Feel Good Fitness Grantham A year In the Making | Daniel Marshall Adventures

In this blog post you will get to understand why Feel Good Fitness has changed my life, why the business is so good and how i went from being really weak, to making a life for myself (:

Also the pictures in this post is a collection from images the gym staff took, England's Finest photography and some of my own took by my friends and edited by me, links will be at the end of this post (:

Its truly amazing how fast a year can fly by but more importantly how much your life can change in that time !!!!!!!

When i left school, which was In Nottingham i was 18, I went to a local leisure center  and i became super active, doing football, badminton and basketball every week, after a few months i started to fit gym in once a week as well.

Although i went to the gym, to be honest i never really put a lot of effort into it and half the time did not know what i was doing, so i stopped going.

this is me when i was 19, trying to act cool and a time when i first started wearing jeans lol

When i was 20 I moved to Grantham, over time i cut down a lot of sports, going for walks and i think i only ever went to a gym 3 times over the course of 5 years !!!!!

I became very weak, which even i laugh at this because i struggled to carry very light weight shopping, my stamina was poor, walking over a hour somewhere made me feel drained, hard to breathe, overall my physical condition needed to change so that is what i did when i joined Feel Good fitness In September 2016, The place being located in the George center In Grantham



A few weeks before I joined I had just started on a Tennis Project at Grantham Tennis club,  It was when i was walking through town to get there i noticed a flyer for the gym advertising a discount membership for 12.99 a month !!!!

I went for a introduction to sort paper work out but to also get a feel for the gym and how the equipment worked.

At this point in my life i had no friends, i was very anxious to workout with others being there and for about a month i only used a few machines as i kept forgetting how to use them, and did not want to be a burden on the staff.
In that month i remember mostly doing cardio, and oddly enough the treadmill which i hated in the past due to my feet not moving in the right way,  i somehow managed to get on with it and loved using it.

After a few months of Joining i was noticing a very small difference with the strength in my arms and the cardio as well as tennis was really helping with my speed and stamina.

I decided that in order to make the most out of my membership but also make the most of going to gym to improve was to find someone who also went there and could help me.
After searching for nearly a month I managed to find someone who to this today is not only my friend but my best friend (:  the incredible Lee Symons

In December my new partner in crime, mentioned he was just starting a new workout pattern that he wanted to get used to for a few weeks and then i would be ok to join him (:

So That is what i did at the very start of 2017, mince pies ate, indulging myself over, this  meant putting on weight, so as well as burning it off it was time to focus what mattered which was turning my life around (:

Of course with never sticking to a workout plan because i did not use much equipment, i was not expecting such a long and painful session.
me and lee got on well from the get go, talking about Video games a lot haha and just having fun while he was helping me get to grips with holding things. For the first few times of training using the bench press, max rack and the Cable Machine i started off with no weight as, i have a issue where quite a lot my body does not want to do what my brain is telling it, i can be shown how to do something and understand really well but come to do the thing i need to do and suddenly my body forgets how to.

After a few weeks of slowly starting to add weights on and using other equipment, the muscles started to show and i felt stronger as you can see via the picture below which was towards the end of January 2017
just from one month of working out with lee i could already feel the difference in being able to carry more shopping, i would go home in pain after the session but often still feeling pumped wanting to do more physical activities.

Then i had to have a week off due to a massive pain down my shoulder this is called a tear in your muscles. This is a normal thing as your body is trying to cope with the added weight and also using parts of your body that are weaker or you do not use as much, it will tear and hurt and then re build for it to become stronger (:

In February saw Helen take over as manager for the place and with me now focusing on trying to become stronger but also build my self confidence up, i decided to try and talk to more people around the gym inc the staff who now i have really bonded with and always keep pushing me to achieve more but to also create some amazing experiences that i can look back on.

which i will go into detail more later on !!!

At this point i was going to gym around 3-4 times a week, with having the off day some weeks due to starting a mini course learning about photography at Grantham College.

I had also Joined The tennis club which meant that some days going to the gym in the evening i was pushing less then what i normally do.
If you think it hurts when pushing up weights then try as much as possible to never have a week off as you find it will take a few sessions to be able to lift the same amount of weight again !!!

You know you have a awesome friend who can see you really struggling and can see your trying and wants to help out.
My grip has never been great, so when i start using the Lat pull down on very low weight i think around 20-30 it was literary ripping into my hands, i would get these massive lumps at the bottom of my fingers which would take nearly a week to heal.



As you can see from the picture above my friend brought me gloves and i tell you what it shows when you take away the pain how much more you can lift, I returned to the Lap pull downs a few weeks later and was now pushing 40-45kg


This then helped with using the max Rack to do shrugs and swats and oh boy was it a laugh trying to train my body to do them.

next to the max rack you have weight bags as you can  see from the image above that are  different amounts in weights.
My friend suggested since i could not do swats on the max rack to try with these.
Lets just say i spent more time laughing with my friend because i could not do it.
Another idea was to train my body to swat by having a bench behind me so when i get to the bottom of the swat i can get my body to be straight again to push the weight back up.
Over time this worked and now i can do swats no problem (:



Often if the staff are doing there best to help and have a laugh with you, they are working hard on their own training, which makes working out just a lot less painful because you can relax and just talk about your day but also you have targets to aim for because in your head your like well if the staff can push hard and get results then so can i !!!

