Property Investments, Landlording, CrossFit, Nutrition & Safety

Well Tuesday didn’t go at all well! Snatch practice was meant to be a simple matter of getting confident with my opening lifts, but it couldn’t have gone much worse. I dropped 3 out of 6 attempts at 65kg and dropped 2 out of 3 attempts at 70kg. Honestly, I should be getting every lift at these weights. I think months of training alone with no coaching is taking its toll. :-S

I still need to lose 5 lbs in the next 18 days so I finished up with a small Crossfit style metcon workout of my own devising. I included burpees as punishment for my failure at the Snatch, lol:

21 – 15 – 9 reps each of:
– 24″ Box jumps
– Pull ups
– Burpess

For what it’s worth, my time was 12:38.

As for today (Wednesday), well that was a complete bust. I had felt a twinge in my hamstring doing deadlifts at the weekend, and so eased off. Well whilst I didn’t notice it at the time, I must have aggravated it on Tuesday, as it is slightly sore even to walk on at the moment. I think discretion is the better part of valour and so I’m going to take it easy. The last thing I need is a proper injury 2 weeks before the comp!

In other news, I’m working on a Crossfit post that has literally taken hours to put together.  It’s probably the most useful Crossfit related post I’ve ever done on this blog, something I’ve been thinking of doing for ages and I can’t wait for it to be finished so that I can post it up!  It’s even better than the Named Crossfit Workouts (the girls) post I did ages ago, that I still haven’t got round to updating yet.  One day…

Anyway, this post will be ready in the next couple of days, it’s going to be awesome.  😀

I’ve started seriously thinking about the BWLA British Masters Olympic Weightlifting Competition at Lilleshall (I came 2nd last year) at the end of March and how I’m going to prepare for it. For reasons I won’t bore you with, I’ve not done as much lifting as I should have done in preparation for this competition. It’s too close to the comp now to actually consider improving strength really, so I’m just going to focus on technique and get my confidence levels up for what I want my starting lifts to be.

The rules say that you must start within 15kg of the qualifying standard, which was 165kg for the 77kg M1 category. So starting at 150 would be an easy 60kg snatch and 90kg clean and jerk. I think I’m going to do a bit better than that and work towards 65kg and 90kg as starting weights, and see how it goes this month, I may up them both to 70kg snatch and 95gk C&J openers. I do need to be confident of getting a total though, so will err on the side of caution if training this month doesn’t go smoothly.

My aim for training is to not try anything that will cause me to drop a lift in the next 4 weeks. I want to go into the comp with utter confidence that I can lift my openers, then just increment each one by 5kg say on the day for the 2nd and 3rd lifts. That would mean if all goes perfectly (ha, when does that happen?!?) my current PB’s of 77kg and 100kg are in range.

With that in mind, my training this week was:

Tuesday
Hang Snatch and Snatch: 2×40, 2×45, 2×50, 2×55, 1×60
Snatch + 2 Over Head Squat: 2×60, 3×65
Snatch Pulls: 3×70, 3×75, 3×80

Then ½ the Crossfit.com WOD, which was 8 rounds (I did 4) of run 400, with 90 second rest between runs. I only did half as I’m not that used to a lot of running and I had brand new Evo Viva Barefoot running shoes and didn’t want to over do it first time out.

They are Vibram FiveFinger substitutes, as I don’t have the right shaped feet for Vibrams (boooo!). Certainly, they have not a lot of sole to speak of and you do feel a lot more of what you’re walking on. They’ll take a bit of getting used to, but should help the Pose running that’s for sure.

Wednesday
Hang Clean & Jerk + Clean & Jerk: 2×50, 2×60, 2×70, 2×80
Clean & Jerk Singles: 3×85, 3×90

I followed this with a Crossfit WOD from a few days ago: Row 5k. I’ve never done a 5k row before, in fact the most I’ve ever rowed has been 2000m, and only once at that, so this was a bit daunting! In fact, it went better than I’d hoped. Each 1000m split was faster than the one before, and I had enough left to end with a bit of a sprint, finishing in a respectable (I thought) 20:28. Will have a go at beating 20mins next time.

Actually the biggest battle at the moment is making the 77kg (169lbs) weight category. I’m down from a portly 13st5 after Xmas to 12st7 as of this morning, so only 6 lbs and 3.5 weeks to go. Should be no problem, as long as I can continue to be good, hoho.

