Many different people from different countries and different parts of my life contributed to making the European stage of my journey such a success. Without all the people who helped me along the way I would never have been able to achieve so much.  I am very grateful to you all. This is the shortest list I could come up with…

Shane Thomas, Tony Souza, Darragh Kennedy, Jonny Origan and all the lads down at Kokoro Mixed Martial Arts in Dublin. Thanks for the all the support, don’t think I would have even made it to 3 gyms without you guys.

All the staff at The CityPoint Club in London, especially the guy that made me that amazing protein shake.

Anna Bojlert and all the staff at Sturebadet in Stockholm.

 
Samantha Carter, Pia Poulsen, Teo Fdida, Verena Tremel and Izabelle Pierre from Elément in Paris. Thanks for fitting so many sessions into so few days!

Zana Morris, Jagir, Steve and Rodney from Educogym Harley Street in London. Thanks for keeping me motivated and helping me shed that travel fat.

John C. Parkin, Gaia Pollini, Maurizio and Monica from The Hill That Breathes, thank you so much for one of the most memorable weeks of my life. Duccio and Bharti thank you for indulging my questions and improving so much more than just my flexibility.

Roberto Budelo from Kieser Training in Barcelona, thanks for taking the extra time out of your long weekend to train me.

John, Ankie and Naomi Feenstra from The BodyWork Gym in Mykonos. You made me feel like a welcome guest in your gym.

Andreas Stockman, Bülent Saglam and the rest of the team at Ironfist Gym in Vienna. Andreas Stockman, Michael Wachter and the German Free-Fight Association (FFA) for all their support. Andreas, thanks especially for inviting me into your home and being such a great host.

Neil Saul and Wolfgang Kleinholz and the rest of the gym and spa staff at Holmes Places Zurich.

Sebastian Baron, Björn Schmeiberg, Alexandra Sanchez, Jonas Lauterbach and Björn Hieber from Kampfsportschule Baron in Wuppertal. Jonas thanks for putting a roof over my head and food on the table! Seb, Björn thanks for all the sessions, your patience and support.

Zdeněk Weig from Crossfit Praha. Thank you for introducing me to crossfit and some punishing workouts.

Mike Passenier and Marcel Starke from Mike’s Gym in Amsterdam. Mike, thanks for taking the time out of your day to answer all my questions and show me around the gym. Marcel, thanks for the informative conversation and advice. 

Klaus Vesti Andersen and Yvonne Ferg from Crossfit Copenhagen. I have never had so much fun inside a church.

Beau Sheffield from Friskis&Svettis in Brussels. Thank you for lunch and all the encouragement, best night run of my life!

Juuti Mikko and the City of Helsinki Sports Department.

Erik Eliasson and Rickard Walén from Crossfit Nordic in Stockholm. Thanks for fitting me in at such short notice.

fittywithit asked: Hey!!! When (if) you go through Athens, let me know how it is!!! I am going there January 6th until April 29th and am extremelyyyy curious what staying fit is going to be like there... good luck!

Sorry it took me so ridiculously long to get to this. The only major length of time I spent in Athens was at the airport so i can’t really give you anything specific. However based upon the 3 or 4 days I spent on Mykonos:

I don’t know what your diet is like but don’t expect/rely on their being low fat dairy options on menus (although I’m sure supermarkets will stock them), there should be plenty of fresh fruit and vegetables available pretty cheaply.  Most dishes will have loads of meat which is great if you love/need you’re protein. There also tends to be alot of fish on offer at restaurants or whatnot so if I was living there I’d be taking the opportunity to eat more of it more regularly.

As far as Athens gyms go I know there are plenty so any interest you have should be covered. I know there is a Holmes Place facility in the city centre. If my experience at Gym No#11: Holmes Place in Zurich is anything to go by I know as megagyms go it should be right up there in terms of services and classes.

Hope that helps.

Best of luck and enjoy your trip!

A good friend of mine pointed out that I should probably post something letting all you fine people know that I will be on hiatus from the blog over the silly season.

I arrived back home in Melbourne a couple of weeks ago in fine spirits but not so fine health, managed to pick up a cold/flu in during my last days in London. I figure it’s a fair trade for all the the fat I left behind.

