The Sprawl n Brawl: Return of the Cyborg mixed martial arts fight night took place at the Tower Ballroom on October 9th 2011.

It was a great night with a buzzing atmosphere.  Fighters were psyched and audience hyped.

The night allowed 13 semi-pro and pro fights, filling our DVD with 120 minutes of the event

There were a few regular fighters on show once more – but this time the legendary Jeff Monson travelled from the USA to fight Paul Taylor; and Chris Rice, the man behind Sprawl n Brawl put himself forward for a bout!

To view the fights, you’ll need to purchase a DVD from here: Return of the Cyborg MMA DVD

Here’s the full line-up:

1. Oli Shepperd VS Dean Ferris
2. Indi Singh VS Craig Allen
3. Nathan Freeman VS Aaron Atkinson
4. Omari Cohen VS David Dixon
5. Shane Clarke VS Marc Guyon
6. Ryan Hewston VS Chris Johnson
7. Kyle Vidal VS Kelvin Davis
8. Saul Hall VS Justin Venables
9. Suhail Mohamed VS Rhys Parker
10. Chris Miah VS George Burton
11. Julian Shuttleworth VS James Fitzgerald
12. Paul Taylor VS Jeff Monson
13. Chris Rice VS Shaun Lomas

This night saw 16 fights take place, an awesome series of bouts, with some familiar names like Julian Shuttleworth and Chris Miah, and some new faces to add extra flavour. The night also hosted a boxing fight which gave additional variety to the show.

All fighters dug deep and connected with their inner-hero!

Here’s the full line-up:

1. Firat Gunner VS Sebastian Kopczyk
2. Rhys Parker VS Andy Smith
3. Bobby Atkinson VS Ashley Atkinson
4. George “Chopper” Burton VS Like Crighton
5. Milad Mahmood VS Rich Causer
6. James Fitzgerald VS Kyle Vidal
7. John “Chopper” Painter VS Adam Corbett
8. Nikki Kent VS Paul Taylor
9. Mischael Obouza VS Dale Hardiman
10. Ali “Insane” McLean VS Julian Shuttleworth
11. James McCrory VS Craig Allman
12. David Stone VS Przemyslaw Lirsz
13. Brett Healey VS Chris Miah
14. Craig Allen VS Martin Rollins
15. Mark “Popeye” Jones VS Vaughn Lee
16. Ali “Insane” McLean VS Dale Hardiman

And below are the VIDEOS!
Please leave comments at the bottom of the page.

Firat Gunner VS Sebastian Kopczyk

www.youtube.com/watch?v=rCLofqZF2Rc

Rhys Parker VS Andy Smith

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KvmfEImJIFs

Bobby Atkinson VS Ashley Atkinson

www.youtube.com/watch?v=QoPUTTpkj_4

George “Chopper” Burton VS Like Crighton

www.youtube.com/watch?v=79S9opYulrk

Milad Mahmood VS Rich Causer

www.youtube.com/watch?v=wz9CEO-mZYo

James Fitzgerald VS Kyle Vidal

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0kgnjlaKKeo

John “Chopper” Painter VS Adam Corbett

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWvcMb9B3pY

Nikki Kent VS Paul Taylor

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lSMVXofn4Hc

Mischael Obouza VS Dale Hardiman

www.youtube.com/watch?v=HnHZjxSBN4I

Ali “Insane” McLean VS Julian Shuttleworth

www.youtube.com/watch?v=TlF7rEXMtCE

James McCrory VS Craig Allman

www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQOhsNLatP4

David Stone VS Przemyslaw Lirsz

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Amw3xP0jhwE

Brett Healey VS Chris Miah

www.youtube.com/watch?v=z2LlgjKnp6I

Craig Allen VS Martin Rollins

www.youtube.com/watch?v=9EqT4zoy7KU

Mark “Popeye” Jones VS Vaughn Lee

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pAhvaeGcvk8

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Ali “Insane” McLean VS Dale Hardiman

www.youtube.com/watch?v=DBDCqnDv88w

Many of those that get it often complain that they can’t eat enough or that they aren’t hungry. Other skinny guys come to the gym and tell me that they are eating a ton and wonder why they can’t gain weight. When we sit down and add it up it turns out that they are only eating slightly more than 2500 calories a day. And that just aint gonna cut it.

