Meet “Riggers”, 47 years old, As a Yorkshireman, he likes to train hard but play harder too! He’s very social and tends to enjoy a few beers at the weekends with friends and family. Jonathan was pretty honest at the start of his bootcamp experience. He’s committed to giving his best effort every session and improve his approach to nutrition by cutting out the typical junk foods, and snacks.
Jake is clearly immensely knowledgeable about human physiology, with a particular speciality in subtle technique adjustments that make an exercise twice as hard. But I like the fact the emphasis is on doing it properly, rather than just trying to see how much weight people can lift.
What has been an important part of your 12 month experience at JWPT? I’ve learnt that training in groups can be a lot of fun and extremely motivating, resulting in me training even harder and pushing myself much more than I can purely by training by myself. Additionally I have learnt that I am capable of levels of fitness I didn’t think were possible for me with my limited time to train.
Why do you choose outdoor bootcamps and small group training at JWPT? Consequently bootcamps (and caves) are by far the most effective and efficient way for me to train. I know that having made that commitment to turn up and train means I will do so without fail. If I was trying to motivate myself to train solo I know it wouldn’t be happening so consistently.
I work inside all day, so just the chance to be outside, whatever the weather, is a pleasure in and of itself. The continuous variation in the sessions, sometimes weather dependent, is a bonus. It is great turning up to train not being completely sure what you’re going to be doing but knowing it will be extremely well organised and rewardingly hard work.
Why do you choose to workout train at 6am twice per week every week? The 6am slot on Wednesday and Friday fits perfectly into my need to get some serious weights-based training in without struggling to find time for it in my busy daily schedule. I can get my training done and be back in time to get my daughter ready for school. I’d never done any early morning training before but it also sets me up for the day perfectly as I feel great mentally and physically after.
What’s been your great achievement since starting your journey at Jake Wood’s Bootcamp? Two-fold really. I’m delighted to have completed events like Coast To Coast, plus my first half marathon and a Tough Mudder. I have genuinely enjoyed the psychological challenge when the going has got particularly tough at times during events, where it comes down to pure will power and determination to see it through, knowing that the necessary psychical preparation has already been done.
But I think the fact I am still seeing incremental improvements in both my cardio fitness and physical strength is what I feel to be the biggest achievement. Each time I begin to suspect I might have hit a plateau, I then continue to see further progress, which gives me great satisfaction.
I am as fit now as when I was playing sport on a daily basis as a teenager, if not even fitter. Getting back to those levels of fitness, as someone with a very busy and demanding work and family life schedule, is a huge achievement that gives me a great deal of satisfaction.
How would you evaluate the level of service and quality of results being delivered to you at JWPT? Very, very happy. My body fat levels are again comparable to when I was a teenager. I intend to try and add a little bit of additional upper body muscle going forward, but not too much. I would say I am already at about 90% of what I would consider my ideal physique.
What’s your goal for the next 12 months? To try and get that last 10% of physique development. To keep training hard and seeing those incremental improvements. Almost certainly enter an event or two… or three. I am certainly tempted to try a full marathon. Oh, and to keep beating Dean Feebry in the monthly cave challenges!
