Claude Abrams, Author at

Jamie (March 2015)

THIS is my beautiful wife, Jamie Abrams after she completed the Amazing 12 Body Transformation Program. As you can see, she was in pretty good shape to begin with. But she was not a typical gym-goer or someone with a long history of lifting weights (three years, off and on, doing CrossFit).

At 35, a vegan for more than half her life and a yoga teacher of 15 years (currently at Balanced Wellness and LANO Yoga, she’s aways been flexibleand mobile. Now, though, she is stronger and more toned than ever.

On this program her deadlifting, squatting and overall strength improved dramatically. By the end she was doing sets of multiple deadlifts with a weight close to what was her previous best for one repetition when she started.

Her A12 journey was a challenging one, however, not only because she was juggling having to play mother to two children and manage her yoga teaching or that she wasn’t able to do any running, but after completing 10 weeks on the program Jamie then sustained a rib injury (not from training I should add). This forced her to rest for four weeks. Then I started her again on a six-week program.

Though the result of her hard work was evident, Jamie still looked at her final photos in disbelief (maybe because we didn’t have many mirrors in our home). I’m tremendously proud of her achievement and dedication.

She rigidly followed all my instructions and never skipped a session.
Yet until the end, Jamie still doubted what she could achieve and I kept reminding her to trust and believe in Paul McIlroy‘s system and experience that is this program.

Then during the final few days she not only saw the magic of the A12 unveiled, but also the manifestation of all her efforts.

Claude (Jan 2015)

THE longer you’ve been training, the harder it is to bring about any physical change. So in terms of the Amazing 12 Body Transformation program, which I am now running, I saw myself as a good test case: 35 years of continuous training – the last four doing CrossFit, aged 47, on a vegan diet and a naturally lean (difficult to bulk) body type.

I followed the program to the letter and enjoyed every second of it – so much so that I was already looking forward to doing it again. Coming from a boxing background, it suited my mentality: the ritual of building to a peak over a prolonged period (in this case 12 weeks) in a constructive, dedicated manner.

I felt so much stronger at the end than when I started, gaining just 3lbs. I was shoulder-pressing and bench-pressing multiple repetitions with weights I could lift only for one rep when I began and doing multiple chin-ups (40-plus) with weights attached, in a relatively short time.

Not that I ever doubted it, but I discovered first-hand that the program works.

This wasn’t only a transformative experience, but it became an education in strength training and understanding better how to best utilise nutrients to fuel and build our bodies.

There’s no trick photography involved. My intention from the start was to carry out the program as honestly as is possible and that will always be the case.

School of hard knocks

My first visit to the Kronk Gym in Detroit (1999), for me the most famous gym in the world of boxing. I was with Naseem Hamed. I dug out this picture I took of him being trained by Emanuel Steward.

I remember on the trip to the gym talking to Naz about Juan Manuel Marquez, a Mexican he was accused of avoiding and who would later prove to be worth avoiding.

I was supposed to go and train at the Kronk when I was 19. It had a brutal reputation. Survival of the fittest.

Instead, I went to Orlando, Florida and a gym run by Joe Clough. That’s another story.

I met Duane Thomas, a former world champion, that day at the Kronk. I barely recognised him. He’d piled on weight. He seemed genuinely overjoyed that someone from overseas knew about him, even though he’d been successful.

Several years later Thomas was dead. Shot in a drug-related incident. Harsh place.

I met and interviewed William “Caveman” Lee (pictured right) many years later. He lost in one round to Marvin Hagler for the ‘world’ middleweight title and also came off the Kronk production line.

When I met him, he’d not long been out of jail (armed robbery). I gave him a ride back to his apartment. It was a seriously grim, rainy day. We cruised past the Kronk, then all boarded up and closed. He invited me in to his apartment. I remember for a few moments feeling anxious about it.

But all he wanted was to share memories.

Boxing’s a tough sport. People don’t realise it is often tougher outside the ring than in it for these guys.

Hanging with Lennox

I AM fortunate to have rubbed shoulders with some highly successful people. I knew Lennox Lewis before he became a professional boxer. I was the first journalist in the UK to write a long, deep article about him. I still remember Lennox coming up to me (in Cardiff of all places) after it was published and telling me how surprised he was by how thorough I’d been in my research. I’d unearthed a knockout defeat he’d had as an amateur that few people knew about.

I was literally on the road with Lewis from the start of his pro career. I followed him nearly everywhere. This picture was taken in Atlantic City in 1989. Muhammad Ali’s brother, Rahman, is between us.

Lennox was having his second fight a few days later. Mike Tyson had top billing. One day on that trip I got up at the crack of dawn to go running with Lewis in the Catskills in New York, where he trained. I conducted most of my interview with Lewis in the back of a van en route to A. City. Lennox and I hung out a bit while there. We did ordinary things like shopping and grab a bite to eat and just stroll around chatting. He was like anyone else…except he had an Olympic gold medal and stood out a bit at 6ft 5in.

As he became more successful, he still always had time to say hello, even when he was in his pomp as world champ and in demand. We bumped into each other in various and random locations. Once I shared a commentary job with him for Channel Five in Las Vegas when Evander Holyfield fought Michael Moorer. I have Reg Gutteridge to thank for that opportunity. Good memories for me.

Lewis was/is a good guy. He gave me exclusive privileges and, I trust, respected that I’d always be honest and fair. As a writer, I was never one for playing I’ll-scratch-your-back-if-you-scratch-mine. Integrity meant everything.

