A free plug for some who deserve it

[PTC]

​

Just recently I was made aware of a gym operating in NSW that had similar ideals to xxx. I was very quick to check its website and what I found put a big smile on my face. This gym looks sensational, the best thing I could say about it is that if I was going to train anywhere other than xxx, and this gym was local, this is where I would go. I can’t give higher praise than that.

I checked the whole website and was so relieved to see it was a no bullshit gym, you simply go there to improve yourself, whether its appearance or performance. That is what you should go to gyms for. If you simply go to a gym as part of your social network, then visit Finance First (God I wish I could take credit for that line, but I can’t).

Every week I get someone asking me about setting up a xxx interstate. Never going to happen. To all those that live anywhere remotely close to Caringbah, and feel envious of the guys lifting at xxx, here is your chance to train in a very similar gym and environment.

I am promoting Peters gym because I want to. Anyone that believes so much in training in a facility like this, then laying out his own dollars and taking such a huge risk in this economic climate deserves help from anyone that is also like minded. I have no issues promoting someone else’s gym if I feel it is a great facility. Obviously I think this one is. The more facilities like this around, the more lifters are going to have their eyes opened when it comes to training.

I have corresponded with Pete only once, via email. In the future, if it was possible at SS&S, I would love to promote the kind of event we have at xxx, 5 lift or Strongman. I’m sure I could get a few Victorians up, plus a stack of NSW followers I have. The Canberra Mafia would also make the trip. This would be great for the guys that fly to Melbourne from interstate to compete.

If you live within an hour or so of this gym, you would be nuts to not go and visit at least once. And for all the doubters, I have no affiliation with SS&S, I am simply a lover of these kind of gyms. If anyone knows of another similar set up, let me know if you want it promoted on here.

Shire Speed and Strength
Unit 4/ 82-84 Captain Cook Drive Caringbah, NSW 2229
(02) 9540-9534
Head Trainer Peter Upham
0415 889 952
www.shirespeedandstrength.com.au
coachupham@shirespeedandstrength.com.au








A close friend has been working on a project very hard for over 6 months, and it’s ready to make its appearance. The xxx regulars know big Louie, he is one of the strongest guys to ever compete at xxx, and he still has the 3rd highest Competition total ever.

Anyway, for the last 6 months or so, Lou has been working on protein cookies. He could simply have chucked some protein in flour, baked these and put them on the market with the moniker “protein cookies”. Thankfully, that never happened. He has been providing me with nutritional information as well as cookies to taste on a regular basis. On Tuesday, he came round with his finished product.

First the taste test. He had around 15 cookies, I was going to have clients taste them, so sorry. Not even my little twin girls got to try. They taste ****ing sensational, both varieties. So that part was clear winner, a very high pass mark.

But a Mars bar tastes great too, why not simply have one of them? Because JC Cookies, per 100gms, have 30 grams of protein, only 4 grams of sugar and 5 grams of saturated fat.

Finally, a healthy snack that doesn’t taste like crap.

Now you all know that I’m into natural foods and I’m always preaching eat what nature provides, but I also tell you to have a protein drink after training, for reasons we have covered before.

So here is how I would use these cookies.

Firstly, to skinny guys trying to get bigger.....never have one out of your hand. Pretty straight forward. Munching on JC protein cookies and milk all day is going to speed your progress immensely. I can hear Paul Anderson’s stomach grumbling from here.

Secondly, to those looking to lose weight that won’t drink a protein drink because they claim they taste disgusting. It’s always the really overweight who bring taste into the equation when it comes to achieving goals. I guess that’s why they are really overweight, they can’t take the emotion out of eating. Well, with these, you won’t have to. Have half a box (50gms) straight after training and the other 50gms an hour later. Job done.

Thirdly, to those with a sweet tooth who simply feel that they need to reward themselves because they got off the couch to find the remote control instead of waiting for someone to come home so they could look for it, eat these with little guilt.

The really disciplined don’t need snacks or treats, but if you’re going to have one, I can’t think of anything else that tastes so good that won’t sabotage your progress.

So if you fit into any of these categories, have a crack at some of these, they really are that good. Louie is hoping to have stock to sell shortly, with his initial batch coming to xxx. I promise I will do my best to ensure you guys can have some.............no promises.

Louie will also kindly provide some of his cookies at the upcoming comp, Bash at the Beach 3 on September 19. Hopefully he should also have stock on the day so if you guys like them (you will) you can buy some and take them home with you.

