Battle Cancer
Manchester 2019 at Victoria Warehouse was another amazing success.
Host to their first
ever Battle Cancer comp back in 2017, Victoria Warehouse will always hold a
special place in all our hearts.
A dramatic and historic
landmark with a raw and urban edge, we can’t think of anywhere better to hold
our Manchester events.
Dark and moody, the
comp floor is overlooked by a first floor balcony with plenty of space to set
up camp for the day and a stellar view of the action.
Five minutes from
legendary Old Trafford and just a tram ride away from Manchester’s city centre.
Battle Cancer is a
mass-participation fitness competition that raises money for cancer charities
across the world.
They fundraise for
family and friends, to celebrate those that have fought and won, and in memory
of those we have lost.
Battle Cancer is, and always will be, accessible and
open. No qualifiers, no waiting lists. Regardless of strength or skill, we
embrace anyone that can get involved, raise awareness and battle cancer with
pride.
In fact, for many of our athletes, Battle Cancer is their first ever
competition. If you can move, you can fight.
Dale from
Bulletproofbodies was proud to provide Physio for Athlete Services at this
prestigious event.
It was great to see
both Scott and Pete who organise Battle Cancer and hear about all the other
events that are now in so many different countries.
A big thank you to all
the Athletes who came to see me and get some expert treatment.
Check out the Battle
Cancer Website on the link below:
Athletes, some special
forces and the military are a few of the groups in our society that are
considered the elite when it comes to body strength and form.
In their line of
work, they need to be in top form if they want to achieve even a measure of
success.
When it comes to the proper training, coaches and gym instructors recommend
only one thing and that is CrossFit.
What is CrossFit?
CrossFit training is
the crossing or incorporation of different workout types for the purpose of
maximizing the exercise.
It includes strength training, muscle training,
balance and endurance testing and aerobics. It is an immensely intensive
workout that should be done only by pros.
This can be dangerous for beginners
who have not yet developed enough stamina and endurance.
According to CrossFit,
the best body workout is to not focus on developing just one area.
Instead
focus on the entire body. Their exercise routines utilize gymnastics rings,
kettlebells, free weights and a lot of other calisthenics exercises. CrossFit
athletes run, skip, climb ropes, row, jump, and carry huge objects.
Their training
program is so effective that it is used as the main conditioning and strength
program for tactical operations teams, police academies, martial artists, and
hundreds of professional athletes around the world.
This means that only the
best and the most elite in the field of sports and physical fitness are using
CrossFit.
The training program
can be excruciating but the results are well worth it. They surpass all other
forms and types of exercise.
The intensity of the workout boosts the body's
metabolism and shocks the muscles. This keeps the body on fight mode and does
not allow it to settle and get comfortable.
This is because it has been found
that once your body gets accustomed to a workout routine it starts to respond
differently and effectiveness of the routine decreases.
The variety that
CrossFit offers prevents this from happening.
Keeping healthy and fit
is not an easy thing to do that's why we have medical professionals to help us
identify our weaknesses and strengths through checking vital signs.
If you
would like to be part of the medical profession, be trained at one of the best
schools that offers nursing degree and other courses.
The problem with
CrossFit is that people judge it’s methods without truly understanding what it’s
all about.
Ignorance of the facts
makes people judge life through their own lens rather than using the evidence
available.
Having just presented
the evidence for injury associated with CrossFit I am in a good position to comment
on those who are using opinion rather than evidence about CrossFit.
The scientific literature shows that CrossFit is successful at improving aerobic capacity, anaerobic power and decreased fat mass.
Here, Team Richey
excellently debunks those that do not understand CrossFit.
The training methodology behind CrossFit by Coach Greg Glassman is sound.
Instead of bickering about whether another training ideology is better than yours, remind yourself that you are in the minority of people who train and look after their health.
With the public health
issue that face both the US and the UK in terms of physical inactivity being
the 4th largest cause of preventable death. All activity is a step
in the right direction. Movement is Medicine.
The Rainhill Trials at
Sport City in Manchester has become the home for your
first CrossFit
Competition.
The event is run by
TRAIN Manchester who have three boxes in the Manchester area:
Train 1 - Castleford
Train 2 – Media City
Train 3 – Heald Green
The Saturday is more for those that are new to competition.
The Sunday is for those who are more competent at CrossFit.
Although the Workouts are very similar there is a big difference between doing Chest to bar pull ups or normal kipping pull ups.
The same with Toes to Bar and Ab Mat sit ups.
However, what this does is allow athletes to scale when there is a movement that they can no longer do. Or, could not do in the first place.
Competition will always bring out the best in us. But it will also expose our weaknesses.
As always there are injuries at the weekend. However, as usual these injuries are acute, mild and minor, responding well to Physiotherapy and Rocktape UK were there to scrape and tape as part of the athlete services.
This weekend’s Injuries
included:
•Hand tape x 12
•Shoulder x 8
•Wrist x 5
•Low Back x 4
•Knee x 4
•Calf x 3
•Biceps x 2
•Cervical Spine x 1
•Trapezius Tear x 1
•Shin splints x 1
•Ankle x 1
It was great to see Tom
Blay from Reebok CrossFit 3D competing.
He is a machine and my Coach!
An amazing weekend of CrossFit.
Well done to all competitors and for TRAIN for there superb organisation.
“I’m going to do today what other people aren’t willing to do,
So, that I can do today what other people can’t.”
What are you doing when no-one is looking?
There is no denying we live in a
world of competition. Being in shape, being a winner, being healthy seems to be
many people's ultimate quest. The reality is in order to make this happen you
need time, energy as well as the courage to face the fact that you need it.
