Ste, give us your top 5 tips for time-management (to fit exercise around life)
1. Find a gym close to work
2. Go immediately after work
3. Go alone - if you have a 'gym friend' there's more chance of you not going when they decide not to
4. Realise that it's an ongoing process - whether it be losing weight, training for a fight, training for fun. Getting better is a slow process, dont expect results straightaway. The sooner you realise that, the more staying power you'll have and the more you'll work at it to make it fit into your daily routine.
5. Get in, do what you do, get out. Simple.
Now let's balance that with what you consider the top time-thieves.
TV.
The evil TV. I have a TV in my place but I don’t have a TV licence. I watch DVDs and the same old sitcoms over and over again. I watch MMA fights and Top Gear. That's it. Don’t get swallowed up into the soap opera world. Why get involved with fictional drama when there's drama on the other side of the door?
Women.
I love women almost as much as I love food but unless they train/fight/compete too, they'll never understand why you spend hours upon hours a week rolling on the floor with another man. They'll TRY to understand but they never do. That's when they try and steal your time.
Mums.
When you move out and spread your wings, there is no better feeling than going back to your mum's and just sitting there chatting away with her and eating her food. I'll finish training early just to spend time with my mum. And my dad of course.
Internet.
Internet should be a religion/drug because everybody worships it and can never get enough.
Having a bath.
Sitting there in dirty water for 20 minutes when you can shower in 5.
Eating.
I eat slow but some people eat slower than me. Why do you need to take 40 minutes eating a burger? Just inhale the food and let's go.
Yes definitely. I wish I started BJJ/MMA earlier. A lot earlier. It plays such a huge part of my life that at this moment in time, I couldn’t imagine giving it up. It's helped me on so many levels, you wouldn’t believe. I reckon that if I hadn’t found SBG, I'd be in a whole lot of trouble right now.
Everything in life is much easier when you have the gym; real life seems easier than drilling takedowns, working for submissions and doing arduous Strength and Conditioning.
I might not be earning £50'000 a year with a nice car and nice apartment but I bet you I can double leg my bank manager.
Do you have any sponsors you'd like to give a shout out to?
Primal Fitness-Manchester is my only sponsor*. Simon and Fernando's sessions are killing me at the moment but I can feel it working. Definitely the 'go to' guys for conditioning. I've got to give Fighters Only Magazine a shout out for giving me that inside look at behind the scenes MMA. My blog, the SBG guys and Part Time Grappler.
Finally, why do you train? What drives you?
It's the only thing I've ever been good at. And failing at something that I've only ever been good at terrifies me. I've only ever been mediocre at things whether it be music, basketball, DIY but I'm a little past mediocre with this fighting malarkey so I want to ride this baby out.
*Ste contacted me a couple of days ago with the great news that he is now sponsored by not one but two companies: Exercise pioneers Primal Fitness and British supplement company Proteins4u. Fantastic news for Ste ahead of his upcomiong fight.
I thank Ste for giving me the time to interview him. My best wishes to him and his awesome sponsors Primal Fitness and Proteins4U and hope he'll learn to forgive me for using such a cheesy picture to conclude.
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