We are pleased to announce that Drew Lupton has been appointed as the new General Manager of CrossFit Anam!

Drew brings with him a wealth of fitness experience and we are pleased to welcome him as a full-time member of our team.

Within his new role, Drew will be responsible for maintaining and improving how the gym operates with oversight of staff, facilities, equipment & programs and helping improve our member experience.

Drew will also have lead CrossFit coaching responsibilities so will definitely be kept busy!

Good luck Drew!

Two thousand, six hundred.
That's the number.
2,600 early mornings
2,600 whiteboard briefs
2,600 warm ups
2,600 workouts
2,600 cool downs

2,600 times, our main woman and mother of CFA, Carmel McCann, has attended CrossFit Anam
For context, CrossFit HQ emailed us very recently to let us know that a man in his 70s in America had completed his 1000th CrossFit session. Very impressive!

Of course, this made us think of Carmel and we couldn't help but wonder how many sessions she'd completed. After a little bit of digging, we pulled together her numbers and there we have it. 2,600.
Yer man in America has a bit of catching up to do!

In 2013, when we first opened, Carmel had just turned 61 years of age. For an average of 5 classes per week, for 11 years on the trot, Carmel has now hit a record of 2600 classes, just this week
When it's broken down, that is an unbelievable statistic, especially when you factor Covid closures into it
She is now 72, and not only is she fitter than she's ever been, she's fitter than most people we know and showing absolutely no signs of slowing down!

We've preached this before but, CrossFit = Longevity. There is no doubt about it.

We hit another milestone this week too - for the first time ever, we had three generations taking part in the same CrossFit class.
Carmel, Eilis and young Alice!

It just so happens that 2,600 is also the exact number of grandchildren that Carmel has, so we've no doubt there will be plenty more of the 3rd generation joining her for workouts very soon
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Thank you for your loyalty, commitment, hard work and good examples, Carmel.
CFA would not exist without you, literally!

​Yesterday, we were delighted to present "the best looking" McCloskeys (according to Phelim ) with a cheque for £1,620 for the Air Ambulance
Once again, a huge thanks to everyone who came to take part and donate to our 'WOD For Adrian' fundraiser. We are blown away by the support from many people far and wide! We have a wonderful community.
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Thanks also to the McCloskey family for gifting us a fantastic limited edition 'Run For Adrian' framed shirt.
It will take pride of place in CFA

Building and maintaining muscle mass is important but we don’t overlook the benefits that protein has on our health.
Higher protein diets have shown to improve satiety which has a positive impact on body composition therefore improved markers of health.

Breakfast is one meal that most people struggle with to get a good serving of protein in. Mostly due to the fact that most breakfast items are typically carb heavy - which is good for energy but it’s a different macro altogether and we still need protein.

Pay some attention to your breakfast, plan in a 20-30g protein serving to increase your overall daily protein intake.

It doesn’t have to be complicated - eat a high protein yoghurt after your oats or have a protein shake with some fruit if time is a challenge.

Have a chat with Caoimhe if you need any help with this!

In the words of Axl Rose, Welcome to the Jungle of Deadlift variations. Touch And Go, Dead Stop, Sumo, Deficit, Trap Bar, Mixed Grip, Pronated Grip etc the list goes on and on.

Which is better? As with most fitness questions, the answer is 'it depends'. All styles & variations have their place, each with distinct benefits and better for specific goals.

In today's class we are performing the Touch & Go style, which tends to be the default in CrossFit.
In this variation you perform consecutive reps without fully releasing the tension on the bar between each rep. Instead of coming to a complete stop on the ground, you 'tap' the weight on the floor and immediately start the next repetition. Note that I used the word 'tap', not 'bounce' or 'crash'...

Touch & Go should not mean any degradation in form however. In this variation you must learn how to get tight and stay tight throughout your sets. This technique is a great way to learn how to maintain posture whilst breathing.
Other benefits include building muscular endurance, conditioning, and efficiency in workouts with higher rep ranges.

The Dead stop variation is the natural counterpart to Touch And Go. If Touch And Go is 'Welcome to the Jungle', think of Dead Stop as being the song 'Patience'.
This is where you treat every rep as a single, from a complete stop, resetting the bar on the ground before initiating the next rep. This pause eliminates any kinetic energy or 'bounce' gained from your previous rep.
In Dead Stops you need to generate maximal tension for what tends to be the hardest part of the rep - breaking the bar off the floor. This variation is excellent for developing absolute strength.

To reach 'Paradise City' we want rock solid starting position & mechanics, regardless of the variation we are performing. 

PS: Apologies for the Guns N' Roses references or should I say 'Puns N' Roses'.....

One thing we can all benefit from is adding more nutrients to our diets.
This week, try adding 1-2x more pieces of fruit / veg to your diet and keeping doing it as often as possible
It doesn’t have to be 100% of the time but aim for at least 80%

Power development is essential for everyone, whether your goal is to improve your performance as an athlete or to offset the age-related loss of fast twitch capability.

We introduced a new power movement today – the PVC Jump Over. These are a natural progression from the box jump. In both movements the goal of landing softly remains the same however the big differentiator is the effect of gravity.

In a box jump we minimise eccentric stress by landing on the box and not allowing the body to come down.
In the Jump Over however, the acceleration effect of gravity when landing takes its toll. This descent will greatly increase the eccentric load on your muscles and tendons thus increasing the intensity of the movement.
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And to quote CrossFit ‘If you want to look better, feel better, work better, sleep better, play better — intensity will get you there.’

"I joined CFA 9 months ago to improve my health, strength and shape after too many years away from training. I’d always wanted to try CrossFit and was completely sold after meeting with Coach Cathy for an intro session.

The three things that really keep me consistent and coming back for more are the coaches, the gym community and the variety of training.

The coaches really care about seeing you get the best out of the workouts and are always ready with guidance and support to help you improve.
The gym community has been very welcoming from the beginning. Everyone is so supportive of each other and help to celebrate each other's progress.

Workouts can be anything from strength training to gymnastic skills to cardio and they are always different. It keeps things interesting and there is always something to improve on. I’d definitely recommend CFA to anyone looking to get fit, stay motivated and meet an awesome group of people!"

Brilliant Kirsty keep at it!