More From Connect - Neils Blog - Part 7

Hello everyone. 

It’s been a while since the last blog and a lot has happened!

Lets start with myself. I completed an 8-week Olympic lifting program which was amazing.  Let me rephrase that: it was amazing at the end when I saw the increase it my technique and ability. I have to say I really struggled at the beginning and started to doubt myself and my ability. If it wasn’t for the coaches believing in me, I know I wouldn’t have made it through. They truly are amazing. 

Also I recently achieved a Muscle Up on the rings. This is where you are transitioning your body from a pull up position below the rings up and over so you finish in a dip position above the rings. Now for a gymnast this is the move they use to start their routine on the rings but for a CrossFitter it is quite a coveted exercise! After a lot of practice i managed to get my first one. It wasn't pretty and they still require a lot of work to build the strength to make them smoother but I am super pleased to join the Muscle Up club.

Both Sarah and Madi’s training have been going well. They both competed in the latest Southern Series competition. This is a competition run by Connect events organiser Barnaby and involves a few of the local CrossFit boxes in a bi-monthly competition. This latest one was held at Connect and consisted of 3 workouts with the top 4 making it through to a final.  A good day was had and Madi finished with a 3rd place overall.

In another recent competition Madi finished one of the workouts with a 65kg Clean. A Clean is an Olympic lift where you move the bar from the floor to your shoulders in one swift movement. Madi managed this fantastic feat that would still be beyond a lot of the adult guys at Connect whilst being only 14 years of age and it being over 1.5 x her bodyweight. She has a bright future in CrossFit and weightlifting for sure!

Madi hits a fantastic 65kg Clean at a recent competition.

Moving outside of CrossFit Connect and into the world of trampolining now. After a fantastic 3rd place finish at Regionals in Peterborough back in June, Madi qualified for the National Finals. We were all so proud of her. This then involved  a nice little weekend away recently as the Finals were held in Telford. 

Madi was amazing and finished in an incredible 5th place. We were so proud, not only for the result but the way she dealt with the pressure and the whole experience of competing at National level. On top of this Sarah qualified as a trampolining judge last week too!

AND NOW FOR THE BIG NEWS! 

The final member of the Farley family, Leo, has joined CrossFit and the Connect family!

Alongside everything else that Connect offer they also run a CrossFit Kids class. This is a great class for kids to come to and have some CrossFit fun. They are held on Wednesdays at 5pm so get in touch for a free taster class. Leo has always wanted to join but he wasn't old enough. However, they have now reduced the age to 6 so he jumped at the chance and absolutely loves it.  After his first class he got up the next day and said he needed to practice his squats!

Kids class practising superman holds.

So it’s not going to be long before not only am I getting my butt whooped by Madi but Leo will be doing it too!  Oh great!

I also have to say a massive congratulations to my sister in law Donna. She took part in an online competition recently where they release a workout every week and you have to submit your scores and then the top finishers qualify for a final event. Well, she only went and qualified through to The British Championships final held in London! This is a huge achievement and we were all very proud. Well done “The Don”. 

Donna competing at The British Championships final in London

I am incredibly fortunate as not only do I get to train at THE best place on the south coast with THE best coaches but I get to do it with the people closest to me as well.

Connect... THE place to train.

Competition Time - Neils Blog - Part 6

As I mentioned in the previous blog both myself and Sarah have taken part in an online team competition and I was in a singles comp also. It was the Thorium Team Competition and was great fun and the workouts were killers. Trying to fit those alongside normal training was tough in itself!

  

My WOD partner Neil and I (yes Neil and Neil) competed in the masters category (40+) and we finished 14^th. Sarah and her partner Oni were competing in the female category for all ages and finished 107^th. No finals place for us but Connect did have a pair make it through. My sister in law Donna and her partner Drew made it to the finals up in Newcastle in the female masters division and finished 3^rd overall. An absolutely amazing result and one we were all very proud of. 

In my individual competition which was The Athlete Games (TAG), I came 137^th. I am very pleased with the result but now more determined to get even better. These games take place every year and I will be entering next year to see how much better I can become. 

It has been a full on few months of competition lately as were both in the Southern Series team competition too. The Southern Series is a 6 series event run by Barnaby Gehlcken of Connect and taking place every two months across 6 of the local CrossFit boxes. There were 4 members to a team for the second event and it was being held at Smart Performance in Worthing. This was a fantastic day and Connect had 2 teams entered. We came 9^th and the other team 7^th.  

