Name:
Dr Dean Garratt
Age:
37
Occupation:
Research Fellow and Senior Lecturer
Years training:
23 years
Sum yourself up in one sentence:
Honest and reliable.
Strengths:
Disciplined, persistent and direct.
Weaknesses:
Critical and sometimes opinionated.
Favourite exercise in the gym:
Bent-over barbell rows.
Least favourite exercise:
Dead lift.
Most satisfying sporting achievement:
Winning my first show - U70kg and Overall ANB Yorkshire 1999. I shocked myself, as well as a few others.
Contest history:
1992 Powerhouse Gym (Kidsgrove, S-o-T), beginners – 2nd Place.
1999 ANB Yorkshire U70kg (Holmfirth) – 1st place and Overall winner – best presentation too!
1999 ANB Western U70kg (Taunton) – 1st place.
1999 ANB British Finals U70kg 1st place.
1999 UIBBN U65kg (Paris) 1st place.
1999 INB U70kg (Leeds) 1st place.
2000 ANB Northern U70kg (Redcar) 1st place.
2000 Musclemania Superbody U70kg (New York) 2nd Place.
2003 BNBF Scottish U72kg (Edinburgh) 1st place and Overall winner.
2003 BNBF Northern U72kg (Manchester) 1st place and Overall winner.
2004 NABBA Class 4 (Southport) 2nd place.
2004 NABBA Finals Class 4 (Southport) unplaced.
2004 BNBF Scottish U72kg (Edinburgh) 1st place and Overall winner.
2005 BNBF Southern U72kg (Dorchester) 2nd Place (and out of shape!!)
2005 NPA Central U70kg (Aylesbury) 1st Place
2005 UKBFF Mansfield U70kg 2nd Place.
2005 UKBFF British Finals U70kg 4th Place.
As a lifelong natural athlete, you’ve built a tremendous physique within a sport where performance and physique-enhancing drugs are prevalent. Why did you remain a natural athlete and do you see yourself and the sport of natural body building as a role model/lifestyle model for young aspiring athletes:
Fundamentally, I always want to be healthy and wouldn’t wish to compromise my well-being for any level of success in bodybuilding. Heart disease, diabetes, liver disease, high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and various cancers have all been linked with performance enhancing drugs, and ultimately my health is the most important thing to consider. Secondly, the fact I’ve managed to build a decent physique without chemical assistance or performance enhancing drugs is something I’m proud of. Therefore the idea of giving up my lifetime natural status is something I wouldn’t do; recognising that hard work, systematic training and carefully planned nutrition eventually pays off! If I’m a role model for any young, aspiring athletes then that’s great and I’d be pleased to have influenced them in some small way. I respect the fact that people are individuals and perfectly entitled to make their own choices, but I can only reinforce the sense of pride and satisfaction I’ve experienced as a natural bodybuilder, training like an athlete and following a healthy lifestyle.
Why you chose PhD Nutrition to officially endorse:
Any athlete would like to endorse a product in which he believes and can trust, and so when Jason Rickaby announced he was planning to invest 10 years’ experience in the industry into directing and producing PhD’s product range, I felt reassured and confident that the quality of the range would be first class. It provides piece of mind knowing that I can trust the quality of the brand.
Describe your training style:
Frequent, fast and high volume – train to be fit. I train like an athlete, and not, stereotypically, like a bodybuilder!
Future aims and objectives within your chosen sport:
To continue to improve my physique and to enjoy training in the future as much as I do today.
Thanks very much Dean, anyone you’d like to thank for their help and guidance throughout the years, please do so:
Thanks go to Jason Rickaby for the useful tips and ideas I’ve pinched over the years, applying them to my own training programme. Thanks also to the many insights provided by Gavin Laird, which have contributed further to my understanding of weight training and physique development.
Over the years I’ve used a variety of different training approaches, utilising a range of different body part combinations and exercises in order to continue making improvements in size, shape, muscularity and condition. In recent times, I have sought to increase the frequency with which I train individual body parts in order to increase the number of growth opportunities for each area trained and to maximise or permanently elevate protein synthesis. Presently, I employ an upper/lower body split routine where I train upper body on day 1, split between am and pm sessions, and lower body on day 2, before repeating the cycle as many times as necessary before taking a rest day and resuming the programme.
Day 1 Upper Body.
