CrossFit: Manuel pushes limits for 17th

FLIPPING HARD: Kevin Manuel prepares to flip a 260kg "pig". PHOTO/SUPPLIED

Hawke's Bay's Kevin Manuel has had a taste of CrossFit's big time ... now he wants more.

"I've never been pushed as hard, physically and mentally. I went to the brink and I'm still standing," Manuel said yesterday, a day after returning from this week's World CrossFit Games in Carson, California where he finished 17th in a 45-strong men's field.

"Some of the veterans there said it was the hardest Games ever so that was very satisfying for me."

The first Kiwi male to compete at the event, Manuel, 29, qualified with a fourth placing at the Australia-Asia Super Region qualifier in Wollongong in May. He was one of more than 250,000 athletes who attempted to be among the 30 qualifiers for Wollongong.

With his 17th placing Havelock North's Manuel earned US$5000 ($7600) in prizemoney. He was the second best of his Super Region qualifiers and the best was also a first-timer at this level.

"I had four top-10 finishes and at the other end of the scale I had 29th, 31st and 35th placings. I know what my major work on is if I'm going to improve on that 17th next time," Manuel said.

The former Havelock North premier rugby player was referring to the need to do more heavy weightlifting.

"I'll be doing more repetitions with heavy bar bells and weights. Muscular endurance comes from heavy weights."

A CrossFit competitor for the past five years, Manuel, said while the sequence and order of events changed year to year he anticipated similar types of tasks there in the future.

"Organisers say it's a true test to find the world's fittest.You win in Carson and you deserve to be the world's best," he said.

Four blokes dropped out through injury and two from the 45-strong female field through heat exhaustion. Manuel said it wasn't uncommon for competitors to have intravenous therapy at the end of each day.

"It was an amazing experience and I'm so happy to have did it. While it was over so quickly it was the hardest and best experience of my life."

The viticulture contractor and part owner of Mount and Tauranga Crossfit will take a break before competing for an All Star team at a Wellington Cup exhibition event in three weeks.

"I've been hard out since May last year. The mental strain, particularly on the central nervous system is harder than the physical strain," Manuel said.

"I'll play it by feel as to when I start training again. I'm sure it won't take long to get that hunger back again.

"I'm lucky my work is active so it's an active recovery for me. If I did nothing for a couple of weeks everything would cease up."

His first major competition will either be the Battle of the Fittest event in Auckland in November or a Melbourne show around the same time. the qualification process for Carson again will begin in February.

Manuel believed it will only be a matter of time before more Kiwi blokes qualify for Carson. "You have to be prepared to put in as much as I have at that intensity. It's not out of reach ... you just have to work very hard."