Dan's top 5: artists and albums

Top 5 artists and albums:

• Drake-take care
• Kayne West presents good music
• Kings of Leon – only by the night
• Jay z- the blueprint 3
• Professor green-alive till im dead

Stoptober update

How's it going? I hope you have all managed to stick to your Stoptober plan? I have, just about anyway, but I do have to thank my girlfriend for not stocking the cupboards with snacks and chocolate or I may have failed at the first hurdle ;-)

For me the first week was the hardest but I have now replaced all of my nibbles with a piece of fruit; bananas are my favourite as they release their energy slowly and help keep a lid on my hunger pangs. I had set myself a target of losing hopefully about 3kgs over the month which should take me back to my normal training weight and I am bang on target towards reaching my goal as I have lost 2kgs already - c'mon!

I have been back in the gym full-time for six weeks and I now believe that my body is back in good condition, or good enough at least to start adding new skills into routines as you can see from this video clip. It's also a reminder of just how dangerous my sport can be and that you really do have to be in top condition and mentally on the ball. Wipe out, lol!

The gym is also a little quiet at the moment as we have lost three big personalities and sparring partners:

 • Luke Fowell - 2010 Commonwealth AA champion who officially retired from gymnastics in July

 • Luke Carson - Irish Champion and close friend who is recovering from surgery to his leg, get well soon bro

 • And of course there's Louis Smith. Well, we all know where he is! Strutting his stuff on the dance floor with Flavia Cacace for Strictly Come Dancing - c'mon Lou!!

So at the moment I am training alongside GB squad member Cameron McKenzie during the week at Huntingdon and on Saturdays I go to Loughborough Uni to train alongside GB squad members Sam Oldham, Ruslan Panteleymonov and Sam Hunter. Official GB squad training won't start again until after the New Year.

Lemon sole for tea - delicious!

Good luck finishing Stoptober! We are all half way there now!

Cheers,

Dan

Dan’s top 5: foods to indulge in

As Dan’s decided to give up chocolate and late night nibbles for Stoptober, he told us about the top 5 foods he likes to indulge in:

“When I am not in competition training then I do like chocolate (who doesn't!), ice cream, pizza, Indian, and Chinese.”

That all sounds delicious, and is making us hungry!

Good luck to Dan and all the staff at Opus Energy who are giving up their guilty pleasures for Stopbtober. Keep up the good work!

Stoptober is finally here!

STOPTOBER, it's finally here!! I hope everyone is getting ready to give up something for this much anticipated NHS campaign which Opus Energise is joining forces with.

Personally I have decided to give up chocolate and late night nibbles - not that I eat a lot of both anyway, but my little snacks were always a small pleasure of mine especially after a hard day's training but more importantly they were also an essential part of my energy replacement.

The fact that I do follow a well-balanced diet and I really do only have the occasional snack will make this as difficult for me as it would for a smoker to give up cigarettes - I think anyway as I have never smoked.......so don't shout at me!

But I have also set myself a goal and that is to get myself back to my normal training weight as quickly as possible, especially after the excesses of my six week break from training during the summer. LET'S NOT FORGET - it is really important for anyone who is going to give up something TO SET YOURSELF A TARGET - but remember you do have to be realistic and only set yourself a target that is achievable as there is nothing worse than not meeting your targets and it will only deter you next time. LOTS OF SMALL STEPS REALLY DO MAKE ONE BIG GAIN!!

Personally I have been here before, when myself and the rest of the Team GB gymnastics team had to keep our bodies in peak competition fitness over possibly the most indulgent part of the year - which included Christmas, New Year and my own birthday - as we had a competition on the 10th of January 2012 and it really was our final opportunity to qualify a team to the London Olympics. Well the rest is now history and we absolutely smashed the competition to ensure that we had a full team represented in London.

So you can see, we had a goal, which we achieved and it was definitely worth it.........

So for now I will be eating a lot more of this...............Sweet Chilli Chicken and Broccoli Pasta :-)

Good luck taking part in Stoptober! I'll let you know how I'm getting on in my next blog.

Cheers, Dan

Dan's Top 5: holiday destinations

As Dan gets back to work after the holidays, he shares the top 5 places he's visited and wants to visit.

Places I've visited:

• Sydney and Melbourne, just for the weather and culture
• Tokyo and New York, because they are so lively and exciting 
• Beijing, because I really enjoyed my stay during the Olympics in 2008 and the people are fantastic and interesting

Places I want to visit:

• Australia, as I have been several times and love the culture and weather
• Mexico, Brazil, Puerto Rico and Argentina, as South America is a continent I haven't really visited yet
• Las Vegas, as that's my ultimate dream holiday/travel experience and I guess because it's all about fun!

Cheers,

Dan

What a tough two weeks!

I am now back training full time after almost six weeks off and boy, was it tough. Every muscle and joint in my body was aching for at least five days, and it was only when I got into the second week that things started to settle down. My focus for the next four weeks will be conditioning, conditioning and even more conditioning because to even attempt routines and skills on the apparatus with this level of fitness would be just too dangerous as fatigue could set in at any time, which could lead to serious injuries.
I have also gained a couple of kilos in weight, but it really is not as much as I had expected, especially after my over indulging in Egypt and Marbella. It's nothing a few salads and a more balanced diet won't sort out :-)
I have also put together my new four-year plan with my coach and I am really excited with what we have planned! Unfortunately I can't give away too much detail, but I am looking to pick up a few major medals over the next couple of years leading up to the Olympics in Rio. I can say what my short, medium and long term targets are:

• Short term: my focus will be on the European and World Championships in 2013/2014;
• Medium term: my focus will be on representing Scotland at the Commonwealth Games in Glasgow; and
• Long term: my focus will be the World Championships in Glasgow in 2015 and the Olympic Games in Rio in 2016.

Over the past couple of years I have also had more than my fair share of injuries, but now that British Gymnastics has a very good medical/physio team in place I really do think I will have a bit better luck over the next four years, although saying that I think I have just caught some Man Flu :-(
Note to myself: never take six weeks off again but hey, after the sacrifices we all made over Christmas and the New Year it was the least we deserved!
Also, if you don't know already, I am sure you will definitely be seeing a lot more of close friend and team mate Louis Smith as he puts on his dancing shoes and takes on the challenge that is Strictly Come Dancing............ c'mon Lou!!

Cheers, Dan

Dan's Top 5: Top sports to try

With the paralympics having just come to an end, Dan shares the Top 5 sports he would love to try!

My top 5 Olympic sports that I would like to try:

1. Diving, as I believe there are several synergies with Gymnastics

2. Tae Kwon Do, as I have always been interested in combat sports

3. BMX, as I found this really exciting

4. Beach volleyball, as this seems really fun and a crowd favorite but the commentator and music also play a huge part in the excitement.

5. Pole vault, as this also has many similarities to gymnastics.

Cheers,
Dan