Articles tagged sport

It has been an incredible term for rowing. I wasn’t satisfied with my position as “uncontrolled power” in the second boat so I challenged the head coach Rob Jeffery to trial M1. I made it!

Queens’ M1 dominated Lent Term, beating every other Cambridge college in every competition except Robinson Head where we came second (potentially due to changing race conditions). Bedford Head was brilliant as we completed the 2 km course in 5:59, beating our time earlier in the day by five seconds. Here are the complete results for this term:

Getting blades in Lent Bumps was a life achievement. My favourite bumps race was against Trinity Hall. We went out expecting a tough race, with a difficult bump around grassy corner. We hit them much earlier with a strong bump just after First Post corner. Our middle four are heavy enough to cope with the strongest streams and the power difference between the crews was obvious. I think they were expecting to last longer.

Until a video of that race appears, you’ll have to make do with the epic overbump on Fitz. Apparently this is the highest overbump since 1924. It was a scrappy row but we made it and that’s what matters in bumps:

I must also mention the hilarious crab by Queens’ M3 on the first day of bumps. John Baxter manages to cartwheel out of the boat around the 1:50 minute mark. He is then shockingly hit by stroke’s blade at the boat passes over him, leaving him pretty dizzy but thankfully without injury. Check it out:

The men's side of the boat club have won everything in Michaelmas. It's an astounding achievement and I was proud to be part of one of the results.

Here's a list of accomplishments in date order:

1. Top college VIII in Autumn Head 2009
2. First in both divisions of University Fours 2009
3. Top college VIII in Winter Head 2009
4. Top college in the senior division of the Fairbairn Cup 2009

This has to be the best Michaelmas ever for Queens' College boat club.

Van Damme in impressive shape

I am reducing body fat (now just over 15%) and increasing strength. My aim is a build like Jean-Claude Van Damme (in Universal Soldier) with impressive strength, speed, proportion and agility. He benched 160kg at 80kg, giving him a strength level of 6.0.

Another inspiring physique is Bruce Lee. He had 2% body fat and the best power to weight ratio ever. His feats incude:

• Exploding a 100lb punching bag with a massive sidekick while training
• Collapsing steel reinforced head protection gear
• Have an inch punch that could send 200lb men flying for 15ft

My strength ability calculator can be used for more than gauging strength in compound exercises. An athlete with a strength level over intermediate (3) in every compound exercise will have an impressive physique. To have a balanced physique the levels should not vary — there should be no weak points. Put additional effort on ironing out these problem areas.

I want to be advanced (4) in every exercise by losing body fat and improving technique. My abilities range from novice-intermediate squat to advanced clean-and-press. To be an advanced weightlifter overall at 90kg I should lift:

Strength training has been one of my predominant passions for the past few months. It has always been difficult to track changes and ensure that I have been making real progress; because of this I have created a new Internet utility to measure strength levels. It is unfair to judge strength on the magnitude of weight lifted alone, or even as a ratio to bodyweight because people are built in different ways.

The strength ability calculator processes data on experience against bodyweight and weight lifted and calculates an experience level. These levels generally range from untrained (1) to elite (5). Of course the top professionals and world record holders exceed this range and some people may not reach untrained.

Testing some of the famous powerlifters, Konstantin Konstantinovs receives a healthy rating 8.49 for his massive 430 kg deadlift at 125 kg body mass; this is far better than Andy Bolton’s record breaking 460 kg deadlift at 160 kg bodyweight (rated at 7.97). One idea for the future is using my new rating system to create tables of powerlifters irrespective of bodyweight to find out who is truly the strongest person ever to have lived.