Here are a few quick muscle building nutrition tips that will help you get down more calories, easily and quickly:

• Eat foods that digest rapidly and cause very little gas or bloating. In other words limit your intake of vegetables and other fibrous foods for a short time while in a mass gain phase.
• Eat a lot of white rice and other high glycemic index carbs. You know how you are hungry an hour after eating Chinese food? That’s from the white rice. And that’s a good thing when you are trying to eat more. White rice is absorbed rapidly and actually makes you hungry. So load up on it often.
• Have a tablespoon or two of olive oil at every meal. A tablespoon of olive oil is 120 calories. If you have ten per day you quickly add an extra 1200 calories to your diet. Start slowly with a teaspoon per meal and work your way up.
• Alternate solid food meals with shakes. It’s impossible and impractical to sit down and eat real food six times per day. So have a solid food meal and then a few hours later have a shake. Repeat this process throughout the day until you have had at least three solid meals and 2-3 shakes.
• Always carry raw, organic nuts with you. These are calorie dense, easy to consume rapidly and usually digest without issue.

Simon Fan is the current owner of the legendary Temple Gym in Birmingham -- a bit of a mecca for bodybuilders, amde famous by Dorian Yates who owned the gym previously and trained there himself to win Mr Olympia many times.

Steve first met Simon when he was competing in Nottingham, managing to win the National level Intermediate Bodybuilding class in 1994.  In 1995, Simon was a Junior Powerlifting Champion.

Over the years, Simon has been a partner at a gym in Leamington, and owner of Three Spires Gym in Lichfield, before now being owner of Temply Gym, where he has been for over 2 years.

Brother of the late Steve Fan, respected martial artist, Simon has been responsible for training multiple athletes including Mike Sheridon, and he himself has been in many British bodybuilding finals in the Mid-Heavyweight class, and now is aiming to compete in the Heavyweight class.

He’s a guy who is dedicated and trains hard, inspiring others.  He is a Gymrat Hero!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=qSjm92IXW1M

Simon is the current owner of the legendary Temple Gym, in the centre of Birmingham.  It’s a hardcore gym for people wanting results -- specialising in bodybuilding.

Steve talks to Simon about his past, training, workouts, and events he has planned for the future!

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hstg2NN8bnI

Eliminate These 10 Bodybuilding Mistakes and See Your Progress Skyrocket!

By Hugo Rivera

I’ll never forget what my first bodybuilding goal was back when I was a 14-year old teenager in the summer of 1990. Believe it or not, I expected to train super hard, follow a proper bodybuilding diet, and look like Arnold Schwarzenegger in 3-4 months. I figured that since I was doing everything “by the book”, why would it not be possible to accomplish such a bodybuilding endeavor. While I made outstanding gains during that summer, since that was the first time ever I was training with weights, I was disappointed when after 4 months I was very far away from looking like Arnold.

Unrealistic bodybuilding goals is just one of many mistakes that teenage bodybuilders make when they first get started. In this article, I will talk about the most common mistakes that are made in the early bodybuilding years and how by avoiding them you will be on the fast track to great bodybuilding results!

Teenage Bodybuilding Mistake #1: Unrealistic Goals

Certainly one of the most frequent mistakes I see teen bodybuilders make is to have unrealistic expectations. As I just mentioned, this is a mistake that I too made back when I started bodybuilding. While I cannot really say how much muscle you can expect to gain, since everybody gains muscle at different rates, I can tell you that if you gain 20 lbs of solid muscle on the first year then you are doing phenomenal!

Building a championship body takes time and consistent application of a good bodybuilding workout, a proper bodybuilding diet and adequate rest. Bodybuilding is an activity where you need to be patient. However you can stay motivated, and also ensure that you are moving in the right direction, if you track your progress.

My best advice is to take digital images of yourself every four weeks, track your weight and your measurements. If you can have someone who is competent take your skinfold caliper measurements even better. In this manner, every four weeks you can see where your body is going and adjust your program accordingly. It is said that a picture is worth a thousand words and you will be amazed at how much more pictures can tell you about your progress over simply taking measurements.

For example, if you were to take measurements without pictures and you measured your arms at 14 inches and four weeks later they measure the same (and your weight has remained constant), you would think that you have made no progress. However, if you took pictures and you can see more shape and definition in your pictures, then that tells you that even though your measurements remained steady, muscle mass was gained and fat was burned!

If you recorded skinfold caliper readings as well and the skinfold measurements went down, then you know that you lost fat and gained muscle for sure! If you use an Excel sheet to keep track of all this information (and you can even save digital pictures on Excel) you will be amazed at how far you will have come along in a year if you applied every aspect of your bodybuilding program consistently.

Teenage Bodybuilding Mistake #2: Lack Of Consistency

Some teens think that if they lift for three weeks and they take 2 weeks off, they can come back and start off where they left. However, this could not be any further from the truth! This lack of consistency will hold you back and prevent bodybuilding gains from coming your way.

Be determined and consistent with every aspect of your bodybuilding program (training, diet and rest)! At the end of the day, consistency will be your most powerful ally for making long lasting bodybuilding gains.