In march I was completely overwhelmed, One day while i was working out with Lee, Kinga who you can see in the picture above, came over and said we all think you have done an amazing job to be where you are now, you train hard and that is what we like to see, so here is your very own  My Zone belt !!!!
I can tell you that this belt has changed my life, made me break records and really give me strength that i did not know, all this from a belt, how!!! ???  well i explain a bit about it right now and later on (:



 When you put it on it will bleep to say its on, you cant really see it but behind me in the picture is a live board, while you workout you can see how well your pushing.

Its not just to use while at the gym, if you download the app, you can use it on the go (:
so once you have done a session, you will get a email letting you know your results, or you can sign into the website to check there as well.

As you can see from the picture above this was the results of using the belt for the first time, i did a bit of cardio but mostly the session was using weights.

you will find that your overall effort is not something to really worry about unless your doing a lot of cardio, Its common sense that if your not running that your average will be low.

while you workout you will see your percentage go up and down depending how hard your pushing, they are even  colored sections to show you, for example red being between 90 percent and 100, yellow being between 80-90 and so on.

So as well as working out, there are often challenges on the wall each month with the winner getting a prize (:

The gym had just got a new set of equipment called watt bikes, and the challenge of the month was who could get the fastest speed in just 6 seconds,

I challenged my friend to it who aced it while i was struggling to get my feet to stay in the pedals and did not do great.

I do not have a picture of me doing the challenge so here is a picture of my friend working out from around 5 months a go.


I have a annoying habit that i love taking photos, even of myself but if someone else wants to take my picture i get all shy and try to escape haha, i never know how to pose, yet i am such a poser when taking pictures of myself, odd that isn't it (:



I noticed a post that the gym had posted on social media about a Watt bike class as every week they have different classes on, from doing workouts with weights, circuits and much more.

A lovely happy bunch after one of the classes (:


The session was based using the belt to track what zone you had to be in, so in a 30 Minute session on a selected workout you would be given around 2-3 minutes to warm up on the bike, and then aiming to hit the yellow and red sections, each workout session being different as some can be your in the red for 2 minutes, then yellow, now to black which is slow down and recover and then back up to yellow etc.
The first few times of using the bikes i hated, i was struggling to hit the red zone, i would leave before the session had ended due to the seat hurting my bum haha.
as with most things, you just have to wear it in and get used to it, and soon became addicted to going on even more watt bikes classes.

One day while i was working out by myself i noticed England's finest photography taking photos of the gym, and i have to say came out with incredible results as seen above
so a few weeks later i had a chat with Helen as i wanted to take some of my own, this was good timing as they was about to create leaflets with a limited time offer of a discounted price to join.

Helen took most of the pictures and then i edited them, and i love how this photo turned out, which looked even better when it was on the leaflet (:

This was the result of the first time i did just the watt bike and nothing else my stats were not great but hey what do you expect when your not used to it haha


Another issue i had which was funny at the time was the using the dip assist Machine


as seen in the picture you have a seat where you grab onto the handles above put your knees on the seat, and use your body to push down and back to the top,
I believe with this machine the weights are reversed so the lower the weight the more it adds on (;
It was on 60 and i kept getting stuck at the bottom not being able to have the strength to push back up.
It caused a lot of pain, because i could not use it, i gave up trying.
That was until months of pushing my weights up i decided to give it another go and did it with easy and now i push with the weight sometimes at 45-50 (:

Before i carry on, toward the end of the post i will be showing you a comparison of what my weights were when i first started using machines to what i can push now (:

Now that i was used to pushing my own weight, i decided to take on another of the gyms monthly challenges

https://www.facebook.com/FeelgoodGrantham/videos/10155137804165569/ 

This was called hang tough, and yes as you can see from the video link above,if you copy that into your web browser you can see me and other in action (:  i still was using gloves at that point as the more weight i was lifting the more it would hurt my hands.

I did not do to bad but again first time doing it and its more a brain game then anything, trying to push your pain barrier up to keep hanging on !!!


The winner got some fitness scales as seen in the picture above as no i dont believe it was the staff that won them haha this picture was mainly a post advertising the challenge.

Again i had to have another week off  training as this time i had recently Joined Grantham Running club, and with doing tennis, running and gym, i had pulled something all done one leg.
The harder you train you will always have that risk factor as well, like a few days a go on twitter it was mentioning about Andy Murray having to take time off to rest, we all do it our body can not survive everything we throw at it !!!

My Favorite saying is what breaks us only makes us stronger and time after time i prove that with beating targets.



I think around July time I decided to come up with a silly rap song as i love making music, about its all about that fitness and the protein (:
When you walk into the gym they have a wonderful display of proteins, shakes, protein bars in all kinds of very yummy flavors. I think the whole time i have been at the gym, i have only brought one thing, whoops !!! For me i do eat to much junk food and chocolate, what can i say i have a extreme case of a sweet tooth (:
I can lift a fair bit of weight but i know if i sorted my diet out and had more protein in my system that i would be able to recover faster and build more muscle but hey that is just me haha.
I dont go to get a six pack or get ripped as the saying goes, but just so i can have more strength and become faster, which as i carry on writing you will see that !!!

