MARK ORMROD - remembering this day 10 years ago

                    

10 years ago, while everyone was getting ready for Christmas, the Royal Marines were out if Afghanistan.

On Christmas Eve 2007 Royal Marines Commandos were on patrol. Mark "Rammers" Ormrod was about to have his life changed forever.

The first triple amputee to survive his injuries and pioneer the way for others that would unfortunately follow.

It was an absolute privilege to be his Physiotherapist at Headley Court after he survived an Improved Explosive Device (IED) whilst in Afghanistan.

Happy "Bang-aversary" to quite simply, the most inspirational man I know.

I interviewed Mark awhile ago and this is his inspirational story:

What motivated you to join the Royal Marines in the first place?

When I was about 15yrs old & approaching the end of my compulsory education I had a sudden realisation that once I had taken my GCSE's & the exams were over that I had a huge choice to make, that choice was to either continue my schooling with further education or go out into the big bad world & start earning a living.

At that point I was pretty much done with school, not because I didn't enjoy it or I wasn't any good at it (I got 9 GCSE's A-C & 1 D) but because I wanted to be out there earning & gaining an education in life. Now the problem that I had was that I really didn't know what it was that I wanted to do, I knew that I didn't want to be in a suit working a 9-5 but I wasn't really sure what all of the wider options were. After lots of thought, research & seeking advice from others eventually I narrowed my options down to the Fire Brigade, the Police or the Army.

As a 15yr old I really had no idea just how much the Fire Brigade actually do & assumed that all they did was put out fires (I now know much differently) & back then that didn’t really appeal to me and so I scratched that off my list.

Joining the Police didn’t materialise either as I thought that maybe that could be something I’d look at when I was a bit older & had a bit more life experience & so in the end I decided to join the Army. So one day I went down to the careers center, spoke to the guy in charge & came home with all of the relevant paperwork. Once my parents found out my plan my Dad took me to see an Uncle of mine who unbeknown to me had been a Captain in the Royal Marines. He talked to me about the differences between the Army & the Royal Marines & told me a little bit about his career, after that I went back to the careers centre and spoke with the man in charge of recruiting for the Corps. I sat down with him & had a chat, watched the standard recruiting video & that was the moment that I made my decision that I wanted to become a Royal Marine’s Commando. What appealed to me was that these guys were so flexible & could deploy to any environment in the world, arctic, desert, jungle, woodland & they could do it by land, sea or air, it seemed like the complete package & I knew that by joining it was going to make me grow enormously as an individual. I also did a lot of research & found out just how hard the training was & so I thought to myself “might as well go all in & push myself to see if I have what it takes”

What kept you going at Lympstone (Commando Training Centre Royal Marines)?

I think what kept me going through my training initially was my ego & pride. I was only 17 at the time & one of the youngest in the troop & so I felt like I had something to prove, it also made me sick to my stomach the thought of quitting because it was too hard or being kicked out because I wasn’t good enough.

As the weeks went by I watched people quit & get kicked out & I imagined how bad they would feel being on that train on the way back home & having to face their friends & family & tell them that they didn’t make the grade, I couldn’t handle the thought of that being me & so I used that to push me on through the tough times. Even if we were doing things like speed marches, yomps or any other kind of physical test as hard as it was & as much as I wanted to quit (even at times throwing up as I was running) I couldn’t bare the thought of getting back trooped & having to go through that pain again in two weeks time with another troop. It would feel like all of the pain I was going through was for nothing & I remember always thinking to myself “well I’m already in pain, it already hurts so I might as well get a reward from it” & so I continued to push.

Of course there’s also the rest of the lads that are around you. Everyone has their strengths & everyone has their weaknesses & when a member of the troop is struggling the rest of the lads rally around to help him through & then later down the line he usually repays the favor, that’s how the military works.

There was of course also the thought of becoming a fully trained Royal Marines Commando by the age of 18! That really spurred me on. I remember thinking how cool would it be not only to have passed the longest & hardest regular forces infantry training in the world, but to have done it by 18 would have made me a stud! (Well in my mind anyway)

What motivated you after the success of getting your green beret?

