way down deep in a italian town

its well over seven years since i kicked the sauce and given that the first one to two years that it was an absolute nightmare not knowing when or where a craving of "just a tipple" would flash across my own internal cine screen just like the 70s intro to the main feature at the Saturday matinee of what was pearl and dean .

since my fantastic second chance in life lottery win the years pass by and the merseyside teams including tranmere dont get there act together our and each season there are glimpses of greatness in individual games ( and from a blue i do mean little teeny weeny glimpses) , but i do get my act together and i do get stronger and i know that my infrastructure is getting bigger and bigger so going on holiday to lovely Italy that i would not have any thoughts of going back into the piss bucket . there i was wandering around the lovely Tuscany town of siena where once yearly they race around on horses which goes back years, i glanced at the other tourist relaxing in the baking sun partnered with that cloudy coloured beer that's imported from Germany , you know the stuff ,its the liquor that has a effect like a thomas hearns right cross that goes right down the pipe ! this stuff will meter out its own justice on the recipient and make a a quite passive person think he could even knock out mr hearns or any other pugilistic legend or anyone if it comes to that matter. i wandered a bit further and there where more drinkers knocking back everything from vino to your Italian peroni then boom right out of no-where he was there ! the person or monster who puts us down at any given moment " mr negative " my thoughts went from thinking boy i could murder a drink to really feeling damned right sorry for myself !

i needed a buzz ,i needed to centre myself so i found a cafe and there i practiced my Italian limited language skills and quickly ordered a stiff espresso....... ah that's better now, where the hell did that thought come from i chuckled to my self , i didn't even think he had a passport .

two hours latter we where back in the pleasant town of poggibonsi where i threw my training gear on and got out for a run stroke bear crawl stroke burpee work-out that i performed on a pathway next to a busy carriageway and a Italian version of a uk burger van , the heat was un bearable 34 degrees but it had to be done , this was my pleasure ,this was my vice and this love was my sanctuary . as i performed my last fifty meter sprint i hit the deck to knock out eight burpees and i could see a shadow in the asphalt as i looked up the well muscular Italian gent who could of easily doubled for a sopranos extra the way he was dressed he muttered something then clapped his hands together then gave me the thumps up even though i could not grasp what had come from his lips i had that instinct feeling that he was a fellow man of my own , and all of a sudden in that Tuscan town baking in the sun shattered weary and near vomit stage i felt that everything was just super dooper dander in my world , everything was deffo A OK ,

i thought yeah i had my day month year ( 20 odd years ) of being out of my face but this feeling i had inside was a intense feeling of being strong being centered and being positive it was better than any afternoon in the Yankee bar better than any drug on the market and dare myself to say better than any afternoon or night at goodison park ( something i would never thought i would ever say ) yes like the crap phony band from across the Irish sea would tell us all i did find something what i was looking for, that was a strange trippy afternoon deep down in a Italian town thanks for reading

cold weather excuses excuses excuses !!!!

this weather brings out out a lot of excuses not to train and to be fair i think that a lot of the men and woman who are in there 40s onwards can recall going to school with there P.E. kit in there bag whatever the weather and if i think back that walk to school ( no car trips and drop offs those days) with your school mates you never discussed if the outdoor football ,rugby or cross country would be called off due to the rain or snow...it was on FULL STOP

back in the 70s you had to be half-dead not participate in P.E. if you forgot your kit well no problem you would be given a rammy sports vest which would be a size to small, a rammy pair of shorts again these would be to big and a pair of black plimsoles ,and then you where sent on a cross country run which happened to be along the river birket before going around leasowe lighthouse

now i must point out this was done whatever the weather with snow and ice included ,the P.E. instructor would pop up all over the route and bellow at unsuspecting walkers to get there asses into gear and i must admit i stopped playing football and opted for the cross country at school i have fond memories of these runs especially in the dire weather and then on completing them getting a rare shower ( no-one had showers in there homes in those days ).

at my primary school we had a psycho welsh boxing/rugby teacher whom taught maths now if ever there was a fight within his mathematics class he would break the fight up and get everyone to move the tables so that there was enough space and the next thing two pairs of boxing gloves which at the time resembled huge pillows would come up out of his cabinet and you settled the dispute there and then ! .even though i was late on in my 20s before i got into thai boxing/boxing and fitness i think getting brought up with this attitude to getting on with it put me in good stead.

nowadays i get fed up with this weak feeble generation who call in any excuse in the book not to work-out but on the other side of the coin they wont think twice about going on there mates stag or hen party or just a night out down the local to wreck there bodies, they have no dignity and have no discipline .

so lets get out of that nice ,warm,snug and well and truly in a comfort zone get out there in the cold garden

10 bear crawls up and down the garden path ( if this exercise alone helped evander holyfield tame mike tyson well its good enough for us)

10 burpee jumps ( the bread and butter exercise of what everything is good in life)

10 push ups ( be like chuck norris and push the earth away from you)

10 body weight squats ( the great Indian wrestler " gama" would do 1000s of these a day i am asking you to do 10 !!!! )

take 15 seconds rest between exercises and 90 seconds rest between rounds

2- 4 rounds for beginners

6 rounds to 10 rounds everyone else ........and put some passion and gusto in !!!