Thanks to everyone helping me gain more confidence i was now starting to create some kind of routine to my week to fit everything in, this meant  some days i trained by myself.

I am now able to push more weight on my own then when i first started but i am still unable to push as hard as when i am training with my friends, its amazing how much more weight or even more reps you can push when you have a spotter but more importantly someone that knows you can push more with that little encouragement (:

Speaking of friends, in the last few months i have managed to make even more a lovely chap by the name of Adam who can be cruel to be kind, again doing different workouts to what lee was doing.
like with everything in life we all train in different ways and its nice to mix things up every now and then event if your friends are trying to kill you haha.
when going to the gym, its now a whole different experience i have trained with a few different people, but more then training its creating those awesome bonds that when you open the door to enter the gym, people want to chat to you, which is the best feeling in the world !!!

Its the fun memories that you cherish the most, and these next ones will never be forgotten !!!

Thats right its challenge time once again, this time being how fast can you get to 500 meters with the rowing machine, competition only fuels my desire to do well so of course i challenged my friend again (:

Its show you have a good connection with the staff when only the one and only Helen wanted to also join in, and well i think she did not expect me and lee to push so hard, i think the picture speaks how she felt at the end haha !!!
if you would like to see a small clip of us in action then copy this link (:
https://www.instagram.com/p/BWIqq1CBx_b/?taken-by=granthamfeelgood

If you think the good times stop there you will be mistaken !!!!
as it was time for round 2 to aim to beat lee with him again being faster then me even though he says he hates the rowing, seem to do a pretty fast pace lee !!!!!
what happened in round 2 got me and Kinga laughing so much, she was keeping track of time and well keep tracking off lee from taking off into space (:
as soon as we started his machine was moving so much, what did you eat that day buddy (: so poor kinga how to hold the bottom of it to keep it still and even then it was moving.
I could not stop laughing and watching what was going off that i completely fell off mine
I had one leg on the seat my body all lob sided and could not move, i felt so embarrassed, i just laughed my socks off, got back on and we all rest and restarted, yet again it started moving, and i just did not have the patience to focus on my own machine because of still gigging, that is how you create memories !!!!!

Continuing  on what makes a gym more then a gym is the nice surprises staff give to each other.
It was Kinga's  Birthday and while being there to train, Helen and other staff was hiding a cake and getting things ready, music went off, happy birthday song came on and out came the most yummy and cool cake i have ever seen, its just nice to see that the staff look after each other in style (:

Getting back to the weights, and slowly coming to a end of this blog as i could write and write just so many good times and memories (:

Training with Adam one day and man did i feel it the next day, one of the workouts was to lift out a high weight and then without no rest, keeping dropping the weights down and down.

You would think well that sounds easy as your lifting a lot less, if you think its easy your doing something wrong haha.

I can not really explain what it does to your body, but suddenly because you done lets say 10 reps at a high weight you have given everything you got, and although the first 3-4 reps of the low weight may be so easy, you then suddenly get a lot of pain and just can not push its madness !!!

Now we are in the last few weeks of August i knew i wanted to write this post but to also have awesome pictures of me working out to show, but also again to create memories

I do not know if its mainly a male trait but whenever there is a need to showcase what i can do i push even harder so it can show in the pictures haha, i got the lovely Adam and lee to take pictures with my camera and then i went through and edited them, and i am over the moon how they turned out (:

Here is a few pictures of my friends since they was helping out i wanted to catch them hard at work (:



Both of my friends also push each other, and i egg them on as well its just a bit of fun to make it hurt a lot less !!!

 

 As i was pushing so hard with everything i again pulled something on my arm, so i went into the gym after playing tennis to have a word with Sam, who is a personal trainer, but works on physical therapy, often creating videos on tips how to help ease pain on areas, he also helps with dieting as well. he showed me some different stretches with a kind of band thing to work on pulling the top of my chest and my shoulders so what ever the pain was it would help it go away (:



It shows how much more i can keep going when i beat record after record every week in the watt bike class

As i mentioned way above yes this post has been that long i am so sorry lol, i like to aim to always improve, the week before September started i managed to reach a peak heart rate of 188 and reached 100 percent in the zone for the first time ever.
On 6th September it was my birthday i chose to spend it doing what i loved which was playing tennis, i really enjoyed myself, had a nice rest and a meal and then off it was for the watt bike class.

As i was waiting to start the class i knew kinga was up to something by the way she acted and talked haha, no one can ever surprise me when it comes to giving me something, ok they might surprise me with what it is but i also know when something is going off (:

I was given a paper with me using the watt bikes, with happy birthday from the team !!!
to some that may seem small but its the little things that you often appreciate more and of course i loved it, the surprises did not stop there though.

One of things i love while i am at the gym and even more say when doing the classes is the killer selection of music, because i love making music and listen to it way to much, it always puts me in the mood and i always achieve higher results working out to music !!!
so when a killer remix of a dance version of happy birthday comes on and Kinga mentioned it was my birthday i tried to hide the blushing haha and just felt even more pumped.

