It occurred to me that there’s one group of people who are pretty athletic, that given their underground nature, probably don’t frequent the mainstream gyms, but clearly have great strength and flexibility. Parkour types (what’s the collective name for people who do Parkour??). Look and you will find and all that, so here ia a Parkour strength training video, from my very own Manchester no less.

Checkout the weighted squats, pistols, burpees, broad jumps, human flags for reps(!), deadlifts, L-sits, muscle ups, L-sit muscles ups(!!), plus a load of crazy made up body weight exercises. I like their attitude too, I have no doubt they’d do very well at Crossfit!

It just goes to show, no kit is no excuse not to exercise, and the things you can do out and about are only limited by your imagination.

I’ve really struggled with where to begin to describe the course, as there was just such a wealth of knowledge imparted by the training team, it’s almost too much to take in. We covered a vast array of material that draws on nearly a decade of experience in teaching children, from as young as 3 through to 17.

Of course there’s the material on what exercises are right for what age range. Including when to add weights, how much and in what increments. How much of a focus to put into form and how to get it across to the right ages for example, you can’t say to a 5 year old who you’re trying to teach the shoulder press to: heels under your shoulders, toes pointing out a bit, hands to shoulders, elbows in, mid section tight, now press, head forward, shoulders to ears etc. But you can tell them to jump up and down a few times, point their elbows at your knees, then push the sky up!

Breadth and depth are the 2 words that best describe the course. Of course we covered the 9 fundamental Crossfit movements: the shoulder press, push press, push jerk, air squat, front squat, thruster, deadlift, sumo deadlift high pull, and the medicine ball clean. But each one taught with a focus on the needs and limitations of three different age groups:

• Pre-school: 3 – 5 years
• Kids: 5 – 12
• Teens: 12 – 17

There were also talks on various topics which included subjects like: the origins and aims of Crossfit Kids; how to structure classes at the different age groups; safety, learning types; coaching cues; various science lectures e.g. about the brain’s development and its relationship to exercise, and scientific research into safety in sport, injury rates and bone density etc; how to fix common mistakes in all the exercises; teaching styles; general nutrition and how to educate the kids and deal with disagreements from parents; programming at various ages; how to motivate kids of all ages, with tricks and tips; trainer ratios; class sizes and even optimal kid placement in classes; a focus on sport specific athletes; internet safety and photography; health issues; business development etc etc etc!!!

You get the point. There was a ton of information which is absolutely invaluable and necessary for anyone who has an interest in teaching fitness to under 18s. I cannot recommend doing a Crossfit Kids certification course enough, it was amazing.

Probably the most amazing was seeing the fruit of Jeff and Mikki’s labours though, in the evidence provided by their 3 fine boys: Connor, Keegan and Duncan, and their friend David. I think you’d be hard pressed to find a group of stronger and fitter teenagers anywhere. These guys epitomise what Crossfit is capable of, in terms of building incredible athletes who can apply themselves to a broad range of physical endeavours. One anecdote about David probably sums it up nicely. It was a long story, so I’ll paraphrase:

David decided he wanted to run a sub 5 minute mile, and a marathon. Coach (Jeff) pointed out that whilst the mile was a good goal, the marathon was stupid, and as he’d already programmed his next 6 weeks of training and wasn’t going to change it. That very weekend, despite having not run more than 800m at any point in the previous 6 months, David decided to do it any, in fact he decided to kill both birds with one stone and ran the first mile of the marathon in 4:47 (or something like that, it was 4: something) and continued to run the rest of the marathon, finishing in 3 hours 29 mins (or similar). Pretty impressive without any marathon training whatsoever, but get this: on Tuesday he was back at the gym doing heavy squats, and continued to achieve personal best lifts at every session for the next 10 days!

Now that’s Crossfit and that’s the kind of fitness that years of Crossfit Kids training can achieve.

That claim is backed up by this piece of research done when France won the 1998 world cup. In which it says:

Instead of about 33 deaths a day in the five days before and after the match, 23 men died of a heart attack on match day.

So there was a 30% drop in heart attacks in men the day France won the World Cup. Which means there should be a similar reaction in Spain. 10 more Spanish men are alive (or at least escaped a life changing trip to the hospital) as a result of Spain’s win yesterday.

But, in true interweb science fashion, there’s another study which says it ain’t so. This study reports that:

In a study conducted during the 2006 World Cup in Germany, researchers reported that men are three times more likely to have heart attacks on days when their national football team is playing in a key match.

Although it should be noted that this study was done in Germany, and Germany didn’t win the 2006 World Cup (Italy did), so maybe football increases heart attacks throughout the group and knockout stages, but there’s a reduction on the final day, if you actually win.

So I guess the real question is, how many people did the World Cup competition kill?!?

The London Underground was a pain with a lots of line closures, e.g. the entire circle line was shut all weekend! Still I got there fine and got to spend quality time with my old uni mates. Just like old times. Awesome day and evening.