Upper body is split between an early session which is usually carried out at 6:30am, following, more often than not, a light breakfast of fruit and whey isolate, usually consumed about an hour before training. This session combines chest, back and delts. Around 8-12 hours later I perform a second session, which focuses on arms and abs and sometimes employs a short cardio session, utilising interval work on a stationary cycle.
Upper body am– chest, back, delts.
Chest and Back – all movements are performed alternately so that a chest exercise is followed by a back movement and repeated several times, before the exercise is changed. Here is a sample programme:
Flat Bench Press – 5-7 reps with Weighted Pull-Ups – 5-6 reps, 45-60 seconds rest between individual sets (total 4-5 sets of each movement).
Incline Dumbbell Press – 6-8 reps with Bent-Over Barbell Rows – 6-10 reps, 45-60 seconds rest between individual sets (total 4-5 sets of each movment).
Weighted Dips - 8 reps with Hammer Strength High Rows – 6-10 reps, 30-45 seconds between individual sets (3-4 sets of each movement)
Hammer Strength Flat Press – 6-10 reps with Hammer Strength Low Rows – 6-10 reps, 30 seconds between individual sets (3-4 sets of each movment).
Change to Delts and Back … again all movements are performed alternately so that a back exercise is combined with a movement for delts:
Standing Military Press – 5-7 reps with Machine Pull Downs (to the front) – 6-8 reps, 30 seconds between individual sets (3 sets of each movement)
Standing lateral raises – 6-8 reps with Seated Cable Rows – 6-8 reps, 20-30 seconds between individual sets (3 sets of each movement).
Reverse Flyes on Pec Machine – 5-8 reps with Hammer Strength Shrugs – 10 reps, 20-30 seconds between individual sets (3 sets of each movement).
Every third workout (once every six days) substitute Deadlifts for Seated Cable Rows.
Upper body pm – Arms, abs and C.V.
As with chest, back and delts, movements for bis and tris are alternated in order to produce a faster workout, with short rest periods.
E-Z Bar Biceps Curls - 5-8 reps with E-Z Bar Lying Triceps Extensions 6-10 reps, 30-45 seconds between individual sets (3-5 sets of each movement).
Seated Incline Dumbell Curls – 6-8 reps with Lying Smith Machine Tricep Lockouts – 6-8 reps, 30-45 seconds between individual sets (3-5 sets of each movement)
Occasionally I perform a third combination, typically something like:
Seated Machine Preacher Curls or Modified Cable Preacher Curls – 6-10 reps with Cable Rope or Angled Bar Pushdowns – 6-8 reps, 20 seconds or less (superset) between individual sets (2-3 sets of each movement).
Abs – 3 sets of hanging leg raises 10-15 reps and 3 sets of crunches 10-20 reps, 20-30 seconds rest between sets.
At the end of this workout, I often cycle for 6 minutes on a stationary bike. This involves 30 seconds at a pace of 85 rpm on a resistance setting of 10/20 followed by a 30 second period of sprinting at 120-125 rpm, before resuming a pace of 85rpm for 30 seconds and then picking it up again for 30 seconds. Sprints are performed 6 times in as many minutes, with the aim of increasing metabolism after the workout.
Day 2 Lower Body.
More often than, I begin my lower body workout with 5 minutes of stationary cycling, some stretching (hamstrings, groin, quad and adductor stretches) and then begin warming up with squats. I prefer squatting to leg pressing or other leg movements and so this is always my first choice, providing I’m healthy and free of injury.
Leg exercises tend to be performed as straight sets, although in the past I’ve employed a similar approach to upper body - combining muscle antagonists, training quads and hamstrings alternately.
Squats – warm ups and then 4 sets of 6-12 reps, 60-75 seconds rest between sets depending on poundage used.
Hack Squat – 3 sets of 8 reps, 45-60 seconds rest between sets.
Leg Extensions – 3 sets 6-10 reps, 30-60 seconds rest between sets. Last set usually incorporates a double drop.
Leg Press – 3 sets of 15 reps, 45-60 seconds rest between sets.
Seated Leg Curls – 3-5 sets of 5-8 reps, 45-60 seconds rest between sets.
Stiff Legged Dead Lifts or Good Mornings – 3 sets of 8 reps, 45-60 seconds rest between sets.
During a competition phase I will often incorporate Dumbell Lunges following quads and before hamstrings.
