“A lot of my training is based around cycling and running because the biggest thing for endurance is cardiovascular. The fact that my heartrate is going to be really high for a lot longer than I’m used to means I need to build that resilience up early. To do that, I do quite a lot of back-to-back training and layering on the stress loads with weights. The key is not going at max capacity but keeping the intensity around 75-80 per cent to try to replicate the levels I’m going to be at during the race.”
THE Gs
“I think swimming a lot in the run-up to the race is essential to preparing for the demands the race will have on my body. If you think about the G-force that goes through my body, there are times I’m braking so hard that I can’t physically get any oxygen into my body. If I’m just running and cycling, I will have that constant air supply available to me, whereas with swimming, I’m only breathing every three or four strokes, which replicates what happens during the race.”
THE STRETCH
“I have to keep everything really open, especially in the trunk area so that I can bend and get my body into those low positions – it’s not easy to get my elbow on the floor but it’s an essential part of racing. Because I hold my body in such an extreme position on the bike, I do mobility exercises before and after a race where I’ll extend all my limbs to restore my body to its full range. I don’t stretch because it takes away power and elasticity – I just try to elongate back to a natural position.”
Even the world’s best Moto GP riders struggle when they get hit by the Mario Kart lightning bolt.
THE VISIONS
“Having a pre-competition warm-up routine helps to switch my brain on. I try and do a bit of hand-to-eye coordination with a tennis ball just to make sure everything is firing, especially with your hands and reactions. Then I do visualisation exercises – closing my eyes and running through where I’m going around the track and recalling what markers I’m looking for is a must. With these races, you sometimes have to ride at night and you lose those visuals, so you have to be totally in tune with the circuit.”
THE EYES
“I do lots of eye exercises, where I’ll try to fully flex my eye muscles – especially looking up. Getting our eyes as high as possible when we are racing is really important because it’s like when you are in a car and you look out the window, you’ll feel like you’re flying but when you look 100 metres down the road, everything feels slower and you have more time to react. I’m always trying to slow down my visuals so that my brain can understand things quicker and react better.”
THE BREAKFAST
“Fuelling my body in the build-up to the race is really important because I’ll be using lots of energy manoeuvring the bike for a long time. If you think about it, the bike is a heavy piece of equipment and I have to make sure my levels won’t just dip suddenly towards the end of a race. I’ll have plenty of brown bread and protein sources like egg whites, chicken or beans. I don’t have too much of the protein, though, because my body doesn’t absorb it that much, so I load up on carbohydrates instead.”
British MotoGP rider Bradley Smith is a Brand Ambassador for Tissot, the official Timekeeper and watch of the MotoGP World Championship races.
In the August issue of Forever Sports we spoke to Jake Gyllenhaal’s personal trainer Terry Claybon to find out how he got shredded for his new movie, Southpaw (above, out on Friday). But how will he rank against Hollywood’s other top fighting thesps?
Raging Bull
Robert De Niro plays Jake LaMotta, an American-Italian middleweight boxer journeying through a self-destructive life. Directed by Martin Scorsese, it is considered a reference point in 80′s cinema and, by many experts, the best boxing film ever made. After dedicated training for a year to look like a professional boxer, De Niro participated in three organised bouts, winning two of them. Later on, the actor had to gain 60 pounds to do the film’s later sequences to show a bloated LaMotta struggling to cope with retirement.
Million Dollar Baby
Hillary Swank’s finest hour proves boxing isn’t just for men. She gives a tour de force in what it takes for women to break into the sport’s professional ranks, which she duly won an Oscar for. Hector Roca, a former boxer and now-trainer out of the world-famous Gleason’s gym, was responsible for her getting her fighting fit. He had to repeatedly tell Swank to stop saying ‘sorry’, when she battered her sparring partners. “She’s a good client and brave lady,” he said.
Rocky
Who doesn't remember THAT scene with Sylvester Stallone training hard to Eye of the Tiger in Rocky? The Rocky series is definitive boxing cinema, and certainly set Stallone on his path to stardom. To prepare, Stallone took part in a split bodybuilding and cardio program, which sent him from weighing 170lbs to 180lbs in only six weeks. His chest grew six inches, his biceps by one-and-a-half-inches each and his waist by half-an-inch.
The Fighter
Mark Wahlberg played real-life slugger Micky “Irish” Ward, famous for his trilogy of scraps with the late, great Arturo Gatti. He teamed up with Christian Bale, who played half-brother Dickie Ecklund and Melissa Leo, playing Ward’s mother Alice. Wahlberg was trained by Manny Pacquiao’s long-time coach Freddie Roach and packed on the muscle to portray and in-form ward, while Bale, as expected, did the complete opposite shedding more than 30lbs to portray Ward’s drug-addict brother.
The Hurricane
Also trained by Claybon, Denzel Washington portrays the story of ex-boxer Rubin ‘Hurricane’ Carter, who was wrongly convicted of a triple murder in 1966. Although the film was criticised for its lack of accuracy, Washington received plaudits for his physical development for the role. His training, which included boxing training plus weight training and cardio five days a week for 16 months, made him lose more than 40 pounds, hugely lowering his body-fat percentage.
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Go behind the scenes with Paul Blacker, the man who has shaped the British surf scene for the past 40 years.
"The surf industry in this country is on its arse, mate," says Paul Blacker. "It's dead. Gone." A peculiar thing to say maybe, as Forever Sports visitis his workshop in north Devon, but he knows the game better than most.
Blacker, 61, has run Blacker Surfboards in its various guises for 40 years and has been one of the driving forces behind British surfing’s development. He shaped his first board in his parents’ loft back in 1969 and has been designing, crafting and innovating ever since.
He has gained a reputation for being one of surfing’s master craftsmen, renowned for his meticulous attention to detail and an old-school methodology that has led to new technical innovations, many of which have been adopted by shapers worldwide since the early 1980s.
Yet today, in a highly industrialised market saturated with mass-produced goods, Blacker has seen demand for his hand-crafted boards drop to the extent that he has cut his own production by as much as two thirds, and the physical skills that set him apart from his automated competitors slowly drift into the rip.
Despite virtually making no profit year in year out and barely covering his own costs, he still shapes around 25 boards a year; second-hand Blacker or Lazer (his former brand) boards have been sought-after collector’s items for decades. “I don’t mass produce my boards,” he says, as he gets to work hand-sawing the foam blank that forms the centre of each surfboard. “Every single board I make is ordered to fit and tailored to the individual”.
To read the full article, buy the latest issue here, or from all good newsagents.
Beef, broccoli, and noodles. Sounds pretty bland, right? Well, try this super-quick stir-fry, guaranteed to get you going.
This month, we have another Oriental number, that’s straightforward, mommy and very easy to make. A nice strip of sirloin - a red meat packed full of protein, minerals and other antioxidants - is the focal point of the dish, complemented nicely with richer textures of fibrous greens.
