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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 Jenni Demske! Jenni joined CrossFit Austin back in June 2015, so she’s been with us just over a year! She’s an early bird, working out with the 5:30 am crew. She’s a sweet little thing on the outside, but she’ll sneak up and crush you in a workout! This girl is in the last few weeks of her pregnancy (wow!), still hanging in there like a champ. We can’t wait to meet the little push-up man! She is one of the hardest working and friendliest athletes in our crew and we’re so happy to have Jenni as our July Athlete of the Month and as an awesome part of this community. Congratulations Jenni!

State your Name and/or Nickname please:
Jenni

Words to live by?
I am a firm believer in YOLO. You only live once. Live the best life you can.

What is your fitness background?
High school sports were soccer and swimming. I love the occasional hike and bike these days and of course.. crossfit 🙂

How long have you been CrossFitting?
Just over a year~ time flies when you’re having fun

Take us back to your first day of CrossFit… How did you feel? How do you compare it to workouts today?
Well I didn’t do a prep course, but I highly recommend it! The first time I picked up a barbell, I literally just tried to copy what everyone else was doing. Once I figured out some techniques to the lifts, it became more fun. The workouts haven’t changed for me really. I try to put everything I have into a workout and leave the gym feeling like I did just that. It’s the best!

What’s your favorite part of CrossFit Austin?
I met my future hubby, made lifelong friends and have worked next to some of the strongest/coolest people I know. You can go anywhere in the world and find a crossfit box, but it’s the people that make the experience. CFA has some of the best.

Current Training Goals/PRs?
Oh boy. 9 months ago I would have a different answer. My goal is to come back smarter, work hard and listen to my body.

What advice do you have for folks just starting out in CrossFit?
Just go out there, do your best and have fun. Work hard, be proud and practice patience.

What is your cheat meal go to?
Ice cream. All day, every day (literally for the past 9 months)

Tell us about a moment you felt most proud of yourself during a workout.
Doing the 2015 open. My coach had to show me what a clean and jerk was right before. It was terrifying, but I came back for the rest of them and loved every minute. This year I was 6 months pregnant for the open… bring on 2017 🙂

You are 37 weeks pregnant. How has this journey with training and growing a tiny human been for you? What does it feel like to be such a strong mama?!
This journey has been a wild ride. Apart from the physical challenges of pregnancy, the mental game has been my true challenge. It’s the hardest thing watching your friends get better, faster, stronger while I’ve taken a step back. I’ve learned to listen to my body and do what feels good. Growing a human is the most amazing, hardest thing I’ve ever done and I wouldn’t change it for the world.

If you could create a WOD and name it for yourself, what would it be?

I want to give 16.5 another shot without baby. 21-18- 15-12- 9-6- 3 Bar facing burpees and thrusters. Bring it on!

What are your hobbies, interests and/or talents outside of CrossFit?
Currently… eating spicy food, lots of squats, long walks….

Tell us something we don’t know about you…
I don’t bathe frequently

Longhorns or Aggies?
Who??! GO GREEN, GO WHITE!! MSU all the way

Leave the fine folks of CrossFit Austin with some parting words…
Leave it all on the floor 🙂 like when your water breaks.

{REGISTER HERE}

CrossFit Austin will be hosting Murph Day Saturday (7/2/2016) honoring the memory of Navy Lieutenant Michael Murphy and all fallen veterans. Liutenant Murphy was killed in Afghanistan on June 28th, 2005. This workout was one of Mike’s favorites and he named it “Body Armor”. We will honor a focused warrior and great American who wanted nothing more in life than to serve this great country and the beautiful people who make it what it is.

“Murph”

For time:
1 mile run
100 pull ups
200 push ups
300 squats
1 mile run

*Partition the pull-ups, push-ups, and squats as needed.
**Teams of 2, 3, or 4 are welcome.
***All movements can be scaled.
****Be sure to wear your twenty pound vest or body armor if you have it.

EVENT SPECIFICS:

Event Registration + Shirt 

• $40 for participating athletes
• Athlete entry fee includes registration & t-shirt costs and donations

Event Registration without Shirt

• $25 for participating athletes
• Athlete entry fee includes registration costs and donations

***T-Shirt ONLY (non-participant) 

• This event is open to all – members and non-members
• Athletes must arrive at 7:00am to warm-up, sign-in, and pick up shirts
• Heats times start at 8 am, 9 am, and 10am
• Spectators are welcome
• Donations are welcome and can be made through eventbrite, Navy SEAL Foundation, Team RWB, or on site during the event.
• You may choose whether you’d like your donation to go toward the Navy SEAL Foundation or Team RWB

In the past, our annual MURPH Day has benefited the Navy SEAL Foundation. Last year, we decided to band together and help out a member of our own community. This year, we’d like to continue strengthening our community by opening donations to Team Red, White, & Blue

Team RWB – 

Team RWB’s mission is to enrich the lives of America’s veterans by connecting them to their community through physical and social activity.

Enrichment is defined as creating quality relationships and experiences that contribute to life satisfaction and overall wellbeing. The concept of enrichment consists of three core components—health, people, and purpose—that define a rich life.