A couple of weeks ago, several members of the Crossfit community in Manchester attended the English Indoor Rowing Championships. They put on a good show, though sadly not quite the medal haul of last year’s English Indoor Rowing Championships but a fine showing nonetheless:

– Timothy Haddon, 8th Men Open Hwt
– Dominic Beardwell – 17th Men 30-39 Hwt
– Matt Foster – 4th Men Open 500m Hwt
– Daniel Green – 7th Men Open 500m Hwt
– Timothy Haddon – 16th Men Open 500m Hwt
– Dominic Beardwell – 7th Men 30+ 500m Hwt
– Matt Foster et al – 5th Men Open Team
– Jane Holgate – 2nd Women 50+ 500m Hwt
– (Hope I didn’t miss anyone?)

Unlike last year, I won’t gush too much about how Crossfit enables creditable performances even in sports for which it doesn’t specialise, but I am seriously considering entering myself for the 2011 EIRC. My weightlifting weight of 77kg is just a few kilograms over the 75kg lightweight rowing category, and my current best 500m time of 1:27.1 would be good enough to win the 500m 30+ Open in the lightweight category, so it’s awfully tempting, if I can just get to the weight close to the time for entry. Why do these things all seem to come just after Christmas?!?

I’ve just finished reading Sam Walton’s autobiographical book: Made in America, My Story, and I can tell you it’s one of the best books I’ve read in recent years. I’ll tell you why:

To be honest, I’d never heard of Sam Walton before I accidentally bought his book (yes it really was an accident!). I had no idea he was once the richest man in America, nor that he founded Wal-Mart from scratch, a company that he personally grew from a single franchise store to turning over $50Bn, and that now turns over in excess of $400Bn a year!

Sam was a very down to earth and unassuming man, who devoted his enter life to living and growing the Walmart dream. I say was, because Sam’s dead, and perhaps slightly bizarrely, that fact escaped me for the first half of the book. It was only when I realised that the book had been written nearly 20 years ago, and his picture on the front was clearly a man in his 70’s, that I thought he might be, something Google quickly confirmed. I confess to being a bit sad learning that, as you can’t but warm to the old fella and his affable nature.

What’s most amazing is that his message of hard work, quality products, devotion to your customers, and an unswerving drive for cost cutting (as a multi-billionaire, he always flew economy class!) is as relevant today as it was in the 60’s. I can honestly say, of all the books I’ve read written by entrepreneurs, this book has taught me the most about how to run a successful business. And it works for any kind of business, even a Crossfit affiliate!

What’s more as the book is nearly 20 years old, on Amazon you can pick it up cheap as chips, cheaper in fact: 1 cent in the USA or 1 penny in the UK! I highly recommend it; it’s a book that you won’t want to put down.

My daughter attended the England’s first official Crossfit Kids class, at Manchester’s latest Crossfit affiliate on Saturday: Crossfit 3D.

Previously from Crossfit Manchester, Karl and Rachel Steadman are right from the off, launching a dedicated Saturday morning Crossfit Kids class from 9-10am, which happens to suit my Saturday morning schedule perfectly.

In August, Crossfit3D is also hosting the first ever Crossfit Kids certification outside of America. You can get the details off the main Crossfit site but places are limited; I’ve already signed up!

Anyway, as the first ever class, Jadzia was the only attendee! The session’s exercises included bear crawls, tuck jumps, short runs, situps, burpees, ball throws at a bin, with a focus on squat form. Then there was a frantic game of scatterball, followed by a general play session. Here are some pics, next time I’ll remember to take a better camera!

Bear Crawls in the warmup.


Tuck jumps.


Practicing good squat form.


At the top of the squat, you Stand like superman! It ensures hips go through the full range of motion.


Throwing shapes in the burpees.


How low is that squat?!?

This is what a kilogram of traditional South African Biltong looks like (50% beef, 50% venison), note the fist sized apple for reference:

Ok I know I’ve posted this from my phone, but I’m thinking that I need accelerate my plans to change my blog template to allow a wider layout. :-S

There was in interesting article published by the BBC recently, entitled: Shoes may have changed how we run. (There’s an interesting slow motion video there showing barefoot heel striking! Worth a watch.)

