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Each month we spotlight a different CFA athlete who stands out and shows just how awesome they are. What is it that makes up an Athlete of the Month? It may not be the person that finishes the fastest, Rx’s every WOD, or gets a PR every time they walk in the gym. Although we love and celebrate when those things happen, the Athlete of the Month is made up of much more than physical ability. This person shows up, gives their best every time, and then gives a little more. They are hungry to learn and always ready to do the work. They support their fellow classmates and encourage them to reach their goals. This athlete embodies what we believe the CrossFit Austin Community should be about.

Our July Athlete of the Month is Daniel George! Dan joined our family in September last year. He’s an evening guy hitting up the 6:30/7:30 pm classes. Not only is Dan a great example of how drive and determination can guide you, he’s also an amazing member of this community. He’s a hard worker and a friendly face for new folks coming into the gym. Dan’s always on board for a good time with social events and has been holding it down at Tailgate Thursday 😉  We’ve enjoyed Dan’s positive attitude and watching his continuous growth and we’re excited to see him continue to progress for many more years! Dan, we are proud to have you as our July Athlete of the Month and as an awesome part of this community. Thanks for your all your hard work! Congratulations!  

State your Name and/or Nickname please:
Dan

Words to live by?
Never ever ever give up

What is your fitness background?
I swam some in high school, but It wasn’t until college that I started to care about physical fitness. I had to get into shape for the Marine Corps, so I started running, doing push ups, pull ups and crunches. From there I wanted to learn more about fitness and that’s where I came across the crossfit website.

How long have you been CrossFitting?
I’ve been crossfitting since 2009-ish. I actually started at a military affiliate, Crossfit Cherry Point, where it was all donated equipment and volunteer coaches. We had a really tight community and we were constantly learning from each other. I even got my level one certification while there!

Take us back to your first day of CrossFit… How did you feel? How do you compare it to workouts today?
My first experience with crossfit was at the military affiliate at Marine Corps Air Station Cherry Point. I’ve attempted CF workouts on my own before that, but I had no idea what I was doing. So I would show up and get smoked checked daily. Eventually I was able to do a proper deadlift or over head squat or whatever. I think my brain has pushed out some of the more painful memories of trying to learn everything.

I will always compare my home box with the community and passion I experienced at Crossfit Cherry Point. I’m lucky to report that CFA has that same community and spirit.

What’s your favorite part of CrossFit Austin?
The community. That is the not so secret ingredient to the wild success of “Crossfit”. It encourages you, pushes you, keeps you in-check and keeps you going. I honestly wouldn’t push myself nearly as hard as when a fellow athlete is sweating and suffering alongside me or a coach not letting you give up

Current Training Goals/PRs?
I’m actually beginning to reach a few plateaus that I’ve hit already in my crossfit career. Generally, I want to break through all of that, i.e get a body weight snatch, DL 400+…really just all around strength and endurance improvements across the board.

What advice do you have for folks just starting out in CrossFit?
Refer back to my words to live by. NEVER EVER EVER GIVE UP. Also enjoy good beer on your off days.

What is your cheat meal go to?
Pizza and lots of beer.

How do you use your fitness outside of the gym?
I like to run and hike.

Tell us about a moment you felt most proud of yourself during a workout.
Doing murph this past weekend….it was hot…my the callous on my hand tore…I was reaching muscle failure but I didn’t give up and I completed Murph ‘straight through’. A fellow crossfitter even ran the last mile with me and kept me moving.

If you could create a WOD and name it for yourself, what would it be?
Dirty Dan
100 D/L at 225
100 C&J at 155
100 Push press at 135
100 D/Us

What are your hobbies, interests and/or talents outside of CrossFit?I love to travel (its a life long pursuit), being on a beach, and scuba diving.

Tell us something we don’t know about you…
I love heavy metal music! If it was up to me, I’d blast Metallica, Lamb of God, and other heavy shit out the speakers during WODs.

Longhorns or Aggies?
Longhorns I guess!

Leave the fine folks of CrossFit Austin with some parting words…
Choose yourself. Its easy to accept meritocracy or bad things that life might through at you. But you can choose to invest in yourself and become a better all around person.

Here at CFA our goal is to push people outside their comfort zone to pursue a great life. While there are many factors to achieving a great life we believe we can have a meaningful impact in three primart areas. Providing a supportive community of fun likeminded people, a lifelong pursuit of fitness that improves ones physical, mental, and spiritual being, and an attitude of adventure to explore this world.  Today we start our “Adventure Series” to highlight members that embody that spirit of adventure, and use the tools they hone daily in the gym to explore the beauty and tranquility of this world! 

Max McGregor || Iceland

What’s up CFA – here I sit contemplating where to start on this piece Wes asked me to write about my experiences earlier this month. Our fearless leader has a long term goal of encouraging all of us to utilize our fitness outside of the gym, and it looks like I might’ve unintentionally, although very happily, modeled the behavior he’s looking for from our community.