Teenage Bodybuilding Mistake #3: Going to the Gym Without a Planned Workout

Many times I have seen teenagers wander around the gym just doing one exercise after the other, as heavy as they possibly can, without rhyme nor reason. This not only is a path to mediocre results, but also to possibly getting injured.

It is crucial that you have a good training plan put together before you go to the gym. Take a look at the training articles of this website for more information on what a good bodybuilding training routine should look like.

Teenage Bodybuilding Mistake #4: Following the Champion Routines

On the other side of the coin we have teens who do have a planned workout; perhaps that of a high level competitive bodybuilding champion. However this schedule is far too advanced for the beginning to intermediate teenage bodybuilder.

Once a bodybuilder has been training for over ten years, he/she learns how their body best responds to training. At that point in time the training routine is designed to address weak body parts while maintaining the strong ones. In addition, the pro routine may also have more isolation exercises than a routine for a beginner or intermediate teen bodybuilder should have. Finally, the training volume and frequency of a pro training schedule reflect the individual’s unique capacity for training volume, which may be much higher than that of a teen bodybuilder.

Because of everything I just mentioned, the advanced routine from a pro bodybuilding competitor, or a high level national competitor, may end up leaving the teen bodybuilder over trained in some areas while under trained in others. Also, if the training volume and frequency are too high it may end up leading to overtraining and then injury.

Teenage Bodybuilding Mistake #5: Using the Wrong Exercises

Again, this is a mistake that happens when more advanced training routines are followed. Mass building routines should be brief (1 hour tops) and focus mainly on free weight, basic, multi-jointed exercises. Too many machines and too many isolation movements will lead to slow results, if any.

Teenage Bodybuilding Mistake #6: Too Much Weight with Improper Form

We have all seen the over ambitious teen bodybuilders who put way too much weight on the bench press in an attempt to “max out”. In my opinion, teen bodybuilders should not be maxing out as during these ages the muscles grow stronger much quicker than the tendons and ligaments. “Maxing out”, which is doing the most weight one can lift for one repetition, can exponentially increase the chances of injury, especially when proper form is not being used. Keep in mind that in bodybuilding the weight is just a means to an end. We use the weights as tools to induce controlled stress on the muscle and thus cause hypertrophy (muscle grow).

We are not powerlifters. So focus on performing sets of 8-15 repetitions with perfect form so that the weight stimulates the muscle (as opposed to taxing the joints) and you will be amazed at the types of gains that you will safely be able to make with the lighter weights.

Teenage Bodybuilding Mistake #7: Not Paying Enough Attention to the Diet

Many teens have the training part of the equation figured out but yet they fail to make any significant progress. Nine times out of ten the reason for that is a bad diet.

Keep in mind that intelligent training sparks the muscle growth process but it is the nutrition the one responsible for feeding that growth. Without the raw materials for new construction, there is no way that you can build a structure the size of the Empire State Building, right? The same is true for bodybuilders. No food equals no growth.

Teenage Bodybuilding Mistake #8: Eating Everything in Sight in Order to “Bulk Up”

Unless you are a naturally skinny hardgainer who may indeed need to adhere to the “seefood diet”, which is the one where you eat everything you see, you will only need a slight caloric surplus in order to gain quality muscle (around 500 calories on top of what you burn). Too many calories (especially if they come from simple sugars and fats) will simply make you fat. So follow a structured eating plan like the ones discussed in this site. Remember, six small meals a day, spaced out every 2-3 hours and consisting of quality complex carbohydrates (like brown rice, oatmeal, sweet potatoes) to fuel your workouts, lean proteins (like white fish, chicken, turkey) to build the muscle, and a small amount of good fats (like extra virgin olive oil and flaxseed oil) to ensure good hormonal production. Three real meals (breakfast, lunch and dinner), combined with a good protein powder (like the Pro V60 or Lean Body Mass 60), or a meal replacement powder or bar (like the Lean Body MRPs, RTDs, or bars), in between meals will do the trick.

Teenage Bodybuilding Mistake #9: Lack of Sleep

This may be hard to swallow by high energy teens, especially during summertime, but remember that growth happens at night while you sleep. Deprive yourself of sleep and your hormonal activity (your natural steroid production) goes down, which ends up costing you valuable growth. Eight to nine hours of sleep at night will give you the maximum growth you are looking for. Seven would be the bare minimum you can probably get away with.

Teenage Bodybuilding Mistake #10: Expecting Bodybuilding Supplements to Do All the Work for You

Many teens are misled by unscrupulous advertisers and misled peers into thinking that bodybuilding supplements are the most important part of the bodybuilding equation. However, this could not be further from the truth as the cornerstone for bodybuilding success is based on the consistent execution of the training, the nutrition plan and rest. Therefore, stop obsessing over the latest and greatest discovery that will “add 30 lbs of muscle in 30 days” and concentrate on the items that count. Also concentrate on consistently taking proven supplements that we know are needed and work, like your multiple vitamins and minerals, your protein powders, and your essential fats. For the most advanced teens who are 18 or 19 years old and who have been training for at least 3 years, creatine, glutamine and nitric oxide type products like ReCharge!™ or Super Charge!™ can be extremely useful in getting to the next level.

