COA 2013 Testimonials

An Interview With The Circle Of Awesomeness 2013 Winners

“Life-changing. Encouraging. Inspiring”

Athlete: Leah Alter
CrossFit Austin Member: Est. September 2011
Female Winner of COA 2013
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Circle of Awesomeness in 6 words or less?
“Life-changing, encouraging, inspiring”

Greatest struggle/obstacle with COA 2013
The workout “Kelly” (my shins got hit both times, still have scars!)

Greatest achievement with COA 2013
I won!

Basically, state the goals you set for yourself for COA 2013
To improve on all my initial tests, stay strict paleo/no drinking, lose weight/inches/body fat

Favorite part of COA 2013
The encouragement and time with my teammates. Coach Sharon was our team lead and did a great job keeping us all connected. We really pushed and supported each other.

Words of advice for those new to the CrossFit Austin Community
This is my 3rd COA challenge. The first one I did only after being a part of the gym a couple months.  It really was the thing that made me fall in love with CFA and CrossFit in general. It was so hard, so rewarding. There is no one that wouldn’t benefit from it.  Even if you can’t commit to everything 100%, pick one or two things you really need to work on and just focus on that.  It also really sets you up for a great year.

Anything to say to our CrossFit Austin veterans who’ve never done COA?
C’mon already.  What? You scared?

If anything, what would you change about the Circle if Awesomeness?
That we don’t do more of them. It’s a great CFA tradition. I’m super excited to take part for a 3rd year.  Bring it!

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“Challenge. Struggle. Uncomfortable. Exciting. Eye-opening”

Athlete: Bradley Anderson
CrossFit Austin Member: Est. July 2012
Male Winner of COA 2013
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Circle of Awesomeness in 6 words or less?
“Challenge. Struggle. Uncomfortable. Exciting. Eye-opening”

Greatest struggle/obstacle with COA 2013
My greatest struggle with the COA was trying to eat great ALL the time. I have always thought I ate well but I still enjoy caving into my sweet tooth from time to time.  I did cave during the COA 2013 and I felt I could feel it in my workouts and it was not positive lol

Greatest achievement with COA 2013
Doing a competition type event. Although this was not with a hundred people yelling at you all the time you had stuff to keep you on your toes and made sure you were on top of your game at all times.  It was stressful and exciting like a competition.

Basically, state the goals you set for yourself for COA 2013
My goals for the beginning were to lean down and get into the best shape of my life.  I feel like I achieved one of those two goals but remember I told ya I caved into my sweet tooth so one was not quite complete! Haha!!

Favorite part of COA 2013
My favorite part of COA were the workouts! I love to workout and it challenged me in aspects of my fitness that I was lacking. Areas that I never focused on before and while I improved it definitely showed me that I had some very large weaknesses. Weaknesses that today I am still working on mastering.

Words of advice for those new to the CrossFit Austin Community
Do it with everything you have in you! It is not that long tell all your friends and family about it and if they try to get you to do something that would hinder it, tell them to wait a few weeks and then you can see if you want to allow yourself to stray a little bit from your goals.

Anything to say to our CrossFit Austin veterans who’ve never done COA?
The same that I would a new CFA member, do it with everything you got in you, challenge yourself and see how far you can go in such a short period of time! You will be surprised that even though you think your good now you can always get way better!

If anything, what would you change about the Circle if Awesomeness?
Well of course make all the workouts something I was good at lol!! But to be real I think it was a lot of fun and really pushed me out of my comfort zone which at the time I would have changed but now I am glad for all that it taught me.  I would only change how I approached the challenge and what effort I put into completing it.

REGISTER HERE 

The Push-Up Man & Woman of 2013!

Danny Stacey

If you missed the CFA Holiday/5th Anniversary Party, you might not have heard about our 2013 Push-Up Man and Push-Up Woman of the Year!

The Push-up Man and Woman of the Year exemplify everything that we love about our athletes, our community, and the human spirit. Not only do these people walk through the doors of CFA day in and day out, and work hard to improve themselves; they go out of their way to lift up everyone around them. They make their friends and families a priority over themselves. They lead and encourage by words, actions, and example. They represent the burning spirit of what makes our little South Austin gym unique and special. We at CrossFit Austin can humbly bestow no greater honor and we give our utmost heartfelt thanks that you both have chosen to make our gym, business, family, and lives a better place!

 

staceym

The Push-Up Woman Of The Year: Stacey MagnesioState your Name and/or Nickname please:
Stacey Mag

Words to live by?
Attitude is everything!

What is your fitness background?
I played everything under the sun growing up- soccer, swimming, basketball, softball, volleyball, tennis, ran track, underwater basket weaving (kidding on the last one). I owe my parents a lot for carting me around from game to game!

How long have you been CrossFitting?
My 5 year anniversary is this January:)

What’s your favorite part of CrossFit Austin?
The people of course! The community at CFA is amazing! Thank you CFA-ers for making our gym a fun place to work our butts off!

What are your training goals?
Stay healthy, eat good, and look good naked… I mean, work hard. Did I say that out loud? I also will continue to train for competitions and compete for our team in the Open and at Regionals:)

Favorite sport or activity?
CrossFit obviously, but I still play a mean game of pick up soccer at recess everyday;)

Recent adventure you’re planning?
No plans yet, but I do have all summer to play, so if anyone wants to go to the beach…

Tell us something we don’t know about you…
I set up my Christmas tree before Thanksgiving this year

Longhorns or Aggies?
Bobcat! Texas State! Eat em’ up cats!

How do you plan to use your new-found fame and honor as Push-Up Man of the Year?
Obviously I am a teacher, so naturally I love to help/teach people. So if anyone needs help with a movement or lift, just ask:) I’m also a pretty good cheerleader, so I will continue to cheer everyone on as they reach new fitness goals this year.