It may sound like a basic meat-and-two-veg dish, but it has a lot of depth from the herbs, spices and oils. Nutty sesame flavours are bolstered by the salty umami of the soy sauce; chilli and ginger give it bite, while garlic and coriander balance it with herb an citrus - there’s something for everyone.
The best thing is that it’s versatile nutritionally; there’s a well-balanced mix between protein and decent fats, and can make a hearty post-workout meal with more noodles.
INGREDIENTS
200G sirloin steak
1/2 a red pepper
1 fresh chilli
2 garlic cloves
1 small piece of ginger
1 tsp crushed coriander seeds
100g tenderstem broccoli
130g fresh egg noodles
2 tbsp soy sauce
1 tbsp sesame oil
2 tsp coconut oil
1tbsp sesame seeds
Preparation: 3 minutes Cooking: 12 minutes
Step 1: Start by slicing the steak into centimetre-wide strips and season with a drizzle of olive oil, salt and pepper. Slice the red pepper into thin strips too, then finely chop the chilli and garlic. Grate the ginger. Heat a pan with a teaspoon of coconut oil until it’s hot.
Step 2: Add the chilli, garlic, ginger and coriander, and stir until it’s fragrant. Add the steak, turning regularly so it browns slightly. Add the tender stem broccoli and allow it to soften. Now add the soy sauce and sesame oil, turning the pan’s contents to coat it evenly.
Step 3: Heat another pan - preferably a wok - and add the remaining teaspoon of coconut oil. When hot, chuck in the noodles and toss for two minutes. Add another tablespoon of soy sauce to the noodles if desired. Take the beef and broccoli off the heat and serve on a bed of noodles, sprinkling the sesame seeds over the top.
If you don’t know Joe Wicks, a.k.a The Body Coach yet, you can follow him on Twitter and Instagram. For more information on his #90daySSS plan, visit his website here.
Pairing up antagonistic muscle groups as supersets is a sure-fire way of building muscle fast.
As we well know, supersets are one of the most efficient methods of weigh training for packing on mass, reducing overall time spent in the gym and adding variation to your routine.
There are many ways you can superset, and one of our favourite ways to put two exercises together in one big set is pairing those that work in what are known as antagonist muscle groups: muscle sets that work to move the bone in opposing directions so that, as one muscle contracts the other relaxes.
The chest and back are two prime antagonist muscle groups, which are responsible for push-pull movements in the arms. Working them with large compound moves together will simultaneously build the main muscles in the group such as the trapezius and pectorals rapidly, while also building surrounding supporting muscles such as the biceps and triceps, and the deltoids.
Split your routine up by working an antagonistic muscle per session and see if you can make most of a short, hard session in the gym. Remember, with supersets, they’re one exercise immediately followed by another with minimal rest. That means if you do ten reps on the bench press, follow it up straight away with ten pull-ups.
Superset #01
Two of the biggest - and best - compound exercises for building the chest and back. Do them first and exhaust the muscles for a bigger pump throughout your workout.
Bench press
Technique: Make sure your feet are planted firmly on the ground and your knees are just facing outwards. As you grip the bar, raise your torso slightly and pull your shoulder blades together so your chest puffs out. When you lower the bar, lightly touch your chest with it and raise it up until your arms lock out. Do 3 sets of 10 reps.
Wide grip pull-ups
Tenchinque: Grab a pull-up bar with a wide overhand grip - your palms should face away from you and outside of shoulder width. Pull yourself up by bending your elbows until your chin is above the bar. Lower yourself slowly until your arms are fully extended. Do 3 sets of 10 reps.
Superset #02
Isolate large muscles specifically with the flys and rows, work the upper chest with incline flys and the upper back with barbell rows.
Incline dumbbell flys
Technique: Keep your elbows slightly bent at all times, As your shoulders rotate inwards, the elbows should be pointing out, and when you lower them they should be pointing downwards. Do 4 sets of 10-12 reps.
Barbell rows
Technique: Take hold of a barbell with a wide overhand grip. Bend over so your abdomen is almost parallel with the floor and let your arms hang straight down. Make sure your elbows are tucked in as you bring the barbell to your sternum and your posture is neutral (straight). Do 4 sets of 10 reps.
Superset #03
Once again hit different areas of each muscle group. The decline dumbbell press will build the lower pectoral muscle, and lat pull-downs will work the latissimus dorsi (obviously).
Decline dumbbell press
Technique: Elevating your legs a little will reduce arching in the lower back. The dumbbells should travel in an arching motion from just below the chest, outside the elbow and above the head and shoulders. This will emphasise the stretch in the lower chest. Do 4 sets of 10-12 reps.
Close grip lat pull-down
Technique: Your torso should remain static, so make sure your legs are positioned properly under the knee pads. Grip the bar with a close underhand grip (palms facing you) and pull down to your lower chest. Squeeze your back muscles together when at full contraction. Do 4 sets of 10-12 reps.
Superset #04
True isolation exercises can go even further towards muscle definition. Cable flys can be double-handed or single-handed, while rows on a bench help isolate the lats.
Single-arm rows
Technique: Keep your torso straight throughout - moving your knee back or forth on the bench will help level it out. When pulling the dumbbell up, make sure it comes high enough so the elbow goes just past horizontal. Do 4 sets of 10-12 reps (each arm).
Cable standing flys
Technique: Bend forward at the waist at roughly 30 degrees, and bend your elbows at a similar angle - they must stay in the same position throughout. Rotate the shoulders forward in a hugging motion until both arms cross in front for a rep. For better balance under greater resistance, bend forward at the waist more. Do 4 sets of 10-12 reps.
Find out what it’s like to spend a day with the world’s fastest man, only in Forever Sports (out now). Read an exclusive excerpt here...
By Michelle Sammet
Walking from the lift to the press conference feels like the most surreal ten minutes of my entire life. For Bolt they’re entirely typical, and are later uploaded to the BBC website for the world to see. I lead the small group through a maze of corridors and everything around us is like a circus. Camera crews and photographers run ahead to get their shots. Fans attempt to snap their selfie, snapchat, screen-saver or profile pic.
There is an unrelenting and constantly regenerating stream of button clickers. A global army with a shared mission: to get the great man’s face on their screen. Does the constant attention ever get too much? “I don’t have any bad stories,” Bolt says graciously. “No matter where I go in the world my fans are awesome.”
“They wait for me, sometimes for hours, to come to say ‘Hi!’ or sign something, or get a selfie. I try my best to do as much as I can for them.” Bolt is so popular, he can sometimes tour as a one-man show. Recently, massive crowds have gathered to watch him run one-off exhibition races: across Rio’s Copacabana beach, on Poland’s national football pitch, and through Buenos Aires city centre. On the Diamond League circuit, every meeting wants Bolt in their arenas and on their posters.
Organisers try everything they can to ramp up the Bolt hype. “I think all the meets are trying to come up with something new for the opening ceremony,” he says with a smile. “In Oslo I did a lap in an electric Formula 1 car, in London it was a missile, in Warsaw it was a tank... Let’s wait to see what they have in store for me this year.”