My workout is completed with 3-5 sets of standing machine calf raises or toe presses on the leg press. Either way I tend to perform 6-10 reps per set, taking 45-60 seconds rest between sets. The last set is also often accompanied with a drop set or two.
At the end of my workout I stretch again, particularly hamstrings, groin, quads and, most importantly, back.
21/04/07
... but I thought it time to update my blog and share with everyone the wonder of my current training regime ho ho
Basically, for the first time in a long time I've reverted to training legs just once a week. The rest of the time I train push and pull, possibly twice each per week, usually with 10 minutes of high-intensity CV tagged on the end. I think I've reached the point where I recognise I'm finished with competition and with increasing demands at work and additional stress I'm trying to keep an eye on my health and begin incorporating more cardiovascular work into my workouts. I've never really slouched around the gym and even now my weight workouts are swift and pacey with rest periods rarely exceeding 45-60 seconds between sets.
Yesterday I did a push session and basically knocked out 9 sets for chest, incorporating incline Smith machine press for 4 sets upto 97.5kg for 4 reps, then flat barbell press for three sets, and finally two sets of incline flyes. From there I raced back to the Smith machine and performed 3 good sets of shoulder press with the bench angled at about 80 degrees, for sets of 7 reps. Side laterals followed for 3 swift sets of 6-8 reps and then I finished with 4 sets of tricep pushdowns, nailing a drop on the final set.
My recent interest in CV has been stimulated by a new piece of kit at the gym where I train. The piece in question is a Life Fitness cross-trainer, of the unconventional variety. The arms move back and forth like a conventional cross-trainer but the legs slide up and down a ramp, ski-style, which really hits the quads, hams and glutes. I've discovered that I need much less resistance to get a decent workout, simply because the action is much more demanding. In fact, on most ocassions my heart rate soars above 150 beats and very often I'm upto about 90% of my theoretical maximum within a few minutes, following a workout. Of course, this is a great way to train if you're looking to burn fat for the summer because intense training of any kind raises the metabolism for many hours after a workout. So rather than spend the best part of an hour doing moderate work, why not jump onto a cross-trainer when your heart rate is already around the 130 mark. Nothing new here, but sticking out 10 minutes on a really comfortable machine, with a smooth and effective action makes the prospect of doing CV much more appealing and tolerable.
My main goal is to keep my blood pressure in check, as I have a tendency to produce elevated readings at certain times of the day and when I've been under a bit of pressure at work. This coupled with sensible eating; a diet low in saturates, high in veg and fruit and supplemented with plenty of antioxidants a strong B-complex and omega 3 fats and chelated multi-mineral with extra magnesium, help me keep things in check.
Today I hit legs with Ryan and we did four sets of front squats, followed by 3 sets on the leg press and finally 4 sets of seated leg curls. This was followed by 4 sets of toe pushes on the leg press for calves and about 13 minutes of CV work, including a 3 minute cool down. Tomorrow, we're looking forward to training back, rear delts and biceps, maybe some abs and definitely a little CV at the end.
15/02/07
Well, I had a very enjoyable workout with Ryan yesterday, in spite of feeling slightly below par. We trained legs and decided to go with front squats, horizontal leg press, seated leg curls and calves presses.
For front squats we knocked out three sets with 80kg and then a final set with 90kg, where I got 6 reps. I think I'm getting closer to using 100kg and I don't think it'll be that long before I'm managing to perform 6 decent reps.
It's been my day off today, but I'm looking forward to an upper-body workout tomorrow, that's if my cold doesn't get any worse.
What with a virus inside my body, and several inside my PC ... all is certainly not well at the moment. On the PC front however, I managed to crack the problem, although it took me 12 hours and I only got 3 hours sleep last night, as I continued to work my way through numerous scans and free downloads. Anyhow, problem solved and at no extra cost!!
10/02/07
Back in the gym today, following a 3 day break. Have to say, I felt better for it: fresh, enthusiastic and relatively strong.
I trained upper body and as usual employed sets of alternate movements, first working my torso, then delts and finishing with arms, before cranking out a few sets of hanging leg raises for abs.
Here's what I did:
Smith machine incline press sets of 5-6 reps working upto 35kg a side on a 30degree incline. These were alternated with bodyweight pull ups for sets of 6-8 reps. Four cycles in total.