I received an early offer into the university course I was aiming for, Exercise and Sports Science at Deakin University. News like that is always a relief.

I’m looking forward to studying something I am so passionate about and learning things that I can start applying to my own life straight away. It will also be great to see my experiences in Europe in a more scientific light, not to mention my experiences to come.

So that’s it from me for now. The next part of the plan is finding a gym or a couple of gyms to serve as my regular training sites here in Melbourne. Plus researching and planning my Asia trip for the end of 2011….

Gym No#6: Educogym

Location: London, ENGLAND.

It’s 4.30am on Sunday and I’m charging my laptop at my hostel in London. Sharing the couch with my rucksack, packed for home. Somehow I am heading home with less possessions than I started with.

The last day of the 12 day program at Educogym on Harley Street was on Friday. I was weighed, measured and my ‘After’ shot was taken before my final training session. So after a grand total of 3hours 40mins exercise, I lost 7.5 pounds of fat. Taking my body fat percentage from 16.5% to 12%. Goodbye travel fat.

Under normal circumstances I would have had that final day session, waited a full rest day and then been weighted today. As it was I ended up squeezing in an extra session yesterday because I enjoyed it so much.

The team at Educogym have succeeded in created a comfortable environment to train in with top notch equipment and the system gets results.

The differences that count: sessions are appointment based so you never need to fight for equipment or a trainer’s attention. You know what to lift, when to lift it and how to do it. It allows you the best possible use of your time.

Gym No#6: Educogym

Location: London, ENGLAND.

So it’s snowing here in London for the first time since my arrival. It’s Day 9 of the program and I had to make sure because all the days are starting to bleed together.

In a pretty comfortable routine that revolves around 3 different 20 mins workouts, the same 3 tube stations and 3 different types of supplements. Really loving my training sessions at Gym No#6: Educogym and the travel fat is dropping away.

Should be interesting when I get weighed and measured to see the official results and compare the photos.

The diet is driving me a little crazy, and it’s the worst time of year with all the Christmas baking going on all over the place. The special promotions and limited offer drinks that contain more sweetness than Santa himself.

I have been daydreaming about food in a way that borders on clinically unhealthy, I have my ‘freedom’ meal all planned out. No, it doesn’t involve anything insanely unhealthy, just my good old breakfast of bircher muesli and fresh fruit. I think this is the longest I have been without it.

But I persist, if doing a specialized program and publishing near naked body shots of yourself on the internet is not incentive enough, then what is right?

Strange to think that this time next week I will be back home in Melbourne and a major stage of this journey (and my life) will be behind me. But it’s exciting to think of the new challenges that await me back home and in the new year.

Gym No#6: Educogym

Location: London, ENGLAND.

You don’t want to know the things I would do for some fresh fruit and muesli right about now!

At the end of my third day in the program and I think it’s the emotional connection with food that I’m missing most. Because despite being on a tight as low Gi meal plan mainly consisting of eggs and nuts (there are more options but they’ve been my preference, plus I’m restricted without an actual kitchen to prepare anything in) I’m not actually that hungry.

The weight training on each day has focussed on a different area, tonight was arms and shoulders which I felt the most. It’s a completely new experience doing workouts that last only 20mins max, I can see how Educogym would appeal to the busy business people of London, and wherever else for that matter.

The only chink in the chain that I can think of would be the inaccuracy of my meal portions e.g 85grams or redskin peanuts, because I lack any scales I have to judge the portions based on package sizing. Besides that and spending my nights in a 28 bed dorm, I’d say I’m golden. In terms of following the 12 day prescription to the letter.

Gym No#6: Educogym

Location: London, ENGLAND.

Yesterday was the first day of the 12 day program at Gym No#6: Educogym. I had another consultation where all my body measurements were taken plus a ‘Before’ photo.

Basically over the 12 days I will undertake supervised resistance training for 20mins every day. I have 3 different types of supplements (creatine, amino acids, amino-or) to take at specific times and a strict low GI meal plan.

The average results of the program are:

7.5lb’s fat loss

3lb’s muscle gain

It’s the morning of the second day and I’m feeling pumped to get stuck into my session. 

More details soon.