April 2001

The Dangerous Brothers train with the boys from Future Fitness

Whil Whitmore reports on his training session with Lee Rankin and Phil McConnell

On a rain sodden Sunday afternoon in April, Ceri and I arrived fresh and fit at David Lloyds in Bristol to train with the 'Future Fitness' boys. We were a little apprehensive about the prospect of training with the likes of Lee Rankin and Phil McConnell. Ceri and I had recently picked up the nickname 'Dangerous Brothers' after a rowing training camp during which we had got a reputation for pushing ourselves hard.One thing's for sure though - we weren't feeling very dangerous by the end of this particular session.

There were five of us in total, Lee Rankin, Phil McConnell, Donnie Ellis, Ceri Whitmore and myself and we kicked off with cycling to warm up - but it wasn't your average warm up. Ten minutes at 100rpm+ pushing the level up to maximum towards the end and a sprint finish. There then followed a megasession of steady running, stepping, 10% hill runs, interval training and more cycling with Lee and Phil leading from the front (and Ceri and I hanging on for dear life). As we drank our 3rd gallon of water and changed out of our drenched tops ready for the weights session, I remarked to Ceri that we'd be alright now. How wrong I was.....

We split up so that I trained with Lee and we worked through the Ultra-Fit disciplines together. Multiple sets on Lat Pulldowns, Ab Crunches and Bench Press left me feeling pretty worn out as we approached the Hip Flexor machine. Lee pumped out 100 first set so I had to match him. Next he set a target of 80 and I couldn't manage it without a rest. Final set, Lee blasted out 60 and despite my legs screaming from number 5 onwards, I was urged not to stop so that I managed probably the slowest set of 60 hip flexors in one go ever recorded. The pain in my legs was unbelievable. As we moved to shoulder press I was supposed to be spotting Lee for his first set but I couldn't stop my legs from hurting even by lying on the floor. Of course this didn't qualify me to miss any sets and I duly attempted my shoulder press reps to the best of my diminishing ability. My mind and body were by this time questioning my sanity and I cannot explain whatever it was that kept me from telling Lee I was beat.

All was not done though as Lee still found time for French Press/Bicep Curl combos and finally Press Ups. On joining the others I could see that Ceri had suffered much the same with Phil and we were a sorry sight, both struggling with cramp in our legs as we hit the pool. Yep, I kid you not. There was still time for some 2 length and 1 length sprint races. Swimming was supposed to be where the Dangerous Brothers got their own back.....yeh right, at this stage in the play it was enough to just stay afloat and keep going. I'm sure I saw the Lifeguard taking his shoes off at one point. Dangerous my ass!

On finishing the session about 4 hours after we arrived, it was plain to see that it really was a case of them and us. A real eye opener for Ceri and I, and we plan to step up our training from now on (well, when we can walk normally again). Looks to us like Phil will do very well in this year's big competitions in May, and Lee should surely be challenging the mighty Mr Davies. As for Ceri and I, we decided it had been an excellent training marathon. Thanks fellas, we'll have to do it again....... next year.

Will Whitmore