With a world champs and an Olympic Games to come over the next 13 months, Bolt has very much got his #seriousface back on. “My big aim is the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio where I will try to win the 100m, 200m and 4x100m,” he says, before confirming "I would like to run sub-19 seconds [in the 200m]. My coach knows a lot about these things and if he says it is possible, it is possible.”
To read the full article, buy the latest issue here, or from all good newsagents.
Forever Sports can exclusively reveal that the fastest man ever, Usain Bolt, will be our August cover star.
We met Usain in the Bahamas, and tried to keep up with him and his schedule, while talking medals and legacies with the world’s favourite athlete, and ask the big question: what’s next for the champion? All will be revealed in the new issue of the mag, out now.
Also in the mag this month:
Pop Star Fitness • The Grooming Awards 2015 • The Ultimate Kickaround • Rock Star Workout • Build Leg Muscle • The 25 Best Computer Games Ever • How To Style Your Beach Body • Andy Carroll • Moeen Ali • Jordan Turner • Wilson Kipsang • Harry Redknapp • Jake Gyllenhaal
And much more...
Buy the latest issue here, or from all good newsagents.
Snooker legend and long distance runner Ronnie O'Sullivan spends the day like a top sprinter. Can he kick it?
Being a keen runner, I’ve done a bit of sprinting in the past, but I’ve never been fast. I’m just a steady 10K man (with a 34:54 PB) but today I’m off to sprint with the pros. It’s going to be a real test for me.
I arrive at the track and as I walk in to the reception area I see a couple of runners limbering up. As we’re saying hello I glimpse the 400m track outside. Athletes are flying past at lightning speed. These are proper sprinters.
A black guy wearing a USA track and field rain jacket, thick-rimmed glasses and dreadlocks walks over and introduces himself to me. This is the coach, Chris Zah. He was the European athletics coach of the year in 2013, and looks after a group of 20+ male and female sprinters, hurdlers and jumpers.
“I’m Reverend Zah,” he says. “And this is my church”.
I'm part of his training team today so I have to think like an athlete. This means I have to do my best and give it everything I have. The session is laid out to us. The first part is four consecutive reps of 300m sprints with two minutes of recovery. We are following a partially sighted girl from Portugal called Cuka. She’s setting the pace at 50 seconds for each 300.
The whistle goes and we're off. You know that thing I said about being part of the team? Yeah, well I’m not feeling that right now. The pace is fast, too fast for me. I hang on for as long as I can. Cuka is always around 10m in front of me and so is James, the editor, whose idea this was. I'll need to have a word with him. Maybe he's under the impression that I'm fitter than I actually am?
James is fast, so my competitive nature kicks in. I'm up for this challenge. I'm telling myself: I've got stamina. I may not be the fastest but I've got a strong body and strong mind. 300s are good because it's not quite like doing a full lap but it's long enough to still have to dig in, which is what I like to do when I run. I'm certainly having to dig in today: 300m in 50 seconds is ridiculously quick for me.
My eyes are on James and I'm stalking him, waiting for any sign of weakness but he's not giving in. I'm waiting for him to die a little but he's not. Self-doubt is creeping in. Maybe I can't hold off, maybe I'm the one who thinks I'm fitter than I actually am? No, no I tell myself: ‘stay on his heels and focus’.
After the third rep, coach Chris tells me to keep my arms moving higher instead of keeping them low by my waist. He says it will allow me to make bigger strides and I immediately take this on board. On the final rep, it feels like I'm keeping up, without running my eyeballs out. I'm still behind Cuka and James but I feel more in control of my running stride.
Once the 300s were over we had to do one super quick 500m, followed by a two-minute recovery and a final all-out 150m.
Once the 300s were over we had to do one super quick 500m, followed by a two-minute recovery and a final all-out 150m.
Cuka had finished her session so we joined in with Richard Strachan and Gemma Dawkins, who are top runners. Richard won a European indoor 4x400m medal for Great Britain and Gemma is an 800m runner from Jersey. Both are super athletes, and we set off at a fair clip. We're aiming to do the 500m in 85 seconds. Again, I'm behind Richard, Gemma and James but I'm hanging on. I can feel the lactic acid running through my arms: this 500m seems a long way and I'm dying. My stride is getting shorter and shorter. We hit the 400 mark… just 100m to go. Come on! I'm keeping my arms going, just like Chris said. It's not feeling easy though.
We finish the 500m and then walk for another 50m. After two minutes Chris gives us the whistle to go again for a final 150m. I'm leaving nothing behind here, and run as fast as I can. I'm trying to keep the arms going and create a quick turn over in my legs. It is working and I'm feeling strong. My breathing is good and when I finish I want to keep going. But that's it, the session is over!
As I was training with the athletes, I must admit that I couldn't help but think what a tough nightmare sport it must be. You’re on your own, running round in a circle, running against a clock. It's very repetitive, and half of it is done into the wind.
It must be so tough. You put all this training in for say, the odd moment when you win a medal. It reminds me of snooker a lot: very mundane and you’re on your own. Having to motivate yourself to do it, even when you don't want to.
I can see how it's better to be training in a group. I've always enjoyed snooker more when there's a good group of people training together, because it makes the time go quicker. Without the group, I can't see how anyone would want to train and be able to maintain the levels of consistency required to be a top athlete. Whether you’re with coach Chris at Mile End or Usain Bolt in Jamaica, sprinting is all about being part of the pack.
Forever Sports’ Matt Lizzimore met up with five-time British champion and rally legend Jimmy McRae to finally try his hand at rally driving. He was rubbish.
A track driver will see the same corner thousands of times, a rally driver will see a thousand corners one time. Or so the saying goes. This, I had thought, would be the most difficult part of rallying. But I would soon find out that I had completely underestimated how startlingly difficult it is to actually get the car from point a to point b in one piece, let alone with any semblance of speed.
At the beginning of the day, I met up with rally legend Jimmy McRae to get some pro tips before taking to the gravel. McRae had just finished coaching Idris Elba for his upcoming TV series Idris Elba: No Limits, getting him up to a standard where he could actually take part in a rally, so he already had his teacher’s hat firmly on.
He’s got the credentials, too. Jimmy is a five-time British champion – winning in ’81, ’82, ’84, ’87 and ’88 – and he’s still rallying today, that’s a good 40 years experience. If that wasn’t enough, he’s also father to World Rally Championship driver Alister McRae and 1995 World Rally Champion the late Colin McRae. This man knows rallying.
He was a late starter, too. Jimmy didn’t get into rallying until he was in his thirties, and even then it was a bit of an accident: “I had no real aspiration to get into rallying. The first time I drove a car in anger, the co-driver I was with had done a few rallies. We did a practice on a gravel section. And he said ‘have you ever rallied before? That was really good.’ I didn’t know how good I was. I put it down to my background in Motorcross bikes.” Maybe there was hope for me yet.
“Have you been out on the gravel before?” Asks the 71-year-old. It was a definite no, but I mentioned that I did have some track-driving experience (which turned out to be no help at all).