Earlier in June I spent a week touring the south coast of Iceland with a few of my best friends. We started the week in the capital city of Reykjavik, spent a couple days there, and then spent our last five days in our home base of Hella. From Hella we traveled throughout the south coast over the course of the week. It’s easy to list the things we saw – from breathtaking waterfalls, to beautiful glaciers, mountains, geysers, black sand beaches, and probably most importantly – Game of Thrones filming locations. Although cliché, the photos don’t even come close to giving the experiences justice.

To speak to the theme of Wes’s big picture fitness goals for us – being fit was certainly needed. Climbing 500 steps to the top of a waterfall or hiking 60+ vertical stories to look over the Atlantic washing onto a miles wide black sand beach is no joke. Even being in good shape those were both strenuous chores. That being said, what was even more important to me was getting out of my comfort zone and putting the grind of daily life aside. Booking a trip to a foreign place isn’t always easy, especially if you’re new to traveling, and neither is forgetting about the things that seem so important to you – your job, your pets, the people you encounter on a daily basis.

The unknown feeling forcing you to push beyond normal physical & mental comfort levels is the area that allows you to grow. I know the first time I stepped into a CrossFit gym was a terrifying experience, but now I prioritize my schedule around making it to class. I think the same sentiment can be applied to travel for those who haven’t experienced new places as well as plenty of other outlets of life. It feels good to do something different and uncomfortable, to break out of routine, and to utilize the bodies that we spend so much time building inside CFA.

 

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About Taylor: Fitness and athletic performance have always been a big part of Taylor’s life. She has been everything from a highly competitive track athlete, a national and international competitive cheerleader, competitive dancer, and gymnast. She has a Bachelor’s Degree in Exercise Science from Texas State University and an AFFA group exercise certification for yoga, Pilates, cycling, as well as circuit training.  Taylor has taught at Texas State University and at Pure Austin Fitness. Her favorite styles of yoga to teach are Vinyasa flow and Power Yoga.

A message from Taylor: Throughout my diverse background in athletics, one thing that was very essential to each sport was practice. You had to practice to get better, faster, stronger or to learn a new skill. My current practice is yoga. What’s beautiful about the practice of yoga is that you constantly evolve, with each pose leading to the next. You get to work on yourself from the inside-out! While being able to do handstands, head stands and funky balances is cool, yoga is about much more than what you can do on the mat. By practicing yoga you are finding inner peace and acceptance for the wonderful person you are by clearing any judgment or imperfections you hold on to. Nothing brings me greater joy than seeing those that I teach, find that inner peace through their practice.

Goodness! Happy June people! May flew by and summer is upon us! I want to give everyone a quick update on programming for the next 30 days, and what to be looking out for. Before we start, remember we have a few basic themes you’ll see (and you’ve seen) with the programming:

• Strength and skill focuses run on a 6 week calendar, and are coupled together to maximize the time we have in class.  The goal is to get consistent touches at light, medium, and heavy loads in each lift and skill to create a level of mastery we can’t achieve by putting these movements in the programming randomly and sporadically.

• Skills focuses throughout the year are designed to build on top of one another and safeguard against injury. What this looks like in practice is a simple to complex movement progression, and single limb to double limb progressions in most cases. An example is: doing single arm ring rows and single arm presses to eventually progress into strict pull-ups and handstand push-ups.

• The conditioning work we do progresses from longer work when the strength progression is in a lighter phase, and shorter more intense workouts when we’re lifting heavier in the progression. If you prefer one side of the coin more than the other just be patient it will show back up after a few weeks.

• We also include conditioning “tests” every other week or so. These tests will be retested in the future.  I will keep folks apprised of when a test or retest is happening and whether it falls into the category of long, light, heavy, bodyweight, or team focused.

• Finally there will be other elements including cashouts, skill warm-ups, and additional strength / skill work peppered in to round out the program. However the above represents the core work that will keep folks moving forward over the long term (2+ years).

Strength & Skill Focus for May

Today was actually the culmination of our Power Snatch cycle and I’m excited to see the Power Snatch PRs go up on the board! The rest of the month will be focused on Jerks and Split Squats until we do our overlap again with a pretest for the “Front Box Squat” tentatively scheduled for Wednesday, June 21st!  

One thing to keep in mind as we work through the Jerk / Split Squat cycle is not to blow off the split squats. I know they’re not always fun, and can be tedious. However they do a great job of building balanced leg strength that will really pay off on your other squatting lifts, as well as help keep you knees and back healthy. So again make sure you challenge yourself on the split squats!

Conditioning Test in June

Below is the tentative schedule for conditioning tests in June.  Some may shift by a day or two as the weeks get put together, but all of these test will be seen in June.