The basic premise is that use of big heel padded trainers have promoted the heel strike style of running and that naturally we’re not meant to run like that. This is of course exactly what the Pose running technique espouses. If you want to know what the pose running method is, try running 400m barefoot on concrete. If you heel strike, you’ll soon stop!

The principle is that your foot is a natural spring and cushion for the impact of your foot landing on the floor whilst running. But this only works if your foot can flex. This means you have to land with the ball of your foot, i.e. the pad behind your toes. This allows your ankle joint to flex out the impact. Landing heel first destroys your natural suspension, jars your leg and is the cause of typical running injuries like shin splints and dodgy knees etc.

So, if modern day running shoes with their thick heels promote an unnatural and dangerous running style, what shoes should you wear? I was soooo close to buying some Vibram 5 Fingers:

But sadly, I don’t have the right shaped toes to fit properly. However everyone I know who’s bought a pair, think they are the roxors! 🙂

So I’ve been on the hunt for other “barefoot running” type of shoes, and would welcome any recommendations? I’m quite looking forward to the TerraPlana Evo Barefoot Running shoe out in a month or 2:

One of my news years resolutions was to give up sugar which has gone pretty well. I’ve had no sweets, chocolates, cakes, sugary deserts or drinks since 31st December. Yes it has snuck in the odd item of processed food here and there (sugar in smoked salmon and also in slices of Ox tongue would you believe!), but I’ve tried ahrd to keep that to a minimum.

However I have to tell you that this has not been easy. In fact, as I’ve given up smoking twice in my life, I have the experience to tell you that giving up sugar is as hard as giving up the cigs! So rightly or wronging, I had a thought. I wondered if perhaps giving up entirely was the wrong thing to do, and maybe I should allow myself a day off, once a month say?

However what I don’t want to do is make chocolate / sugar etc to be a “treat”. Or this to be something that I start and stop on a whim. The trick to dietary change is just that, to change your diet, and to do that on a permenant basis. Especially as really sugar is bad for you. Despite the protestations to the contrary you’ll find on the internet, the world is slowly coming round to the idea that sugar is the root cause of diabetes. And this week I’ve read that they are linking sugar to pancreatic cancer now.

However last night I decided to have that day off. Or night as it really was. I’d been shopping for my weeks food and loaded up on sugary carbs in the form of a large pile of chocolate. I was going for the aversion therapy approach (you know, catch a kid with a cigarette and make him smoke the packed till he’s sick) and I can tell you, it damn near worked too!

By the end of the evening I could barely bring myself to finish the last of it. Not only was I feeling sick, I felt terribly lethergic too. Had no energy and pretty much didn’t want to do anything. I was in a major insulin induced low.

This morning was worse; I could barely get out of bed. I had what my family has coined: a proper Carb-over. I feel bloated too and the scales show that I’m 2lbs heavier than yesterday. Maybe the aversion therapy has worked, as certainly I can’t contemplate the idea of doing this again!

Hopefull I’ll feel better by this afternoon when I’m off down the gym. Breakfast this morning is roast lamb, strawberries and milk. Yum!

I ate something tonight which I’m sure satisfies on a level that most food simply can’t manage. Here’s what I did:

1. Take a leg of lamb, on the bone.
2. Season simply with a little oil, mixed herbs (or rosemary if you prefer) some pepper and salt if you must.
3. Bang in the oven at a high temp say 230 degs C for 20-30 mins.
4. Reduce the temp to 140 degs and cook for another 45 mins (more or less as you prefer)
5. Take out an leave to rest, covered in kitchen foil, for 15 mins.

Now as I was cooking this for cold meat to eat over the next few days, I took a small sharp knife and cut of most of the meat.  Actually I cut off all the meat I could, and you can get a reasonable amount off if you take your time.

But here it comes.  When left with the still warm bone, pick that sucker up and get to gnawing on it!  Go on, get those teeth in there, in all the nooks and crannies.  Use those incisors and canines for what nature intended and rip that meat off.

I tell you, there is *nothing* more satisfying than chewing on a warm roasted bone (don’t forget to suck the marrow out of the bone too!).  What really shouldn’t be amazing either, is that your teeth are far better at getting the last bits of meat off, than a knife will ever be. It’s almost like they were designed for the job…. spooky!  😉