After I got my Green Lid what motivated me was standards. I had an absolutely incredible training team when I went through Lympstone and every single one of them always held themselves to the highest professional standards at all times, they were men that I respected & looked up to & men that I wanted to be like.

There was also pride. Training to become a Royal Marine is world renowned for its difficulty & so when people see that Green Lid or those Commando flashes or that Globe & Laurel tattoo they know what you’ve been through & what kind of man you are. Now I don’t necessarily mean a tough guy/steely eyed dealer of death etc… but the kind of man that holds himself to a high standard & pushes himself to be better & who never quits & always finds a way around things, that’s what I wanted people to see when they looked at me & that motivated me even more to be all that I could be. I also had visions one day of being on a training team myself & having other young, raw recruits look up to me the way I looked up to my training team. 

How you felt after you got injured?

After I got injured I felt the same way I guess most people felt. I knew deep down that my career was over & I had no idea what I was going to be able to do to support my family. I thought my days of being physically fit & able to train were over (boy was I wrong!), I knew my days as a Thai Boxer were over which was hard to take & I really had no idea what the future held.

The early days during my recovery were turbulent & like most people I’d have good days & I’d have bad days. Some days I felt suicidal like everything I had ever worked hard for had been taken away from me & I’d have to start again from scratch to rebuild my life but then I’d think “OK well I’m 24yrs old so there’s plenty of time to rebuild.”

It was tough trying to figure everything out & it was an emotional roller-coaster for everyone that was involved but there was so much help & support on hand that it helped me & everyone around me to focus on the positives & the little wins & get through the hard times.

 What inspired you to keep going with your rehabilitation?

To keep me going through my rehab & to keep me moving forward I had a mindset shift & started to look at things differently & tried to pull all of the positives out of my situation. I started to look at my situation as a challenge just like when I was a 17yr old going through training with the odds stacked against me except now I was the UK’s first triple amputee from Afghanistan with no path to follow & I just thought “well if I can get through training I can get through this”. Again pride played a huge part in my recovery

If you were to change the way the Military trains its personnel, how would you change it?

I’m not sure to be honest its hard to say as the training needs to be brutal, it needs to push you mentally & physically to your breaking point because when you’re in a combat zone you need to know you have what it takes when the lead wasps start flying in your direction.

I think after training it would be really useful to have mentors/coaches available to help guide people through their careers as when you’re a young man/woman it can all be a bit overwhelming & sometimes people aren’t always aware of what is available to them, I know I certainly wasn’t.

The biggest change I’d like to see is more support during the final 12 months of people leaving the services. This may have changed now but I remember situations where friends had put in there notice to leave & during their final 12 months they were sent out on 3-6 month exercises on the other side of the world rather then focusing on things like re-training, re-settling their families & preparing themselves for civvy street.

How do you motivate yourself and what lesson can we learn from your example.

I motivate myself by given myself mentors & role models to aspire to be like & by constantly setting myself goals in all of the areas of my life which are important to me.

The only advice I can give is to not get stagnant & to pro-actively keep moving forward & setting yourself goals not matter how unobtainable they may seem or what anyone else thinks of them. You have to make a choice to focus on the things you want in life, cut out the drama & things that aren’t important & keep heading towards what it is that you do want.

Mark Ormrod MPSA

Motivational Speaker

Director: Mark Ormrod Ltd

WWW.MARKORMROD.COM

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Thank you Mark, you are an inspiration to us all.

The Bulletproofbodies Team salute you.

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The World's Toughest Military Training

                   

A few years ago, I bought a book about the Navy Seals and how they worked out. I tried to find the book as a reference for this article, but couldn't find it. 

Either way, I've retained some information from memory that I'd like to share. First of all, there were four main parts to the Navy Seals program: upper body training, core training, stretching, and cardio.

For some reason, the book did not talk about lower body training. Either way, the workouts presented in the book were very minimalist and 100% bodyweight exercises. I remember in particular the format of the workouts. The used a pyramid style of training.