 

yes you are seeing that right 190 heart rate !!!!!!!  i was on fire i loved the class so much i only went and booked to go again the next day as well, i not only reached 190 again but 2 times and 100 percent 3 times, although after ever class it takes nearly half a hour for the adrenaline in my system to go, which often leaves me feeling dizzy and hardly talking but that is what happens when you have the drive to keep pushing and wanting to aim higher and higher.
Kinga is tough on me just like my friends but its the right kind of tough, with working out, the battle is mostly in your brain, your body is so strong and until you get your mind on the same track you will never be able to get results, so because of them its how i have managed to change my life in just the space of a year !!!!! its madness how fast it goes but how much you grow as a person in confidence without even knowing it.

  

This machine oh boy its called a peck deck you can do many different things on it and it really pulls on your shoulders, another one i hated when first using it but now i challenge myself to put the weight up again and again (:

Oh gosh i suppose i better wrap things up, with the biggest thank you in the world to everyone at the gym, who has helped me, people say Grantham is a rubbish place, i say it may be small but it has the nicest people in the world and its because of that why my life is just that great !!!
Even though i was super active when i left school, i was never strong, now i am even more active then i was then and i have the strength to match !!!!!

It may not be a 24 hour gym like a lot of gyms now days but it does not need to be, i feel the bigger a company tries to be or have tons of outlets in different places to me it loses what matters which is the experience of making friends and having a blast while getting stronger !!!!

I hope this blog understands that results will not come straight away but find the right gym, the right people and a willingness to do great and your at a winner (:
Below will be a list of where i started on different weights to where i am now i will not be putting everything down because there a lot to list, this then will be followed by social links to the gym, and others bit, again thank you for reading !!!!!!

• Bicep curl started on 10kg can push to 60 on my own and 90kg with friends
• plate loaded shoulder  press started recently and can do 15kg
• seated row started on 15kg can now do 60 on my own and when pushed can reach 105kg
• chest press started on 15kg on own can do 45kg and when pushed do 60kg
• cable machine started on no weight due to my arms not keeping straight and now can do 20kg i only do this with someone is there
•  max rack, shrugs started on 5kg now can do 20kg, i do not use the max rack on my own.
• max rack swats started on nothing, now can do 15kg  
• lat pulled down was the thing that ripped my hands, now i do not even use my gloves for anything and can lift 60kg on my own, when pushed 90kg
• seated leg press started on 75 on my own and when pushed can do 155
• leg extensions hurt a lot, started on 30kg and now push 90kg on my own, when pushed 120kg
• dumbbells doing what i call a eagle stretching your arms out and back, started on 2.5kg on my own can do 7.5kg and when pushed 10kg 
• plate loaded lap down can do 40kg with mates as started recently

As you can see my weights have increased a lot and that is not even the full list of the workouts i do.

Feel good Fitness Social Links !!!
https://www.facebook.com/FeelgoodGrantham/
https://www.instagram.com/granthamfeelgood/



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Ramblings of a mad man #2 | Daniel Marshall Adventures

That is right its time to get more of my chest about my life !!!

Like i said on the last one, to me even if this reaches just one person who understands and can help or even what i somehow say in this helps someone then its all good, i just like being able to be open, maybe i am to open that people do not want to hear or care but oh well that is life (:

So since i wrote the last ramblings a lot has changed in my life and some things are the same.
Lets start off with the positive things shall we (:

One of the things i have been working so hard on is getting faster, getting more stamina and stronger, in fact it will be a year in just over a week since i joined a gym, and i shall be writing a blog post about that fairly soon so keep a eye on it !!!

doing so much physical actives has really open many doors in my life, and since the break up with my ex at the start of 2016, i feel that i have become a much better person.

I often find myself sometimes a lost of a way to explain things which means i may often say examples of something i have watched in order to get a point across.
I used to be told i was being stupid but hey if that is how i best explain things then i will keep doing it silly or not (:

In the last week i have been super hooked on the flash, the modern take of it.
in fact the last few days i finished all of season 2... whoops (:

In that it kind of gave me even more new found strength and hidden messages that again hit my brain and made me think about my own life.

No matter how much i wish i could change the events that happened  in my life, that often makes me think of the past makes me upset, it is that what makes me want to get faster and stronger.
Yes i miss the love of my life, if it was not for the case of being together for nearly 5 years then i would of got over it quicker but i choose to throw my life away and i live with that everyday knowing so.
That said, everything happens for a reason, its made me open my eyes in the world around us, its made me understand about myself, my issues my problems, where i need to improve and to build my life from having nothing to have things that i can call my own, my own actions.

I may have been in love, but that seemed to be all my life was all about, i had no friends, i was not apart of a community, and i was not physically fit, i let my life slip away because love was everything to me.

So yeah to maybe a lot of people i am just a weirdo, a creep etc, sitting around in places using internet, looking awarked, i may seem like a mad man from the way i act or the things i post about, but that is me and i would not change myself for anyone.

It has been such a bizarre path in life that seems to be getting more crazier in good ways and bad.

From going down the route of wanting to start a business up which i never had plans for in my life, to it not going the way i wanted it to.
To feeling so depressed in 2016 i would just go for walks taking photography and learning.
then that one moment in life i decide to put my skills to the test and help a local cause around town, kick started my life in so many directions.

So that is what i have been doing with more and more paths opening in my life.
I got the chance to network with a local music artist, on a wonderful day out, I have always dreamed meeting famous people, and never knew we had that in Grantham, its like i do what i do because i love being creative while helping out, i do not do anything special like a lot of photographers, video makers in the area and yet people have believed in me and given me chances in life i could only dream off.

