Unconventional Athletes Issue 5

www.unconventionalathletes.com
I found a great book called “Breaking the Vicious Cycle”
which was the catalyst in my success
against Ulcerative Colitis.
more entertaining and unique, and in
the future I hope to keep pushing the
boundaries and adding new twists to
some common feats of strength.
EAT FOR FUEL!
I have always been interested in
nutrition and keeping myself in shape,
but that didn’t really fully emerge
until I was forced to take good care
of my eating habits due to having
Ulcerative Colitis. I tried many diets
before I found the one that worked
for me, and that is a diet which limits
grains of all types and anything
processed. Since my illness, I have
been completely dedicated on eating
for fuel, and not eating for enjoyment
and this has become a lot easier over
time and allows me to focus more on
my training. I also fast all morning and
afternoon and only eat two large meals
between 6pm- 8pm each day, the first
meal comes after heavy training and
contains carbohydrates, mainly in the
form of potatoes or sweet potatoes.
The second “phase” of my eating is
strictly fat and protein as I believe
carbohydrates should only be used to
refuel the expended glycogen.
USING NATURE!
I train outside mostly; lifting logs, kegs
and sandbags and anything else that
I find awkward to put over my head.
This is where I do the heavy stuff.
At home though I have developed a
few homemade pieces of equipment
to challenge my grip which I use
religiously.
My favourite training method would
definitely revolve around the training
of my hands and forearms. Currently
I do not aim to work one particular
muscle group as I am not interested
in gaining size as I believe it would
hinder some of my feats. My favourite
exercise however would be pull ups,
normally with some kind of variation,
such as pull ups on just my little
fingers etc. I have trained many hours
in a playground, utilising the swings
for ab roll outs and the frames for pull
ups and dips. If you open your mind,
you aren’t restricted to conventional
exercises and can challenge yourself
in many different ways.
CONSISTENCY IS THE KEY!
I think the key to my strength has
been consistency of workouts and the
way I constantly change and adapt
my training. I am never happy with
my methods and continuously seek to
improve them. I like to hit my muscles,
bones and tendons with many different,
often unique ways. There are a few
exercises which almost everybody
performs, but to truly see results you
need to make the basic exercises far
more challenging. Why train just your
chest with push ups, when you can
also work your grip and finger strength
by performing them on just the tips of
your fingers? Why do pull ups with a
comfortable bar when you hang from
a pinch block or a towel? One-handed
versions are always going to be
superior due to involving the oblique’s
and other stabilising muscles.
BEATING ILLNESS WITH
UNCOVENTIONAL!
I think my main goal is to continue
to get stronger while conquering all
of my health complaints. All of the
odds were against me in this journey
mentally and physically, but I seem to
keep pushing my limits and breaking
down the walls. I will keep aiming to
inspire and entertain people with my
wacky feats of strength and my power
to thrive in unfavourable conditions.
I am hoping to put together an eBook
which lists all of my unique exercises.
Although some of them may seem
outlandish, they have been very
effective and enjoyable.
A very inspirational article by Gary
Hodges; a true unconventional athlete
beating the odds with his own
training, simply amazing!! If you want
to ask any advice or talk to Gary about
training advice please find him on the
link below!
FACEBOOK: https://www.facebook.com/max.power.758737?fref=ts
ISSUE 5 VOLUME 1 Page 30