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!

Olympic Lifting Competition and Open Evening - Monday 16th Dec, 7-9pm

Our Olympic Lifting class have been going through a 10 week programme and we are currently on week seven. After five or so weeks of build up we are now at a pretty heavy part of the programme. There have already been some great results and progressions and I am very excited to see how everyone has done by the end of the 10 weeks.

This brings me on to how and when we are going to test our results.

I would like to run the test session at the end of the programme in the format of a mini competition. This will mean that we will have two platforms running; one for female lifters and one for male lifters. Each lifter will have three attempts to lift their heaviest Snatch and three attempts at the Clean & Jerk. One lifter will be on the platform at a time on a rising bar. This means that the bar will be set up at the lightest opening weight and the weight on the bar will then keep going up as lifters choose their weights. The weight on the bar can NOT be decreased. All lifters will have 30 mins to warm up to their start weights and must submit their start weights and bodyweight to me at the beginning of the session.

As the last week of the programme is just before Xmas we are going to be running the competition on Monday 16th December from 7pm - 9pm. Then everyone can enjoy their Christmas knowing they can Snatch and C&J like Milko!

This competition is open to all of our members. However due to the time available we can only have 20 lifters in total. If you would like to get involved please put your name on the board at the box.

We are also running this as an open evening at Connect. This is a good opportunity for people to come along and see the box, meet the coaches and learn what it is that is making Connect so popular. There is no need to book a space, just turn up during the evening where you can speak to us about CrossFit or Olympic lifting and learn how you can get involved.

Olympic Lifting is growing rapidly in popularity and we are now the biggest place in the South East where you can get into this sport. We have well qualified and experienced coaches and are happy to teach anybody the lifts from complete beginners upwards. We have four dedicated lifting platforms and a large range of Olympic barbells and bumper plates.

With the help of British Weightlifting we are developing Connect into a hub of South East talent and will be offering more and more opportunities to get involved over the next few months. Keep an eye on our Facebook page and this blog for future details.

Good luck Guys and Girls!

Take a look at Coach Holly performing an instructional video of the two Olympic Lifts on our YouTube channel here.

Olympic Lifting Series - Part 2 - The Clean & Jerk

This is Part 2 of our Olympic Lifting series; The Clean & Jerk.

The Clean & Jerk is a strong and powerful lift and is great for developing explosive strength.
This video is intended for our members to recap what they have learnt in class and to watch in their own time to see just exactly what it is they are aiming for.

It is by no means a full instructional video of every teaching point but should be used as a reference guide after we have taught you at the box.

We encourage our members to learn the fundamentals of weightlifting before moving onto the more advanced lifts such as The Clean & Jerk and The Snatch. With these lifts you will see massive gains in strength, explosiveness, speed, balance and coordination. Plus, they are a lot more fun than seated bicep curls!! :)

For more information see: www.crossfitconnect.co.uk

Dont hesitate to get in touch and see what CrossFit can do for you!

Olympic Lifting Series - Part 1 - The Snatch

The Snatch is probably the hardest lift to learn in all of CrossFit and indeed weight lifting. Its fast, explosive and needs a hell of a lot of cordination, balance and midline stability in order to keep that bar in the correct position overhead.

Sometimes when people come to the box they have no experience of the Olympic lifts and perhaps dont even know what they are. This video is intended for our members to recap what they have learnt in class and to watch in their own time to see just exactly what it is they are aiming for.

It is by no means a full instructional video of every teaching point but should be used as a reference guide after we have taught you at the box.

Always seek professional guidance when learning complicated movements such as the Olympic lifts. It will save you time in the long run and keep you from developing bad habits!


Part 1 - The Snatch