Off to Ladywell and stayed over at a friends for the night. Then Sunday morning, sporting a reasonable hangover, I popped into the Crossfit Level 1 cert at Crossfit Central London (see map) and met the very nice Brian who runs the place, and the very pregnant Rachel Steadman who’s travelled all the way down from Manchester on her “due week”!

Fought with the trains getting back to Wales. First the train broke and never arrived at Paddington. The replacement train was late. We were stopped for 15 minutes outside Slough for no good reason. The line was closed between Swindon and Bristol so we had to take a detour, which meant that we pulled into Bristol Parkway in one direction, the reversed out going the other way. I’ve never known a train to change direction mid journey!

Thankful the land lady recorded the Grand Prix for me, which I watched whilst doing my ironing (rock and roll, lol!). Nothing like a bit of rain to spice up a motor race. It was a great race. And I’ve ended the day by relisting my bike on eBay as the guy who won the last auction, never contacted me. He didn’t pay and I didn’t hear a peep from him! I’m still very annoyed by that. Why would you bid on a bike that you weren’t prepared to buy? It’s not like he got carried away as his first bid was the winning bid. Anyway, it’s back on again now, so hopefully will do better the second time round.

Anyway, I thought I’d repeat the test 3 years on and see what it is now. Here are the results with the bits I’m missing out on apparently:

Lifestyle

+ 0.5 Minimizing or cutting out your caffeinated coffee consumption completely could provide you with about half a year more in life expectancy

+ 2.0 If it is ok with your doctor, taking an 81 mg aspirin every day improves your hear and brain health and could help you delay or escape a heart attack or stroke. Taking an aspirin each day, perferably in the evening, could add 2 years to your life expectancy.

+ 1.0 There is a clear link between the inflammation of gum disease and heart disease. Do a good job of flossing daily and you could add a year to your life expectancy.

Nutrition

+ 3.0 Red meat is the primary source of potentially life-shortening iron. Cutting back your read meat consumption to 1-2 days per week or less could add 3 years to your life expectancy

+ 2.0 Increasing your exercise regimen to 5 days a week could add 1 year, to 6 or 7 days a week could add 2 years to your life expectancy

Medical

+ 1.0 Examining yourself for cancer could add a year to your life expectancy

+ 0.5 Being in touch with your health care provider annually is very important to your strategy to screen for and prevent illness. Getting the appropriate blood tests on a regular basis could add a half a year

+ 0.5 Getting your blood sugar checked could add half a year to your life expectancy

There are certainly some things I don’t agree with there, like taking the aspirin. Check yours out and post back here what it is: http://calculator.livingto100.com/

Sadly I only got the first half as the video camera died half way through, grrrr.

I was expecting to be lifting against Anthony (Tony) Down, from the Empire Club in Bristol, but it turned out that he came in overweight for the 77kg category at 78kg, which left me lifting all on my own. (I weighed in comfortably under at 75.9 kg.) All I needed to do was get a total and I was home and dry. To be clear then, here are the relevant rules:

1. To qualify for to be able to compete, you must lift the qualifying total in a BWLA officiated (3 judge panel) competition in the previous 12 months. I did this when I lifted a 165kg total in the Northern Masters Weightlifting Competition in 2009, which is the qualifying standard for Mens Group 1 (35-39) in the 77kg body weight category.
2. On the day then, you must open within 15kg of the qualifying total, so I had to open with a minimum of 150kg.  I opted for easy openers of 65 Snatch and 90kg Clean & Jerk.  I could/should have opened 5kg higher on each (70 and 95) which was my plan had I been facing Tony, but there was no point risking it.  Especially after my recent shambolic training performances.
3. You need to get at least one Snatch and at least one Clean and Jerk to make a total.

That’s it, all I needed to do was get my openers and I was the winner.  Sadly I started the video camera too early and it ran out of juice (I may try to send it back as a full charge only lasted 70 minutes!) so I only got a video of the snatches, which I may upload at some point.  I’ve pondered whether this default win detracts from the occasion? But the way I see it, it means I actually won it back when I lifted 165 at the Northern Open, as I was the only person (apart from Tony) who made the qualifying weight, I just didn’t know it yet!

The snatches went very well and I easily power snatched the 65, then the 70 and finally did a full squat snatch (though had to chase it across the platform!) for 75. Which considering my body weight of 75.9, was less than a bag of sugar away from a body weight snatch. To be honest, now with hindsight, I regret not opening at 70 as I’d originally planned, as I reckon there was a snatch PB in the offing (current PB is 77).

C&Js didn’t go quite so well.  The 90kg opener was trivial, but then I made a mistake and jumped straight to 100kg.  It seemed like a good idea at the time, 100kg is an =PB lift for me, and 95 meant nothing so going for it seemed the right thing to do.  In reality, the 10kg / 11% jump in weight caught me off guard and I dropped both my 100kg attempts.  Note to self: 5kg increments only in future.

So I finished with a 165 total (70 + 90).  But I suppose the real question is, how would I have done if I’d been facing Tony? Tony it turns out is a very nice fella.  Well of course he is, he’s a 5 year Crossfitter!  We shared a warm up platform and generally encouraged each other throughout.  It is hard to say what would have happened as it turns out that his personal best total of 177 is exactly the same as mine!

