I like a bit of weightloss TV, me. My favourite is The Biggest Loser (USA, Australia, Guatemala) I find it inspiring. Mostly.

The one I saw last Sunday had a theme: Green Week. The message to the contestants was to eat organic and local, reduce their carbon footprint and recycle. They achieved this by hustling the weightloss victims away from the electricity-driven gym machines (boo!) and do their jogging outside. Elliptical trainers were spurned in favour of swiss-ball wobbling. Most baffling was the recycling challenge: In teams they competed to shift the most fizzy drink cans from A to B. Each winner won – wait for it – an SUV!

While enjoying what the bossy Biggest Loser coaches interpret as Green fitness, something very obvious struck me. Crossfit really is Green! We have no running or cycling machines guzzling electricity while the trainee goes nowhere: we run in parks, we ride real bikes on real roads. Our barbells and kettlebells are powered by human grit. We don’t have enormous, expensive lat pull-down machines: we have a bit of scaffolding and rubber bands. Admittedly, we have Concept 2 rowers – using  2 AA batteries to run the monitor. Even if they fall out, the rower still works fine. Oh, and who would need a fizzy drinks machine when we have a perfectly good tap sticking out of the wall?

Alongside the regular Crossfitters’ commitment to good nutrition, many as a matter of course will go for organic and local produce. Some even grow their own. They run, cycle, use public transport to get to Crossfit London. If so, their gym carbon footprint becomes the size of baby’s bootie.

I should mention the movement called Green Gyms which has the laudable goal of tending the environment while getting the volunteers fit. I wouldn’t mind giving it a try it next year. I could put all my thrusters and deadlift strength into practical applications for shifting wood and building drystone walls.

Crossfit London has the most effective, most rewarding and most fun fitness protocols available anywhere. It is also very green and sustainable. Green issues are something everyone cares about, even if not consciously or consistently. But it’s satisfying to know while you’re lying on the floor gasping for air: Fran may be a right cow, but at least she cares for the planet.

…uncommonly well”

That’s Greg Glassman’s definition of virtuosity. You can read the full inspiring article here, but to summarise – it means that in order to do/teach Crossfit well, we should insist on the best possible form in the fundamental moves.

With this in mind, the Women’s class was launched tonight. Elle (on her birthday, no less!) patiently bore the  form-drilling for the squat, front squat, overhead squat and deadlift. Having done little heavy lifting, she still ran up to a very impressive (well over bodyweight) first deadlift PB of 67.5kg. Good job!

After some work on pushups, the WOD was back-to-back Tabata’s of squats and situps. We had so much fun, I forgot to take pictures! Doh! Promise to next time.

Ladies, come on down Monday nights at 7pm in the back room. See you next week.

If you’re new and the thought of walking into a regular Crossfit London class makes you weepy… or you’re fine with classes and have been to few, but still don’t know a push jerk from a Sumo wrestler… or you’ve been to more and still can’t snatch to save a puppy’s life…. and you’re a girl…this class is for you.

Any new (or new-ish) female graduates of the Crossfit London Beginners course now have an extra class option: Their own time and space (away from those pigtail-pulling boys*) in which to hone their skills, uncover 1 rep max’s and generally “man-up” – but in an all-woman environment.

We aim for an especially friendly, supportive vibe that makes for accelerated learning and faster progress. But make no mistake, this class is no soft option; there’ll always be a gut-busting WOD to make you feel so, so special tomorrow.

Classes are smaller, and you’ll be thoroughly drilled in all the moves by an attentive trainer (that’s me, Kate) alongside other developing coaches. That’s a lot of love-bombing for your clean-and-jerk!

Admittedly, Crossfit can be a daunting prospect: So many skills to master, so much practice and polish needed. You’ll get both here. Before you know it, you won’t just be shining, you could be a Crossfit star!

Classes will be every Monday evening
from 7-8pm (in the Back Room)
starting Monday 9 May 2011

Book now!

* Not true! All our Crossfit London boys are big, (strong!) softies!

Crossfit London UK  began its Wednesday evening with  the opportunity to run through some basic clean drills: refreshers are always welcome as indeed was the opportunity to practice 5 sets of 3 squat cleans. Some went heavy, with the incredible Efe making 80kg waft through the air like a feather, whilst others reduced the weight they used to nail down technique.

All good.

After that is was a delicious

7 overhead squats
7 Knees to elbows
7 dips

Gina pulls the bar apart, and improves her depth in the overhead squat

Amrap 12 minutes. Quite nasty if you get some speed up.

Nice to see Pat back for his annual 3 month Crossfit phase of his running training. He now sports a trendy 2 hour 50 (something?) marathon time. Well done.

It was also great to see so many new faces!

The filthy 50

• 50 Box jump, 24 inch box
• 50 Jumping pull-ups
• 50 Kettlebell swings, 1 pood
• Walking Lunge, 50 steps
• 50 Knees to elbows
• 50 Push press, 45 pounds
• 50 Back extensions
• 50 Wall ball shots, 20 pound ball
• 50 Burpees
• 50 Double unders

Fabulous. check here to see how other crossfitters did.

if this is too much for you, it can always be the dirty thirty, or the terrible twenty, or the truculent ten

The Biggest problem? Keeping count!

Dont forget to keep count

There is something about Kelly

• 400m
• 30 box jumps
• 30 wall bags (the CrossFit London 10kg sandbag sub)
• x5 ( yes!! Bloody 5 times through)

That is simply wrong.

