Best long weekend!

Thursday: we missed our plane.  Booked another one.  Arrived at 4pm.  Kee weighed in at 59kg.  She feasted while I was eating 46 almonds :p

Friday: I weighed in at 79.8kg and began the epic refeed :)  Graeme came to the hotel and did a photo shoot for Kee.  Waiting on his pics but the few I saw were awesome.  Will have a few on my website too I'd say.  Kee was lifting today.  She got red lit for depth on 100kg but we upped it to 105kg as we didn't think it was too tough but she got red lit again.  Third squat, do or die and she absolutely smashed it!  Bench went 40/45 easy and missed 47.5kg as she psyched herself out and lost control on the descent.  Deadlift went 105 (easy), 115 a little bit hard and then an absolute grinder at 125 showing incredible determination!  She totalled 275kg (15kg PB) and came 4th in the 60kg class.

105kg squat

Saturday: My turn to lift today.  Still only used wraps a few times so wasn't sure exactly but my groin injury felt fine so that was a good thing.  Kee was walking around in some tights and got the attention of Spiros (LOL) and she convinced him to wrap me for squats.  He is a 48 year old powerlifter who has been lifting for YEARS!  The experience was invaluable.  I opened with an easy 150 and actually paused it for shits and giggles.  Then went 185 kg easily.  200kg attempt next and Spiros wrapped me as tight as he can.  Pain was intense but I got that squat and finally achieved the 2.5x bw goal!  Bench was next 90/95 easy.  Was going to go 102.5 but stuck with 100 but I came out of the groove and missed it.  DL next and I opened with an easy 215kg.  230kg next and that was pretty easy.  240kg for third attempt and it as a little tough to break the ground but then I was all good.  3x BW Dl achieved!  Total of 200/95/240 for 535kg total (45kg PB).  550kg was my goal for the year but I'm upping that to 600kg now :)  The winner went 250/185/280 for a 715kg total!  240kg DL

Sunday: we watched the big boys 100+kg lift.  Some of the lifts were absolutely phenomenal.  Dan Green breaking his own 110kg raw record, Odell Manuel totalled over 1000kg, Scott Wasson coming third in 100kg (when he competes at 90kg) with a torn pec, Ricky Good year setting 110kg Aus record etc. etc.
Also went out for lunch with chocchillimango and NZDeevaa at an awesome Italian place in Carlton called Brunetti.  NOTHING like that on the Sunshine Coast!  After the lifting there was a banquet dinner.  They didn't even run out of food!  Speeches, a few drinks and some good chill time with a heap of great people.  Lots of fun!  One of the best weekends of my life.

Strong Ladies

Post lifting Banquet

Keola with Odell Manual and Jack Pollard.  (they totalled around 1800kg!)

Met NZ Deevaa and Chocchillimango

Post lifting shenanigans

wrapped by pro wrapper and lifter Spiros Markopolous from PTC Frankston

Kee's photoshoot by Graeme Passmore Photography

lifting weights will make you bulky :P

post weigh in REFEED!

abs are back at 79.8kg weigh in

125kg deadlift.  Over double body weight.

I'm a lumberjack.

Recent Eats

Who is Chris Davey and why should I listen to him?

I was a typical active kid in high school playing representative basketball.  When I stopped playing my activity level dropped dramatically however I did not change my eating habits.  By the time I was 24 I had ballooned out to 95kg(210lbs).  At 5'8" and with minimal muscle mass, it wasn't pretty.  For the previous few years I had done the typical New Year's resolution thing and given up by the end of January.

This time I didn't make a resolution but I made a goal.  The difference was that it had a deadline and was measurable.  I broke that up into smaller goals and devised a plan to achieve it.  In 6 months, I had dropped to 70kg(154lbs) however during this time I also lost a lot of muscle mass.  

Over the following years, I have experimented with various nutritional philosophies and types of exercise.  Over this time, I have put on considerable muscle mass and have become stronger and fitter than ever before.  I am all about challenging myself and making continuous improvement.  

In 2012, I decided to quit my job as an accountant to follow my passion of working in the nutrition and fitness industry.  I am a certified level 1 nutritional consultant with Precision Nutrition (http://www.precisionnutrition.com/directory#australia), level 2 accredited kettlebell instructor with Australian Kettlebell Club, level 1 accredited Australian Strength & Conditioning instructor and have completed my Certificate 3 & 4 in Fitness.  Of course, these are all just pieces of paper and the majority of my knowledge has comes from my own self experimentation and external research from people like Alan Aragon, Lyle McDonald & Bret Contreras.  (It's ok, if you don't know these people)  I am constantly keeping up with the latest research in the nutrition and fitness industry as it is ever evolving.

Now, my training varies quite a bit.  I compete in powerlifting, train in mma for fun (love jui-jitsu!) quite often hang off bars and play around.  As well as this, I love to get out and about and explore.  Climbing mountains is a favourite pastime of mine. 

That's me on the right :)

Services

So what is it that I actually do?

I guarantee you that I can help you achieve your health and fitness goals.  I am flexible with how I go about this.  If you would like a set diet plan I can provide this.  However, I would be much happier to teach you solid nutritional habits that you can use for life.  The advantage of this method is that you can choose the foods that you enjoy that will help you reach your goals.  Nutritional plans are based off science NOT bro-science.