Tony got a 70kg Snatch and 100kg C&J, and he was competing against a Scotsman in a close run race, so on the face of it, he would have beaten me.  However had we been competing, I would have started at 70 snatch, which I got, as I got the 75 and reckon I would have got a new PB of 78.  Similarly I’d have started at 95 C&J which should not have been a problem, and I reckon the smaller 5kg increment would have seen at least one of my 100kg lifts come off which I’ve got several times before, giving a 178 total.  But then, maybe Tony would have lifted differently if he was against me?  Who can know, it’s all academic.

I do know several things though. 3.5 years ago I was a fat couch potato who hadn’t done a jot of exercise for 15 years and now I’m British Champion at an official Olympic sport. How does that happen?!? Here’s how, and I owe a debt of gratitude to all involved:

1. I decided to change my life, but I didn’t know how.
2. My mate Ian Sturrock put me onto Crossfit.
3. Mark Beck and Karl Steadman opened Crossfit Manchester and filled it with a great bunch of supportive people.
4. They got me on the Zone Diet which has morphed into more of a Paleo Zone.
5. Mark especially has coached my weightlifting form over the last 3 years and always selflessly gives his time to coach me when I’m at a competition, and generally be helper extraordinaire. I am very grateful and would definitely not have done it without his help and support.

So what’s next? I think I’m going to take some time off the weightlifting focus and get back to more regular Crossfit for a while.  Crossfit is a whole load of fun, dropping snatch after snatch whilst training on your own (when I’m away from home) is not.  As a result, I’ve left the gym I go to in Cardiff: Aspire Fitness, especially as my contract should be finishing up shortly.  They’re a nice bunch down there, and I’m sorry to leave them.

There are 2 things to aim for I think, one is the European Masters Championships.  I need a 182 qualifying total so need to get my snatch up to 80 and clean and jerks up to 102.  But it irks me that both the 2 biggest Masters competitions of the year: the British Masters and the Northern Masters, are outside the qualifying window for qualification.  That’s bad planning!  Also there’s the simple fact, that if I wait a couple of years till I’m in the 40-44 category, the qualifying total comes down to 172, which is much more doable, lol!

The second thing is the the English Indoor Rowing Championships (EIRC), which I’ve had my eye on for a couple of years, but always chosen the weightlifting in preference, as often they are both on the same weekend. I’ve got my eye on the 500m title, which if I can make the 75kg lightweight category, I could win easily. Judging by this years numbers my personal best is 7 seconds faster than the 1st place time! So I need to be good this Christmas and not pile on the pounds if I’m going to make 75kg by 3rd week in Feb.

Anyway, it was an exciting weekend and I’m currently very chuffed.  I’m sure the feeling won’t last long.

A set of ten one-minute sprints on an exercise bike three times a week holds the same benefits as ten hours of ‘conventional’ distance cycling.

High-intensity exercise at 95 per cent of your maximum heart rate is an efficient way of avoiding heart disease, obesity and stroke, say researchers at McMaster University in Canada.

Like Tabata training, 1 minute intervals with some (unspecified) rest is a wicked way to get your heart rate up and get maximum effort out (“wicked” here is not meant in the common vernacular to mean “cool”, it really is wicked!).

People look at me funny when I say a typical Crossfit workout is in the 10-15 minute range, more exceptionally in the 5-25 minute range, and that’s your workout for the day done. When I bought some new trainers, one of my colleagues asked me how far I run. “Usually 400m,” I said, “as part of a circuit type workout.” He admitted that at the pace he runs, he could plod on for hours.

The point is that getting fit doesn’t mean you need to spend hours at the gym. 10-15 minute, high intensity workouts are much more efficacious than long torturous sessions, and a lot more fun too. Don’t believe me, believe the scientists at McMaster University in Canada instead, they said so!

So this weekend, with 2 sessions back at Crossfit Manchester, I desperately needed the experienced eye of my Crossfit Coach Mark Beck to sort out what on earth was going wrong. First the result:

Friday: 2 out of 3 snatches at 70kg successful.
Saturday: 3 out of 3 snatches at 70kg successful!
(Plus I did the daily Crossfit Manchester WODs to follow, of course.)

To say I’m pleased and relieved is an understatement. In fact, I’m looking forward to the possibility of having a good crack at a new PB come competition day. Current PB is 77kg, so opening at 70 looks achievable, giving 2nd and 3rd lifts of 75 and 78 if all goes well.

What was the magic ingredient? Simply finishing the pull. It’s probably one of the hardest things to get right in the snatch: when to stop pulling up on the bar and when to start dropping your body under the bar. Clearly I’ve been dropping down too soon and Mark’s guidance to make sure I properly come up on the balls of my feet, actually feeling the weight there, definitely made the difference.

Simple huh? The point is, that even if you workout on your own, it’s worth making the effort to get to your closest Crossfit Affiliate, at least once a month say, just to get that bit of expert coaching that can work wonders to your form.