Movement
Toes-to-Bar and the Missing Midline Training
You hang off the bar, the legs come up to about hip height, and stop. It feels like your abs have run out. So you go home and do sit-ups, and next week the same thing happens.
CrossFit
Training
Why We Retest
Ask someone whether they're fitter than they were in March and watch what happens. They think about how they feel. And how they feel is mostly a function of how they slept, what's happening at work, and whether last night's session went well. Or often they'll look at the number o
Movement
Why Lunges Leave You Sore for Three Days
Wednesday's session had sixty walking lunges in it. Thursday you feel fine. Friday you're going down the stairs at Amersham station sideways, hanging on to the handrail.
beginners
What Happens When You Can't Finish the Workout
We've all been there, the clock running out with everyone else finished, and you still going.
Movement
Wall Balls: The Simplest Movement Nobody Paces
A 9kg ball, a target ten feet up the wall, and a movement you can teach in ninety seconds. Squat down, stand up, throw. Catch it and go again. Nothing technical about it.
CrossFit
CrossFit or the Gym: Which One a Busy Amersham Parent Should Choose
There are several gyms within ten minutes of Amersham station and their websites all say roughly the same thing. Equipment, opening hours, a photo of someone on a treadmill. None of that is the decision you're making.
Support Systems
September Starts Tomorrow. Here's How to Begin.
It's the last day of the summer holidays. Tomorrow the term starts, the diary resets, and for about a week everyone in Amersham is open to doing things differently. That window is short. If you've read this blog through August — the fear of being the worst
Active Ageing
Is CrossFit Safe Over Fifty? An Answer From an Amersham Coach
I get asked this in the car park about once a week, usually by someone in their fifties, usually with an apology attached to the question. Yes. And I'll answer it from the register rather than from theory. We've been coaching people over fifty in this
Support Systems
Being the Worst Person in the Room: The Fear We Hear Most
The sentence I hear more than any other isn't on the gym floor. It's on the phone, on a first call, about four minutes in, usually with a slight laugh to take the edge off. "I just don't want to be the worst
Support Systems
Starting CrossFit in Amersham When You Haven't Trained in Years
If you've driven past our unit on Raans Road and wondered what goes on in there, then talked yourself out of finding out, this is for you. People picture the internet version of CrossFit: ripped twenty-five-year-olds throwing barbells around a warehouse. That exists. It isn&
Training
The Heat Tax: What to Expect From Yourself at Thirty Degrees
Marion asked me a question last week that I suspect half the gym has been thinking. What difference does heat make to our training? Your blood has two jobs during a session: deliver oxygen to the working muscles, and carry heat out to the skin so you can shed it.
CrossFit
Moved to the Chilterns and Looking for a Gym? Read This First
If you've recently moved to Amersham or one of the surrounding Chiltern villages and "gyms near me" is open in a browser tab, here's something worth knowing before you pick one on price and parking. The gym you choose in a new area isn&