On Saturday March 24th and Sunday March 25th Blast Athletic Toronto held their annual Combine, testing maximal strength and power, muscular endurance, speed, agility, quickness and cardiovascular endurance.
Brash Fitness had two representatives in the event Ela [women's Elite division] and Josh [men's Elite division]. As a Hybrid Instructor for Blast Athletic [The Hybrid program is Blast's signature program. Visit the Blast Athletic facebook page for more details] I know how fit all the participants in this years Combine are. As determined and fierce Ela is during training going into the event she was feeling nervous, could be because she also knew how tough each and every women in the Blast Athletic program is. After only 5 months of training with Brash Fitness and setting and breaking almost every record possible it was time to see just how effective our training system and methods were.
Knowing Ela was nervous I decided to put even more pressure on her by boldly predicting she would place in the top 5 -I wanted to say top 3 but I played it a little conservative!
<<<continue reading for a full list of events>>>
Day 1 Events
STRENGTH
1RM Barbell Deadlift
1RM Barbell Bench Press
APPLIED STRENGTH
1RM Dumbbell Turkish Getup
(Women)
1RM Barbell Turkish Getup
(Men)
MAXIMAL POWER
Power ball toss (Women)
Tire flip (Men)
POWER ENDURANCE
Weighted sled push &
pull
BODYWEIGHT MUSCULAR ENDURANCE
60 secs. Max chinup
60 secs. Max pushup
Wallsit
Flexed arm hang
Front plank hold
After Day 1 Ela was sitting in 4th place only 2 points out of third and Josh was also in 4th place with 19 total points.
Both Josh and Ela set Brash Records in the barbell deadlift, 365lbs and 225lbs respectively.
Day 2
SPEED, QUICKNESS, AGILITY
20 yard dash
4 cone hustle
Obstacle course
CARDIO ENDURANCE
1600 metre runAnd for the final results........drum roll please............
Josh finished in the top 5 as I hoped he would, tying for 5th.
And....
After a great day 1 and strong day 2 Ela leapfrogged everyone ahead of her to WIN the competition!
Congratulations to everyone who participated you should all be extremely proud of yourselves. To those who did not compete this year, there is always 2013.
Week after week I am honestly blown away by the performances I witness at Blast but at the Combine I had to catch myself from being a spectator.
At Brash Fitness and Blast Athletic we both promote health and fitness but we also promote athletic performance regardless of if you compete in a sport or not. Some people are hesitant to include fitness as a sport or competing in fitness events.
Blast Athletic Owner and Head Coach Marvin Mitchell believes this boils down to two things
FEAR and DISINTEREST. Fear of losing thus feeling bad about yourself and being viewed differently by your peers. On the opposite side the pressure of winning and continuing to win in the future. Disinterest can come from not wanting to spare the mental, emotional and physical energy required to compete.
What I saw from this weekend was nothing but respect and camaraderie.
