The Disability Bodybuilding Show

I absolutely love bodybuilding shows. I love my time on stage, however I also try to totally immerse myself in the whole experience throughout a weekend. If I’m competing (like I did this past weekend in Birmingham) I find myself preparing hour by hour from about 2 days out to the time our category is called up. After which is also a great time to stay around to learn from others. Generally speaki...

It’s a special episode this week as I take you through some highlights from this weekends bodybuilding show! First up, it’s the FIT X Federation South Coast in Bournemouth - really thankful for an opportunity to compete and not too far to go and it proved be a fabulous weekend. Meeting up with friends, making new ones and even dinner with my Brother whom I hadn’t seen in 2 years! More to come this...

With the Bodybuilding season in full swing, I’ve found a list I made a couple of years ago which helped so much for future shows that took in all the info from my previous first few events in the days leading into & during the shows that saved a lot of time! Here are some lessons from those first few comps...

As much as it’s difficult to admit on occasions, fatigue does creep up on me, it’s par for the course with cerebral palsy, though I only really discovered the reasons why much later in my 20’s. Sometimes struggling through gym sessions or longer days, I do tend notice it towards the end of the day, be that through bigger limps or general fatigue. It was only recently I discovered it was in part du...

Each putting their sport on the map...Again! After the success of the Olympics, our summer of sport continues with the Paralympics launching in Tokyo this week. I love the competition, the stories and team coming together throughout these weeks we are witnessing. I was massively inspired in 2012 & 2016 after these events, to try new things, to have a go and see how far I could push my body, to fig...

An interview with Josh discussing all things disability sport. He broke barriers & he created his own path with great success! From athletics to bodybuilding - the achievements, the challenges and the future of the sport - we covered so many areas in this exciting episode of The Disability Bodybuilding Show! Enjoy!

It’s a phrase I’ve seen a lot of recently in the years I’ve been competing, one which holds much meaning. To me, it signifies a point where the results of your work are starting to pay off, it’s a marathon not a sprint and putting the structure in place to see you through to your target.

It’s delightful to come across so much opportunity for disability athletes across so many sports - can there be more? Of course, but there is SO much to celebrate, enjoy and challenge for this year and it gets better and better!

More than half way through 2021 would you believe?! I keep tabs on things on a weekly basis, for two major reasons, to look forward and plot the days ahead & to review time that has passed to reflect & to see how far things have come. This also helps me tweak things a little without wild drastic changes day to day in any discipline be that workout set ups or nutrition.

The last 18 months has created a huge amount of unexpected change, for everyone. It’s been disorientating for many and without realising too much at the time it affected me greatly, but through breaking down elements, change was slowly processed and provided a blueprint for a very recent change in circumstance which I’d love to share with you now...

As my training has developed over the years, the major hurdles that I’ve needed to change from a physical perspective has not only been working around “standard” equipment and being patient with learning what fits but to understand my body to greater degree as it gets older.

Throughout life, you will face obstacles - either physical barriers or stumbling blocks from some who say you can’t achieve something because of a hurdle. I tried to change that mindset into what CAN be done, ask what is possible and trying to let the creativity flow. You Can! We Can! Every Day!

Awareness Accessibility Assistance Can we do more? What can be done? I’m opening up a broader discussion to see how improvements can be made, to make things more accessible in the future. How can we access more individual tailored plans that can help everyone’s unique path in fitness and invite contributions into how this can be achieved.

Delving into the challenges of muscle building and development presented from dexterity issues. From battling fears to finding solutions with attachments and lessons learnt!

Continuing with a look back at some lessons learnt from growing up with cerebral palsy, a huge part was adapting to life with splints. In all weathers day and night, these were created to bring stability to my growth but I can now understand their importance, what it means in my life now and how grateful I am for people around me who supported me to make me realise how much they would help...

A podcast that helped me begin to unpick some lessons I’ve gained from revisiting the often challenging place of thinking about my regular physio appointments in my younger days & learning to grow, live & thrive with and around cerebral palsy. Though these appointments were seemingly obstructive at the time, the daily practice of the exercises I was given helped develop some key lessons to take wi...

On the podcast today... Day One. For a fresh start, a renewal, a new springboard - today I start to unpick how to keep that drive of the first day going - on & on. Discussing the moments I fell back and how I continued to tweak things to keep my routines fresh.

Discussing learning to understand that my way was a different path, quite different from expectations. As I grew, I found it a great challenge to explain my ‘difference’. Cerebral Palsy is difficult to hide even if you want to, and pull attention away from it. Doing things differently, I’ve found, fascinates.

That I’ve asked myself regarding my disability, that I’ve asked regarding the situations I’ve been faced with, but also moving forward with an amazing group of people in the disabled bodybuilding category & the fitness community as a whole. To challenge, to change and to help drive inclusion at all levels! Enjoy!

The roar of support. Coming together to cheer everyone on & binding all the collective efforts, can work wonders. In this mental health awareness week, I reflect on different communities I have loved being a part of. Communities that help each other, build each other up. Full of love, respect and support. I thank them for that.

I’ve spent a great amount of time trialling and incorporating the different attachments available at the gym to help with training with a disability. Today I’ll share those discoveries and how that has impacted my programme & approach to my workouts with cerebral palsy.

From rejecting help to embracing the unique path. Today, I start to unpick how I began to accept and celebrate my disability and gratefully turn challenges into opportunities to find creativity...from driving to fitness!

Reflections on the transition back to the gym, what it means for accessibility in terms of equipment and building a platform to enter my next disability bodybuilding competition later in the year!

Unpicking the mental, physical & emotional lifts that a return to the gym has provided. The platform, the early morning springboard and the gratitude from being able to reconnect with staff, friends and multiple benefits from a renewed routine...

Physically, I have some different hurdles when bringing various sets into play in my gym, at home or just picking up a weight, but I know, the mindset and approach I can take to it is mine alone. In this episode... A short journey discussing the joys of trying something new, to keep evolving and bring your unique approach to training - your discovery, your style, your way! Hit Subscribe and head o...