“In racing, you might have 20 goes at one corner. In rallying you get just one go at each corner, and if you don’t get it right it’s a big problem.
“In rallying, it’s the driver in the car against the watch. You try to be the quickest. It’s that simple. In regular racing you could be the best driver there but get shunted off. But in rallying, once you leave the start line, it’s down to you and the car.”
No excuses then. With the ominous burble of the 1970s Escort RS2000 warming up outside, I needed to get some pro tips. So where does a novice such as me – or Idris Elba – tend to go wrong.
“Getting the balance is the most difficult thing. Inexperienced drivers tend to turn in at the wrong time, or apply too much or too little throttle,” he explains calmly.
“You need to feel the car through your backside, and control it from that. You’ve got to read the road and know where the best part of the road is, where you can get the maximum grip or maximum braking. There’s no use trying to brake in the mud or gravel if there’s a grippy patch available.”
The car was ready to go. So I pulled on a helmet and began the long walk to the car, “any last pearls of wisdom?” I asked.
“Go as fast as you can go, but not too fast. If you’re too fast you’ll make a mistake, or you’ll be fast into the corner, but too slow out of it because you might be half off the road.” Jimmy warned.
As I got into the stripped-out car, the smell of exhaust filling my nostrils, I was overwhelmed with a strange mixture of excitement and dread, and I really hoped that somehow I would be brilliant.
That dream lasted until I came to the first turn – about four seconds tops.
We had some time on a test loop so that I could get up to speed, both literally and figuratively. We were driving on wet mud/gravel to practice the basics, and there was very little grip in the excitable rear-wheel-drive Escort. I approached the first corner at a leisurely 20mph to give me time to go through the immensely complicated turning process. I lifted off, turned in, clutch down, handbrake up, handbrake down, clutch up, power on, too much power, lift off. By this point the back of the car had swung round too far, and I had to steer the opposite way to counteract the oversteer. I then got stuck in an endless snaking from left to right before coming to a stop. One corner in and I realised just how startlingly difficult it was going to be to get that one corner right, let alone do a whole stage competently.
There is an incredible amount to think about in a very small space of time, managing the steering, gears, handbrake and pedals at the speed required was a struggle, let alone thinking about where the grip was, or feeling the car as Jimmy had suggested. My brain simply doesn’t work that fast.
But I kept at it. Turning the wheel too much was by far my biggest problem. You only need small steering inputs, and you have to use the power and trust the car to turn in or straighten out, but it’s difficult to put your faith in the car when there are only trees to stop you if it goes wrong.
After much practice, I could finally get the car round the corner, if somewhat untidily. It was time to take on the stage. Unsurprisingly, it was tough. I was slow, and got most of the turns wrong, but I did get an idea of what to expect when I drove in anger, and I even learned where a few grippy/slippery patches were.
It was time for my proper timed run. Aside from missing a gear at the beginning of the stage, it went remarkably well. It was still difficult to cope with the changing surfaces, with each turn offering very different grip levels to the previous one. It wasn’t perfect, but I was happy.
Now it was time for Jimmy to show me how it’s done properly. At this point, Jimmy hadn’t driven the car once, nor had he taken on the stage. But boy was he fast. Very, very fast. His ability to control the car was scarcely believable, each turn led fluidly and flawlessly into the next, as if he stage was driving the stage in one smooth manoeuvre, not a series of individual turns. He made it look incredibly easy. He made the most minute adjustments to steering wheel, whereas I had been fighting with it, and he controlled the car by dancing on the pedals. It was truly impressive, and just a little bit terrifying. He also knocked about 20 seconds off of my time on his first attempt.
Two things were very clear, Jimmy is unbelievably talented, and I am not a rally driver.
To see how Idris Elba copes, Idris Elba: No Limits launches on Discovery Channel on Monday 6th July at 9pm.
Forever Sports meets a group of young Londoners determined to overturn swimming’s stereotypes.
It’s a Saturday lunchtime and I’m sat, with about a dozen other people, around a table at a Turkish restaurant in East London. A guy named Peigh is discussing the new jacket his clothing company is about to release, record label owner Mark is talking about his move into catering and there’s a general debate over whether people should go and see LA-collective Soulection in Camden or head to Benji B’s night near Old Street. When conversation lulls, people query about how long the large order will take. Everyone’s hungry, everyone’s just been swimming.
“The initial idea was to alleviate the idea that black people can’t swim.” Begins Ayo (Andy) Akinwolere, A former Blue Peter presenter who, four years ago, went from being terrified of water, to setting a world record for swimming five miles across the deepest stretch of ocean on earth.
“I thought: can we get a group of people who can’t swim, and train them up to swim a mile? I put the idea to Charlie [Dark] who I knew through [London running collective] Run Dem Crew.
“He told me I was mad, but I really thought we could do it, by taking a lot of the strategies I used to learn to swim, and applying those things to regular, everyday people. A lot of people are being lost to swimming every day in the UK because of the way it’s taught.”
Charlie pointed Ayo in the direction of Swim Dem Crew, a group of young people into music, art, fashion and hanging out together, who also went swimming as a group. They’d basically created the kind of environment Ayo was in search of.
“I wanted everyone who turned up every week to think – ‘You know what? This is really cool.’ It’s more than just swimming.”
Swim Dem basically began identifying as a swimming club, but before many of its members could swim. Charlie, who was one of the novice swimmers, also teaches poetry in schools, and holds strong opinions on black masculinity, which he considers a hurdle to people learning to swim.
“We [black males] are naturally attracted to water, we just don’t like getting in it. So we’re going to go to Ayia Napa, or spend all that money to go to Ibiza, we’re going to rave it up, were going to be by the pool and look good round the side of the pool but we’re not going to get in. So my thing with this project is to teach people to get in, to teach people not to be afraid of water.”
Most competent swimmers learn when they’re young - and are consequently fearless. Many people who didn’t learn to swim at school carry a lingering fear of water into adulthood. I am interested to know what the challenge of learning to swim as an adult is like.
Ayo pauses before responding:
“What’s interesting about learning to do something so scary is that you resort to being a child again. Those fears of getting in the water make it easy to start making excuses. Swimming is one of the few sports where people are afraid to die, genuinely die. Whenever I thought about swimming I thought, I’m going to drown. Then you come up with every excuse under the sun.”
Charlie takes over:
“What we’re saying with swimming is: ‘When you stop fighting with the water, and you learn to relax, and you learn to go with the flow, it suddenly becomes really easy.’ It’s all about technique. Swimming, far more than running, focuses on techniques. Anyone can go out and run, you can run badly but still run fast. However, with swimming, the better your technique, the easier it gets. In some ways, that’s good for young people because it’s a lot like life.”
As well as fear of water, the isolation of having to swim alone in a pool often deters people from getting involved in swimming. Charlie feels that the stuff that Swim Dem Crew are doing seeks to overcome that issue too.
“Here’s a new way you can engage people in sport, and in movement and in activity, and part of the problem is that people don’t like to try things when there’s no community around it. For instance, if you take music, there’s a community around music. It can be the most obscure music in the world, but somehow you’re going to connect with other people who are into that. Swimming doesn’t always have a culture that’s open to people.”
