Spring 2020 update

It’s been a busy, productive, challenging and exciting time. During Autumn 2019 I put together a 30-day Lower body mobility & strength-stability free program – I’m finishing it up and will get it out asap!

Rowing – Managing coaches, collaborating on projects and coaching pupils

Alongside what turned out to be my dream job, starting NDM in 2016, In October 2019 I started another dream job: Director of Rowing at a school program. I also have a strength & conditioning role to play, not just with my rowing squad and coaches, but whole-school wide as I assist the Head of S&C and sports science department with delivering new sessions across all of year9 in the performance gym.

In what has turned out to be a biblical winter, with flooding, wind, and now Covid-19, its been brilliant to still get vast development of the College Boat club and its pupils underway. My public group Kettlebell, personal training clients and Youth GB Fencers have all been going strong throughout. I feel grateful and lucky to have been able to build up to this point. The learning never stops – continually developing my programs with you – my clients, monitoring and ensuring your progress and development is always immensely motivating!

Girl Power!

With international women’s day last weekend, I want to celebrate some serious girl power that has been going on (…week in week out!)

A couple of photos here on twitter at the start line at Gloucester Head race (time trial) 5km.

Also here for some examples of athletic development work for Bristol Blades Fencers, Jade and Tabby, who compete for Great Britain at U17,U20 and U23 in the Foil discipline.

Coming up to two years ago The fencing club asked me if I would work with these two girls, as their fencing level obviously is extremely high, and they were starting to show imbalances and get niggles, due to the significant demand of the sport. The girls have greatly benefited from building greater foundations, building their underpinning physical capabilities and robustness , key in youth /long term athletic development. They are also now unrecognisable in the gym from when we started! – confident and competent to train independently.

A training camp -Easter 2019- at Millfield was a great opportunity for me to work with large groups of fencers, watch them train and in match practice, picking up more insight from the UK’s coaching scene, also learn of and utilise work that the EIS (English institute of Sport) did with GB fencing pre Rio 2016.
The girls have increased strength and power and progressed steadily through various exercises. We continue to build ‘Brilliant basics’. (as put by Graham Williams Head of S&C Millfield, as the focus principle of youth training).
It is a privilege that the club and these girls and their parents elect to train with me instead of other proposed options from outside.

NDM Kettlebell Training

See here for quick nugget of recent NDM group Kettlebell work.
We have now completed two blocks so far in 2020 – The first was ‘capacity’ rebuilding our aerobic engines and base fitness through a greater variety of exercises again, increasing the volume each week. The next was a strength emphasis block, with the Single Arm Strict Press as our emphasised exercise, where the opportunity is built in the progressive program, to lift a heavier kettlebell than before!
With 2kg incremental steps across all my many kettlebells, and a maximum of 10 people in the group, everyone has several they can use.

1-1 Strength & Conditioning work

See here on instagram for my recent work with personal training client, Sophie (and her first ever barbell cleans).
Sophie is a member of a well know gym chain but elects to train with me, an S&C specialist, which is rewarding and good positive feedback for me to know that I’m on the right track with the ‘why’, ‘what’ and then ‘how’ to develop my clients. Being able to slam medicine balls in multi directions, drop weights on the floor/platform, and space to safely do loaded jumps helps too…
The space at Berkeley fitness also provides that limitless feeling of being able to utilise any tool without waiting.
Olympic lifting is next for Sophie, and the dedicated platforms and racks at BGS Sports Centre are a comfortable space to use.

NDM Training online – The home kettlebell program

Check out my home kettlebell program. While I’ve had some stunning feedback from those who’ve hit it, perhaps I can do a better job of explaining its USPs to reach out to more people it could help?
All the info you need here really www.ndmtraining.online

Upcoming could be a pretty good time to plan for some quality home training eh…
It’s never been easier to buy a kettlebell and have it delivered. (Often I have to buy a few heavier ones for my clients..!)
If you get stuck give me a shout… If you live in the Bristol area you could always rent or buy one off me.

A key feature about the training program and guide

One key point as to why you should buy this training product is that it is a guided progressive programme, accompanying the follow along training video. Rather than just use whatever free workout video you find around, use this to progress your levels of strength of endurance, session after session, week after week. I spent a lot of time using what I’d learnt from the masters out there, combined with my personal training and group work with hundreds of people over recent years, to create this, and it’s been so good to hear how much better people feel for doing this.

Also on my youtube site I have few demo videos, move by move.
silent demos with ‘how to’ captions

And teaching demos with audio:

I’ve gone on… But as I said at the top, I do have this free training program to give away. As soon as I have uploaded the edited clips for the 30-day Lower body mobility & strength-stability free program, and finished off the accompanying programme, I’ll post about it and you can have it!

Also, I’ve developed several athletic warm up protocols, general work applicable for most sports, this one filmed and photographed by 1-1 S&C client , pro windsurfer and friend, at The Wave, Bristol. (And we had lot of fun surfing it too ofcourse! Without the running down the beach etc you would normally have, warming up is even more important – This is a sure-fire way to ensure you are ready to jump in there.
Research shows that we reduce the risk of injury not by static stretching, but by activating the neuro-muscular system, stabilising, and increasing proprioception. This also improves performance.
Whatever your level of surfing, use it adapt it make it yours, it will help you.
I’ll get it posted asap!

Current Schedule and updates

My schedule continues as planned, and both gyms couldn’t be a safer place to come and train, with private or small groups and minimal time in proximity, alco gel at BGS entrance, clean bathrooms easily accessible. And ofcourse maintained hygiene around the equipment used. We’ll move to ‘shaka’s or thumbs ups instead of handshakes or fist bumps!

I was supposed to get away on holiday snowboarding in a week’s time, but that’s scuppered! Next year..!

Our College rowing training week the week after is also now off.
This coming week NDM work in person is off as scheduled due to one school race competition still on. Looking forward to the open air and river.

If you would like to subscribe for updates, do drop me a line through the chat bubble, or give me a call with any questions. Look forward to hearing from you.

Keep calm and carry kettlebells!

Best wishes,

Nick