 

[Kyle Aaron]

Anyway, there is a guy on a forum who is studying to be a PT. His passion is obvious by his posts. Sadly, what he learns at school will be inadequate in a proper gym. He knows that and limits his advice to novices, which I think is a very humble thing to do.

I assume this is me

To be clear, I think what I learn at school will be very useful in a proper gym. But I'm only in the 5th week of some 36 in all (for both Cert III and IV), so whatever they do have to teach me... I haven't learned yet.

I think it's the combination of book learning and real experience that makes someone good at their job. You can get the book learning just from books, or speaking to people who have it, or you can get it from a school - but a school tries to make sure you don't have any little gaps in your knowledge, and at the end gives you a certificate other people will recognise... so you can work and get that real experience.

I've got a lot to learn - from books and people. And some people who are teaching me things don't even know it!

 

[CaT_SPeW]

Emma informed me that she works at the Spearmint Rhino. She is a pole dancer in her spare time. You can catch her on Saturday nights at 11.00pm, that’s her first set.

No stripper should be able to bench squat 92.5kg.

geez, shes gonna love that lol

 

[Josh_GTiR]

HAHA, Markos I know you love what you do and you seem to be onto a good thing. I just find it so hard to swallow the MASS BLATANT SELF PROMOTION that is constant in ALL of your posts.

 

[PTC]

Kyle you misunderstood.........I dont believe you've even been in a PROPER gym. I assume the Army probably had good training facilities, I'm not sure, but where you currently lift and Finance First, those kind of places arent proper gyms.

Thats why I want you to come see for yourself.

Sorry about the miscomunication

 

[PTC]

HAHA, Markos I know you love what you do and you seem to be onto a good thing. I just find it so hard to swallow the MASS BLATANT SELF PROMOTION that is constant in ALL of your posts.

I guess you mean the newsletter.

As far as promoting my gym, trying to get new clients, try making a booking. Its full, Monday to Saturday unless your a shift worker.

The newsletter was originally only for my clients. Others got wind of it and wanted to read it.

The website now has 7000 visitors who come on purely to read the newsletter. Its growing by 100 new visitors a day. Its only just over 2 months old.

Instead of bagging those that DO, write your own newsletter and see how many people want to read it. Far to many haters in this world.

Free plugs for those I feel worthy and I'm self promoting.

So you think the hours I spend writing the newsletter and providing information for free is self promoting.

I may just start charging for the newsletter then.

Heres a clue Josh, instead of rubbishing, simply stop reading. Obviously you get nothing out of my posts, go work on your grip rather than making snide remarks over the internet that you would NEVER make to my face.

I'm pretty sure I dont comment on your lifts or physique, try and give me the same courtesy.

 

[CaT_SPeW]

HAHA, Markos I know you love what you do and you seem to be onto a good thing. I just find it so hard to swallow the MASS BLATANT SELF PROMOTION that is constant in ALL of your posts.

you do realise thats the PTC newsletter thats hes posted. it normally just goes out to PTC clients and people on the PTC mailing list

 

[Kyle Aaron]

Kyle you misunderstood.........I dont believe you've even been in a PROPER gym.

See, I think this is the old no true scotsman sort of argument.

People go to a place to lift iron. That place is then a gym. It may or may not be a good gym, the people may or may not be training the most effectively they could be, but it's a real and true and proper gym.

Most of the people I see lifting iron in my gym are making genuine efforts to improve their strength and appearance. Could most of them be training better? Definitely. But it's a proper gym. I think the people and place deserve some respect, even if at the same time they deserve some sorting out.

HAHA, Markos I know you love what you do and you seem to be onto a good thing. I just find it so hard to swallow the MASS BLATANT SELF PROMOTION that is constant in ALL of your posts.

I get the same feeling sometimes. From the posts, I mean - obviously the newsletters will do that, that's fair enough. I mean the general posts. It puts me off, to be honest.

 

[PTC]

I suppose our opinion of what makes a proper gym will differ.

 

[PTC]

There you go fellas, the first post has been edited so as to not offend anyone.

Hope it suits.

If its still no good, let me know and I'll make further adjustments.

Anything to please the members of ausbb.com lol

 

[Kyle Aaron]

I was not offended. I just wanted to clarify what I thought of my course. I don't think the course will be "inadequate in a proper gym." It'll be the book learning half which will I hope fit in with the life experience half.

You can say my course useless if you want, or say only yours and this bloke in NSW have got proper gyms, that doesn't worry me. But that's not my opinion, is all, and I don't want people to think it is.