Swim Dem Crew started working a larger collective in March 2015 and almost four months into the project, Ayo’s confident that the plan is working.
“The progress so far is ridiculous. If you look at the progress of every single person that’s come along—we’ve only lost one swimmer through the whole process. Everyone has pretty much put the work in. Two or three weeks ago, we all swam 6000m together in a Swimathon, as a group. That was an incredible achievement. Never in a million years did I think that we’d actually reach that point so quickly.”
Check out Swim Dem Crew’s site to find out how they get on.
Swim Dem Crew are supported by Speedo and The Swimming Trust.
For his latest stunt, freestyle motocross legend Robbie Maddison
catapulted himself off a ski jump. We asked him what he was thinking.
Robbie Maddison should come with a certificate 18 classification. Google him and you’ll soon see why – you’ll spend the next hour in expletive-inducing amazement.
Did he really just jump a motorbike over a fucking canyon? How the fuck does he backflip across Tower Bridge? Shit, he’s just jumped onto a ten-storey building… And back off again!
Then there’s his death-defying leap across San Diego Bay; the jump over an entire American Football field; and his work as Daniel Craig’s stunt double for the motorbike chase in Skyfall.
For his latest stunt, Drop In, Maddison took on the Utah Olympic Park – the Winter Olympic Park – hooning his way down a bobsleigh run before chucking himself off the end of an Olympic ski jump. The full lunacy can be witnessed in the new motorbike film On Any Sunday, The Next Chapter.
“I had heard whispers that they were making another On Any Sunday [the classic motorcycle documentary from 1971 featuring Steve McQueen],” said Robbie when FS caught up with him. “I knew the original, of course – I’d watched it on VHS back in the ’80s – and when I found out they were making another one I thought it would be cool to be involved.
“Then I got a call saying they wanted to document my next big jump for the film and I’d already planned to do the ski jump. Just because you come up with a cool idea doesn’t always mean it will come off, so the fact this thing worked out is amazing – and being part of the film meant the jump got way more exposure.”
FS holds on (tight!) as Robbie talks about flying through the air and facing down his fears.
How do you come up with ever more insane ideas?
Every trick is different. I don’t come up with all the ideas but I’m always looking for new concepts. A guy from France did a ski jump on a motorcycle back in the ’70s. He jumped something like 178ft, which was huge for back then. I was on tour when one of my buddies told me he wanted to jump down a ski jump hill. I thought I’d let him do it first and then beat it, but he broke his back and retired so when this opportunity came up he was all for me doing it. It’s not always about having the ideas – a lot of guys have crazy ideas – it’s about being able to pull them off.
How did you prepare for the jump?
I actually went to the ski jump and, sitting on the ramp, I could see there was no way I was going to get off it and clear the knuckle. I got the schematic drawings of the hill, with all the angles on, and worked with a mathematician to bring the deck height up. I could have figured it out with an adjustable deck, and would have got somewhere close, but it’s not the sort of thing you want to get wrong.
How do you land mammoth jumps?
It’s all about getting the perfect take off so you don’t have to touch the bike’s controls when you’re in the air. As soon as you touch the throttle, the brake, anything, it’ll shorten your jump, and when you’re going for a record you’ve got to fly by the seat of your pants a little bit and not adjust anything. You’ve definitely got to have it inside you though -– you’ve got to know your craft. If you just go on what a piece of paper says, or what someone else says, you won’t last long.
Can you plan a jump so that it’s totally safe?
Even when you work it all out you’re still winging it. You’re still trusting that the bike’s pistons will go up and down and that the fuel’s going to go through, that your chain’s not going to snap and nothing else is going to fuck up. When you’re flying up the ramp you can’t let your mind start thinking about all these things and how, if one of them breaks, you’ll die.
So is there anything going through your head seconds before you hit the ramp?
It appears not – if there was I wouldn’t be doing it! You can’t stop to think. I say to my mechanic, “Are you confident this engine is good,” and if he can look me in the eye and say, “Yes”, then I’ll tick that bit off and won’t think about it any more. At the end of the day, this is not safe, and you can’t make it safe. It’s always going to be dangerous, but my goal is to make it as safe as possible because I don’t want to die doing the next jump; I’ve got way more cooler shit planned.
What’s the most dangerous jump you’ve done?
Vegas was super scary [Robbie jumped on and off the Arc de Triomphe in Las Vegas on New Year’s Eve 2008] but if you go to the Corinth Canal in Greece and stand on the bridge, you’d be like; “Holy fuck, he jumped this on a motorcycle? What the fuck was he thinking?” That jump was definitely the most dangerous. It was so daunting – the video doesn’t do it justice.
How do you cope with nerves?
You have to be able to shut the fear off. It’s about being able to control your head, and it took me a couple of years to realise you are your thoughts. You have to be confident and picture yourself making a jump, and you have to believe in that and know how to stay in that frame of mind. When I rode off that building I knew fear was knocking on the door but I wasn’t going to let it in.
What’s next?
I’ve been working on a new concept for two years. Filming started in April and it will be released to the public in July. It’s something totally different that will make people go, ‘What the fuck?’ My end dream – the last thing I want to do – is a bit ambitious. I know it’s possible because the technology exists. It just hasn’t been adapted to the motorcycle yet.
Whether it’s flying down the line for Birmingham, Norwich and England, or looking the part, Nathan Redmond has always been a stand-out performer.
The youngster always shone as a child in teams of lads much bigger and older than him, which led to Redmond being spotted by Birmingham City scouts. “I’ve always been into football, there was no other sport for me,” he says. “I’m from Birmingham. It’s quite rough in places, but if you’re from there you wouldn’t really see it. You adapt and learn to live with the situation, and it instills certain values in you. When I was growing up I was able to run free, then when I was five or six I joined a local team and did pretty well for them. They didn’t realise that I was actually a couple of years younger than all the other lads until I’d had a few sessions.”
After being signed by Birmingham as a schoolboy he climbed swiftly through the youth ranks to make his first-team debut at the age of just 16. Does he think there was more pressure on him being so young, or less? “I didn’t think about it that way,” he says. “I was just happy to be involved. I was absolutely buzzing. I was on the bench for the first team before I’d even done my GCSEs. I remember being called into the headmaster’s office at school to take a call from my mum, who told me Alex McLeish had phoned and wanted me in the squad. I was over the moon.”
From there, it was just a hop, skip and nutmeg to playing in Europe as a consequence of Birmingham City’s League Cup triumph in 2011. “Scoring my first goal was pretty special. It was against CD Nacional in the second leg of a Europa League qualifier. All my family and friends were there, it was a sold out crowd, and I got the goal that set us up for a 3-0 win. It was fairytale stuff. When you score, you just forget where you are and get lost in the moment.”
