adventure of The Everyman Olympics I recall a period where I would go walking in an effort to start the momentum I knew was needed in order for me to begin shedding the pounds, nothing unusual in this you might say but I do recall being mythed at the amount of times complete strangers said 'hello' to me just because they were out walking too - this is the story of how I came to recognise outdoor exercising's Hello Culture!

I first encountered the existence of this polite exercising etiquette whilst walking along the coastline of South East England - random folk out with their dogs or out walking for fitness would voice this greeting to me as I passed in the opposite direction.

To start with I was so flummoxed that before I'd managed to utter a mirrored response they'd already passed by and now I looked like a mumbling fool who uttered polite abuse at strangers backs.

Call me cynical (though please refrain from doing so while I'm out walking - that'd just freak me out) but as a shy and retiring Brit who used to work in retail I think people who say hello to folk they don't know are after something for their own gain.

4th Grade Jack explains it better than me - but then I'm a cynic and believe this clip to be the marketing tool of a corporate machine rather than a smoothly edited home video posted on YouTube by a well meaning seven year old:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fcz9V-4QI2M

Before I could control myself I'd joined the 'hello movement' and was busy saying hello! to virtually everyone I could when I was out on one of these fast walks - I'd greet all and sundry, be they fellow fleet-footed fitness fanatics, people on their way to work or the paper shop, or even happy drunks on their way to bed after a cracking night out.

I was like a polite man possessed! And to this end I didn't really pick up on why some folk would respond and others would simply blank this twatful greeter.

It was only when I started The Running Challenge that I noticed the differences between the respondies and the non-responsive and only when I used my wheels for The Cycling Challenge that I realised the hierachy to the Hello Culture!

Here's how the Hello Culture! works:

1. People just out walking as a means of getting from A to B DO NOT say hello! to Walkers
2. Dog Walkers often DO say hello! to Walkers, though it's not a given
3. Walkers DO say hello! to other Walkers, unless they're rude or new or too shattered to say hello
4. Joggers DO NOT say hello! to Walkers unless they look like they're actually Joggers who are just taking a break
5. Joggers DO say helllo! to other Joggers (see No.3 for reason's that some don't)
6. Cyclists DO say hello! to other Cyclists but only respond if they are in the same category of Cyclists (rules of Cyclists to follow)
7. Cyclists DO NOT say hello! to Joggers or Walkers
8. Cyclists DO NOT say hello! to other bike users who are simply cycling as a means of getting from A to B
9. Cyclists seeking fitness but not part of a club DO say hello! to other Cyclists of the same nature
10. Cyclists seeking fitness but not part of a club DO sometimes say hello! to Club Cyclists but DO NOT often get a response
11. Club Cyclists DO say hello! to other Club Cyclists, it would be impolite not to wouldn't it?

I've not worked out the Hello Culture! rules yet for Horse Riders, Sailors *insert 'hello sailor' gag here*, or Mountain Bikers...but I'm working on it.

Next time you see me out exercising DO say hello! but only if we are both Walking, or Jogging, or Cycling and we're of the same standard - otherwise I'll blank you, you mumbling fool.

Numbers Game

The Mathematics of Exercise

You may put your physical prowess down to hard work, you may put your sporting success down to natural ability, but really...its a Numbers Game.

The Power of One

It just takes One motion to get you started...

One step One lift One push One pull One throw One press One leap One stretch One...Nike's marketing team weren't paid gaziliions for the slogan 'Just Do It' for nothing - the sooner you stop lingering on Zero and upgrade to One, the sooner you'll achieve your goals.

As I've mentioned before...personally, training in a gym towards no specific end target is dull and boring - but it's here that the mathematics of exercise are at their purist!

Divide and Conquer

Struggling to get through that hour of pain you've set yourself? Simply divide up your workout into manageable chunks and you'll nail it in no time - work out when you're 10% through, when you've hit half way and then reduce the percentages from 50 down to 5 and you'll fly through it (distract yourself with the maths).

Go Forth and Multiply

When you've done One, do another One, then another One, repeat and repeat until the old tubby you has turned into the new fit-as-a-fiddle you.

It's obvious really but just to make it sink in, here's a simple equation to follow:

(Reps x Sets) x Frequency Per Week = Success

You do the maths.