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GST, My life & Coaching


David Birchall
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David Birchall

I started drinking at age 13 and, just like my Dad is now, became addicted.  I would drink every day before school and brush my teeth afterwards.  I carried on this way and even managed to go through college, university and a work placement for Ernst & Young in London, managing to fit my life around my drinking.

 

I had a couple of years of managing to keep it at the weekends, got into powerlifting and hit some pretty good numbers despite the alcohol: B 122.5KG, S 160KG , D 200KG.  I actually hit those in the gym during my first stint of rehab.  I was also doing a little bit of calisthenics, actually trying to train planche but I had no idea: I thought I had it but really it was a bent arm planche.

 

I would black out every time I drank and I was in such a terrible state one day trying to withdraw from multiple bottles of spirits that the people I lived with insisted I go home.  I couldn't hide my drinking from my parents anymore and I couldn't go a day without it because I would shake uncontrollably and fit.  After crashing my car in blackout and nearly being crushed, I got sent to rehab for the first time.  I came out and went to another 6 months later - they told me I had to go to AA meetings or I would drink again.  I hated AA, it was boring and full of old people.  I didn't go and their prophecy came true.

 

The same thing happened again after the next rehab and what followed was homelessness, multiple suicide attempts while in black out: jumping in front of cars, lying on a rail track etc. but I would never have tried to kill myself sober.  The only reason I did not die in those years is because of gymnastics.  It was my only reason for living.  I did no powerlifting anymore and just did gymnastics whenever I was dry.  I turned into a binge drinker again and I would time my binges after I trained, kidding myself it was just like "carbing up."

 

This went on for a long time until eventually I stopped and I was allowed to stay with my parents again.  No AA meetings nothing like that - I did feel guilty for not going though (this is important I know now).  Just stopped.  I got a job as a software developer and it was great until after 6months I moved out and relapsed AGAIN.  By this time I had gotten pretty far in GST and was feeling great.  I took my eye off the ball and quickly spiralled out of control.  I went to rehab AGAIN.

 

This time though instead of listening to the counsellors, I did GST in my room and I bought a book called "rational recovery" which said that I didn't need to go to AA meetings.  This book showed me that there is no such thing as an alcoholic and it is NOT a disease.  It said that what keeps people in addiction is believing that they are "powerless" and not in control and placing any condition on abstinence such as "must go to meetings to stay dry" pertains to the idea that one cannot just simply stop.  Once I read the whole book I knew that this was it. I followed the simply instructions in the book to use a tool called addictive voice recognition technique and I was done.  The whole treatment industry was a big scam that only keeps people coming back for more.

 

The last rehab I went to was a horrendous experience.  The guy in the next bed to me once even got up when I was on early morning table set up, took a ---- in my wastebasket full of my clothes, ---- in my bed and everywhere in the room.  They made me sleep in that room and didn't reimburse me for the clothes claiming I needed to "face my fear" of sleeping in that bed.  Every day singing songs drumming it into our heads that we are "weak" had no chance of simply stopping without the help of others.  "You are weak!"  they would tell me every day when I wouldn't conform.  My only solace was GB Foundation.  I worked through up to a short tuck planche and got up to negative HeSPUs in that place while gaining 20lbs on a diet of cereal, bread, tuna and butter. Ha I even broke a fire alarm on my last day while doing a handstand - I still don't know if it was deliberate or not lmao.

 

I came out a year ago and I actively try and remove any brainwashing left from the treatment centres with the tools from the book.  My life is good now but when times were rough and I had no one in the world to speak to, gymnastics stopped me from pushing myself over the edge.  If I did not have training during my addiction, I would be dead.  There is no doubt in my mind about this unfortunately I cannot illustrate some of the dark places I ended up in in this post for brevity and just how shocking it was at times.

 

So anyway, 2 weeks ago I just passed my core proficiency to become a coach.  I'm a freelance web and graphic designer now and every day my life is getting better and better.  I enquired at a local club and they have taken me on as a volunteer to begin with but the girl there said they have no mens coach and I would be perfect for it.  So this is now what I want to do - I suppose in some way to give back and show gratitude for training as it saved my life.

 

OK so after that lengthy post I have a question: Would Tumbling 1 and Foundation 1 be appropriate for kids? Is this ok to do?  Obviously there are specific training requirements that I have to adhere to in terms of British Gymnastics however there isn't much conditioning set out in it really - pretty much that's up to me it seems.  So I was definitely gonna start with the diagnostic movements in T1: "Today we're going to the zoo!  Not a real zoo, everyone crouch down" Haha "Gorilla Walks!"

 

Thanks for reading :)

Edited by Jon Douglas
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Damn, sounds like you've been pretty neck deep in the ----... Kudos for having the strength to reinvent your life.

I currently head a GST group at my climbing gym, and it's based on foundation. The participants are half kids, half adults. It works pretty well, and if anything the kids are stronger and progress faster than the adults.

Have only had one session with T1, but I think it's ideal for kids, as it's fun and relatively short.

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 I've heard the UK gymnastics system requires certification but I'm surprised they don't have anything on strength programming and theory. Even basic stuff.

From what little I saw of the video, it looked like it contained floor compulsory elements from L5/6. I'm not sure if that is the end of the first level but I'm sure they are covered in the compulsory levels of the UK MAG.

 

T1 and F1 are probably fine for kids. One concern might be if it could be fit in a 60-90minute training session if you have to hit some events for a gymnastics class. Never enough time in gymnastics classes/training sessions.

If anything, skillwise it's probably developmental pre competitive skill level but I HAVE ZERO idea what the UK routines look like, just the US JO MAG routines (and even then I'm rusty atm).

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