Meet our Caveman Athlete of the month August, Russell Burpee Man Godwin, the personal trainer located on the Costa del Sol that does 100 burpees—different variations—each day of the year, read below to find out.
I was introduced to boxing at a young age by my brother, which led to Muay Thai and various other martial arts by my mid teens. By my 20’s I was fighting pro at Muay Thai which led me to explore various paths of conditioning. I wasn’t convinced by the traditional weights and long run methods, they just didn’t feel specific enough to the sport I had chosen, and I didn’t just want to get better, I wanted to be the best. I wanted those big flashy belts!
Respect all men, bow to none.
I stumbled across the kettlebell and fell in love with this method of training, it ticked all the boxes, power, strength, 360 degrees of movements, cardio and improved flexibility. So I changed from lifting weights during my fight prep to using kettlebells, I was drilling 3 minute rounds of kettlebell circuits, as a results I was getting, faster stronger and ripped, what more do you want!? I always said I don’t mind losing but I can’t handle losing because I wasn’t fit enough and I was always the fittest in that ring even in my late 30’s against the guys in their 20’s.
The kettlebell was the gateway to a new era of training for me and I’ve never looked back.
Tell us about your insane Burpee challenge?
I was looking for a challenge, a fund raiser to raise awareness and money for the rescue dogs of the Costa Del Sol.
I’ve done quite a bit in my life, marathons, OCR’s galore, fights etc, so I had to think of something to make people pay attention, a marathon is no challenge for me, so how can I expect sponsorship from people for something that was no effort?
I know that nobody likes a burpee, well maybe a few of us, so I thought 100 burpees a day for a year, but let’s face facts that’s Less than 5 mins a day so no real challenge. Then I thought how about 100 a day every day for a year but everyday must be different and within that throw in some super challenges at set money raising markers. Thinking of 365 varieties is a big enough challenge on its own let alone doing them.
How many burpees have you done this year?
So far I am 112 days in to the challenge so 11,200 burpees and 36,500 of these beauts by the end of this year.
Your favourite variation of the burpee is?
On a day to day basis burpee into a pull up or muscle up, it’s a great pump for the whole body and puts your heart up by your ears.
In this challenge it would be pushing the car up the hill whilst banging out burpees, looking at it rolling back at me as I did each burpee made me question my sanity.
Will you continue with burpees or do you never want to hear the word again?
I genuinely love a burpee, so watch this space for a new burpee challenge once this one is done!
Craziest thing you’ve done?
I always think what I do is normal!
What is your mission as a personal trainer?
Help people find a passion for something positive.
Describe your own training when you’re not doing burpees?
I’m lifting, pulling, pushing, throwing, swinging, jumping, hitting or slamming something.
What are your future goals?
Next Goal is an ironman next year, first time, so looking forward to the challenge.
Have you ever endured hardship?
I’ve found myself homeless on more than one occasion, never for long, but long enough to appreciate the small things in life.
What is your passion?
Combat sports and everything bit of training that goes hand in hand with it.
What do you eat for performance?
I’m pretty much Paleo, meat, nuts, greens and clean carbs after training.
If you could only give one top performance tip?
Allow your body to rest, its not all about the training!
If you want to help Russell with his mission to support dog and cat shelters please donate on the following link justgiving.com/crowdfunding/russell-godwin-1
Russell runs his Freshfit personal training business in Marbella.
Check out all other Caveman Athletes of the Month:
- July Eric Leija
- June Shawn Powers
- May Jessica Huttig
- April Kirsten Tulloch
- March Henk Bakker
- February Rik Brown
- January Kelly Manzone
- View all