The First Southern Series Comp at Connect

My daughter Madi and Sarah also completed the 10 week Olympic lifting program with Coach Holly and saw some very impressive results. This is a program that purely focuses on the lifts that you see at the Olympics; the Clean & Jerk and Snatch and are two of the hardest things you learn when taking up CrossFit. 

After seeing the progress that they have both made I am now doing it on the next cycle. I’m not going to lie, I was scared stiff of starting the program and making a fool of myself but so glad I did. It’s only been 3 weeks so far but I'm absolutely loving it. Once you start to breakdown the lifts, the technique behind it is amazing. And that’s what makes it so addictive. It’s not something you can just do. You have to practice and practice and sometimes it goes right and sometimes it doesn’t, but that’s what keeps you coming back. Connect have some of the best coaches in the South East and to be taught lifting by an ex British champion is not something every gym can offer.

Coach Holly

I shall leave you on a blatant plug..... If you want a great book to read then get hold of a copy of ‘Gatekeeper’ by Kay Sexton. Kay is a member of Connect and an amazing lady. This is Kay’s first novel and a fantastic read. 

In my next post I will be covering our participation in the big CrossFit event of the year: The Reebok CrossFit Games Open! Until then………….

Connect – The place to train! 

If you would like anymore information on Connect or would like a free taster class with us don't hesitate to get in touch.

The Titan Tour - Great Britains Olympic Lifting Team Visit Connect

We were pleased to welcome Sonny Webster and Gareth Evans from the British Olympic Lifting team to Connect today as part of their Help For Heroes Titan Tour 2015.

Gareth introducing themselves to the Connect crew and telling us a little bit
about the tour and the charity.

What started as a seed of an idea one weekend before Christmas has evolved into a 17 day tour of some of the best CrossFit boxes in the country to lift heavy stuff, inspire people to get into Olympic lifting, share their lifting and coaching experience with members of each box and most importantly to raise money for Help for Heroes charity.

From their Charity page (which of course you should visit if you would like to donate to this great cause):

Sonny Webster (commonwealth games athlete) and Gareth Evans (2012 Olympian) are on a UK wide quest to raise money for the Help for Heroes charity. They shall be travelling the country in a motor home visiting 16 different gyms on 16 consecutive consecutive days giving you all a chance to train and challenge the pros. These incredible athletes will be putting on a Weightlifting masterclass attempting record breaking lifts and offering out their advice at absolutely no cost in the hope you will all help support this amazing cause. This event is set to be the biggest ever tour done by any British lifters in history. So find you nearest location and join them on there quest to support this charity.  

The guys were on their 6th straight day of lifting and encouraged all of our members to lift with them, coaching us between sets and offering out advice on everything from mental preparation before a lift to set up positions to nutrition. They were super friendly and created a great fun atmosphere whilst also trying to hit some pretty big weights and stay focused whilst our other Sunday morning classes were going on around them!

Above - Sonny about to lift a 140kg snatch.
Below - actually doing so!

A clean & jerk in the bag from Sonny whilst our members look on and soak it all up.
Below - Gareth with an easy looking 130kg Push Jerk!

Our friends from CrossFit Corinthians dropped by and their kids got some great lessons
from Gareth and Sonny. The kids had some amazing technique and really impressed the adults. Look at that triple extension!

Watching the guys move so much weight so fast, with such power and with such amazing technique was awesome and I'm sure has inspired everyone to hit it hard during training this week at the box. To see Gareth lift the weights he does and only weigh in at 62kg bodyweight was insane!

130kg squat jerk? Oh go on then......

Sonnys 190kg split jerks from the blocks.
Sonny competes in the 94kg bodyweight class.

Above - Gareth equals his 150kg split jerk weight
from the Commonwealth Games, taking it from the blocks.

Amazing to watch Gareth move so quick with so much weight.
He lifts in the 62kg bodyweight class. This was a warm up pic.

Not....quite....balanced......!

Some 210kg double reps to finish things off - Back Squat

Sonny and Gareth with myself and my nephew and fellow coach Morgan
who came down for the weekend to meet the guys.

We have a great facility at Connect and if you have ever thought about learning the Olympic lifts then we are one of the best places to do so in the South East. We have 11 lifting platforms, a full array of mens and womens bars and bumper plates, specific beginners and advanced classes and five British Weightlifting accredited coaches headed up by World Masters champ Coach Holly. Give us a call if you would like more info or a chat about the sport and what it could mean to you.

Representing our Connect Weightlifting Club shirts!

It was a great morning and many thanks to the guys for coming down to Connect and providing us with a great spectacle of some seriously elite lifting.

We wish them the best on the rest of their tour and hope they find a refill for their calor gas bottle to stop them freezing in their camper van tonight as they head off and onto the next box!