There can be no denying Redmond is as bold off the pitch as he is on it. Like his dribbling skills, his style is not something everyone can pull off. “In a word, I would describe my fashion style as brave,” he says, smiling. “Most of the time, anyway. I would applaud if I saw someone wearing something that’s so brave it tests even my limits, because it means at least they have the balls to try.”
This mirrors his attacking attitude on the pitch, which has made him very popular with the fans. “I think it’s because of my playing style. I’m fast and direct. When I get on the ball I’m always looking to run at people and attack. That’s what the fans want to see. They want to be on the edges of their seats, and I bring that. I want to be the best player I can be, without losing track of my strengths. There’s a lot of pressure and outside influence in football, and quite often people forget why they are there. Richard Beale [Birmingham City reserve team manager] once told me to never stop enjoying football and remember why
I started playing. Obviously there are three points to play for and you have to take some responsibility on the pitch, but I still need to have fun out there.”
Getting better all the time
Despite his success in the Midlands, the time inevitably came for Redmond to move on. In the summer of 2013, he was sold to then-Premier League Norwich for a fee reportedly in the region of £3 million. “It was hard to leave,” he says. “I’d been at Birmingham City since I was eight. When I got transferred, I knew that everything depended on what I did on the pitch. Whenever you go to a new club, first and foremost you are there to work hard and show everyone what you can do. Football is a universal language. You just have to be dedicated and play.”
The modern footballer needs many strings to his bow, something Redmond is only too aware of. “My strengths are my pace, dribbling ability and crossing. They are all the attributes defenders are scared of. When they come up against someone like me, they know they are in for a tough day. My whole game is about getting at people one-on-one. I’m predominantly right footed and play mostly on the right wing, but I’ve also played on the left and in the number ten role. Chris Hughton (former Norwich manager) told me the more positions I can play, the more game time I will get and the more valuable I’ll be to the team, so I’ve been working on my left side to try to make it as good as my right. Before training I make sure I get 500 or so left-foot passes in, and some crosses and shots. The aim is simply to be a little bit better than I was the day before.”
Redmond made 34 appearances in the Premier League for Norwich but couldn’t prevent them being relegated at the end of last season. This year, however, Norwich have been a consistent force in their quest to win promotion back to where they believe they belong. “What we have is a team of players who are all pulling in the same direction. You have to give it 100% every day. Not just in games, but also in training. There are no slackers. Life is full of challenges, and I try to meet them head-on.”
Five-year plan
Redmond has also made his mark for England’s U21s as they build up momentum ahead of the UEFA European U21 Championships in the Czech Republic this summer. “We all know each other well,” he says. “Some of us have literally grown up together. Probably my best mates in football are Jack Butland, who I’ve known since our Birmingham days, and Saido Berahino at West Brom.”
To great acclaim, Redmond scored the second as Gareth Southgate’s England beat a talented Germany team (captained by Liverpool’s Emre Can) 3-2 earlier this year. Things haven’t always been so rosy for this group. “The last Euros weren’t as successful as we’d hoped [they lost all three games] and we hated the feeling of going home with nothing,” he says. “We made a pact to never let it happen again. If we win we will celebrate together, and if we lose we’ll pick each other up and go again.”
As with any young footballer, the prospect of Premier League football is firmly in Redmond’s mind. “In five years, I want to be in the Premier League. Hopefully with Norwich but if not, I want to be up there challenging for Champions League places. My favourite club in the top tier is Arsenal. When I was growing up I idolised Thierry Henry because of his pace, drive, and goalscoring ability. If I had a preference, I’d go there. Of all the grounds I’ve played on, Anfield is probably the most hostile. When you are playing, their fans are right on top of you. Any player would love to play there week-in, week-out. During the match you try to block everything out and focus on the game. You don’t often have time to look around and soak up the atmosphere. It’s only later that you look back and think, ‘Wow, that was crazy!”’
It’s clear Redmond is proud not just of his achievements, but also his background. “I’m a Birmingham lad, and I still support my hometown club. Theirs is the first score I look out for, and if I ever get a chance to go back and watch a game I make sure I do. They always make me welcome at St Andrew’s. I played against them for the first time this season, and it was amazing to come up against the club that gave me my big chance and a platform to succeed, but I still wanted to win.” For the record, both games between Norwich and Birmingham ended in draws.
So what did the flying winger think of today’s shoot? “I’m loving all the bright colours. If it was my choice, though, I think I’d have to break them up a bit with a nice pair of black shoes. I do like a nice pair of shoes; Margiela, Christian Louboutin and Balenciaga are my favourite brands. I’m so obsessed with shoes that when I see a girl, they are the first thing I look at. Well, almost the first thing [laughs]. “If you want my advice on hitting on the ladies, it’s important to smell nice. With aftershave I like most of the Tom Ford range, and also Bulgari and Issey Miyake. They are my top three. Also, remember confidence is key. Confidence and a big smile.”
Fara Williams // From the streets to the World Cup
Fara Williams is heading to Canada with England this month but her journey there has been uniquely tough. FS meets a classy footballer on a mission.
Footballer Fara Williams made national headlines at the end of last year. Just days before she was set to play for England against Germany at a sold-out Wembley, Williams, 31, revealed her heart-breaking story that from the age of 17 to 24 she had slept rough. For seven years, London-born Williams moved around the capital’s hostels and lived on the streets. Incredibly, she kept her living conditions a secret from her team-mates all the while playing for her country.
Williams should have made headlines last year for inspiring Liverpool Ladies to their second successive league title. Vital goals and typically classy displays from the midfielder helped the Reds to win eight of their final 11 games, and pip Manchester City to the title on goal difference. She strikes the ball like
a dream. Type ‘Fara Williams free-kicks’ into YouTube if you need convincing of her quality. She has a record 138 England caps (80 games won) and 37 international goals.
We spoke to Williams ahead of her mammoth World Cup task.
How tough is England’s World
Cup group?
We played Mexico in the opening game of the 2011 World Cup in Germany. We drew but they were tough opposition. We’ve never beaten France before, but we’re set to play them in a friendly in June, so that will be a fantastic test for us, and I don’t know too much about Colombia.
My first World Cup, as an Under-19 international, was in Canada, so going back there as a senior will be exciting. Even back then there would be 30,000 people coming along and watching us.
As soon as we qualified, we sat down with our manager, Mark Sampson, and agreed to buy into his plans – from diet to extra training and the sacrifices you have to make when you’re playing at the highest level.
I don’t feel nervous. All I am thinking about at this stage is staying fit, injury free and putting myself in a good position to be selected. The nerves kick in when you know you’re going to be on that plane.
How do you get yourself into shape for such a big tournament?
Most of the WSL [women’s super league] teams are full-time now, which means it’s much easier to be in great shape for a tournament.
Back when we were working part-time jobs as well as playing football, it was much harder. You would be training on a local field, often on your own. It might be one
of those horrible wet and windy days, there might be dogs running all over the field… Now everything is in place for the players to succeed.
It sounds worlds away from how we see England’s men prepare for a major tournament.
