I have been
taking part in Triathlon on and
off for over 15years. Throughout
that time I have kept active jogging,
swimming and my first love circuit
training and weights. I have always
struggled with my weight, even though
I regularly train 3-4 times a week,
my vice truth be told is I really
love my food.
Just over three years ago I made
a dramatic change to my regular
training routine, I only did cardiovascular
exercise, swimming, biking and
jogging. The results were amazing
I slowly started losing weight
even though I ate the same.
I fact I really enjoyed jogging
and it’s benefits, I increased
my jogging times to ‘Fat Burn’
sometime jogging between 45-120mins
2-3 times a week. After awhile
my legs were getting tighter and
stretching alone was not adding
my recovery, I was advised to
see Mike Collins (Big Mike).
I still remember my first massage,
Mike only did my legs everywhere
hurt, and I tried to climb of
the massage table/bed/couch on
more than one occasion. I even
tried to hold Big Mike’s hands
so that he couldn’t inflict any
more pain on me.
By the time Big Mike had finished
wrestling with me (I mean giving
me a massage) I was sweating and
physically exhausted. Then next
day I felt as though I had been
hit by a 40foot container lorry,
and the headache which Big Mike
warned may come about did, I felt
wretched and decided the pain
during and after plus the headaches
were just not worth it.
However 2-3 days after I felt
great, my jogging recovery was
better and I was stretching well
again. Thankfully I continued
seeing Big Mike we still had our
wrestling bouts, I would swear
he was carrying a sharp pointy
thing to gouge me, or that he
was in league with my wife to
share the insurance money when
my heart finally gave in.
After a while I realised we were
wrestling less if at all, Big
Mike always asked how my training
was going, what I was doing. At
one particular massage session
Big Mike explained to me in details
how the body gets rid of Lactic
Acid, and the process that one
should go through to cool down
effectively.
I put Big Mike’s advise into
practice after a particularly
long morning jog. Normally after
a morning jog even after having
a good stretch my legs would tighten
up in the afternoon. This time
I had no after affects from the
run at all, it was like a miracle,
I now use Big Mike’s cool down
method after all jogging sessions
and those taxing biking sessions.
With Big Mike’s motivation and
encouragement I went on and completed
my first Half Iron Triathlon in
a time of 7hours 30mins, the following
year I finished in 6hours 30mins
a massive 60mins improvement.
Over the years Big Mike has been
a listening ear, giving pearls
of wisdom that have helped keep
me going on the numerous times
when my morale was low. My massage
sessions are as much counseling,
as repairing the damage I have
done to myself through training.
More than most I am so grateful
that I was introduced to the ‘Magic
Hands’ of Big Mike Collins.
Ralph Robinson
Sports Development Officer (Novice
Triathlete)
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