For example, lets say that your workout consisted of pushups and pullups. Here's what the workout would look like using the pyramid method:

Pullups, 1-2-1 reps

Pushups, 2-4-2 reps

You can either alternate between the two exercises, or just rest in between each set. The Navy Seal book actually features 2-3 variations of each variations for each workout. The core workouts followed a straight set approach. For example, if you were doing situps and leg raises, the workout would look like:

Situps, 4x25

Leg Raises, 4x25

Naturally, this is not how the Navy Seals actually train. If they did, then I'd be afraid that the strength and conditioning programs of out military were not optimal for combat. However, what this book does is open up people to the idea that they can train like the military in the comfort of their own homes.

Military Workouts for Fat Loss

People are marveled at how incredible well conditioned the military is, despite training with just their bodyweight. The truth is that the military training program has transformed over the past few years. They've gone from training primarily with bodyweight to incorporating a lot of different training methods.

Some military programs have full gyms were soldiers perform strength workouts similar to bodybuilding and powerlifting programs. Others focus primarily on Crossfit and Kettlebell training regimens. But, if you were to enter basic training tomorrow, you'd be exposed to 100% bodyweight training.

Hence, the base of military fitness still lies in basic bodyweight movements. The Navy Seal book focused on pushups, pullups, core training, and swimming as the four fundamentals of training. I personally feel that all you really need are pushups, pullups, bodyweight squats, and situps to develop a base level of strength and fitness.

Military Principles for Fat Loss

It's not really the exercises that are special, but it's the principles that the military follows that gives them such great results. They could probably achieve better results than you can, even if you had a better workout program at your disposal. The reason is that they follow two very important principles that can help achieve success with any goal you may have:

Train Early in the Morning

Training early in the morning will jump start your metabolic rate and have you burning fat all day long. The days I workout first thing in the morning, I feel incredibly hungry and energetic throughout the day. I'm alert, and ready to get things done.

Training is Mandatory

There are no excuses in the military. That's why they're so disciplined and they get the results they get. If you have goals to achieve, there's no way you'll achieve them if you don't actually do your workouts. Start today by getting rid of all the distractions and excuses you might have.

Military Cardio for Fat Loss

We've discussed workouts, exercises, and principles. Now we get to the fun part - cardio. Actually, to most people cardio is not fun. Especially me. When you look at traditional military workouts they do a lot of running, and a lot of swimming. They also do a lot of circuit training and obstacle course training.

They pretty much do cardio everyday and all day. They're always on the move. So what can you learn from them? Well, one of the biggest aspects to their is that they are in a large group. You don't need to start some workout club, but running, swimming, or biking with a friend will help you get your extra cardio in.

When I was in Karate, I performed my best when I was fighting or competing against someone who was able to push me hard. My friend Dominic and I were of equal strengths and techniques. So when we fought, there was war. But it was fun, and we both burned off a ton of calories during the workout.

Putting it All Together: Military Style Workouts you can Do at Home

Well, if your goal is to get started with some basic military training, then you should take the following steps:

Stick to the basics: pushups, pullups, situps, and squats.

Get a friend to workout with. Make sure you push each other.

Train first thing in the morning.

Make sure you train on a consistent schedule. Don't let yourself make any excuses.

Find a fun activity to perform. This is the best cardio.

The last step is to actually get yourself a very basic bodyweight program you can do at home. My suggest is the Average Joe Fitness Program. For more information on this amazing manual, check out my site, WorkoutWithoutWeights.Net [http://workoutwithoutweights.net/]

You have permission to publish this article in your web sites, ezines or electronic publication, as long as the piece is used in its entirety including the resource box, all hyperlinks (HTML clickable) and references and copyright info.

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Bulletproof Veterans with CrossFit

                    

We've all been in that place where we feel like we're not making progress. Maybe you're just starting out and making changes to your diet and fitness routine is harder than expected. Maybe you're a veteran, with your routine locked in, but just aren't seeing the progress you want. In either case, many people get discouraged, and either give up, or end up injuring themselves. Neither is a great option. I'm of the opinion that moving, and being active will always be better than not. Here's a list of suggestions that I work through with my clients who become discouraged.