Well, now that you know what the most common mistakes that teen bodybuilders make are, make sure you don’t become victim to them.

There are, thankfully, plenty of things you can do right now if you are serious about getting healthy and fit. Here are some tips that you can use to help yourself get fit and healthy.

Before you take on any sort of regular fitness routine, talk to your personal physician. A professional health care practicioner’s opinion is very important to make sure that you take on the right kind of fitness routine. Your doctor will help you to identify which areas in your life need the most attention. Your doctor will be able to take your history as well as your current lifestyle factors into account when helping you put together your new fitness program. If you haven’t ever followed a workout routine before don’t try to do everything by yourself. A health care professional is able to better help you assess your starting point and develop ways of helping you get to where you need to go.

You don’t have to spend hours and hours at the gym if you want a full workout. Use the rowing machine or elliptical trainer if you want to work your whole body but don’t want to use a bunch of machines. Believe it or not only twenty minutes on the elliptical or rower will tone your entire body. Spending twenty minutes on one of these machines is the same thing as spending sixty minutes working out each of your major muscle systems separately. You will probably choose to use one of these machines to help you get fit because using these machines can save you hours of time spent training each day.

Start slowly and work your way up to a more involved routine. Beginners are generally unable to run ten miles when they start exercising. Nobody can lift one hundred pounds the first time they pick up the weights. Start with slow and simple activities and gradually work your way up to the harder routines. Trying to go too far too fast you risk doing damage to your body. If you push your body too far you could really hurt it. Talk to a physical trainer or your doctor (or even a good physical therapist) when you need help putting together your workout routine. Fitness is a total mind and body state of being. Even if you work out every single day you won’t get any healthier if you aren’t also nuturing your brain and soul. To really get fit you need to consume a healthy and nutritious diet and make healthier lifestyle decisions. In addition to this you, obviously, need to establish a regular exercise routine. To truly achieve a high level of fitness work with someone who knows what to do, be practical and practice common sense.

This night saw an awesome series of fights, with some familiar faces, and some new. Wins were achieved through various submissions, broken limbs or judges decisions.  All fighters dug deep and connected with their inner-hero!

Here’s the full line-up:

1. Ryan Hadler VS Imran Mahmood
2. Liam Green VS Jake Jones
3. Callum Jones VS Shane Clarke
4. Bobby Atkinson VS Yasin Khan
5. Aaron Blackwell VS James Whiston
6. John Painter VS Phil Tommy
7. Mark Brown VS Ant Harries
8. Dean Ferris VS Dan Costello
9. Dean Gorman VS Craig Allen
10. Rhys Parker VS Connor Jones
11. Dai Bunford VS Chris Miah
12. Rob Bunford VS Vaughn Harvey
13. Carl Holmes VS Julian Shuttleworth

And below are the VIDEOS!
Please leave comments at the bottom of the page.

Ryan Hadler VS Imran Mahmood

www.youtube.com/watch?v=lKlFdIKkKgA

Liam Green VS Jake Jones

www.youtube.com/watch?v=AxOx_KIT_O4

Callum Jones VS Shane Clarke

www.youtube.com/watch?v=_sxbH1JTJqc

Bobby Atkinson VS Yasin Khan

www.youtube.com/watch?v=KkS0yjDuovQ

Aaron Blackwell VS James Whiston

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZqP7Eyy1DI4

John Painter VS Phil Tommy

www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zlgp-8pYgMU

Mark Brown VS Ant Harries

www.youtube.com/watch?v=pEFObfn2mkI

Dean Ferris VS Dan Costello

www.youtube.com/watch?v=GULPlEsBYW4

Dean Gorman VS Craig Allen

www.youtube.com/watch?v=CU7dVFVdYNE

Rhys Parker VS Connor Jones

www.youtube.com/watch?v=jFTx5ZGLH7g

Dai Bunford VS Chris Miah

www.youtube.com/watch?v=7pZwrLOUwmQ

Rob Bunford VS Vaughn Harvey

www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFjgvPM9_Jc

Carl Holmes VS Julian Shuttleworth

www.youtube.com/watch?v=0lDkBmQEuQc

Head on over to the DVDs page for full information on each title.

Steve talks to a number of the lads, to find out their reflections on this mixed martial arts contest.

Interview 1:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=ijj1Xd9385A

Interview 2:

www.youtube.com/watch?v=34dz-AStVDs