Over the past 3 weeks i have had no major mental health problems.
there have been some events that have gone off like having a camera knocked out of my hand, which put me in a very depressed and anixous mood, i even had to get my friend to give me a lift to a shop to get some shopping that i was going to do later in the day anyway because, i was to shook up to leave the house.
I just put it past me as i knew i would be helping a local artist in the next day (:

I do not know why i have felt happy, i guess because of the good times that has been there.
Like working out with my friends at the gym has made me more happy, playing more tennis again has left me feeling good.
yet i do all those week by week anyway, i guess i cant complain lol.

Even the other night i had a very different experience at a local social meet i go to.
I dont know why but whenever there is a group of people even if its around 8 people, i never seem to be part of it, i say hi and a few other things but that is about it.
Whenever i am there though i seem to find that 1 person i can connect with, and spend most of the time talking to them and no one else.

Again i guess this is never a bad thing, some people are naturals at group talking and others find one person who they get on with.

It was a good night because like i have explained in so many post is we talked about mental health and counseling.
That this person i believe works with children with mental health problems but has also done work with adults as well.

I just talked like i had known that person for months, fully open, not just talking about mental health but my life, it was great that someone could understand what i was going through and could relate.

Saying that aniexty is something that can not really be seen, we all often wear a layer under us, we try to be confident because we do not want others putting us down, or sometimes not wanting to put what we are going through on others, not wanting to get help because of being scared to.

The outcome of the talk meant she has refereed me onto someone she knows who does consulting, working with people on many different issues in their life.
Since i am still waiting to be seen by the mental health services after waiting over 6 months since my last visit .

I am hoping that this will then open doors as i explained to the women who has refeered me that as well as my issues, i have exhausted all opitions in terms of getting help, with my dysprixa and dyslexic.

Which leads me onto what bad thoughts i am thinking off for my future.
I explained to the women about my housing suitation as well that i am still in a circle of temp housing, and i am worried that i will not have money to even go back into shared housing due to now making a life for myself.
in 2016 i had no gym membership, no tennis membership, no princess trust loan i am still paying back now, and of course no proper worries about internet.

so of course i could afford paying that more rent because i had no proper outgoings with being in the house 6 out of 7 days

I slowly started to bulid a life for myself but like with anything in life which i tried to not go by this for so long but then realised i was lieing to myself, which is money is key to do what you want in life.

Money is a huge factor in my life, because of what my hobbies are.
Anyone will know that if your hobby is anything media wise there is a price tag for it.

On top of that with my depression and aniexty my life sadly is my computer, my camera etc.
without them i would be lost, my life would mean nothing.

so when people say put money aside to secure a permanent place i can never do.
I have 30 pounds a month left after all bills have gone out.
When i say i have 64gb of internet to use and use it all people may go how????

Well for one i have no TV, and with no being social which again is never free even though people say talking is yet, but going for a meal out, even a drink is still a cost that people do not factor for.

For me when i am not out and about, doing physically sport, i want to relax and watch tv, so i pay for Netflix which means that uses data to stream the show.
on top of that people do not understand how much data uploading photography on a regular basis takes up.
prime example each photo i upload is around 30mb and on a typical month i upload over 200.
that is without factoring in having to upload on multiple social platforms of the same images.
so why do you not use public wifi ????
Cost is why !!!!

Nothing is ever free, we have a library  with free wifi which is cool yes but not when you want to upload things, with a photo taking 10 mins to upload just one photo??? i am not joking.

which then the rest of the options cost, going to a pub to get a drink, wrong answer, most pubs connect to the cloud which is just as slow as library, if you find a pub that does not use the cloud, again it is normally slow, fast for browsing not for uploading, this is of course not counting for downloading shows on netfliex to watch at home when my data is running low.

One place i use to sit which was free wifi and really fast, has now slowed down to a snail or you can pay like on a train for faster speeds.

Why do you have a limited data device ???
Because i am in temp housing i am not allowed to install internet, so the only other way is to by a portable internet device and use it as a tether to my computer.

So you can imagine on a day out doing photography and video, and the video takes over 2 hours to upload, on a really good speed, how much it can cost with buying 2-3 drinks a week just to use internet.

which of course causes me worrys about securing a home, because either way i lose.
i do all i do because it fights the depression, even what i do the depression comes and goes but doing what i love just makes it that little easier.
what is the point having a roof under my head, if i have to stop going to the gym, stop helping my local community, with media because then that will just make me back to how i was, and i would not leave the house again.

it also worrys me that i got the money from the princes trust to have what i have now, nothing lasts forever, and once my computer or camera stops working i could not do what i love doing anyway, with no way out all to fund to replace them.

That is why i try so hard to push myself to keep learning, improving so that even if its for a few years i can have great memories, instead of just living in a rut going round in circles.

I have been told by so many people not to worry about going forward in life but to focus on the here and now which i try to do a lot, i dont plan a lot of things, i just let each day comes and see how it goes. however when you can not get the help you need after battling for it for nearly 2 years it does worry you.

what also worrys me is not having the fight to come out of my comfort zone, i am trying so hard to try new things but again i find myself either leaving or just not bothering to go.

