1ST SET
THE PROPHECY
PARTNER U P
WHAT I LOOK FOR IN A GOOD TRAINING MATE.
What makes a good training partner?
I’ ve always had a training partner. A training partner obligates you to keep pushing, even when you’ d rather not. They also make the workout go more smoothly: Try to load a leg press with 20 plates by yourself— you’ d be there all day!
A good training partner gives his all and is reliable. If you’ re with someone in the gym who’ s giving 100 %, then you’ ll also go at 100 %. Because if you don’ t, he’ ll shout at you until you do. It’ s important that he turns up to train when he says he will. There’ s nothing worse than agreeing to a time with someone and getting all psyched up and ready to train, and then he arrives 30 minutes late. I often train during the day, so this can be difficult for me— since many people work 9 to 5.
At my level, I also need someone who’ s willing to train for me. If I train with someone who competes, he may need to focus on a particular area, like the back or legs, and it could mess up my routine if he prioritizes them. This is why I prefer to find someone who loves training hard but doesn’ t compete and is happy to train however I like.
A guy named Darren Smith helped me get started in bodybuilding when I was 19. He and I trained together at his gym with four or five others for a couple of years. People say you can’ t train in a group of six or seven, but if you’ re giving it your all and want it badly enough, you can train however you want.
After that I trained with two brothers for 2½ years before meeting Steven Joel. We’ ve trained together for eight or nine years, and we still do when ever I’ m home in Liverpool. In that time, he has probably missed only four or five sessions. Steven is one of those guys who could blow a lot of the pros in the U. K. out of the water, but competing is not his thing. He doesn’ t want to put a pair of trunks on, but he loves training, and if I want to do it at 4:30 a. m., he’ ll be there.
I have trained with guys like Roelly Winklaar and Big Ramy in Kuwait, but a guy called Kimo is my main training partner there. A lot of guys change their training partners every few weeks, but I tend to stick with the same ones. Good ones are rare, so if I find one I get on with and who has the right qualities, we tend to stay together for years.
140 FLEX | MARCH 2018