Welcome to my
first ever blog, please be gentle!
I’d like to first give you a
brief Farley family history.
For a number of years I’ve been a
gym member but to say I went on a regular basis might be stretching the truth
somewhat. My in-laws had been going to this thing called ‘CrossFit’ and it was
all they talked about. In a moment of weakness I agreed to try a taster session
and I’ve been hooked ever since. 20kg lighter, fitter than I’ve ever been and I
have found my abs (I never thought I had any but apparently they were in there
all the time!)
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| Not much needs to be said about this..... :) |
For 8 months my wife Sarah was a
CrossFit widow. She moaned about the amount of time I spent there and the fact
that every conversation at family gatherings was about WODs (Workout of the
Day), PBs (Personal Bests), who lifted what and when and comparing ripped hands!
However… after persuading her to
try it out she has now been a member for almost six months and only moans when
she can’t get to train four times a week! She also sits and religiously fills
in her training diary every session (something the coaches are very hot on to
track progress) which when I got mine was a ‘waste of money’ and ‘why do you
need that?!’
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| Sarah in action at our recent Connect Throwdown. Photo courtesy of RXd Photography |
My 12 year old daughter Madi
decided that the school cricket team , athletics team and trampolining wasn’t
enough so joined CrossFit kids. She has also
recently starting joining us in the adult WOD classes as she is making such
good progress. With the exceptional coaching
she is receiving there might be some exciting time ahead. 2020 CrossFit Games
here we come!
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| Youngest and oldest! Madi with Phil C - a 54 year age gap! |
My son Leo is only four so it’s
frowned upon to leave him at home while we train, so he comes too. That’s the
good thing about Connect; everyone is welcome and made to feel part of the
family. He has already told me that when he is bigger he wants to lift heavy
stuff so it’s only going to be a matter of time before I have another member of
the family beating my WOD times.
Well now on to the present and we
have just finished HEAVY week by coach Olly and boy did it live up to its name.
An awesome week that gave everybody a chance to hit some new PBs. The
programming at Connect is done sensibly on a rolling basis that includes light,
medium and heavy weeks. This gives us a chance to work on the different aspects
of CrossFit such as pure strength, tech work, skills and cardio and allows us a
chance to recover from the demands of training.
Sarah took full advantage last
week and managed five new PBs in total and achieved her first RX’d WOD. RX’d
means performing the workout at the top level rather than scaling to lighter
weights or different movements according to personal needs/abilities. The
coaches at Connect provide three different levels of scaling each day to allow
everyone to participate safely and progress at their own rate. This is not bad
for someone who a year ago would have had to be dragged into the box kicking
and screaming! She wasn’t the only one though. PBs were dropping like flies.
There is nothing like getting a new PB and when you can share it with others it
makes the experience even better.
I feel I’m very lucky to be
training at the best place with the best coaches you can ask for PLUS I get to
do it with the people closest to me. Joining Connect was one of the best things
I’ve done and over the next few months I shall be sharing our progress and
goals.
When you join Connect you’re not
just a member of a gym you’re a member of the family and I’m proud for my
family to be part of it.
Neil Farley
Look out for more posts from Neil about his CrossFit journey over the coming months.
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