There has been open mic nights that even if i do not go to take part, it would be nice to see what talent there is but i just cant force myself to meet new people because its out of my comfort zone.
with being brought up on technology that is my down fall to life, to me after playing sport etc i would rather spend 3-4 hours watching shows, then going out and having a social life, sad i know.

Only now and then do i manage to force myself to go to things but there still is so much i am missing out on because of my own issues.

It worrys me that holding a camera or talking about what i love can make me the most confident person ever, but take that away, and i go into a bubble, i become shy, anixous, i back away from things. i have become stronger physically but i feel in some parts i have become a lot weaker mentally.

Yes i am now able to do more things and i am more stable mentally on more days but again in my own mind due to my actions i also feel, i am losing the ability to be myself around others.

When i was with my ex, i never really worried about people around me because my attention was on her, her family, what we was doing at the time etc.
Now that i have had to bulid my life up for the first time being on my own from a point of having no friends and family i did not want to talk, i have had to learn the skills needed to cope.

It amazes me how much strength i really have inside me till needing to be unlocked, i have already shown how much i can pour myself into playing tennis, into running, the gym, i have shown that depsite being super active, while i was at school and college, how much more active and stronger i am now then i was back then.

I just wish so to speak i did not need a push or someone to hold my hand in order to take steps out of my comfort zone, i which that events that are free, like the open mic, and other things around Grantham, i could just stroll in and enjoy the night , but i do not see that ever being me, i am a nerd, i love tv shows, i love being creative, i love what i do to much to tear myself away.

I guess in a lot of ways, i look for praise because i never really had it growing up. not that i have shut my family out for very good reasons, i have my friends to believe in me, which again until this year i never had.

I always push myself sometimes a little to hard because i want to prove to all the people that picked on me in my life, who looked down on me, who think i am stupid that i am not, i may to things differently, a lot slower, but it works.
A prime example is tennis, i must have one of the most strangiest playing styles ever, which i keep trying to improve on, because it works for me, as soon as i try to things the normal ish way i cant play.

Again i think this is down to the way things do not communite from my brain to my body, that over time i just got used to, trained it and adapted my own way of doing things.
Weather its tennis, pool, gym, golf, or bowling i have never done things the way they should but i guess that makes me the person i am and should embrace it (:

Overall i look at my new life, and ok i have achieved a lot from a bad break up, from a point that it took me 7 months to snap myself out of not wanting to live to the person i am now.

All i see is not trying hard enough, its frustrating when you create a project in this case a video for an event, you have so many cool creative ideas, and then you get to the editing software and you spend more time researching how to do and getting angry because, A, your having a lot of problems doing it and B, you know you need to get it edited Asap because the longer it takes for people to see, the less interest it will get.
if you been to a event the last thing you want is for the video of the day to be put up 2 weeks even more later, so as much as you would like to spend lots of time with different cools ideas, sometimes the basic has to do.

I see that although i cover events, it only seems to be once in a while not because there is nothing to cover, but because i am not creating a networking basis outside of social media.

i see that on days where i am depressed, nothing i do gets me out of it, which means i go to my covers and just binge watch show, instead of doing something to help my community out, or better yet be social !!!!

In all honestly i wish so many things in my life were either fixed or helped, i wish i could go to a place to use internet fast without having to pay for it, yes i know that does not exisit lol
i wish that just for once i could catch a break, weather that is getting help with my learning difficulties or with my mental health, but most of all having the courage to start up conversations with people instead of always waiting for someone to say hi to me.
People can say to you, you just got to force yourself to do these things, but i have tried so many times, and i can honestly say that is not me and never will be, i do not have that drive, that confidence to, and i have tried to accept who i am and accept that although i wanting things in my life, i have to just wait for them or be happy with what i have.


So when people say talking about your problems is bad, or people may think you as a strange person and not want to talk to you, ??? they are right, but what you have to do is push the people away who do not believe in you, who choose to talk behind your back, who does not understand what you go through, and who would rather laugh at you for who you are because they think they are better then you !!!!!!!
find the people that matter to you, and keep finding more and more people and eventually you will bulid a network of people that can help you when you feel down to pick you back up again !!!

Thank you for reading yet another blog about my ramblings, i call it of a mad man, because i think thats what a lot of people think of me, or of those who suffer, and just want to express how they feel (:

The next blog post i promise will be a happy one and about my progress at the gym (:


 























 

 

A Insight into Mine & CJ Hatt"s Life !!!! | Daniel Marshall Adventures

As you might know from reading my other blog posts, I have started Branching out my Photography into the music scene.

In doing so has meant that i have managed to connect with local artists in real life and on social media sites.

Since seeing CJ Hatt the first time at The Castle Gate In Grantham, I have fell in love with his music and personality, and from then on i got to get a insight more and more into the chaps life.

Last week which was the week commencing 14-08-17 CJ has asked me if i wanted to come along to 2 Gigs he had going off, and if i wanted to bring my camera with me to do what i do best Taking photography and producing a video.