Enrichment Equation: Enrichment = Health + People + Purpose

People: Creating authentic connections (defined as genuine, quality, supportive relationships that generate mutual trust and accountability), reflected in an increased number of close relationships and improvements in teammates’ sense of belonging, purpose, and community engagement.

Health: Creating frequent opportunities for team members to connect through fitness, sports, and recreation to improve physical, mental, and emotional wellbeing.

Purpose: Engaging members in meaningful team and community-based experiences such as leadership and service that, beyond physical and social activities, renew self-identity and purpose in life.

We accomplish our mission via our two core programs: our Chapter and Community Program (CCP) and our Leadership Development Program (LDP).

Read more here: https://www.teamrwb.org/

Upon registration you may specify which cause you would like your donation to go to. We will also be taking donatons on site for both charities. In addition, you may donate directly to either foundation through Navy SEAL Foundation or Team RWB

“I firmly believe that any man’s finest hour, the greatest fulfillment of all that he holds dear, is that moment when he has worked his heart out in a good cause and lies exhausted on the field of battle – victorious.” – Vince Lombardi

Cook-out/potluck will take place directly after the event!

Athletes come in all different shapes and sizes, and with a complex balance of strengths and limitations. Taking a look at the set-up in our lifts, our anthropometric measures (body proportions) come into play and are a big factor in dictating position. The front rack position is no different. We use the front rack for a variety of lifts, so the rack position may also vary slightly depending on the lift itself. While we cannot paint a black and white picture with one broad stroke, we can structure a basic framework from which we can meet and/or improve our points of performance. To illustrate; an athlete with a long humerus (upper arm) and shorter radius and ulna (lower arm), will have a slightly different looking rack position than someone with opposite measurements. Similarly, someone with longer arms and shorter legs would have a slightly different set-up in the snatch than someone with longer legs and shorter arms. Again, not black and white.

Please, do me a favor. Before reading any further, close your eyes and complete a few mental reps of your front squat. Next, try the same with your strict press. If the position of your elbows during both movements was/is the same, you’re kidding yourself….Or one of your movements is st-ruggling! Can you imagine letting the bar sit in your fingertips and trying to drive your elbows high before performing the strict/overhead press?

Taking into consideration the above, we can move on to the basics of the front rack position.

Midline stability. Sound familiar? That’s because it’s important! Lacking stability here under any load is like driving a motorcycle without a helmet. Sure, you may get away without anything tragic happening for awhile, but you’re playing against the odds and eventually it can catch up to you. Keeping that rib cage from “flaring up” is the goal. Coach Wes and Coach Zach recently posted a video on bracing. If you missed it, I recommend taking a peek at that video! YouTube gold with those two fellas! [Watch it here]

The next focal point, “elbows up”! This is a cue that is widely used by many coaches, myself included. Oftentimes, it is a cue utilized when the individual is driving up out of the bottom of a clean. While not incorrect, it can be difficult to actually make that happen in the moment. Addressing the muscular and connective tissues of the upper-mid back, chest, shoulders and triceps, allows for better positioning, but like most things in life it requires consistent work and attention. Bottom line…you have to do the work to EARN your position. The posterior side of the shoulder is where the stability of the scapula happens, thus the magic of the position. I often use the analogy of the drawbridge. (Possibly because I’m a Game of Thrones fan and hold steadfast in my opinion that the alligator-infested moat and drawbridge are highly underutilized…but I digress). Once the soft tissue component is addressed,we need to activate this newly accessed tissue. In this method, and analogy,  as the elbow (drawbridge) is being raised, more and more musculature is being called upon to stabilize the scap…just as the cable spool on the pulley system is collecting more and more cable to pull the bridge upward.

Elbows down and out is another commonly taught method for the front rack position. Coach Burgener, an experienced, widely known coach in the CrossFit world, teaches this position at his seminars. His reasoning is to get the triceps more involved and keep tension on the bar as the athlete transitions from the front rack, to driving under the bar in the catch-phase of the jerk. In this method, there is no disengagement and regripping of the bar. The bar sits more to the “meat” of the hands and less in the fingertips. As I stated earlier, it’s not necessarily black and white. Your coach can help you identify which set-up may work best for you considering any structural or soft tissue limitations that you may be working to conquer.

While not everything, personal preference for the more experienced athletes is also something to consider. If the individual ‘feels’ more at ease with one method over the other, it might not be the best idea to try and force them into the other position. Again, everyone has a complex balance of strengths and limitations and should be guided based on myriad, individual factors.

More concisely,

*** 3 main factors of position***

1)midline stability/bracing

2)elbow position: considering any structural or soft tissue limitations as well as athlete     preference and specific movement for the rack

3)bar position: resting on the deltoids and either in the fingertips or more to the palm of the hands depending on method utilized

*** 3 focal points to work to improve soft tissue ***

1) thoracic spine

2)subscap

3) front rack ROM with active/passive stretching

Happy rackin’,

Coach Tim

Brace yourself! What steps are you taking to prepare for a lift? If bracing isn’t one of them then you need to check this out! Coach Wes teaches us how to properly brace and how it can help us out.

Check out the full video below!

We are so proud of our one and only Stacey Magnesio and all the hard work she’s put in to go compete as an individual at the 2016 CrossFit Regional Competition. Here are a few words from her adoring fans.