Success Stories

With all the training that goes on down at the box and the high frequency we see our members every week its sometimes easy to forget the journey that some of them have been on.

We see them training hard and following our dietary advice, we programme our sessions to hit their fitness from all sides and we are always around to offer support via email, Facebook and in person at the box whenever they need it.

We have been doing this CrossFit thing for over 3 years now but you know what? It still amazes me when one of our members shows us old photos of themselves before they joined up. It shouldn't amaze me because I know what we do and the advice we give is the best advice they can listen too and follow and I know the CrossFit methodology irrefutably works. I've seen it with so many people over the years. But I still get that buzz of excitement when I see that absolute change in one of our guys or girls. I guess its why we do this job and why I wouldn't want to do anything else. 

Neil Farley joined us in August of last year (2012) after continual harassment from most of his friends and family who were already training with us! You know how it is if you do CrossFit. WODs, training and AMRAPs become your sole topic of conversation that you get to bore all your acquaintances with!

So he finally gave in and came down to check us out himself......

Neil at 98kg.

This 'before' photo was taken a few years earlier when Neil had decided enough was enough and had signed up for a 10km run. At this point he weighed 98kg. We cant take all of the credit for his weight loss as at this point he had started running and cycling to work. He says he joined a gym but like most big-chain gym memberships it hardly got used as he got bored and had no direction or guidance in the right way to train.

By the time he joined us he had already done a fantastic job of getting his weight down to 89kg but felt as though he needed more of a push as he wasn't seeing any more progress.

As well as training consistently with us at least 3 times a week, Neil also joined up to our regular Paleo challenges run by Plan P. These 30-day events are an introduction to the Paleo way of eating for our members. Provided is a full two-week recipe meal plan created by coach and chef extrodinaire Barney Gehlcken (who runs the kitchen at the fantastic Noble House Pub in Hove, East Sussex) and full shopping lists of things to buy and things not to buy. We also weigh and measure everybody in at the beginning so that we know exactly what progress they make during the 30 days.

It most definitely isn't easy, with the hardest part being 7-10 days in when the body is craving sugar and headaches and mood swings are common. However, after about 14 days the body starts to switch energy sources and you start to feel amazing. For more info on Plan P or the Paleo diet click on the links.

Neil had a fantastic success with his paleo and has kept it up ever since. It really does change the way you think about food and what you put into your mouth. Yes, of course there are still times for treats but on the whole most of our members who try it out end up sticking with it for the majority of their meals.

Neil at a sprightly 72.5kg this week.

Neil lost an impressive 5.5kg in weight and 3 inches from his waistline whilst on the challenge, taking him down to where he is at today......a fantastic 72.5kg.

The change from last August has been amazing to witness and be a part of and now Neil is fully in tune with the CrossFit way of life. He trains hard, takes our advice on board and is feeling a whole load better for it. Oh and yes, he does now talk about CrossFit all the time too.

If you would like more information on CrossFit, Paleo or Plan P and how we could help you out just give us a call or drop us a line. We're ready to help.

Lets see those photos again. Great work Neil, fantastic job!

Pound For Pound Competition - CrossFit Northampton

CrossFit Northampton...and this is only half of it!

On Saturday 15th June 2013 three intrepid CrossFitters from CrossFit Connect and two much loved spectators (thanks for the support Simon and Cerise!) took to the road to visit CrossFit Northampton, or Unit 22 as it is now known, to take part in the Pound For Pound CrossFit competition.

What set this comp apart from the many others that are now popping up on the CrossFit calender was the fact that all the WODs (or workouts) were to be completed using percentages of the athletes bodyweight. Whereas in a normal competition all the competitors use the same weight despite their size this battle would see the lighter guys perhaps having an advantage as they would have to lift less. Would it be a smaller guy that would come out on top as the strongest 'pound for pound' athlete?

First off I have to say i got massive box jealousy as soon as i walked into Unit 22. What a box! A beautiful 4000sq ft of CrossFit heaven! A 12 station rig custom built down one side of the unit, offices and reception at one end and more wall bars, racks and even a custom built solid set of parallel bars on the other side. So much space! Outside the unit was an empty car park with tyres stacked up ready to be flipped and not really anyone to be overlooked by (aside from a few houses whose gardens backed onto the space). It really was a playground. It made our box at Connect look like a store cupboard. A lovely store cupboard, but still.....

Weighing in having not eaten breakfast (but after consuming far too much dessert the previous night!) myself and Barney were both amazed to weigh in at a shade under 80kg. We looked on jealously at Dean as he skipped off the scales at a nimble 63kg.

The competition kicked off at 9am with 68 guys and around 10 girls taking part. We think the lack of women at this event was down to the fact that the percentages of bodyweight were the same for men and women. And these worked out pretty damn heavy for the ladies. Perhaps at the event in the future we may see these scaled more to make it more achievable for the regular woman CrossFitter, say 70% bodyweight for men and 60% for women. Just a thought?