There is no mountain high enough that
cannot be conquered, as quoted by Tom Turner, Spina Bifida Association's
executive liaison. All one needs is the right kind of perspective. Tom is a man
of great strengths. He knows what courage is. At the age of 35 he trains three
times per week, despite his congenital paralysis from waist down.
There are 3 basic principle goals
when aiming for fitness, according to Tom:
Principle 1: Don't back down &
face what you fear
You have to believe in yourself and
the fact that you can overcome anything if you try hard enough. Face your fears
head on. This first rule recommends identifying your discomfort zones.
What about your level of fitness? Are
you in or out of shape? If you're out of shape do you have the courage to
accept it? Is it an injury that is holding you back? Or is it something else?
You need to get your fears in check and learn to face them. Visualize yourself
as you would like to be.
Your body is yours, and it's the only
one you have or will get. Learn how to love it by listening to it and trusting
it.
Principle 2: Move on instinct
Trust that your instinct, whatever it
is telling you, is correct. It is the small voice that comes from inside you,
which should never be ignored. Do not look to others for input or guidance.
Look for signs from within your being, and trust that it will tell you what to
or what not to do.
The first step to overcoming a
challenge is to know and recognize your boundaries. What can or can't you do?
As with Tom, he never let a wheelchair stop him from doing whatever he wanted
to. Instead, he recognized his limitation and overcame it. Know your
restrictions and that way you will know how to overcome them.
Principle 3: Don't let fear take away
the joy out of life
One has to have the courage to face
ones fears. As Tom mentioned, he has been through 19 operations in his lifetime
and has realized that the most primal fear of any living creature is death. You
can either choose to let that fear of dying one day hold you down, or you can
live the time you have here happily and productively. The choice is always
yours; just make sure you select the right one.
If you allow it, fear will take away
the joys of life. Hold a positive attitude and look forward to what tomorrow
will bring. Face your fears and live to be free of them.
In Conclusion:
Live outside the box; don't limit
yourself and do not, under any circumstances, under estimate yourself. When you
have achieved one success, find another hurdle to jump. Make your life fun to
live. Take time off to decide what you will do next.
Find your zest in life to make it
worth living and add the flavor of enjoyment to it.
Next, if you want to start jogging
and stay inspired, please visit: Beginner Jogging Tips now.
For a free Metabolism 101 report, go
right now and visit Metabolism Secrets Explained.
Competition in life
makes you a better person, it is what the American society, and the world
thrives best on. If you are trying to better yourself than it is most likely
because you are trying to be the best YOU. It's time we stop giving out
participation medals, and seeking goals that are difficult to obtain.
Eagerness to not fall
behind: Are you going to suck at first, of course. You can't learn how to play
chess first try. But if you do everything you can to get yourself "up to
par", you will grow much faster in your gym. No one wants to look like an
idiot, and this drive to make yourself "one of the guys" will force rapid
improvement.
CrossFit gyms always
have Others to Push You: Take it from someone who owns a CrossFit gym. I push
myself as hard as I can so that I will have the top-score, but I am thrilled if
someone can beat me. I will demand it out of my students. I don't want it to be
easy for me to be beaten, but that's the point. Anything that's hard is worth
having, right? Members at CrossFit gyms are just like that. They want to push
themselves past the next person, but if someone passes them, they want to get a
better time to keep pushing themselves and the others in the gym.
Competition in the
CrossFit gym, makes you better at life: Think about your days back in high
school, where you wanted to be the best quarterback or wrestler or jeez, tuba
player. We live in a competitive society, and this is ingrained into our social
consciousness. It's time you embrace this. Find someone who is a little bit
better than you in the gym... or life... and try to make your time (abilities)
better than theirs. This won't be easy, because they will be improving to, but
if you have benchmarks and goals, than obtaining them is so sweet!
CrossFit gyms give you
a Better Knowledge of What the Body is Capable Of: Look around the gym, do you
think there is any way YOU will be capable of pulling off the feats you see
from the others during the day's CrossFit WOD. Guess what, when they walked in
on Day 1, they look just like you! Their CrossFit technique was terrible, trust
me! I own a CrossFit gym, and while some learn faster than others, everyone
looks like a goof on day 1. No one is judging you, because they looked like you
their first day.
CrossFit is Healthy and
not unsafe: Not only will you be competitive in the gym, thus making you more
physically fit. But those around you will be transforming the physical
appearance, and their mental attitudes. You will see them going through the
transformation and you will do whatever you can to transform with them. It's a
team atmosphere, and everyone is their to health. You'll improve your mental
health by having more friends, releasing natural endorphins and pushing
yourself past limits you only dreamed of. You will improve your physical health
because you will be increasing your strength and stamina, and will be
surrounded by a crowd who eat right with the paleo diet.
CrossFit competition is
Fun: It just is! For all the reasons listed above. If you took state in high
school, it was probably one of the greatest moment of your life, and if you
didn't take state, but strived towards that goal, than you know that it was A)
Fun to chase that goal and B) Made you a better person. Don't coddle yourself,
embrace how fun the CrossFit lifestyle can be, and push yourself like you
didn't know possible.
Not wanting to lose to
a CrossFit girl: CrossFit girls are awesome! They are tough, competitive and
just plain "one-of-the-guys". The chances of you losing to a girl
your first time in the gym is likely. Don't worry, they are used to this and
won't make you feel inadequate. Your goal will now be to push yourself to at
least their level and beyond. If you can catch them, they will respect you for
it. Plus, CrossFit girls are so hot!
Philip Gephardt is a
professional fighter and owner/founder of Factum CrossFit and MMA in Utah. Phil
was a nationally ranked wrestler before switching sports and focusing on a
professional mixed martial arts career turned gym owner.
To see more of his
musings by visiting the Factum CrossFit and MMA blog
