I’m trying my best..

My aim with this blog is divided. One side is like me venting, having somewhere to explain me and my story, the other side, and more predominant is a way of actually being able to help people, as that’s pretty much most of my aim in life, among the more selfish bits. I’m trying to help through passing on knowledge or experience that i think is beneficial, but you know what? I find that really f******* scary. 

I hate to think I’m irritating anyone as well as the fear of being ‘that guy’ mocked or judged. So yeah I will keep doing this because it’s what I love, but hopefully I can get a little less grief for it. By any small chance if I am helping you, anyone reading, if you feel like it please let me know, nice to know there is something coming of this. 

Besides, as I say every time,

Aspire to Inspire.

Women, you are stronger than you think.

I wasn’t sure what to write about today but this topic interests me just because I think it ought to be common knowledge so here it goes. 

In most cases, men and women should train the same. Aesthetically speaking, I understand that men and women have varied goals, but they’re actually achieved with the same programs. Men often want to be jacked, swole and ripped, and women say they want to be toned and shapely. The thing is, you can’t have sexy or shapely anything without building muscle! Think of it as the muscles is the framework with the low bodyfat sculpting the curves….sounds sexy I know but you get my point.

To make muscle, you should be lifting weights and provide the body with calories to recover and build. Muscle won’t miraculously appear from performing countless sets of 20 reps with 5-10 pound dumbbells. I don’t care if you’re a man, a woman, or anywhere in-between (just looking out for everyone).

 

The amount of muscle and effort required to lift a weight 20 times without failing is insignificant compared to lifting a weight 6-10 times to failure. High-repetition training has its time and place, but the understanding seems to be minuscule and the results not as expected.

With rare exceptions, it’s actually harder for women to build muscle because they have 10 times less testosterone than men. To overcome this, women often have to train twice as hard as men, not softer. This is empowering not a rant, i know girls lifting harder and heavier than men and NO they do NOT look masculine, they look like this:

Some sort of disclaimer I didn’t take it, I don’t know her…blah blah blah. BUT STILL!!

 

There aren’t many situations when women should train differently than men. Obvious circumstances such as pregnancy would involve another discussion entirely. Aside from that, women should train exactly like men with a program like them to build a powerful and beautiful body!

Anyone looking for some advice or routines please do ask!

Also a better written, im sure, article on why girls should lift is here- http://www.bodybuilding.com/fun/8-reasons-women-should-lift-weights.html  – If you fancy any more reading. Though I may have bored you already. 

Aspire to Inspire.

Early days

I’m not sure what I ought to write about sometimes. I mean I have things to talk about, I just don’t know what’s most interesting (if at all) to people reading…. Oh well you’ll just have to take what you get!

My preferred subject is fitness but that tends to bore people pretty damn quickly.

I guess this is a list to myself and also a warning of the droll to come so, in no particular order – Fitness, training, nutrition, friends, university, motivation, excuses, home…and anything else I think of!

Best day of my life.

The attitude you should bring to each day.

A little bit of Me

It seems logical – well to me- that before continuing the blog that I actually explain who I am. In the sense of simple information, my bio. 

So, HI!! Whoever you are..

My name is Callum Barney, I am a 20 year old student (21 in may) study criminology and applied psychology at the university of Brighton. I also study fitness/exercise and nutrition in my own time as it relates to my career plans of competing in powerlifting, mens physique, obstacle races and whatever the hell else I can get myself into. I have lived in around 13 homes across 3 countries. I love travel and have been to 13 countries though around 30 trips (some to the same place). I have had four near death experiences (hurricane/cyclone/scorpion bite/a crazy drive in Peru), four life changing moments (losing my cousin/serenity in Ecuador/ taking on a transformation/ that same drive in Peru). 

I’ll explain the details of each bit another time

As for fitness my stats are (for anyone involved in powerlifting or bodybuilding) 

Bodyweight 70kg. Deadlift 195kg, Squat 140kg, Bench 100kg. 10-12% bodyfat. 

My life is on the basis of helping others and no personal limitations, there is nothing on this earth i cannot do/learn to do or damn well push myself to do. 

 

Thats the short version of lil ol me. Not that interesting to read so sorry about that! But if you’re interested in my blog, I owe it to you to tell you who I am I think. 

Daily, 

Aspire to Inspire. 

Oh yes… Psychology

You may have noticed aside Fitness and Travel, I mentioned Psychology. An odd passion i’ll admit but let me explain. When I say Psychology, I don’t just mean the studies of personality and the mind , (though it does amaze me as during my University studies of Criminology and Applied Psychology) but I encompass within that – people. Everything about a person, their story, their passions, their ideas, it all draws me in and leaves me studying people constantly.

My aspirations are in the many but my main goal in life is to help and inspire others, be that through fitness, troubling times, life issues or merely (though to me it would be the up-most achievement) providing a means of motivation or inspiration for others in the way I live my own life.

 

There’s far more to talk about but I have a lifetime and for now that should be enough just to explain.