FINISHED !! FANTASTIC TAKE A LUKE WARM SHOWER BEFORE BLASTING IT TO A ICE COLD 30 SECONDS FINISHER.....

WELL DONE YOU ARE NOW ALIVE !!!

silly season and sacking training because of the weather

well folks its friday 3rd of December and here on in we are going to be gearing up to Christmas day with the usual shanagins of office party's,lads off to liverpool , girls off to liverpool and all with an eye of having one thing in common and that is to have a good time and have a good drink ( or is that two things ? ) .

but the thing is nowadays with the easy access to alcohol available with the likes of weatherspoons opening as early as 7 and 8am people can drink earlier and longer and all in the name of " its Christmas " in a shout it from the roof tops type of thingy

but do they honestly know what the damage they are doing to themselves ? for a few people Christmas has already started and every week-end they will drink to there maximum and then you have Christmas day ,boxing day then new years eve to contend with ! , if you don't drink or get totalled you are classed as a bore in today's society , a couple of years ago i would of shunned that title but i suppose after having 3 long time friends die of the evil stuff yes i will shout it from the roof tops " am a bore !!! " right that's that taken care of .

right where was i yes this cold bit of weather we are having is a bit of a downer in the sense that some of us cannot get out to do much needed hill sprints ( if you don't slip you got a chance of getting mowed down by a sledge ) but lets get it right here and now this weather is no excuse not to work-out.

if you cannot get to the gym here is a little cracker that you can do all in the comfort of your own home , all you need is a 1) skipping rope ( if you haven't no problemo you can run on the spot and i mean run high with the knees in the air ) 2) a clock or watch with second hand 3) a desire and passion to work hard for 15 to 20 Min's !!

all we do is skip for 1 minute then throw yourself into 10 full prison burpees then straight away skipping for 1 more minute then 15 press ups then skipping again for 1 minute then 20 full squat thrusts and you have guessed it skipping again for 1 minute then finally 25 knee hugs , then you have 1 minute rest then do it again , go for 3 to 5 sets .

now this circuit is not set in stone if you have not a skipping rope run on the spot , if you struggle with the rep range bring them down to something you can handle !

EVANS ROUGH HOUSE NO EXCUSE CIRCUIT

1 min skipping or running on the spot

10 prison burpees

1 min skipping

15 press ups

1 min skipping

20 squat thrusts

1 min skipping

25 knee hugs

3 to 5 rounds and 1 minute rest between the round but no rest

or only short rest between the exercises

now let the blood start flowing and get that positive attitude that your going to give it your best shot ! grab your rocky and disturbed music and lets rock and roll !!!!!

monday 29th nov

trying to get out of bed knowing its freezing cold out there but knowing the sooner i do it the sooner the body will feel warm or warmer, i have a picture of jack Dempsey that is in my eye line view and when i do struggle i will catch his cold steely eyes looking out me ! that usually does the trick for me but today it was up with out sir Dempsey getting called upon to kick my ass.

Monday morning is the far busiest day for me with five fitness classes to take but the monday morning middlewich high school boxing class being called off due to the use of the main hall.

so i knew i had to fit a training session in not only to burn off those added calories from the week-ends treats of mince pies ice cream and pies well i dont drink or smoke so i have to have some vices !.

the session i picked for today was a bodyweight circuit with one piece of ressistance being a 20k kettlebell and a skipping rope, i would do 15 full prison burpees thats with a press up and a full leap ,then 15 bodyweight squats and going down nice to a nice deep squat movement,15 full press ups with chin to the floor then the full extension up then i would grap the skipping rope and skip as fast as i could for a 100 times then grab the kettlebell and do 15 full kettlebell swings. i would not have any rest in between the exercise but have 1 min rest at the end of the round .

it took me roughly 29 mins to complete the 6 sets the burpee jumps are the key here if you explode into everyone of them well you will gas and at the end of the day this is what am after , there are no Olympics or commonwealth games events for circuits in my opinion circuits like these are part of the big picture. here is the circuit again

15 BURPEES

15 BODYWEIGHT SQUATS

15 PRESS UPS

100 ROPE TURNS

15 KETTLEBELL SWINGS

4 to 6 sets with 1 min rest in between but no rest in between exercises

equipment needed, skipping rope, kettlebell or dumbbell , stopwatch or watch , and most of all a good powerful attitude NOW LETS GO FOR IT PEOPLE !!!!

* DONT HESITATE TO MODIFY THIS WORK-OUT !! IF 15 BURPEES ARE TO MUCH CUT IT DOWN TO A SUITABLE NUMBER AND THAT GOES WITH ALL THE EXERCISES

kettlebell/burpee ladder 8 min 30 secs

today i tried the kettle/burpee 1-10 ladder in the back garden with my wife, i had a 20k kettle and lisa had a 4k kettle it had just started raining so it was a bit slippy but it was not long before the pain kicked in i would say in the 5th st of burpees it crept into my thoughts shreeeefth another 5 sets to go i finished in 8 min 30 secs so i was pleased , my wife got to the 7th set which was excellent seeing she has only started this sort of "no-non sense training" . i only had 4 hours sleep today so i hope on another day i will be fresher