*************Opening Info*************

We are pleased to announce that CrossFit Leeds will be opening it's doors on Monday 6th September 2010.

The first week will be for FREE one to one training sessions only (or if you want to come down with a friend, one to two training).  These free sessions must be booked in advance by contacting coach Mike on 07779037212, by email on This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. or by filling in the form on the contact us page.  Sessions are available throughout the week, morning, afternoon and evening.  Your free training session will last one hour and will give you the opportunity to come and have a play with the equipment, ask questions, get advice from our coaches and if you're up for it try out a CrossFit WOD.  By the end of your session we'll be able to recommend the best way for you to progress with your CrossFit training.  There'll be no obligation to join - if you feel that CrossFit isn't for you, that's cool - you've still got a free personal training session out of it!

Our full timetable of classes will begin on Monday 13th September.

Full CrossFit classes will begin on Monday 13th September 2010 - please see the the timetable on the left for details of times.  The format of each day's class will be posted on the blog the night before so if you want a sneaky peak of what you're in for you can check back here.  Please get in touch with us before attending your first class so we can answer questions and get any paperwork out of the way.  This will allow us to spend your CrossFit class time doing CrossFit!

Intro to CrossFit will begin on Monday 20th September.

If you want to get on the first Intro to CrossFit course you'll need to get in touch with us as soon as possible.  Places are limited to allow us to provide the top level of coaching.  This is an invaluable four week course of classes that will give you the skills and knowledge you need before starting the CrossFit Leeds classes.  Please get in touch for more info, or if the advertised class times don't suit you please let us know - we may well be able to work around that.

Everyone signing up to Full Membership, Twice a Week membership or Intro to CrossFit by Monday 20th September will receive a 20% discount.

We look forward to training with you.

Mike

Owner CrossFit Leeds

This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

07779037212

Tuesday 31st August 2010

It's time to introduce the second in our series of influential people - today it's Mark Sisson and his website Mark's Daily Apple

Mark has created a website to empower people to take responsibility for their own health and enjoyment of life.  Basing his philosophy largely on that of evolutionary science, Mark has created a simple to follow lifestyle guide focussing on the training methods and dietary requirements of our paleolithic ancestors.

Many of the articles on Mark's Daily Apple are based around Grok (that's Grok in the picture on the right!).  Grok represents a non-gendered personality of our primal ancestors.  A figurative model for evolutionarily tried and tested lifestyle behaviors: diet, exercise, sleep, stress, etc.

We can learn a lot from Grok and the way he lived his life - eating seeds, grasses, and indigenous nut varieties. Seasonal vegetables and leaves.  Berries and other fruits when they were available. Meats and fish whenever he could get them.  And an active lifestyle to keep in good shape - chasing game has made him a solid, nimble sprinter. Regular foraging as well as the occasional necessary migrations have developed impressive physical endurance. The obligatory lifting, hauling, and building of primal life have made him tough and burly. Regular exposure to the elements has made him robust and resilient.  The end product is an athletic, disease free individual who lives life to the full.

Mark's Daily Apple will challenge a lot of the things you assume to be true, and give you a more informed perspective to make decisions that affect your health and wellness .  You can keep up to date by following Mark on twitter.

Sunday 29th August 2010

Today saw the first of what I'm sure will be many birthday WODs.

In celebration of David Lane's birthday David and Mike completed the following:

15 - 12 - 9

Push Press 50kg

Toes to Bar

Throw 30kg sandbag over 4' bar then jump over bar

Dave 13.22

Mike 12.18

Happy Birthday Dave - great work.

Saturday 28th August 2010

Over the next week we're going to be introducing some of the people and websites that have influenced us in our training and lifestyle.

First on the list has to be our number one inspiration, often referred to as 'Main Site' or simply 'dot com' in the CrossFit world, it's....CrossFit Main Site

CrossFit was developed by Greg and Lauren Glassman in Santa Cruz, CA  who opened their own fitness facility in 2002.  Without the need for advertising the popularity of their gym soon grew, largely due to the highly successful training methods, effective and functional equipment that could not be found in other commercial gyms and a valuable sense of community spirit among members.  In 2003 the first CrossFit affiliated gym opened in Washington State and since then a further 2000+ affiliated gyms have opened worldwide from Brazil to Japan, Australia to Iceland.  Rather than working as a franchise, CrossFit is based on an open source model making information freely available online.

From the beginning, the aim of CrossFit has been to forge a broad, general and inclusive fitness that prepares its participants for any physical contingency.  The CrossFit program is designed for universal scalability making it the perfect application for any committed individual regardless of experience.  The skills and adaptations developed lend themselves to all physical tasks giving participants a natural life advantage.  CrossFit is not a specialized fitness program but rather it focuses on competency in each of the ten recognized fitness domains; cardiovascular and respiratory endurance, stamina, strength, flexibility, power, speed, coordination, agility, balance and accuracy.  It does this by prescribing constantly varied, functional movements performed at high intensity (intensity is relative therefore exercise prescription can be adapted for anyone from elite rugby players to sedentary, elderly women), thus eliciting optimal muscular, cardiovascular and motor adaptations.

Safety, efficacy and efficiency are the three most important facets of CrossFit and are supported by measurable, observable and repeatable facts, i.e. valid data.  This allows trainers to see their consistent progress and provides an important means of motivation – one of the many reasons that CrossFit gyms experience retention rates twice that of most commercial gyms.  The implementation of CrossFit is akin to sport – in fact, CrossFit has been labelled the sport of fitness.  Through harnessing the natural camaraderie, competition and fun of sport and games, CrossFit training yields an intensity that cannot be matched by other means.  CrossFit guides people of all abilities toward improved health and athletic ability through workouts that are fun, challenging and varied.

I highly recommend you check out the CrossFit Main Site.  Have a read through the FAQs and watch videos of exercises and workouts.

Also the CrossFit Journal is an invaluable source of information on everything from nutrition to learning the Olympic lifts to injury rehabilition and so much more.