[Laughs.] Yes, I can’t imagine the likes of Wayne Rooney preparing like that. I’m sure as kids they had to go through that to get where they are now. They’ll have been practising in the parks or on the streets in order to get recognised.
The academies for men have always been in place and are well structured. We have a Centre of Excellence now, too, which is supported by The FA as is our league. A lot of hard work goes into grass-roots football for girls now, because we know they’re the foundations on which to build a great senior team.
How do you rank England’s women against the other leading nations?
Many years ago there were massive gaps between the nations in terms of ability, particularly with the likes of USA, Japan, Germany… Now the gap is closing. Where you used to be able to think, “this will be an easy three points” or, “we’ll easily get out of the group”, it’s much closer now and there are no easy games.
We had a good qualification campaign and only conceded one goal, so we want teams to look at
us and think, “England are the real deal.” We need to play the big teams and make a statement. I think we did that against Sweden but Germany taught us a lesson at Wembley.
The perception of the women’s game has changed, how did you cope when you were growing up?
When I was younger there were some negative attitudes towards me as a girl playing football but nothing I couldn’t overcome. Women’s football and women’s sport in general have developed over the years, and we’re seeing much less of that today. Back when I was playing football with the lads I never thought I would be in an all-female team and playing at the level I am playing at now.
Initially I developed my game by playing on the streets. I was fortunate that I had two brothers who were really into their football so it was easy for me to join in with the boys on the estate. Most of my skills and strength come from my days playing on the streets.
Can you talk us through the typical training drills you do with the England squad?
The manager is all about training with the ball. We do lots of possession drills, game thinking, we’re put under pressure where we really have to think about what we’re doing. We have smaller practices at the start of the week and work towards playing 11 against 11 as much as we can.
Away from training with the team, I like to go for a run on the streets or ride my bike. I also go to a local gym to work out and do circuits.
How important is it for young women to lead healthy, active lifestyles?
I remember working out, building up muscles as a youngster and how it made you look different to the other girls out there. It wasn’t thought normal for a girl to have strong and defined muscles.
These days it’s almost fashionable for women to work out, go to the gym, do circuits and have a toned body. And it’s not just young girls, it’s older women too. It’s interesting how views have changed over the years.
You’ve had an incredibly successful career already, are there any other achievements on your wish list?
A gold medal for England! Even though we’ve had so many fantastic players over the years, we always seem to buckle at that quarter-final stage and it’s so hard to take.
We got to the Euro 2009 final but maybe it was enjoying a bit of luck along the way that got us there. The Germans were far too strong for us in the end but it was a great experience for us as a team – despite the result. It’s important that we focus on how to perform in the biggest competitions without letting the occasion get to us.
We know about the men’s penalty shootout defeats, but the ladies are no strangers to heartbreak either.
The funny thing is we have a lot of penalty takers in the England team who regularly take penalties for their clubs. When I am playing for Liverpool, I am the named penalty taker, but sometimes if you’re having a bad game it’s better for someone who is feeling more confident to step up and take it.
A lot was made of the World Cup in 2011 when we went out in the quarter-finals to France on penalties. The players who took the penalties that day had been scoring them regularly in training. We probably should have won that game within the 90 minutes and we didn’t. It’s pot luck when it comes to penalties.
My legs had completely gone in that game and I didn’t take one. If you step up and take a penalty within the game, that’s completely different to stepping up in a shootout. There are lots of things going through a player’s head while making that long walk to the spot. I don’t think you can ever replicate that walk-up. You can practise taking penalties over and over again, and often in training we’ll do that walk from the half way line, but it’s just not the same without the emotion, pressure and a stadium of 30,000 people.
It’s a harsh way to go out, but at the moment it’s the only way we know how to decide a knockout tie.
How do professionals feel about their male counterparts earning £100,000-plus a week in the Premier League?
Money isn’t something I talk about with my teammates. In financial terms the men’s game is completely different to ours. The money involved in the Premier League is crazy. As a younger player growing up I never thought about the money. For me it was about winning the league and an FA Cup.
When I started playing for England I was working 37-hours a week as an FA skills coach on top of trying to fit in training sessions. Luckily now, I can focus on training and preparing for a game full-time, without that worry. It’s a fantastic opportunity I’ve been given and one I’m hugely grateful for.
Forever Sports’ Gershon Portnoi gets windswept and soaking wet trail running in the Lake District - and loves every minute of it. Kinda...
Do you know why they call the Lake District the Lake District? Because it’s full of water, that’s why. And never was this more apparent than when I went trail running in the North Lakes with Ricky Lightfoot (real name), Britain’s greatest off-road runner.
The trip starts well with the sun pouring in through the window as I tuck into complimentary smoked salmon and scrambled eggs from the comfort of my Virgin Trains first-class seat. How I would miss that luxury just hours later. By the time I stroll into a ubiquitous coffee chain in Keswick to meet Ricky, the rain is teeming down.
Ricky and Carl, the photographer, look at me almost apologetically, Ricky informing me that the weather is changeable and anything could happen once we start running. If by ‘anything’ he means the rain and wind will get considerably worse, he is spot on.
I get changed and we’re about to set off when I realise I haven’t got my running gloves and I’m wearing shorts. Ricky is wearing tights (but no gloves) and offers me his own but I pass, telling him that I’ve run in bad weather in London many times. “Aye,” he says with a knowing look, “but you’ll have never run in anything like this before.”
Before I’ve taken in his wisdom fully, we’re off, leaving the quaint town with its ridiculously high percentage of adventure-sports shops behind us, heading towards the River Derwent.
It’s cold and wet, but Ricky and I chat as we scamper over stones, brooks and tree roots at a steady pace. I bore him to tears about my London Marathon training and, as he speeds off ahead of me, I eventually take the hint.
I catch him up – OK, he slows down and waits for me at a stile – and we chat some more. It turns out that when he’s not winning World Trail Championships, he’s a firefighter. I watch him run. He’s leaner than a kilo of turkey mince. And I’m, well, I’m not.
Ricky tells me that trail running is excellent for the core as it improves your balance and posture. I soon discover what he means. Conditions deteriorate as we make our way to Ashness Bridge, running over huge, slippery stones that have streams of water gushing over them. The Derwent is down below us as we make our way up and up, but we might as well be wading through it. With each step into the freezing pools of water my feet temporarily go icy with numbness, and the wind is howling so hard and loud I can barely hear myself think.
I’m trying to keep up with Ricky as he bounds across the trails, a poetic picture of athletic motion, when I make my first mistake and slip on the slipperiest of rocks, landing hard on my back and elbow. Luckily, I’m not bloodied or broken, a common occurrence in trail races where competitors run with the red stuff pouring out of leg, elbow and face wounds.
That’s why, aside from the conditions, the toughest part of trail running is the intensity of mental focus required to avoid the blood and gore. It’s a little like snooker, not in a waistcoat and bowtie sense, more from a planning-ahead strategic point of view. You have to think carefully about every step you take in order to avoid the myriad pitfalls awaiting you on the ground from uneven rocks, thickets and branches. In fact, you really need to be thinking several steps ahead, to steer clear of the danger that’s everywhere.