Heavy – “Isabell” Monday 6/12 (last tested 1/2/2017)  

Light – “Fight Gone Bad” Wednesday 6/14 (last tested 10/31/2016)

Bodyweight – “Baseline” Friday 6/23

Long – “ Murph” Saturday 7/1 (last tested as Team Saturday 5/27/2017)

We also will be doing some Murph specific buildup work in our Wednesday Cash outs as well as this Saturday and next (6/10 & 6/17) for those of you that need some extra running work to get prepared.  If pull-ups or push-ups are your nemesis with Murph schedule a hybrid session with your CFL so they can get you on a specific individual plan to improve one or both of those movements in preparation for our big event!

That’s it folks! Embrace the heat, and drink lots of water!

Each month we spotlight a different CFA athlete who stands out and shows just how awesome they are. What is it that makes up an Athlete of the Month? It may not be the person that finishes the fastest, Rx’s every WOD, or gets a PR every time they walk in the gym. Although we love and celebrate when those things happen, the Athlete of the Month is made up of much more than physical ability. This person shows up, gives their best every time, and then gives a little more. They are hungry to learn and always ready to do the work. They support their fellow classmates and encourage them to reach their goals. This athlete embodies what we believe the CrossFit Austin Community should be about.

Our June Athlete of the Month is Kristy Marsillo! Kristy joined our family in December of 2014. She’s primarily a noon gal, but you see her bouncing around whenever her busy schedule allows! No matter what, she always makes time to come in and move.  Kristy has put in some serious work in her time here! She has made some clear goals for herself and taken the steps to make those happen. In addition to her group classes, Kristy meets with Coach Tim on a regular basis to work 1-on-1 on her specific goals. Not only is Kristy a great example of how drive and determination can guide you, she’s also an amazing member of this community. She makes a point of welcoming new faces and making sure everyone knows they’re a part of the family. We’ve enjoyed Kristy’s positive attitude and watching her continuous growth and we’re excited to see her continue to progress for many more years! We won’t see Kristy in the gym for a bit, but we’ll be watching her social media for pics of her amazing trip to Peru as she heads out to hike Machu Picchu! Kristy, we are proud to have you as our June Athlete of the Month and as an awesome part of this community. Thanks for your infectious smile and all your hard work! Congratulations!  

State your Name and/or Nickname please:
Kristy Marsillo

Words to live by?
It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye. –Antoine de Saint-Exupery, The Little Prince

What is your fitness background?
I danced starting at age 5 through high school and played softball.  I always had some kind of exercising routine.  I did a rookie triathalon and started with a trainer about 7yrs ago.

How long have you been CrossFitting?
Maybe 3 years, I started learning the moves while working with a trainer and then transitioned to a crossfit gym a little under 3 years ago.

Take us back to your first day of CrossFit… How did you feel? How do you compare it to workouts today?
It was definitely intimidating.  I had at least learned some of the moves through my previous trainer, but the gymnastics component I had never been exposed to.  I realized how much I needed to learn and how important form was and how weak I was in many areas.  I realized that there was a ton of work involved in mastering all of the moves.

What’s your favorite part of CrossFit Austin?
My favorite part of Crossfit is definitely the people.  The camaraderie is amazing.  The workouts can be so tough and when you have other people struggling and cheering you along it really makes you realize why you are there.

Current Training Goals/PRs?
I currently have 3.  I really want to get double unders…man those are frustrating.  I want to be able to do a full work out with KIP pullups and maybe a few handstand pushups:)

What advice do you have for folks just starting out in CrossFit?
There are so many moves to learn.  You can’t go in at the top.  We all started somewhere.  Start slow..get your form.  The rest comes in time.

What is your cheat meal go to?
I eat pretty healthy most of the time but I love French Fries (esp Sweet Potato fries) and good wine has always been my vice.

How do you use your fitness outside of the gym?
I do a lot of traveling, and being able to hike/run/climb definitely has helped!

Tell us about a moment you felt most proud of yourself during a workout.
When I finally strung together a bunch of kipping pullups during a WOD.  Also, during the Open in 2015 there was a clean and jerk ladder and I lifted 11 times a weight I didn’t even know I could lift!

If you could create a WOD and name it for yourself, what would it be?
GSD (get shit done)

5 rounds:
400m Run
10 Box jumps
10 hang cleans
10 DL
400m run
and a celebratory drink after!

What are your hobbies, interests and/or talents outside of CrossFit?

I love to travel, I have been all over the world and still have so many places I want to go.  Some of my favorite places include Africa, New Zealand, Italy and Argentina.  I am headed to Peru to hike Machu Picchu in just s few days.  I love hiking and exploring with my dog Guinness, who is always up for an adventure.  Animals are so important to me, I spend as much time as I can with them.  I take a hip hop spin class once a week that I love.  I am also a foodie and wine lover and enjoy eating and hanging out at the newest and trendiest restaurants. I also cherish so many good friends and love the time we spend together laughing and hanging out.