So Sunday arrived and our Journey starting, as we drove off from Grantham, for CJ's First Gig which was at a festival in Peterborough called  randall rootz festival.
here is a small write up of what the Festival is about -
The Randall Rootz Festival was founded in 2007 in memory of Mark Randall - a passionate musician who was dedicated to supporting and promoting live music, organising events, and playing percussion.
We hope the Randall Rootz Festival will successfully continue the work Mark started and become a popular event on the festival calendar.you can read more about the festival from there website here - http://www.randallrootz.org



He explained about The Festival and how the chap who booked him, had never seen or heard his music before, and only booked CJ based on his reputation about what people said about his performances.

We got talking about a lot of things, events that he had been to, and little insights that unless you get a chance to talk to him for a while you would not know (:

CJ told me that because he had another event to go to straight after the festival that we need to park close, and sadly have no time to stuck around to talk to people, was the case of as soon as he finished get the gear packed away into the car and to make our way to the next event.

As we arrived it was really busy to park, we got there just after 1.30 PM and CJ had to be on at 2.30PM.




Now as a artist its not as simple as singing into a microphone or even strumming on a guitar and Job done, if you have events your going to that does not have a Pa System, speakers, lighting etc you have to buy it and take it with you to the event your going to.
I helped CJ get things from the car he needed, and we went into a section on the stage to put the equipment down, I noticed a really wonderful voice from Mark David Roberts and fell in love with his music. CJ showed me around the boat that was behind the stage which held a restaurant Upstairs i do believe and a bar downstairs. This is where we met the guy who booked CJ, and then off we went back to the stage.
I did not manage to take any pictures as i forgot to but i did manage to capture it on video, off benches and i think a tent towards the back of the festival, also there were these really odd stone seats which looked really cool, and you would expect them to be not great for sitting on but they were great !!!!



As you can see from the picture above of Mark David Roberts, playing whist CJ was talking to the sound guy about things, and i thought this would be a great shot to capture of them all (:

I noticed quite a few photographers, and did not want to miss out on the action of capturing the day as well, but with us being on a tight time i did not want to wander off to far in case CJ needed my help (:

Of course you have to make sure every time you go to a event to make sure the guitar and other bits of equipment are at the rights levels etc, before going on stage.



Choosing the right set list for each concert, gig, event you play is often the key to winning your fans hearts, one of the great things about music, is adding little tweaks to your voice, or to the instrument you are playing  to make certain bits of that track sound amazing.
This was the case with his latest single Floating which i will leave links at the end where you can buy it !!!!

On his vocals there was some reverb and oh boy did it sound so freaking awesome.
much like when you hear songs recorded in a studio its just making small difference to an already  talent and a great voice just that little more special, it was a powerful song, and i loved hearing it live !!!

I will also go into what difference it makes to your songs in different environments a little later on (:

I have in my mind what i want to create when it comes to putting the video Together of our adventure, inc looking into doing something with water or clouds when CJ sings Floating, but shall see when i start editing the video (:

I think CJ performed for about 40 Minutes and then we had to quickly get everything packed down and back in the car ready to travel to Stamford at the venue Mama Liz's

We had some more laughs in the car and one bit which i think was the most memorable insight into his life so far, was that he told me about His records he brought growing up, being brought by i think the owner of Oscars wine Bar In Grantham.  which he put them all along the wall !!!
So next time i go in there, which i am hoping is in a few weeks due to a big night being put on for the DJ which is leaving, i will have to have a look and see if i can see the records.


I had never been to Stamford, i think maybe ages a go i was in a car being drove by it but i cant remember haha.
So as we drove Through the town to get to Mama Liz's it was cool to see all the buildings in this cool stone type thing, yes i am not good with words or describing stuff lol.
I liked the shapes and designs off the buildings although i think i would go a bit nuts if i lived there as I love colour on Buildings way to much (:

The picture above was took from Google as I could not get a distant shot.
As we Arrived we made a few trips from the car with the gear to the spot where CJ was going to play this time with it being a restaurant, it did not have any speakers etc which you do not expect it to.

Gear inc, 2 big speakers, lots cables, Extensions, and much more !!!
Again my camera failed me in getting any good shots of the place, but it was a unique place with pictures of Artists that had performed at the place, Reptiles on the way and other cool stuff.



 He said to me in the car that at some places that he has been for a gig they have wanted some Irish and Caribbean songs which he struggles to play due to the syncopation between the beat and the vocals. he admitted himself that he judges his on work to a high standard and that he said i sounded awful because it was just so hard to sing to the tunes, i think when your very dedicated to what you do you will critique your own work because you wanna make sure when your booked to play the very best you can, it not only makes the owners and audience have a good time and give you good feedback but then can lead to word of mouth from people to land you other gigs !!!

While CJ was playing food for the people was being brought out and i was sat at a table with some people that had just got theirs and boy did it look and smell so good.
this was one of the menus i could find and i think they do other meals as well (:




You can see better quality images of my work at the links after this blog (:

While CJ was playing his set he made sure to ask for any song choices, and made sure to make jokes and communication to the audience, this then makes for a more Dynamic feel to the evening.

I am very bad at remembering details of things but halfway through his set, CJ was talking about how he got into music, and played a song from someone who Inspired him to learn to play.
You can really tell that every song CJ plays he plays with passion, his vocals are always outstanding, but on this one song it really went through my body, not from the guitar but his sheer powerful voice.
He mentioned to me after packing down that he really gave it his all, after singing and playing for a long time you know when your voice is at its best and he said to me that it felt right to play it.