Flat dumbell press with 36kg 5-6reps alternated with bent over EZ bar rows using 80kg in total for sets of 6 reps. Four cycles.
Hammer Strength flat press alternated with miltary standing press. Three cycles.
Arms 20kg dumbells for seated incline curls - sets of 5 reps, alternated with Smith machine close grip press for sets of 5-6 reps. Three cycles.
All sets were performed with 30-45 seconds rest in between individual sets.
3 sets of 10 hanging leg raises.
04/02/07
Well, after a very enjoyable day, yesterday, in Newcastle and a good long chat with Phil Learney regarding my squatting technique, I thought today was appropriate for trying something new. Phil told me that I had good squatting posture, but that the transfer of movement was coming through more on one side than the other (right side/leg), and that in the bottom position of my squat I was tending to transfer the force through my toes, rather than heels, causing a very slight lifting of the heel in the bottom position. His advice was to squat bare foot, or at least without shoes, so that I'd be more aware of this discrepancy and able to correct it. His other tips were that I should revert to front squatting more often, as this would allow deeper execution and also help with the former problem, from the perspective of changing my postural alignment. And I should probably limit my reps to 6 per set maximum on front squat, due to bar roll, which can obviously interfere with good form and execution.
After warming up, I began with the bar to practise the movement. I never front squat and so I started to experiment with holding the bar and finding me feet, speaking of which, I remembered to remove my trainers before starting. I did a set with just 40kg and then 60kg and then performed 5 sets of 5-6 reps with 80kg going all the way down, into a full squat. I was surprised how much deeper I was able to go, and thoroughly enjoyed the movement, really feeling the emphasis through my quads. Next time I'm thoroughly convinced I can go upto 100kg for sets of 5-6reps, although I'll be taking a towel to wrap around the bar for extra comfort.
I continued with 3 sets of leg press on the horizontal machine, with minimum rest between sets, before doing 4 sets of seated leg curls, with just 30seconds rest between sets.
I then alternated pull ups with incline presses on the Smith machine, using moderate weight for sets of 8 reps, and just 45 seconds rest in between sets. After 5 repetitions of this cycle, I switched to alternating pull up with standing military press for 4 sets, again with short rest periods.
I proceeded with 3 sets of close-grip EZ bar curls, with moderate weight for sets of 7-8 reps, before performing 4 sets of face pulls (another new movement for me, following a tip from Jason, yesterday) and 4 sets of tricep pushdowns.
I finished with 3 sets of hanging leg raises.
All this was done in less than an hour and I was thoroughly knackered.
Looking forward to Tuesday's workout, where I'll be trying for heavier squats.
01/02/07
Well, it's my day off today, following a short but intense leg session yesterday.
I started with 5 minutes on the bike to get the blood flowing and warm up my joints, muscles and tendon. Then I began with lighter sets of squats.
60kg - 15reps
80kg - 8reps
100kg - 8reps
120kg - 6reps
130kg - 5reps
140kg - 3reps
100kg - 6reps.
Recently, I've really been focusing on squatting much deeper, to a level where the belly of my hamstring is well below parallel and my hip joing (hinge) is parallel to the floor. It's amazing how much heavier the weight feels and how fewer reps I'm able to manage. Following this I went as heavy as possible on seated leg curls on the life-fitness machine.
70kg - 8reps
91kg - 5reps
105kg - 5reps
112kg - 4reps
119kg - 3reps - drop 70kg for another 6 reps.
I finished with some toe-presses for calves and the workout was complete in less than 30 minutes.
Pharma-whey™: I guess every PhD athlete will nominate Pharma-whey™ as one of their top four products, but in all honesty it’s the best tasting and most effective whey protein I’ve used. The Chocolate-Cookie flavour is especially nice.
Smart bars™: An excellent snack for me when I’m on the road or teaching. I’m not a huge protein user, preferring to aim for 1 gram per lb of bodyweight. Smart bar™ is ideal for me, I use a couple daily for protein, healthy carbs and naturally-occuring fibre.
L-Glutamine: One of the few supplements outside of Whey protein and Creatine that I really rate. This is essential for my recovery, I’d say up t0 20% better when using L-Glutamine.
Synergy-ISO-7™: A great new addition to the range. I use this as a late night MRP, providing all my protein, L-Glutamine and Creatine, plus the Methyl-T3 strength stack to assist my recovery and maximize anabolic hormone production during my sleeping hours