Tell us something we don’t know about you…
I love to read books and I collect Christmas ornaments from every country/place I travel to. 

Longhorns or Aggies?
Neither..I am a Kentucky Wildcats fan all the way!

Leave the fine folks of CrossFit Austin with some parting words…
You can always learn something new and interesting from the people surrounding you.  Watch and listen.  You can find so many amazing things from your peers…also you may make some really cool friends.

Force multiplication, A capability that, when added to and employed by a combat force, significantly increases the combat potential of that force and thus enhances the probability of successful mission accomplishment

– Official definition of the United States Department of Defense term force multiplier.

Force Multipliers are tools that help you Amplify your effort to produce more output. A hammer is a force multiplier. Investing in Force Multipliers means that you’ll get more done with the same amount of effort. Generally, the only good use of debt or outside capital is when it gives you access to Force Multipliers that you wouldn’t be able to access any other way.

– Josh Kaufman “The Personal MBA”

So what does increasing the combat potential of soldiers and utilizing outside capital to stimulate business growth have to do with your fitness? Just like you can multiply efforts in those arenas you can dramatically improve your fitness efforts by finding simple force multipliers to include in your regiment. Here are three that have a great track record of success.

Sleep

Now, as a father of two young children I understand that getting good sleep is sometimes completely out of our control. However, if you have the luxury of full control of your sleep you should aim to get a minimum of 8 hours a night. Sleep amplifies all the “good” hormones that contribute to our ability to lose body fat, build muscles, optimize a nervous system for maximum strength, and just feel good and motivated in general.  So while training and great nutrition are going to have the most direct impact on your fitness, sleep sets the stage for you to take full advantages of your efforts in those areas.

Daily dedication to mobility, stability, flexibility aka “movement quality”  

I can’t count how many times I’ve seen people plateau or sustain a setback like an injury because they don’t move well.  This can manifest itself in many forms (the reason I didn’t simply say mobility)  and honestly, all of them are intertwined so it behooves some to get assessed by a professional to see where they need the most work.  So many times the results are staggering, I’ve seen people improve snatch maxes by 20 lbs by improving core stability,  shave minutes off their Fran time by improving the rack position, and actually be able to perform and overhead squat by improve ankle dorsiflexion.  The take home message here is that it not only improves your performance, but hedges against the things that tank motivation or keep us out the gym.

Private Coaching

This is something that most people will overlook, or blow off as not worth the cost. However, having an objective professional to evaluate your fitness needs and help you create an efficient plan to achieve your true potential is invaluable. The reality is that no amount of internet searching can replace the experience, time, and money that a professional coach has invested in understanding fitness. Lucky for you guys we make it easy to get assessed by a professional coach, all you have to do is schedule one of your built in hybrid sessions.  

In closing the important thing to take from this is to evaluate your efforts and think outside of the box. Conventional wisdom tells us we need to add or subtract when it comes to fitness. Add more volume, subtract food groups, etc. The reality is there’s plenty of habits we can implement to multiply the effort we already have in place.
Enjoy your holiday weekend and come join me on Monday for a great Memorial day hero WOD: DT!

-Coach Wes

As most of you guys know everyone’s favorite cat lover, Coach Ben Wells, is quite the world traveler! Since we 100% support folks going on adventures, we always do our best to make due without Coach Ben while he teaches folks how to skydive on a boat.  That said, it does present scheduling challenges for us so we decided to think outside the box for the upcoming month of June.

I’d like to give a warm welcome to our guest coach Forrest Martinez.  I’ve known Forrest for almost 6 years now and he has always been a very impressive young man. Forrest helps run his family box CrossFit Optimistic in San Antonio, and is fellow Texas Aggie set to graduate next fall with a degree in Chemistry. Forrest has been an individual client of mine, and has been coaching CrossFit from a very young age. He will take over the bulk of Ben’s schedule starting in June until Ben’s returns in early July!  

– Coach Wes

A message from Forrest:

I’m a senior at Texas A&M studying Chemistry and will graduate this December. I’ve  been involved in the CrossFit community for almost 7 years, and earned my CrossFit Level 1 certification in 2012. I enjoy coaching athletes of all ages for the past 5 years at my family’s box in San Antonio, TX: CrossFit Optimistic.  I’ve also had the opportunity to volunteer at the South Central Regional (2012-2014), California Regional (2015), and the Crossfit Games (2014-2015).

When I’m not at the gym, I love spending time with my family and brewing coffee. I can’t wait to share my passion for CrossFit with the fine folks of CFA, and I promise a positive workout experience for everyone!