I got the chance to hear Floating not once but twice in one day !!!
I loved the song but we both agreed that playing in different environments makes a huge difference to the way we hear music, we both agreed that although he played well, the way it sounded at the festival was so much better.
I mentioned to him about when i went to see him Busking in town, he was in a small archway In Grantham but the way the sound not only surrounded where he was but was able to boost it so that people at a far distance could hear it just as loud and it sounded perfection !!!

It really just amazes me even listing to music at home the differences from putting your phone into a cup and using that as a amp to make it louder, when your watching on your laptop in the kitchen how much louder it is to compared to watching it in your room !!! Sound really does confuse me sometimes haha ???



The whole time CJ was playing, I noticed some really cool shadows going off on the wall caused by the Led lights he carries around with him to most of the gigs he goes to.

This then caused some great photo chances to create some really cool stuff, sadly it did not quite go the way i wanted it to, but after posting it on Facebook CJ seemed to off liked it (:

So it was now time to finish and head back home or so i thought !!! MR CJ aka talk of the town haha.
When you love what you do, but also have always met people at other gigs or even people who have never heard you wants to speak to you, of course you stay to chat.

Overall  CJ must of chatted to people for over a hour, I enjoyed what was being said, but at that point i was tired lol, I love days out but never been one for managing anything over 5 hours.

As we was leaving a staff came over and mentioned that everyone loved him playing, which that is what you want to come away feeling that you did a great job (:

On the way home, we had lots of different talks, I picked up what someone was saying to CJ about what brand his speakers were, and that his dad brought them ages a go, in a shop for only 20 pounds, they were unbranded as well and sounded amazing.
A true statement was made by him saying you do not need the most expensive gear in the world to make you sound great, because if your out of tune, and cant play, the speakers will only make that worse haha, or something along those lines !!!

We got talking about sometimes how people just think what you do in life is easy for example CJ was saying that he wanted to learn a song and took him 3 weeks to learn.

Which then got me chatting about my line of work that some people think its just a click of the camera and that is it.



As i started to explain about the editing how frustrating it can be to sit through the images and even when you start editing them, you start doubting your shot and wanting to go onto another one which may of the same thing but caught the light better, or the way the person was moving etc.
CJ already knew this as he commented about it at the same time i did haha.
As you can see from the picture above, this was a picture i posted with a write up over on my website which i hardly update... doh !!!.

It went into the different settings you can use on photoshop i will link to the post at the end (:
I then went onto why i wanted to start my own business and the trouble i have with Video production.
How after a days shooting, the work is not over, you have to import them into the project, think of how the video project is going to be, sometimes you cant follow a pattern off well if i have 18 clips it makes sense to put them in the order taken ??? Not always.
It all depends how you want the outcome of the video, For example if your making a video with hardly any talking, and your adding music to it,then you have to think which clips go best with it.
On top of that if you want to make the video into something that will be loved and shared more you have to think about motion graphics, and , ahh i could go on all day why video production is one of the hardest things to do media wise !!!

Its the main reason i have decided to upload the photography first, write this and then i can just foucs on the video.

Overall the day went down like a charm, the man is the same person weather you bump into him in town, or see him live at a event (:

It was a privilege to have a insight into his life, but to also help throughout the day, meet new people, hear great artists, and now help out with what i am doing now !!!

I am just so glad i started branching out into the music scene because its given me chances i could never dream off and then to top of the great day, you have this legend Share my post commenting about the day and a reply which goes like this.

Check out this write up and amazing photos taken by my good buddy Daniel Marshall after our gig trip yesterday! Dan has an amazing eye for taking great photos so if you want any photography for your event/gig/party or even just promo shots for your act then give him a shout, he's just starting out so his fees are very low currently but his skills are worth way more and with him now being the official CJ Hatt photographer that should be reference enough!
I could not believe what i was seeing when i read this, to me i am still learning, my photography is not the best in the world but in my own opinion i think what makes me stand out and why people believe in my work, is i try to help my local community a lot, i know what i am doing and have the creative vision of what i want to try and achieve, doesnt mean it always comes true but its there for when it goes right, i then know not only how to do the media things but also how to get the content out there as well (:

So if you have never heard of CJ Hatt then please check him out, may i add he was only at Glastonbury this year !!! pure talent from our little but creative town of Grantham, which is in Lincolnshire (:

Thank you for reading, please feel free to share this, and if your a local artist looking for some media coverage then please feel free to get in touch

Quote of the day When it comes to gear and equipment, it's not about  size that matters If you don't hone your craft, the best kit in the world won't hide it.....

CJ Hatt links -
https://www.facebook.com/cjhattofficially
https://twitter.com/cjhattofficial
https://www.instagram.com/cjhattofficial/
https://itunes.apple.com/gb/album/floating-single/id1084007322

https://www.facebook.com/markdavid.roberts.14

My Social Media Links

https://www.facebook.com/dmpphotographyuk/

  https://twitter.com/DanMediaP

https://twitter.com/DMPWORLDMUSIC

https://twitter.com/DanielMVlogs

https://www.instagram.com/dmpadventures/

http://dannytheexplorer.tumblr.com/

http://dmpuk.weebly.com/