As we power up a hill towards Watendlath Tarn on a rare bit of flat-ish surface, Ricky says casually, “You’re pretty good on the hills,” and we carry on talking until I do a double take. What was that? The reigning UK Three Peaks champion just told me I was decent at hills? This is up there among the best moments of my entire life. Buoyed by Ricky’s praise, I plough on as we head up then down towards Rosthwaite. This is where conditions become really tough.
The hard, unforgiving northern rain is coming down so hard it hurts. I’ve never actually been in a hurricane, but the wind picks up so much this must be Katrina and Higgins rolled into one. I’m now so cold I can’t feel my hands or face and what used to be my nose has been replaced by a gloopy mass of snot.
Reluctantly, swallowing all pride, I ask Ricky if I can borrow a pair of gloves. He obliges with not a trace of smugness, and so begins the farcical charade of me trying to put gloves on my numbingly frozen hands while trail running – think Mario Balotelli putting on a bib multiplied by 100.
While all this is going on I suddenly spot a dog. As I get closer, I realise the dog is actually a sheep, and I become insanely jealous of its warm, fleece coat.
We keep running under Castle Crag, through Grange and back towards the Derwent. As we run alongside the pebbly lake shore Ricky admits these are the worst conditions he’s run in for some time, and certainly this year, which makes me feel a whole lot better psychologically. Physically, however, I am a wreck of a human being. My legs are heavier than two slabs of concrete. My calves have given up on pain and are instead moaning quietly to themselves, while my quads have taken the opposite approach and are screaming bloody murder.
Eventually we reach the outskirts of Keswick and, predictably, the sun comes out. After 15 miles and two-and-a-half hours, we’re done. I take off my hood and look around where we’ve been running. Stunning fells that are orange, brown and yellow, and water stretching as far as the eye can see.
This is why they call it the Lake District. And, despite everything this afternoon, I love it.
Ricky Lightfoot is sponsored by Salomon and Suunto
The 24-year-old Olympic weightlifter takes about breaking records, his training routines and jelly sweets.
How long have you been weight lifting?
Ten years. I got into it by accident. I went to gymnastics because I wanted to learn how to do a backflip but the trainer said, “You’ll never be any good at gymnastics, why don’t you have a go at weight lifting?’ I tried it and quite liked it.
What records do you hold?
I broke my own English Championship Clean & Jerk record and the Snatch this year. I’d wanted the Snatch record for a long time, but I’m still recovering from knee surgery last year so went in with no expectations.
How much can you bench press and what’s the strangest thing you’ve bench-pressed?
My best is 137.5kg. I’ve bench-pressed people a few times and overhead-pressed them. It’s good fun throwing people around.
What’s a typical training session for you?
I do clean-and-jerk and snatch training up to four times a week and loads of pulling work – deadlifts, fast deadlifts and squats. It’s not like athletics, where you work outside then come in for gym work – for us it’s lifting weights all day long.
What’s a man’s most beneficial exercise?
Squats are the life of the world. You’ve got to squat all day, every day – that’s how you become a man. The hardest I do are 36 reps of back squats with 200kg. First time I did it I thought I was going to have a heart attack.
Starburst or Jellytots?
Haribo beats everything. Tangfastics, the ones made of sugar and covered in sugar.
Isn’t your diet supposed to be strict?
Generally it’s good. I train ten hours a day so I can eat what I want mostly. I never stop moving. My body takes a beating, everything hurts, so the most important is food to help the joints, like oily fish.
What is your guilty pleasure?
It’s probably Savage Garden when I’m in the car.
What is your greatest achievement to date?
Competing at London 2012. How many people have done that? I can’t describe what it’s like to go on to the platform in front of a home crowd.
What is the worst injury you’ve suffered?
I had knee surgery last year and surgery on my other knee before that. Back injuries are the worst. I’ve had over 20 injections in my spine.
If you could only watch one TV show for the rest of your life, what show would it be?
Game Of Thrones. Got to be.
How would you survive the zombie apocalypse?
I coach a couple of military guys. I’d let them sort it. Get some guns, follow them and shoot when they tell me to shoot.
For more information on British Weight Lifting visit britishweightlifting.org
Forever Sports heads to Miami to meet the hottest woman in fitness and find out how Jen Selter’s made being Jen Selter a full-time job.
Being on a photoshoot with a famous person is always weird. Whether witnessing an international popstar lock himself in the toilet in tears because he hates his hairstyle, or seeing a very serious politician doing David Brent impressions – it’s just odd. But watching someone who makes a living from being photographed get photographed – now that’s just downright surreal.
Our cover star, 21-year-old Jen Selter, the queen of #fitspo with six million Instagram followers, arrives at our shoot with two other Selters in tow – mum, Jill, and sister, Steph. Jen is wearing bright pink Ray-Bans and carrying two enormous suitcases the size of all three family members put together. One is full of trainers, the other sportswear. “I need to take these wherever I go in the world so I can post pictures for my fans,” she explains, before very sweetly telling every member of the Forever Sports team she loves their cute British accents – “super cute!”
Jen and sister Steph carry two iPhones each at all times for taking pictures of Jen. “My sister lives with me, assists me with my photoshoots, travels with me, and helps me on a day-to-day basis,” Jen tells us.
Throughout the day, the sisters swap phones around comparing lighting and angles, while mum Jill busies herself up a ladder taking photos of Jen on her iPad. They take a break just before lunch to FaceTime dad Todd and show him the many photos of Jen. You get the picture – brand Selter is very much a family affair. Between posing for our photographs, Jen is dragged into a different room by Jill to set up future Instagram shoots. Jill provides the day’s most euphoric moment when she screams, “I’ve found one!” – Momma Selter’s search for a charging station big enough to keep the Selter family’s phones juiced ends in success in the swimming pool’s pump house.
Food and nutrition is also, obviously, a key component of brand Selter. Jill chose and modified Jen’s Protein-rich lunch: a walnut chicken nicoise salad with tuna tartare.
Celebrities having an entourage is nothing new. What is new is the enormous level of celebrity Jen has achieved, through nothing more than being herself – a girl who likes working out and showing off her bum in the process. It’s been reported that just one picture of her derriere in Lycra can gain her 100,000 new followers. There have been comparisons to selfie queen Kim Kardashian and there’s one very obvious similar asset. But Kim grew up in the limelight: her best friend was Paris Hilton, her father was OJ Simpson’s defence attorney and friend, and she’s had a TV show running for the last eight years. Not to mention Kanye.
Jen, on the other hand, comes from an average New York family. After graduating high school in 2012 she got a job in a local gym and that’s when she started posting images of herself. “It started out as a fun hobby,” she explains. “I never thought my numbers on social media would blow up like they have. It makes me very happy knowing that so many people are inspired.”
Find out how Jen Selter carved out her niche, and read the exclusive story only in the new issue of Forever Sports, on sale now from all good newsagents and Sports Direct, priced £2 in the UK. Buy it online here.
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