Project Superman

Project Superman comes straight from my own twisted imagination. It's a work in progress designed to create the most best all round atheletes and help them become faster, stronger and more agile at the same time.
It came about when I decided that rather than just being strong, I wanted a body that was perfectly balanced for optimum performance; While I want to be as strong as I can be, I also want to stay fast and flexible. This is why invented 'Project Superman' and what I call the ‘Power Quotient’. I believe it is our responsibility to be the best we can be. I believe this, because I am mental.

I feel that while bodybuilding competitions cater perfectly for size and aesthetic appeal, there isn’t anything for people who want to build high-performance bodies that are fast, strong, agile and smart. Entering into a bodybuilding competition requires you to become slow and dehydrated. Powerlifters likewise only train for certain movements and sacrifice speed. Runners don’t train for power or strength... I want to be the best I can be at all these abilities. I had a good metaphor with a car that I was going to write here, but I really can’t be bothered...
The problem is that there is no way to definitively gauge all-round performance, no way to compare who is a 'better all rounder’. That is why I designed the ‘Power Quotient’, an equation that gives you an overall score for how potent you are. So that overall, you are better or worse physically than someone else. Are you ready? Here it is:

Strength x Speed x Endurance x Flexibility/Agility x Knowledge/Technique x Intelligence.

A more detailed explanation of how to work it out follows below. It’s a work in progress though so bare with me, it still has a few flaws. Using this, athletes will hopefully be able to compare their scores on the power quotient. A bodybuilder could compare scores with a hurdler (is that what they’re called?) and see is better overall. While one person might focus on strength and loose points on speed another might be faster but weaker – the successful athlete would be he who trained his body in every respect. It’s cross training to the next!
I hope some day to see a competition where athletes are set a series of challenges, weightlifting, sprinting, climbing, jumping... The winner would be decided by who had the best culmulative score. He would have the most perfect physique in terms of performance. Like Martin Luther King, I have a dream, that someday there will be more ‘Power Quotient’ trainers, and that they can be accepted into the Brotherhood of Iron. That’s how I train, see the Pics section to see how I’m doing physique-wise. In my Monkey Stunts section I try to show some of the other abilities I’ve tried to develop.
The training routine for this involves a lot of bodyweight exercises as well as weights work and CV. While I’m building my upper body and stripping away fat, I’m also trying to build the legs of a runner. To see more of my training advice check out the advice section (clever title I know). I want to jump high, run fast and lift heavy while all the time learning and developing my mind. I want to achieve my potential: ‘perfection within an imperfect framework’. I hope that my website inspires you to try the same. I call the quest for physical perfection ‘Project Superman’, because it sounds damn cool.

Not too ambitious then…

The Power Quotient

While the exact formulae for the power quotient is currently still in development here is a rough idea of how it will work. Round all answers up to 1dp.

To figure out your strength rating: Add together your 1 rep max (in kg) for Bench Press, Squat, Deadlift and Curl. Now divide that number by 40. I’m 120 bench, 160 squat, 200 deadlift and 60 curl. Therefore my overall score is 480 / 40 which is 12.

To figure out your speed rating: Take your best 100 metres time (seconds) and multiply it by 10, now subtract it from 20. My time is 12 seconds, so I’ve got 8 points. To figure out your endurance rating: This is how many metres you can run in 5 minutes. Divide this number by 100. Mine is 1,530. That gives me 15.

To figure out your agility/flexibility rating: This is the height you can hurdle (as in landing on your feet) in feet. Added to half the height you can kick (feet). Add this to how many pull ups you can do – arms fully extended and with no more than 2 seconds rest between each.
I can hurdle 3’10’’ and I can kick just above my head, 5’9’’. I can do 18 proper pull ups. That gives me 27. Then divide this number by three. That leaves me with 9.

To figure out your technique rating: Take your best three skills, be they academic (at least degree level), a sport or a discipline and then award yourself a point for every year that you’ve had lessons in each (as in you’d get a point for having a personal trainer, but not for training alone (if however you have read up a lot on the subject, as though you were getting lessons, you may score yourself a point).
I choose Psychology (2 years), Karate (4) and Bodybuilding (I only give myself 2 points as I never had a trainer) so I award myself 8 points.

To figure out your intelligence rating: This is simply your IQ / 10. You can find these tests online. Do at least 3 and take an average. Mine is 123, divided by ten then it’s 12.

So now it’s:
Strength x Speed x Endurance x Agility x Technique x Intelligence.
For me that’s:
12 x 8 x 15 x 9 x 8 x 12
So my overall PQ is 1,244,160

It sounds impressive but everyone’s will be very high. Though hopefully mines at least a little above average otherwise this work has all been in vain… E-mail me and let me know yours. I’m honestly very interested to know how I shape up – not many of my mates are willing to put up with this weirdness.

So that's it, 'project superman' and the 'power quotient'. A project to create supermen who are as fast as they are strong. Kind of like Neizche or Hitler but less morally dubious and without the genocide...