The WODs ran smoothly and on time and the BBQ was fired up for bacon rolls for breakfast and then a great BBQ for lunch at very good prices. The judging was spot on, the effort put in by every athlete was great to watch and we saw a few new PBs from a lot of people especially in the muscle ups and snatches.

The WODs were as follows:

WOD 1:
For time: 3x rounds of 12-9-6 reps (75% Bodyweight)
Deadlift
Hang Cleans
Shoulder To Overhead

Dean on his STOHs

WOD 2:
For time: 3x rounds of 15 x Bodyweight back squats and 5 x Muscle Ups

Muscle ups are a favourite of mine so i liked this WOD the best.

Barney in full kipping flight

Deano getting his 5 linked muscle ups and a new personal best.

Barney on one of his 45 bodyweight squats. The legs are feeling this one today!

WOD 3:
(70% bodyweight)
1 minute max rep Snatch
30x double unders at the top of the next minute
1 minute max rep Snatch
30x double unders at the top of the next minute
1 minute max rep Snatch
Max rep double unders in the last minute

(Score was total number of Snatches)

Snatch action at 56kg - I got 31 reps in total

Barney with the same weight. Oh to weigh less than we did!

WOD 1 was tough but really only from a grip point of view. Those that could hang on to the bar the longest did the best. WOD 2 was very hard on the legs and then got a lot of people struggling with their muscle ups (a pull up and press out on the Olympic rings) and WOD 3 was real heavy and gassy.

The Connect crew applied themselves admirably with both Barney and Dean smashing out their muscle ups in much better style than they were perhaps expecting. Meanwhile myself and Barney were cursing Dean for only weighing 62kg when it came to the bodyweight back squats as we both loaded 80kg onto the bar. But, its all relative i guess! :)

After the first 3 WODs were done it was the top 24 that progressed into the Semi-finals and i was pleased to find myself in 13th position. Although I'm not sure my legs were happy that i had another WOD to do. Dean finished in 31st place and Barney in 36th. Competitions are funny things in that you always look back at the end and think "If only i hadn't put the bar down" or "I'm sure i could have gone quicker". At the time though its not so easy.

The Semi - Final WOD was a non-stop lung burner with:
1 x Deadlift
2x Chest to bar pull ups
3 x Burpee bar hops

7 minute AMRAP (as many rounds as possible)

And this is where being light helped a fair bit! The deadlifts were loaded up with 1.5 x bodyweight so the heavy guys were looking at 120-130kg whilst the lighter guys only 80-90kg. Although it was only one rep over the course of 20 rounds this adds up a touch i reckon.

I was super pleased with my score of 19.1 rounds and this lead me to finish in 8th place out of the 24. Only the top 6 qualified for the final so i just missed out. In fact, only by 2 reps in the end. That's what competitions can come down too so you have to remember mid-WOD that every rep truly does count. Something that's easier said than done though.

The final 6 men then had a 50% bodyweight Thruster/Sprint combo to deal with 20/15/10/5 style and Samuel Wisniewski was crowned the winner and the first one to leap back onto his starting box. Samuel weighed in at just over 60kgs as did most of the finalists so it was proven that the lighter guys came out on top in the end. Barry Mairs who did a grand job to make the final was at a big disadvantage having to Thruster 45+ kgs compared to Samuels 30kgs. That's a hell of a lot more weight over 50 reps!

The Final. A sprint / Thruster combo.

I would like to say a massive thanks to Unit 22 and everyone involved in organising the comp. It was a great day, ran smoothly, was well executed and it would be great to see it become a permanent fixture on the calendar of events. A big thank you to all the judges too for giving up their time to count those reps. These events couldn't happen without you guys too.


We will keep you all posted of any more upcoming comps and if you would like to get involved just shout. Although nerve wracking and tough, competitions really are the best way to push yourself and give a purpose to your training. Just ask Dean about his muscle ups.....I don't think he's stopped smiling yet.

No More Space!!

We have a tricky situation ahead of us right now as a business and a box.

Due to overwhelming interest in what we do at Connect thanks to a top quality coaching staff, friendly atmosphere and stunning results we deliver to people I'm afraid to say we will not be running an Intro Course in July due to high current membership numbers.

Rather than pack as many people into the box as possible we strive to maintain a high level of coaching and personal interaction which made the box so popular and successful in the first place and this means limiting our numbers for the time being. This is hard to do from a business point of view but to maintain our integrity and continue to over deliver in our coaching it is something that must be done.

We want to know each and every one of our members well and know what their goals and aspirations are, know what their strengths are and perhaps most importantly know what their weaknesses are. This is what sets us apart from a regular gym and will be why CrossFit and Connect itself will continue to take over from Globo-gyms as THE places to train in the coming years.

If you would like to join Connect then get in touch as this will still be possible via a private Intro Course. Then at the end of July we will assess numbers and perhaps re-open the group Intro Course once again.

For existing members that have been considering a full membership now would be a good time to do so as we may have to cap numbers completely until we find new premises.

A big thanks to all our members for making the box one of the best places to train in Brighton & Hove.

The search continues for a bigger box.....!