The gym was full of suffering, especially with the hot humid weather.

Wall bag squats are fun

More fab photos on the CrossFit London Flickr pages, here.

The fact that I have for some time worn Vibram Five Fingers occasionally, and that I’m one of the few genuine barefoot runners in London means, apparently, that I ought to have  a “position” on Vibrams.

For what they are worth, here are my personal Vibrams views.

They are not universally cool (yet) and as Graham discovered it’s quite possible to parade up and down in front of your girlfriend and be greeted by the words “gawd, I can taste sick in my mouth.”

There is a little way to go before be-gloved toes gain public acceptance.

Apparantly, according to Ken, if the police pull you over while driving and notice you are wearing them, they’ll caution you. I’ll have to check this. But I’ve trained with Ken for a while and I’m sure he would not lie to me about something so trivial. So don’t wear them to drive. My most recent pair of  Vibrams still have a cycle incident tear in them’  from when I caught my foot between the pavement edge and the pedal. Steven managed to break three toes while doing a gymnastic-ey bar thing while wearing them: so we should caution against driving, cycling and gymnastic-ey things while wearing them.

But we can , of’course, recommend them for going barefoot.

Urm, no not really.

Most people heel strike, with their foot out in front of them. Sure barefoot and Vibrams quickly stop you doing that, but most people convert to a ball of the foot “in front of you” strike that will screw your calf muscles very quickly. So I have to recommend that you learn a natural way of running be it POSE or Crossfit Endurance first (actually a plug opportunity: I’m qualified in both of those things) before you start running in Vibrams.

If you fancy strollling about in them as an alternative to flip flops,  oh why not. You can get in on all that “back to nature” stuff… you will feel the Chi flowing

They are easy to clean (bung them in the washing machine) which is just as well, as they quickly stink (it’s that rubber sweat combo).

It’s a pain getting the right size. Vibrams are mainly an internet phenominan so you need to know your own shoe size, and check up with the supplying company what their return  terms are. I own two pairs of Vibrams. Both are too small. Couldn’t  be bothered to return them (What? Repack them, queue  up in the post office, wait  in for couriers….but some people love this sort of thing).

There is much sizing advise around that includes one size less then your “normal” shoe size,  foot diagrams  and charts…do a mix and guess.

If you intend to lift in them, you had better have excellent ankle flexibility.

The biggest draw back is this: unless they fit perfectly, the chances are they will tug on your big toe. Not too awful you may say. But, if you go to our adult gymnastic classes (gosh, another plug) Amelia will,  if she see you struggling with an arabesque, tell you to lift your big toe up. This makes you supinate, which means, among other stuff, you get more stability. The problem is that most natural running styles rely on you harvesting  ground reaction forces (among other stuff). If your feet are forced to supinate because your big toe is being pulled in/up,  the opportunity to get ground reaction is very diminished. This is a bad thing.

So are they the best thing since sliced bread, No. Will you probably buy a pair? Probably yes, especially as prices are coming down, and alternatives are appearing.

Well it was the start of the back to Crossfit basics campaign

3 rounds of the official Crossfit warm up

• 30 sec Samson stretch
• 10-15 overhead squats
• 10-15 sit ups
• 10-15 back extensions
• 10-15 pull ups
• 10 to 15 dips

• 

  loving those sit ups

followed by

Jason (a Hero Workout) in honour of S01 (SEAL) Jason Dale Lewis, who was killed by an IED while conducting combat operations in Southern Baghdad , July 6, 2007. We  (Crossfit) name this workout “Jason” in honor of his life, family, and courage. First posted 2 August 2007

• 100 Squats
• 5 Muscle-ups
• 75 Squats
• 10 Muscle-ups
• 50 Squats
• 15 Muscle-ups
• 25 Squats
• 20 Muscle-ups

erm, ive lost count, how many hundreds of squats have we done, and are we at 50 muscle ups yet..??

how did your time compare, click here to find out

Two packed classes were treated to a “Colin special” this morning of a warm up of:

• push up
• sit up
• air squat

Followed by the Burgner warm up…an olympic lifting set of developmental drills followed by a cute little WOD of:

5 rounds for time

• 10 dips
• 20 sit jups
• 30 air squats

The team sets up for those 50 dips.....

Followed by a kipping/muscle up practise.

Woo hoo!

After that it was on to a great beginners session with Gemma, Millie  and Sarah all graduating to the main class.

Clap clap!

For those Crossfit London UK historians out there, the name Colin Menniss will be  a real blast from the past.

Kettlebell training at TSG HQ

One of the original  Crossfit London UK i-course trainers, Colin has been developing his training and coaching ability with Crossfit London since, gosh, 2006 when he attended the  Crossfit London kettlebell Masterclass.

Colin demos a move at an early i-course

Not that Colin needed much development. He came to us with a wealth of coaching qualifications and experience as – apart from being a serving officer in the Metropolitan Polices Territorial Support Group –  he leads the fitness training for his TSG unit (who are all Crossfit fanatics).

WOD's and police badges at TSG

Colin will be running Saturday morning at Crossfit London, and is coming on board with the aim of improving technique,  bringing some functional “police” fitness into the sessions while focusing on genuine, authentic Crossfit. Colin has a slight preference for the gymnastic aspects of Crossfit, so expect improvements in your levers, pull ups and muscle ups.

Colin in a back lever... work in progress

His Saturday classes are filling up, so book soon.

Colin is a Level 1 Crossfit trainer, and completed the Crossfit Gymnastic certification in 2009.