Exercise programming is also based off the goals you are wishing to achieve and the amount of time you are able to train.  Once you fill out the pre-exercise questionnaire, I will have an idea of your current level of exercise and history.  It is highly recommended that you have a gym membership or access to a gym.  Body weight exercises can be used but the advantage of using a gym is the ease of quantifiable progression.

When you sign up, I will provide you with an initial diet and exercise program.  Each fortnight, you will send me your current weight & measurements.  This allows me to see what (if anything) requires adjustment.  We will then have a chat via skype and you may ask me any questions you have or bring up any issues you are having.

Whether you are overweight, underweight, wanting to increase sports performance or just want to look good naked.  I can help.

MOIST chocolate protein brownies 9P/11C/3F

Now I've made plenty of protein brownies before.  The recipes can be a bit hit and miss.  The difficulty comes with making a protein brownie stay moist.  Absolutely no problem with the following recipe.  Trust me, you will not be disappointed.

Directions: Blend all the above ingredients together and taste your batter. If you want it sweeter, add more dates (remember this will increase the carb content). If you want it even more chocolatey, add more cocoa. If your batter is too dry, add a bit more milk. If it's too wet, thicken it up with more protein or coconut flour. Bake the mix in the oven at 160 C (332 F) for about 35-45 minutes or until, when stabbed with a knife, your knife comes out clean.

Form checking sumo deadlifts

Hips shot up early on the last one and not overly happy with packing my chin but otherwise, fairly happy with these.

Elvis Oats! 37P/73C/23F

Now, if you ask anyone I know they will confirm that I am an oats addict.  As a kid, my grandparents used to give us unflavoured oats with just a bit of butter and sugar in it.  I clearly remember not being able to force myself to eat it.  No such problem with the following recipe.  Elvis oats are inspired by the Elvis sandwich which is served by the PB&CO restaurant in New York.

Ingredients
50g low fat bacon
1tspn natural peanut butter
1 banana
2/3 cup oats
pinch of salt
cinnamon
35ml sugar free maple syrup
(optional 12g of pb2 or peanut flour)

Instructions

1. chop bacon into small bits and heat on frypan until your desired crispyness.

2. Add oats, pinch of salt, half the maple syrup, cinnamon, 1/2 the peanut butter (or peanut flour/pb2 if you wish) and enough water to just cover the oats to a large microwavable bow.

3. Nuke for approximately 3 minutes.  Check it doesn't overflow!

4. Slice the banana into smaller bits and place on top of oats.

5. Add your precooked bacon

6. Top with the remaining cinnamon, maple syrup and peanut butter.

Nutritional Information (using peanut flour)
638 cals
37g protein
73g carbs
23g fat
15g fibre

How to progress to a front lever

Are kettlebells safe?

Every exercise that is performed in an unsafe manner is potentially dangerous.  It is for this reason that if you are new to exercise you should be taught by a competent instructor.

The kettlebell and in particular the kettlebell swing looks deceivingly easy however there is a specific motion that needs to be done to ensure that the lower back is not taking any unnecessary forces. Loaded lumbar spinal flexion for repetitions is asking for trouble.  

Kettlebells are a great strength and conditioning tool and when the exercises are performed correctly they are no more dangerous than any other exercise.   

If you are looking for a low impact strength and conditioning workout, check out my video's on correct technique before attempting these.

Should obese individuals include resistance training initially or should they wait?

The answer to this question comes in the form of another question.

Do you want to lose weight or do you want to lose fat?  

There is a subtle difference.  Weight loss can come from fat mass or fat free mass (FFM lean muscle tissue, connective structures etc)  As we know that our BMR (basal metabolic rate) is largely comprised of our FFM it makes sense to keep as much of it as possible during a dieting period.  Adding to that, it takes a long time to gain lean body mass compared to the amount of time it takes to lose fat mass.  So how do we go about retaining our fat free mass?

RESISTANCE TRAINING!  

Typically this is done with heavy iron but there are other alternatives like using your body weight or resistance bands etc.  The reason free weights are a good choice is because it is easy to see the progressions week to week as opposed to body weight exercises.  Each time you place a load on a muscle and it is forced to contract you are essentially telling your body that these muscles need to be spared.

Along with resistance training, research has shown that consuming protein at approximately 2g/kg of FFM has helped retain FFM while in a calorie deficit.

To answer the initial question, everyone who is wanting to lose FAT should be doing some sort of resistance exercise to maintain as much FFM as possible.

Which foods make you fat?

Every day we see new articles in the media demonising this type of food or drink.  We get conflicting advice about what types of exercises we should be doing.  How is anyone to know what is right and what is wrong?  Is there a right and wrong?  Now obviously everyone has different goals but and we are somewhat different genetically but at the end of the day we cannot beat the first law of thermodynamics.

Energy can't be created or destroyed, but it can be changed.

So how does this relate to fitness & nutrition?  Well it all comes back to energy balance.  If your goal is weight loss then the energy intake must be less than the energy expenditure and the opposite is true for weight gain.  Because of this no single food or drink can be considered fattening as the laws of thermodynamics explain that a calorie surplus is required to gain any weight.  That is, it is the over consumption of calories in total (or under activity) that leads to weight gain not any specific food or drink.