I respect Lennox, especially for how he ended his career on a high. That’s the toughest part of being a successful professional boxer.

I look at Lennox now, having watched him up close from start to finish, and always think, ‘he did really well for himself’. ‪

It’s the dose that counts

THIS was me greasing the groove, as some term the art of practice, with double kettlebell front squats in my five-star training headquarters (rickety garage).

Go deep if your mechanics are not compromised. This movement works so much more than your legs.

I don’t mind the cobwebs, leaking roof and dusty floors, because successful training just requires space, tools, the willingness to practice and an intelligent program

Be mindful of how your body feels. Listen to the signs. Push harder on days you feel great. Back off when you know you need to. Always pay attention to your movement quality.

Something I read the other day, written by Marty Gallagher, a world class powerlifting coach, really hit a chord with me: “The optimal workout creates stress. The poison is in the dose.”

Sharing the ring with a master

TOP sportsmen often make what they do look easy. Sometimes it’s only when you see them up close – I mean really close – that you fully appreciate their talent.

I got close with this jab, but not close enough. This was me trying to hit Herol Graham, former British, European and Commonwealth middleweight champion and considered by many to be the best British boxer never to be crowned world champion.

I can’t even remember when this took place, but am fairly certain it was around 1982 or 1983. At the time Herol was undefeated and, almost literally, untouchable because his defensive skills were so brilliant. I was a mere teenager.

The spar took place at what was then the Lonsdale Gym in Carnaby Street, London. It’s not there anymore.

Graham’s manager Brendan Ingle used to take Herol around working men’s clubs in Yorkshire offering money to anyone who could knock him out. No-one ever did. Herol wouldn’t even throw any punches back. It was a way to drum up publicity and give Graham some extra practice.

When I heard Herol was doing something similar in London, I went down to try my luck.

“Bomber”, as he was nicknamed, had incredible reflexes and an uncanny instinct for dodging punches. I think I caught him with one jab. I always had great admiration for him, but even more after seeing and feeling his brilliance up close. But what impressed me even more was his strength and how he so easily could throw you off balance.

I got to know Herol much better in later years. Always found him to be a real gent and still don’t believe he got the recognition he deserved.

Target your weakness

YOU are only as strong as your weakest link. So it makes no sense to avoid movements you struggle with the most.

For me it’s shoulders, which is why I practice handstands and Turkish Get-ups. I like to also spend time hanging. All are fantastic for shoulder health. Get hanging and have fun with it.

In time, once you begin to improve and so long as you concentrate on moving efficiently, you’ll discover you enjoy movements you once disliked. The burpee is a classic case in point.

So often I’ve heard “I hate burpees” and when I watch them performed I realise why – they suck!

The value of rest

SOMETIMES the biggest challenge to strength training is knowing how to recover between sets, for how long and – this is the key bit – allowing yourself to adequately do that.

We exist in a world where doing nothing has become so much more challenging. We are in a state of almost constant stimulation. And in these times I see a great emphasis placed upon working (in the gym) to exhaustion, almost to the point that the routine/workout is deemed a failure if you can leave the gym in one piece.

Training for strength is a different proposition. If you don’t permit yourself enough time to recover adequately from one set to another, you aren’t going to be able to lift with maximal strength. The purpose of the training will change.

So if my goal is strength, I make sure I take my time, so that whenever I go to lift I can not only achieve my objective but also do so with the best possible technique.

Developing strength doesn’t mean working to failure repeatedly or even often. In fact, it’s quite the opposite. As Paul McIlroy taught me, “No-one ever got stronger trying to lift something they can’t lift.”

I’m in it for the long game, which means taking an intelligent, structured approach and avoiding injury by focusing on keeping good form. Repeated failed attempts will take more out of you than you realise and you’ll go backwards, not forwards.

How do you define a good workout or training session? Covered in sweat? Feeling broken? Aching from head to toe? Crawling on your knees? Gasping for breath?

For me it’s simple: did I make progress? That’s it. I’m in it for the long haul and to get better one step at a time. Enjoy the process as much, if not more, than the result.

Why less is sometimes more

SOMETHING I’ve found many people still don’t quite understand about training (which shouldn’t be confused with exercising) is that training doesn’t get you stronger or fitter. What does get you stronger or fitter or faster or whatever your goal is, is your recovery from training.

Rest doesn’t mean doing nothing. Recovery comes in many guises: sleep; rest; good nutrition; stretching; lighter exercise; mobility work; massage; yoga. Understand why you train and do what you do.

Continual training without any recovery can only lead to either burnout or injury. But I encounter so many individuals who are convinced or fear any benefit from training will be lost if they skip a session.

It is always worth remembering that sometimes less is more.

Positivity: does it make a difference?

Is your glass half full or half empty? We’ve all heard the question.

There is scientific evidence – and lots of it – linking optimism to success and good health. The opposite is also true – that pessimism is more likely to lead to failure, increased stress and poorer health.

Our outlook, like many things, can be trained. Looking on the upside or downside are often habits we’ve reinforced.

To see changes and reap the benefits that come with a more optimistic outlook, we need to become mindful of where our thinking is taking us.

Just for starters, every time you catch yourself being pessimistic, come up with three optimistic alternatives.

This optimism/pessimism outlook is much the same as the difference in mindset between either feeling grateful or always wanting. You’ll find those who express more gratitude are more optimistic and vice versa.

Just like making improvements in the gym, take baby steps, be realistic in your goals and patient. Don’t beat yourself up if you find yourself slipping back into pessimism. Just start again and seek to do better next time. Changes of habit are seldom instant.