Define progress. Don't underestimate the importance of deciding what it is you want. The old adage of "if you don't know where you're going, you'll never get there" is perfect here. What kind of progress are you looking for, and how are you measuring it? Are you tracking your workouts in a notebook? Lots of CrossFit boxes are using Wodify, or another program like it to allow members to track their progress. Do you forget to enter your times and attendance? If you don't track what you've done, you'll never know how far you've come, and that leaves the door wide open for discouragement when you're feeling tired, or frustrated. Once you've decided what you want, come up with steps on how to get there. Come up with a plan, with short-term and long-term goals along the way.

Consider your stress bucket. I love the analogy of a stress bucket, which was first introduced to me by weightlifting coach Sean Waxman, owner of Waxman's Gym, and I think the analogy has so much relevance not only to coaching, but to life. We all have stress in our lives. Our diet, sleep, work/school and relationships are what I think of as the common fundamental stressors in our lives. If we're eating badly, not enough or too much, our stress bucket is a little more full. Same thing with sleep. Those two things are the basic blocks for physical well-being. Do you have extra going on at school/work, or are things tense at home? After all of that, we can consider what's going on at the gym, which also adds stress. "But, I go to the gym to relieve stress," you remind me. Many of us do, and it does help to relieve stress. That endorphin rush is a very real thing. However, as you work, you're tearing down muscles, and generally fatiguing your body which adds stress to your bucket. Add on top of that the emotional importance many of us apply to how our workout goes, and we're piling on more. Now, if your fundamental stressors are already taking up an inordinate amount of your bucket, it doesn't leave a whole lot of room for gym stress, and we start to overflow. Overflow means things stop going well, you stop making progress, or you injure yourself. I know from experience that sooner or later, you cannot continue to make progress in the gym if your stress bucket is over-full. It will catch up with you. And it means you need to address the other stressors before you can expect to make more progress. Sometimes, its as simple as dialing in your nutrition, or getting an hour more of sleep at night. Sometimes, it's being a little gentler with yourself until things, which may be completely beyond your control, settle down at home. I can't tell you how many times I've reminded women at all stages (particularly during pregnancy, post-pregnancy) that there are times and seasons, and sometimes the gym and optimal fitness simply cannot be a priority. Trust me, I've learned this the hard way!

Proceed carefully through pain. It is all too common, especially in CrossFit for clients to want to just "push through the pain." Now, I'm not talking about the "burn" or the natural fatigue we all feel when we're pushing ourselves to our limits. I'm talking about the pain that leads to or is the result of injury. I've had my share of injuries, and I've spent months going through recovery, and I can very honestly tell you that no workout is really worth an injury. Sometimes, you never see it coming. I had a friend who pulled his hamstring, just bending down to pick something up off the floor. It happens. I'm talking about shoulder pain, for example, that isn't going away, and isn't getting better, and may, in fact, be getting worse. Figure that out before you go all out on any movement. Let your body be your guide, and utilize your coaches. Many times they might know a thing or two, or they know someone who can help. Keep in mind that sometimes, you will need to invest in outside help, like a massage therapist, a chiropractor, or a physical therapist. Now, that doesn't mean that you need to turn into a vegetable until you've made a full recovery. Every exercise can be modified, whether you CrossFit, or do yoga or Zumba. Keep moving. Just be smart about it. Only you can gauge how much pain is too much, so it's up to you to listen. Remember, when it comes to injury, patience will be well-rewarded, and actually, your optimal health and fitness really require you to be patient, as difficult as that is to swallow.

Sometimes, if you've run smack into that wall, it's entirely appropriate to back off. Find another activity that you're more motivated to try, or that's more enjoyable right now. If you really feel the need to stick with what you've been doing, know that modifications may be necessary, and that's okay, Today, be kind to yourself. Love yourself a little more, and know that you are capable of really amazing things!

Elizabeth is a CrossFit Coach and athlete, a single mother of three, cook, and musician. Most of all, she loves to connect with people. You can find more of her thoughts on fitness, mothering, and finding balance between the two at Ginger Says, http://www.elizaspencer.com.

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