It has been just over a month since I returned from another training trip to Slovenia after spending 4 nights in Maribor.
This was my second trip to Slovenia after last years Combined Strength Group Immersion where we were based in Ljubljana and after last years experience, I was delighted when the opportunity to return presented itself.
This time myself, and a few others from the Combined Strength Group were meeting out on Maribor to spend more time with Marck Goran at The.Gym. We spent one day with Marck the previous year what an experience it was.
This left everyone looking for a return visit and those who missed it last year desperate to get over and experience The.Gym.
Most of the guys were heading to Maribor over the weekend (Fri-Mon) but due to the fact a good friend was getting married at the weekend and I was desperate not to miss out I headed over Tuesday to Saturday.
Tuesday was mainly spent travelling. An early flight from Glasgow to Stanstead, a few hours hanging about before the flight to Ljubljana. I met Andy McKenzie at the airport, the founder of the Combined Strength Group and one of the top coaches in the country. Someone who has helped me develop massively as a coach over the past few years. So although the flight was delayed (standard Easy Jet) it was good to catch up with Andy.
We eventually arrived in Ljubljana, sorted out the car hire before driving to Maribor. Slovenia is a beautiful country and the hour drive quickly passed with the awesome views.
Once we arrived at the Youth Hostel in Maribor we headed straight to The.Gym which was a short walk from the hostel.
Although this was my second visit to The.Gym, you still get that spine tingling feeling when you first walk through the door. It’s located on the top floor of a commercial property and is a massive space filled with a fantastic variety of equipment, racks, weights, gymnastic equipment, conditioning equipment – it has everything you would want and need in a gym.
When you enter The.Gym you know you are here to work hard.
We met Marck who had some clients in so we got a quick chat then got into our own training. As we had spent most of the day travelling, we just had a light session, lots of mobility and moving at a pretty low intensity.
Although we didn’t do much, the heat was pretty intense and I felt it straight away, I left Scotland and it was around 9 degrees, the temperature in the evening in Maribor was high 30’s. Scottish people are not built for this.
After a very sweaty mobility session we got some food and an early night before our first full day of training on the Wednesday.
We arrived at The.Gym in the morning and joined in a session with Marck and a few of the guys from the gym.
The first part of the workout was completing 100 Press Ups, each time you broke the set you were to hold a handstand for 20 seconds before picking up where you left off – these handstand holds were brutal when combined with the press ups. Next we done the same with Pendlay Rows – 100 reps with a handstand hold each time the set was broken.
From here we completed a circuit of DB chest Flyes, more Press Ups, Bench Press a deficit Deadlift and paused squats. The plan was to go heavy with squats and deadlifts in the evening so these were pretty light in the morning. Marck says he finds some lighter work on the morning benefits the heavy lifts in the evening. 
Once we completed this circuit we finished with a team ski relay, everyone took 15 second intervals until the 3k distance had been completed.
After the workout we headed to a local cafe for some much needed input, we just followed Marck’s recommendation of grilled chicken, grilled vegetables and the famous cake. Was great to be in the company of Marck and Andy, listening to their stories of training and picking up lots of pointers for my training, business and life lessons.
Myself and Andy headed back to the hostel where we ran through some business ideas and relaxed before the evening session where we would be joined by Robert, who was travelling by train from Germany.
The temperatures in Maribor was hitting 38 degrees so training in the morning and evening was a better option than the afternoons.
The evening session was some squats and deadlifts. We spent a lot of time discussing technique and it was massively beneficial learning from Andy and Marck on how to improve my squat, we also looked at some snatch grip deadlifts which I hadn’t much experience of.
No matter how long you have been a coach or a PT you should always be open to learning and improving. I was in the perfect company to do both.
We were half way through our session when Robert joined us, I had only met him once and didn’t realise that he was in his 50’s – the guy is in incredible shape for his age and was great to be spending a few days getting to know him better.
After our session, we headed across the river for some steak with Marck, Andy and Robert.
Thursday arrived and after a terrible sleep due to the heat, things were about to get a whole lot worse.
