Now Playing Rugby for . . . .

Throughout 2009 I have had great pleasure training many clients, seeing them reach their goal, and gain a little bit of happiness.


I would estimate that 95% of my clients hire me to make them look better. Whether it is to lose body fat, gain muscle, and improve posture.....I help my clients to do this - and they have to give it some effort too. Even though they usually end up stronger - It is a nice by-product of the training I prescribe for them.


In November 2008.....I had a different type of challenge. A 25-year-old female Rugby Union player called Mags Lowish had decided to take action and go for it........aim to play premiership rugby - or keep playing at the level she was already playing at. Her words for hiring me at the start were 'If I don't do it now - I will never know and will always look back wondering if I could make it.'



Here are her words detailing her amazing success, through making the right choices....and working hard at them.......

A year ago i made the decision to change my life. I was playing social rugby, which I really enjoyed, but I was overweight and not fit enough to play at a higher level and this was always going to limit my progress. The head coach of a premiership team told me if I trained properly I had a lot of potential to play premiership rugby.

So I rang John Cammish and asked for his help. I wanted to play at the highest level I was capable of. I wanted to be the best I could be.

John taught me so much, from giving me a personalised weights programme, to making sure I was lifting correctly. He focussed on my weaknesses and showed me exactly what to do to be 'Rugby fit'. Right from the start I learnt so much about the specifics of training for a sport, whereas before I had always kind of muddled along not really noticing improvements. But knowing I need to follow a weights and cardio programme and constantly do more/ make it harder to challenge my body and keep it working has made all the difference.

John also, and probably crucially, taught me about athlete nutrition and put me on a high protein diet and told me to have protein every few hours to keep my metabolism up. With the help of protein shakes, I followed this diet and gym programme fairly religiously and after a couple of months i was noticing fairly major improvements in my fitness, strength, speed and power. I had lost weight, body fat, and gained muscle. I felt better and had more energy and I looked better and more toned than I ever had. I was training harder and playing better and I got selected for the premiership team. I had achieved my dream of playing premiership rugby and yet I felt there was definitely more to come. I hadn't yet reached my physical potential.

For the first couple of months I had 2-3 sessions a week with John, and after that, I continued his programmes by myself seeing him every 6-8 weeks for a review and a new programme.
My performance in matches went from strength to strength and 8 months after I started training with John, I got selected to play Rugby League for England against France.


John was one of the first people I called in my excitement over selection and I honestly can say, without him, I would have never have made the England squad.
I played two matches against France in July 2009 and now have 2 caps for my country. Standing on the pitch in England kit in Toulouse and hearing the National Anthem was definitely the proudest moment of my life.


John has been absolutely intrinsic to my success as a rugby player. Over the last year, with John's help and using his programmes and athlete nutrition I have lost about 17kg of fat and added 6kg of muscle. My body fat has dropped by 10%!! I am fitter, faster and stronger than ever. I feel great, I look great, I have had opportunities opened to me above and beyond what I ever dreamed of. My teammates and coaches say I am unrecogniseable as either the person or player I was 12 months ago.



Now I am on the England squad, I have full access to strength and conditioning coaches and Nutritionists but I still look to John to tailor my gym programmes and to help me come back from illness and injuries that have hindered me recently. I am in no doubt it was John who got me to where I am today and I have no desire to change a winning formula.

The past year has undoubtedly been the best year of my life, both on and off the pitch. I am now aiming to improve further physically with John's help and hopefully get selected for further internationals including New Zealand away in 2010. And further in the future the World Cup in England in 2012.


I guess what I have learnt most in the past year is that anything is possible if we have the courage to pursue it.
So I would definitely recommend anyone with a dream, however big or small, to get John's help. You might find that, like me, with a bit of hard work you achieve more than you ever thought was possible.

Mags Lowish

Mags is a total champion and she has trained like one to get where she is now. I know I wouldn't like to be the other Prop forward..... :)

Good luck Mags and keep up the hard work!

John

Mental Toughness

Thursday night's Strength and Conditioning Bootcamp in Hull was one of the best yet. P*ssing rain, a load of mud and a beastly amount of effort went down. I was impressed with the good turnout as the weather puts some wimps off - These guys have mental toughness.

While Nick's £15 Diadora's were the focal point of the session (!), they proved invaluable as he and the others pulled in bodyweight 80 yard sled pulls in under 40 seconds. Stu and James were new to the Bootcamp and were not used to deadlifting from the floor - as in PROPER DEADLIFTS!

If you prefer the 1st photo, chances are you're not on the strong side.

On the sled relay, 16 yr-old Ben made the mistake of wearing white and inevitably got grafted! Another young'un (also called Ben) had given everything on the circuit but still got up to pull in the bodyweight sled - they both did it in good times. I really wish I could ve had this Bootcamp available when I was younger. I'd have got stronger a lot quicker than I had been doing.

Watch out for the next post because there are pictures of some of the action that goes down.

Feel free to comment on this post or email me to ask questions, or book on for your Bootcamp Experience.

1st Bootcamp after Holiday in Hull

Hey guys,

Man am I aching today from the hardest Strength and Conditioning Bootcamp in Hull! It was a little low on guys showing up (probably as it was around 24C in the sun!) so I evened the numbers up and I joined in the action. I partnered up with big trucker John, and let me tell you - he is a machine! I have trained him personally for a while now, and his body composition has improved a ton, while his anerobic fitness has skyrocketed. He always puts in 100% - and then some. This shows in the Bootcamps - where he once took it upon himself to triple the keg carrying distance and shoot his heart rate to around 170bpm! (The highest it's been for a while!) Man, he looked sick as a dog after that burst.


Rich and Dave were ramping some serious effort too - especially on the push-up and jacknife combo's. Dave's in the RAF and even he was surprised at how tough this workout was - especially the sled.


I remember the sled drags being brutal, but after not doing them for about 3 weeks due to injury and holiday - it was killer! My hamstrings are aching - but in a good way.


Looking forward to tommorrows Strength and Conditioning Bootcamp, Im expecting a good 8-9 of you boys so it should be a great atmosphere again.

Did i mention that you can achieve a good amount of weight loss with high intensity exercise?

If you think you're man enough to give the Strength and Conditioning Bootcamp a try, email or ring me, or one of the guys already taking part. I'm beginning to think a lot of people are all talk and no balls.


You'll get one hell of a training session.

'Simple Equipment' (Hull outdoor Bootcamp)

If you know me well, you know I favour bodyweight exercises over long drawn-out cardio any day of the week, and that's in terms of preference and results for fitness and fat loss.

Yesterday, I mentioned that I've been able to do a few bodyweight exercises on holiday, and focus on some direct arm work to work around my recovering lower back.

Beside our hotel, there was a children's playground that had various bars and steps:





Anyhow, besides not getting much exercise done as the pool was closer :) - I was reminded about how simple this 'equipment' was, and how effective it can be when you train properly.

It is these types of exercise that are incorporated in the Strength and Conditioning Bootcamps - Pull up variations, dips, push ups etc. And these serve 3 main purposes -
1) To maintain or increase muscle mass;
and
2) Burn fat through high intensity exercise
and
3) Increase our fitness by getting our heart rate going.

We need to remember that gimmicky machines that are often useless, (bear mind cables are not machines) and that bodyweight training and strength training has lasted for years and years.



So if you're a guy reading this and want to get stronger, leaner, and fitter - drop me a call, email or text and try out a Strength and Conditioning Bootcamp.

You'll be glad you did.