| Name Darren Towers
Age 39
Gym you train at and location: morgans powerhouse, gateshead.
Q.1 why did you start training and did you have any goals of competing to begin with?
i started training about 20year ago or so just for fitness initially and was naturally strong and i loved the feeling lifting weights gave me, so i migrated from the circuits etc to weight training and then as years went on i used it to support achieving my black belt in ju jitsu.
then after a while having been to a number of shows over the years i decided i wanted to give it ago, with some encouragement from others, not wanting to say when im older i wish i had done this and that...
Q.2 what is your current training schedule like? how does it differ between pre-contest and off season? do you do much cardio work?
primarily my routine was 2 days on 2 days off on a 4body part split at a reasonable volume, however the days would vary regulary due to work. in august 2008 i changed to 3 days on 1 day off as a base, on a low volume approach, which i'm loving at the moment.
i don't change my weights from off season to pre contest, with the theory what builds muscle maintains muscle. however, obviously as the weight comes off some lifts also drop in weight.
over the last couple of years cardio has played a big part in my training. 2 half hour sessions almost daily pre contest and 1 20-30min session 3-4 times off season.
Q.3 how long have you been competing?
since 2006
Q.4 what are your main competitive achievements?
ukbff 2006 east coast 1st timers winner
nabba 2008 north britain 2nd place novice
ukbff 2008 north east inters o80kg 2nd place
ukbff 2008 finals inters o80kg 4th place finalist
Q.6 who are your main sources of inspiration in your training and whose physiques do you most admire?
everyone on stage inspired my from the magazines when i 1st started, but the most i admired where the likes of kev levrone, flex wheeler, shaun ray and those black n white pics of dorian yates at his best
Q.7 what are your current competitive goals?
nabba northeast 2009 and hopefully finals class 1 or 2 as im border line, titan ( maybe ) 2009. also if i can mass up enough a ukbff show as a heavyweight, but that may have to be 2010 being realistic
Q.8 why do you feel you have been able to make continuous gains over the years?
constantly looking at how i can change things to progress and give it everyting in the gym and more lately by listening to my body and not just following a routine of someone else
Q.9 what supplements do you use?
whey concentrate/isolate, kr-evolution, glutamine, waxy maize starch, multi vits, vitamin c aswell as vitamin b complex and recently liquid fury which is insane for pumps!!!
Q.10 how much do you feel supplements and sports nutrition help your training?
i rely on supplements quite a bit due to my shift work schedule, but i still try to eat as much solid food as i can as supplements should be supplemental to a good diet but can allow you to progress and push the barriers if the diet is right..
Q.11 what is it that motivates you through a hard session?
i train on my own as im very self motivated and seeing the changes pushes me harder, knowing what im doing is as a result of me doing the training and diet.
also getting that extra rep drives me...perhaps arnold was right in what he said in pumping iron ( nah maybe not, but you get the picture... )
and also knowing that the person next to me onstage may of trained that bit harder if i backed off unnecessarily.
i’d like to say thanks to a few people:
i'd like to say a big thankyou to my wife ashleigh and family who support me 100% with my training schedule, shuffling child care and her work to accomodate me being at the gym, aswell as pushing me out of bed pre comp' at 445am to get my cardio done.
also a thankyou to my gym buddies and the gym owner ifbb pro ian morgan who all initially encouraged me to compete and ian setting out my base diet aswell as telling me how it is when checking my progress----how the truth can hurt but boy does it motivate you.
also a thankyou to my good friend ian todd who has no interest in the sport but has drove me to my shows and supported me there each time....stops at the tanning up bit though....friendships only go so far, ha
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