The Ireland leg of the nutrition tour is sadly over and it did feel like one of those weekends where you are chasing to make up time and fit things in. Fire alarms at 3am, lost shoes, hire cars that could only hit 60mph if they went off a cliff and some great people. Anyway - that is how we roll.....
On the Friday evening we headed out to meet the S&C for Ulster Rugby - Kevin Geary - @kevGeary
Fantastic facility as you can see from the image and absolutely no fluff to be seen right down to the post workout shelf next to you - everything planned to the latter. A solid set up for athletic performance that instantly reassures you that in some sports they know how important sports science and strength training are. It may well be contagious in the future for sports using balls with different shapes!
Great conversation with a very knowledgeable coach that has made a huge impact on the team and shows you what hard work and knowledge can do if you are hungry.
The hotel was great (grand for people reading this who were at the events) and for visitors to Belfast I can highly recommend the Hilton Templepatrick. Very well laid out, lots do do, great food and Guinness! Although we are both no drinkers, this stuff always goes down a treat.
The talk went very well and Alex had shoes for this one - more on that later.
Great group and for me as host it is really good to see the material flow from event to event as the flexibility in the material delivery increases. While Alex is an expert in the field of nutrition he now has the opportunity to "play" the material based on the group, questions and topics that may need more attention to detail than others. These are essential skills and he is rolling.
After the Belfast talk we had an invite from Luke Haslett - @lukehaslett physique specialist and Phil Graham @clearCutphilG Northern Ireland's top pro bodybuilder to train at Rockpit Fitness Gym in Lisburn - @rockpitFitness. As you can see I managed to redeem myself with some forearm thanks to the grip training and we had to stand in the corner of the gym to fit all of Phil in the picture - he is a BEAST - the nice type.
The set up in Rockpit Fitness gym is no fluff as well. The equipment set up is solid and everything is catered for here in a big way as you can see from the images below. Click on any of the images to be taken to their homepage and if you are close to Lisburn, Northern Ireland, and looking to escape the circus known as modern day leisure centres and get some real training on then I highly recommend this place.
The knowledge of the coaches is also of a very high degree based on the calibre of clients and the coaching, training and preparation work they do with their athletes. You do not just get a gym with shiny heavy kit and banging music and then wonder what to do - you get professional assistance in achieving your goals and making solid progress!
Alex liked Rockpit Fitness gym so much that he decided to offer his shoes as homage and went for the barefoot approach in Dublin - maybe some biomechanics paper he was reading on the feet. Containing almost 25% on the joints in your body I can see how some free movement would be beneficial and he obviously decided this was the way forward! Big thanks to Conor Murphy for helping organise Dublin - @nurishfood
A great weekend and a fantastic experience for both of us. We look forward to coming back in the near future and to the next venues on the tour.
Tickets and venues for the rest of the tour can be accessed by clicking on Dorothy below and as there are regular requests new events are added when confirmed.
Tickets and venues for the rest of the tour can be accessed by clicking on Dorothy below and as there are regular requests new events are added when confirmed.
Thank You Ireland!