Have a great weekend to anyone still reading.

 

Aspire to Inspire.

The 13

I realised I didn’t even say which countries I had been to!

So here are the thirteen so far, and yes a couple are your standard euro travel holidays.

– France- Italy- Spain- Germany – Cyprus- Greece- Ecuador- Peru – Thailand- Switzerland- USA – A few times! – Portugal- Ireland- Scotland- And of course all over England

Yes there are more than 13 here but that depends if you decide to say ‘The UK’ …

Off to China soon for a full country tour and then hopefully I can squeeze in one more trip this year.

Told you (for my last post)

A photo taken at Machu Pichu, one of the highlights of my travels.

13 down 183 to go

One of my biggest passions in life has to be travel. No I don’t mean the cutesy holidays to France/Spain/Italy where you stay in a house like yours and the only change is there’s a lot more foreign people about. It’s not that I don’t like these holidays, hell i’ve done my fair share to say the least, endless family trips to the aforementioned. However, to me TRAVEL has so much more to offer. I learnt this after my first big trip at the beginning of 2012. Myself and my best mate, Charlie, (that man is a story for another time) decided instead of going to university when the costs were a manageable £3000, that we would instead run halfway across the world with no idea what we were doing…and return to fees of £9000…It sounded better at the time.

Ecuador, Peru and The Galapagos Islands. These became home to both of us. This is where real travel started. It would take an extremely long time to detail the whole tour but in it’s simplest form – We didn’t stay in fancy hotels, we didn’t have money for fancy meals (evidenced by 2 weeks of rice and chicken stock), we didn’t have real beds every night… I may not be selling this, but the experience is not to be underrated. Between travelling the country, the people I met, the variety of environments, the work and the pure joy of completely new experiences, I was hooked. 

There is a whole world out there, so little time, you have to get started if you want to make the most of the time you have! and don’t just visit these places, TRAVEL, see them for better or worse, explore, experience and engage. 

 

5 aspects of a transformation

These 5 areas have been the principles that guided my transformation. Maybe they can help others too.

 

1 KNOWLEDGE

Knowledge is an evidence-based understanding of things like training and nutrition. It allows you to create a plan and execute it. Knowledge can be either basic—understanding calories and how they impact your weight—or relatively advanced, such as correctly incorporating a carbohydrate re-feed in order to raise leptin during your diet. You can improve your knowledge by reading site , or by utilizing credible fitness pros like Alan Aragon and Layne Norton for their encyclopaedic knowledge.

Too much information, especially if you can’t sift through all the white noise, can put you at a disadvantage. After all, what good will understanding the optimal meal timing to optimize muscle protein synthesis do for you if you can’t stop yourself from binge eating?

That’s where mindfulness comes in.

2 MINDFULNESS

Mindfulness is the examination of your feelings, surroundings relative to everything else. Think of mindfulness as fitness wisdom. It’s the ability to learn about yourself and your feelings. Without it, you wouldn’t be able to learn from your mistakes.

3 SELF-COMPASSION

Hate. Guilt. Self-loathing. These are the typical feelings of someone who slips up on an otherwise “perfect” day. They become convinced that they need to “strengthen their resolve” to overcome these weight-loss hurdles. And each time, they face the same disastrous outcome.

Developing  self-compassion allows people to think of fitness more as a skill to improve, rather than an end goal. Those who show self-compassion forgive themselves for their mistakes so that they can try again with a more productive mindset.

The next time you mess up, cut yourself some slack! 

4 HUMILITY

Humility is the skill that gives you the motivation to improve all other skills. Without it, you stagnate.

THOSE WHO SHOW SELF-COMPASSION FORGIVE THEMSELVES FOR THEIR MISTAKES SO THAT THEY CAN TRY AGAIN WITH A MORE PRODUCTIVE MINDSET.

Anger is a natural reaction to a hole being punctured in your steadfast beliefs. How dare someone tell you differently! People’s deepest convictions get challenged by contradictory yet credible information, they actually cling more tightly to their existing beliefs.

It turns out that the more you learn about fitness—or any other skill for that matter—the more you realize just how much you don’t know.

5 DISCIPLINE

Discipline allows you to create habits, which in turn are created by repeating a task over and over again—going to the gym at the same time every day, preparing tomorrow’s meals at the end of every day, and so on.

Some studies show that discipline, however, can expire by the end of the day. Making decisions throughout your day—no matter how small—drains a ton of energy. If you’ve ever felt mentally exhausted after a day full of meetings, then you know what I mean. Hell, thinking really hard depletes self-control so much that it could even reduce maximum voluntary strength, according to one study.

Simply put, making hard decisions at work, deciding whether to go to the gym, and saying no to that piece of cake all compete for the same pool of mental resources. However, there is a way to combat this: Build a habit.

When something is repeated often enough, that action no longer requires a costly conscious decision. The kicker is that habits may require more willpower at the start, but a good habit is well worth the effort it takes to build.