Leave your article as it was, it was not offensive in any way. Only here will people know it's me you're talking about, so only here does it need to be made clear what's your opinion and what's mine.

 

[Chussen]

Blah blah blah, I just want to taste the cookies!

 

[CaT_SPeW]

Blah blah blah, I just want to taste the cookies!

Chussen knows where its at

 

[katie]

Yeah!! COOKIES!!! om nom nom nom

 

[Zarkov]

I suppose our opinion of what makes a proper gym will differ.

That is the key point here Markos - opinion.
I sometimes wish you would stop telling people they are blatantly wrong and instead just differ in opinion.
Besides, a) Who and what determines what a real gym is and what isn`t.Is there clear line separating the two? and b)You have no idea what Kyle or any of us have seen and done in our lifetimes so don`t assume anything.
Kyle may not find it offensive that you slag off on his studies but I do.He knows full well and admits his limitations but he has to start somewhere.As he continues studying he will sort out the sh#t from the shinola and make full use of his skills.

 

[PTC]

I think I may just not post my newsletters on here, those that want to read them will find a way anyway.

Carry on.

 

[Admin]

ah don't worry about them , feel free to post your newsletters

 

[Kyle Aaron]

That is the key point here Markos - opinion.
I sometimes wish you would stop telling people they are blatantly wrong and instead just differ in opinion.

It's not a real opinion unless someone's else is wrong

You have no idea what Kyle or any of us have seen and done in our lifetimes so don`t assume anything.

He has every idea, because everything relevant to lifting I've told everyone about here.

Kyle may not find it offensive that you slag off on his studies but I do.

Please, no-one should be offended on my behalf. I'm old and ugly enough to look after myself. Besides which, nothing's value can simply be asserted, it has to be demonstrated.

I have yet to demonstrate that my studies are worth anything. They might be, they might not be. I have to finish them first, and then apply them.

Mainstream gyms and trainers have a poor success rate. 90% of people quit in the first three months. However, the 10% who remain improve their quality of life. They may not become really strong or fit or models, but they improve their quality of life.

A woman at my gym was 120kg or so of fat, and has over a year or two got down to I think 85kg. She is more energetic and much happier. Most of that is her own effort, but some credit goes towards the gym and the trainers she hired to help her.

Another guy at my gym is obviously somewhat retarded, he always comes in and wants to do much more weight than he can handle, almost no-one will spot him. But one trainer supports him, and steps in and helps him, will spend time with him without the guy paying for personal training. The kid has become stronger and more confident.

There are many stories like this at my gym, of people whose quality of life and happiness have been improved by going there and being trained by some of the people there.

We should not forget the 90% who quit, but we should also not forget the 10% who get results and are happier in their lives.

Markos isn't offensive in talking about "proper" gyms. He's just wrong. At every gym, from PTC to Clayton Aquatic and Health Centre, we get people who succeed and people who fail. At both gyms, when people fail the trainer blames the people, when people succeed the trainer gives at least some credit to the trainer.

At XYZ Gym, the trainer has certain methods, and says, "Anna quit, obviously my training methods are great and she just couldn't hack it; Bob stayed and did well, obviously my training methods are great." I hear the same from almost every trainer, whether they have a piece of paper or not, whether they operate from a multi-million dollar facility or their garage.

When I become a trainer, if I wish to take some of the credit for the success of my clients, I must also take some of the blame for their failure. I can't take all the credit and none of the blame, or none of the credit and all of the blame. If their success is on me and my methods, so is their failure.

The way we assess the value of an approach to training is by looking at the results - both the successes and the failures. That's why I say I don't know if the education I'm getting will be any good. Markos has judged that it'll be useless, Zarkov has judged that it'll be useful.

Both of you are wrong. We don't know yet. It's just premature speculation. I think they have a pill for that.

 

[NPR]

I would suggest those of you who have not experienced a gym environment or the type of training available at the likes PTC or shire speed and strength do so before you make any sort of comparission between them and you local health club.

 

[breebreerocks]

I can train just like they do at PTC , but with the comfort of air con, shiny equipment, sauna, showers and even hair straightners. Most gyms have the tools, even the pretty 'Finance First' I go to. They even allow chalk and there is someone training for a strongman comp (although I hate how he grunts, its entertaining to watch him lift- insane!) Issue with generalist health clubs that don't have the income of a FF or clientele that have an interest in lifting, is they can't afford to give up floor space to stuff that doesn't get used. So out with the dumbbells over 25kg and in with the swiss balls!