Massive well done to Ritchie and Andy – you’ve both done me proud this week

Here’s why (click on each picture to view full size):

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A great documentary film is due to be released very soon. It tells the story of two physically impaired, but mentally determined women who take on the challenge of climbing Mount Kilimanjaro in Africa back in January of this year.

Erika Davis, a paraplegic since 2005 becomes the first ever paraplegic female athlete to make the summit. She is accompanied by her team mate Tara Butcher, an amputee below the left-knee.

The project came about with the aid of Paul Chek and the Challenged Athlete’s Foundation.

It looks the source of some solid inspiration and a great story.

You can watch the trailer at the Through the Roof website:

http://www.throughtheroofmovie.com/

Nick Vujicic provides today’s inspiration.

I’ve recently turned my hand to surfing, something I’ve wanted to do for a long-time.

I’ll be honest…I absolutely suck at it at the moment – I’ve had a good day if I can sit on the board waiting for a wave without falling off it!

I do love the challenge of it – and its a great non-gym based workout!

Here’s a trailer for a great surfing video I watched today:

Awesome stuff and great to see two how two different  sporting personalities explain what their sport means to them.

Great video here of Danny MacAskill from 2009 performing some amazing trials stunts in and around Edinburgh. The stunned reactions by the passers-by make the video even more special.

I like to keep up with amazing athletes from all sports. They provide me with the inspiration that “Imposible is nothing.”

I’ve encountered a lot of people this week complaining that they are too old to get in shape or that “middle-aged spread is enevitable”.

I tend to belong to the school of thought that age is a number, not an excuse.

To prove my point, here are two examples that would even shame most people under 30.

Jim Shaffer

A regular trainer, now well into his 70′s.  Jim is a great example of dedication and inspiration.

Ernestine Shepherd

There’s no excuse for you women either.

Here is Ernestine Shepard winning competitions and running 80 miles a week at 73 years young!

There’s more about Ernestine’s story at ABCnews.go.com

Two truly inspirational people who refuse to let their age determine their possibilities.

Happy Easter! I hope everybody enjoys their Easter eggs responsibly. That or you work hard to EARN them.

Today’s post is about Christian Thibaudeau, a strength coach who is slowly growing an almost cult like following.

Christian contributes regularly to t-nation, with often illuminating approaches to gaining strength and size.

What inspires me most is that Christian definately “walks the walk”, one look at him and you know he practices what he preaches.

I can recommend his books “High-Threshold muscle Building” and his now famous “The Little Black Book of Training Secrets”

For more info on Christian, visit his site at www.christianthibaudeau.com

Today’s inspiration comes from a true legend in the Strength and Conditioning world, Mr Charles Poliquin.

Charles has established a solid foundation for providing well researched and expert advice.

In his career as a coach so far he has coached Olympic medalists in 12 different sports!

I love reading articles for his unique blend of well researched fact and sometimes almost brutaly straight advice.

Charles shot into mainstream recognition with his contribrutions to t-nation and his extremely successful books, such as “The Poliquin Principles” and “Modern Trends in Strength Training”.

He also runs some of the most advanced training programmes for strength coaches and personal trainers in the world under his PICP certification programme.

To find out more about Charles and the certification programmes he runs, check out his site at www.charlespoliquin.com

Here is a clip of Charles discussing some of the fundamental issues related to long-term health:

Today’s post is about legendary Strength coach Joe DeFranco.

Joe is famed for his balls-to-the-wall training and for getting serious results with the athletes he works with.

Joe’s training philosophy is based around the maxim “No gimmicks, just hard work”

He has successfully combined elements of power-lifting training (West-side Barbell methods), traditional strength training, functional training, agility training, corrective exercise and athletic conditioning to produce complete programs to bring out the best in those he trains.

One of the key elements to every workout is the element of competition, which helps to drive his athletes to work consistently hard in the gym.

I will be using one of his programs as the basis for my next training block, with the aim of improving strength in the key movements of the bench press, pull-up and squat. So I am looking forward to some hard work, tough workouts and great results.

You can find out more about Joe at his website: www.defrancostraining.com and at his YouTube channel: www.youtube.com/user/joedefranco

In the meantime, here is a video of some of his work:

Today’s inspiration comes from non-other than Mr Will Smith.

Yes he’s been the Fresh prince, a man in black, Muhammed Ali and even a superhero with a bad attitude called Hancock.

But, today he is my Friday inspiration…and heres why:

“Greatness exists in all of us”