Thought I'd bring up a subject that rarely seems to get discussed in any detail, training partners. Some of you folks are lucky enough to have partners that share your love of the gym, mine doesn't. My wife doesn't even get it, she thinks it's nuts. That's ok, healthy to have time apart and whilst she doesn't share my love of the iron, she supports me 100%. That does, however, rule her out as a training partner.

So next we have friends / colleagues as a pool of resource. I suppose I'm a little unusual in the gym scene with my career, very few people that work in research science lift weights in my experience. Over the years I've helped the odd one out here and there, but it's a rarity. So my friends and colleagues are an odd mixture of gym goers and science geeks!

Over the years I've generally trained with "friends" rather than people that I'd choose purely due to improving my game. It's natural, you don't just go up to any old person and say "hey, want to train with me?". What that has meant to me is largely those people I have trained with have had similar goals and interests and have tended to be body builders, like me.

At the beginning of this year I took over a gym. That got me talking to a broader spectrum of people outside of the usual crowd I've socialised with there over the last five years. As a result of going into the gym at different times of day, I met different people. One guy in particular stood out to me in the way he trained, it was different, outside of my comfort zone. We got talking one day and I realised I'd seen this guy on the TV. A decent level strongman competitor, a monster of a man and strong as an ox. We talked several times, then he spotted for me on some heavy squatting. Cut a long story short, I now train with this guy twice a week when our schedules allow.

Why do I mention this? Because it's achieved some things I've been stagnant on for a few years. Moved a few weights I haven't done before, improved my aerobic recovery by trying some new exercises / lifts. The same goes for him. He's 6-5 so squatting us never going to be his string point, but he's up about 20kgs on his best, his weakest lift and one that's held him back. I've trained differently, I've got more in my repertoire, my sessions are more varied, more productive and less of the "same shit different day" we can be guilty of. This guy has had me pushing weight I thought I couldn't. Amazing what a decent training partner can drag out of you.

So what am I saying? Get yourself out if your comfort zone. Don't just train with your mates. Look for what you can aid others in and what they can help you with. Some of the best training sessions I've ever gone have been with this guy or a female figure competitor. Not necessarily people I'd choose on face value, but they've taught me, they've given me new tools to play with. Never stop learning and always be prepared to give your knowledge to others.