Marck had put together a workout for us titled ‘Morning Dynamite’…….
3 rounds of 30 Goblet squats, 20 Toes to Bar, Pull Ups (15s on 15s off for 4 rounds), 20 Leg Raises and 20 Axle Bar Bicep Curls – this was the warm up………
Once we survived the warm up, the workout was Airdyne Sprints and Burpee Pull Ups. Although it doesn’t sound much, the session got very messy very quickly and was probably the toughest workout I’ve done to date and I never even managed to complete it properly.
Once we managed to peel ourselves off the floor we headed back to the cafe for some more food.
I spent the afternoon out a walk with Robert, we went the total opposite direction we were meant to and didn’t find the city centre but was great getting to know Robert and learning of his story and his outlook on training and life. You would never believe Robert was in his 50’s and it goes to show you the benefits of keeping in shape should not be overlooked.
We returned to The.Gym for another session in the evening and we had a ‘pumpers’ session lined up. Some bodybuilding type of work, with a Marck Goran spin on it.
Press Ups, 15s on 15s off for 4 minutes, Curls in the same manner, then onto a complex of pushdowns, Dips and ‘Typewriters’ on the Gymnastic Parallel Bars the round was finished with core work with some extended planks. We completed 2 full rounds of this.
Unfortunately Marck couldn’t join us for food, but the rest of us grabbed some Mexican food and demolished some much needed calories as I had my Valhalla Workout in the morning as I was leaving on Saturday and missing the group Valhalla he had planned.
When the Vikings died in battle they went to Valhalla. Having previously completed Marck’s Squat Pyramid to Valhalla Workout I can relate. Marck had lined up a Valhalla group session for Saturday when the rest of the guys arrived, as I was missing this he didn’t want me missing out on the ‘experience’ – he’s kind like that…….
So Friday morning was my Valhalla, I headed early to the gym myself to get stuck into it and Marck did not disappoint with the session he had lined up.
Warm up – 20 rounds of, yes 20 rounds: 3 pull ups, 6 press ups, 9 Goblet squats, 12 knee raises on P Bars. The temperature was pretty intense so took my time easing my way through the warm up and getting a good chat with Marck.
Once I finished the warm up, I was ready to get stuck into the session which was 4 rounds of: 30 kcal Airdyne, 30 Bench Press (increasing by 10 reps each round), 50m Sled Push, 30 Ring Dips (taking 2 off each round), 20m Broad Jumps, 30 GHD Sit Ups (adding 10 reps each round), and finishing each round with an extended Plank hold.
Brutal – physically and mentally exhausting, but extremely rewarding when it was over.
Myself and Marck met up with Andy and Robert at the usual cafe for the usual food order. In the afternoon Andy took us into the beautiful city centre of Maribor where we took in the sights and stopped at a small cafe for some food and drinks. Maribor is a great city, very peaceful and quiet and would highly recommend giving it a visit.
Later that evening the rest of the group would join us, they had a day of travelling so it was another session of just moving around and doing some Bodyweight exercises, which I was glad of after this mornings effort.
With the gang all here we went to a got some Serbian food for dinner, which was brilliant – lots of meat for the gains! It was good to catch up with the other guys in the group, as I was leaving the next morning.
My journey home was a drive from Maribor to Ljubljana, a flight from Ljubljana to Manchester and a train from Manchester to Troon. A full day of travel and plenty time to reflect on a fantastic few days with some fantastic people.
One of the main things I’ve took from joining Combined Strength Group is that in order to learn and develop you need to invest in yourself. You have to be in the company of those who have more experience and that will help you improve your skill set. You cannot do this from reading books, scrolling through social media or watching YouTube videos.
It would have been easy to make excuses of why I couldn’t have made the trip out to Maribor, too expensive, awkward flight times, family & work commitments etc
As with everything in life, if something is important to you, you will find away – if not you will find an excuse.
A big thanks to Andy for organising this trip, Marck for hosting us again and my wife Louise for her continuos support when I head off for my training weekends.
Surrounding yourself with the right people will always serve you well. 
Coach Milligan 