Leave the fine folks of CrossFit Austin with some parting words…
Keep working hard and share your awesomeness daily!!!

 

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danny

The Push-Up Man Of The Year: Danny Gomez
State your Name and/or Nickname please: 
Danny Gomez
Words to live by?
It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and leave no doubt ~ Mark Twain
As far as fitness is concerned, Miguel Garza once told me to “make sure you get to enjoy the process, fitness is a life long journey”  That really changed my entire outlook on training.

What is your fitness background?

I was an active overweight kid growing up that played any and everything I could.  In High School I primarily played Football, shortly after I realized I wasn’t big enough, strong enough, or athletic enough, but I was awkwardly fearless… so I started playing rugby instead, I played for a few years and then NOTHING.
 
My first day at CFA I had to stop once or twice on the 400m warm up lap because I got a stitch in my side.
How long have you been CrossFitting?
I joined CrossFit Austin in May of 2011

What’s your favorite part of CrossFit Austin? 
Honestly my favorite part of CFA is the members!  Not just my friends, but every single person that walks through those bay doors!  I love that there is such diversity within the community yet we ALL come in each day, bust our asses side by side, and get it done.  It’s a beautiful thing.

What are your training goals?
My goals are pretty simple… Get stronger, faster, and have as much fun as possible doing it.

Favorite sport or activity?
I love being outdoors…Hunting, fishing, whatever!  I also <3 exercise

Recent adventure you’re planning?
No adventures planned in the immediate future, so I will probably spend most of my time in the gym with all of my SouthSide Athletics peeps getting strong and planning our world dominance.
Tell us something we don’t know about you…
I’ve been a competitive Archer since I was 14 years old and have had some success at the State and National level with that.  I also have a thing for cat t-shirts!Longhorns or Aggies?
Both, I love rivalries and competitiveness!

How do you plan to use your new-found fame and honor as Push-Up Man of the Year?
I’m still not sure they even gave this thing to the right guy!?

Leave the fine folks of CrossFit Austin with some parting words…
I joke a lot and rarely take things seriously, but I am truly honored each day to train with all of you!  We’re a community built around the simple principle of Awesomeness… When one of us succeeds, we all succeed.  This award is just as much yours as it is mine!

5th Annual CFA Awards

Today we recognize and congratulate the recipients of last week’s 5th Annual CFA Awards! 

 

awards

The Golden Shoe Award – Nick Schittone
The 2×4 Award – Gil Garza
The Blood Award – Linzi Newth
The Sweat Award – Bradley Anderson
The Cheers Award – Sean Beal
The Earmuffs Award – Velvet Pressley
The Iron Man Award – Kevin Jenkins
The Life of the Party Award – Kelly Jackson
The Glass Half Full Award – Humberto Marquez
The Welcoming Committee – Leah Alter
“I just like to smile, smiling’s my favorite” Award – Sarah Kyle
The Odd Couple Award – Greg Peppin & Alex Gold

Congratulations, guys! Y’all are AWESOME!
*Athletes, swing by the front desk to claim your prize!

Just Breathe…

Just Breathe; My official mantra for the Holiday season.

This time of year is statiscally stressful. It’s the time us crazies get agitated or even anxious from the planning, shopping, traveling, and quality time with the extended family (Cousins, Uncles, Aunts, etc.). It is also the one time a year I sit around a dinner table listening to my cousins and uncles talk about NASCAR, gun control, and how McDonalds should sell the McRib sandwich year-round (that’s Kansas for you!).

It’s moments like these I repeat to myself…  “Just Breathe”

But what if I told you it is how you breathe that matters most? Want to calm yourself down?  Have perfect posture? Lift heavy?  Increase endurance and improve core function? It all can be affected by how you breathe.  

The two types of breathing lie on a spectrum. On one end, chest breathing; and on the other, belly breathing (also known as Diaphragmatic Breathing), with the latter being superior.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hp-gCvW8PRY

I use the word ‘spectrum’ only because breathing can be unique for each person.  For example, one can ace breathing drills but struggle to maintain belly breathing during a CrossFit workout that requires an increase in breathing. So before we get into the details, realize this is a process. It will require several weeks of practice and will need to be done several times throughout the day. The “ever-so-often” approach just won’t do.

How do you know if you are breathing incorrectly? The common signs of dysfunction are listed below:

– Inhalation is initiated by lifting the chest

– Limited rib expansion during inhalation

– Mouth breathing

– Posture:  Elevated shoulder girdle

– Breath Holding:  On average you should be able to hold your breath for 25-30 seconds. Poor results are 15 seconds or less

Sound like you? Here is your first step. Below is a video demonstrating a belly breathing drill.  It’s important to start lying down while doing this drill. As you become more accustomed to belly breathing, you can then progress the drill by changing your position to seated, then standing.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8-_NNCrrdus

-Aaron Davis

Finding Balance During the Holidays

Its officially holiday time. Thanksgiving has come and gone and we are now 10 days deep into December.  This also marks the time of year when the internet starts to tell you how to “Survive the Holidays.”  Basically there are a few schools of thought on how to manage holiday season.

 

1. Go ape shit crazy, you deserve it! YOLO!

2. Go against the grain and start your New Year’s Resolution today. Firebomb this holiday season with discipline and self-righteousness.  

3. Find a balance that allows you to enjoy important time with friends and family with out completely undercutting your fitness goals.

 

As you can a imagine we’re going to make a case for number three. As I’ve stated here before many obstacles in life and fitness can be overcome by creating awareness around the things that are actually holding us back and devising a plan to overcome that obstacle. In my experience there are 3 main obstacles encountered over holidays that can negatively affect our health and fitness goals.

 

Social outings

While your social life always seems to be competing with you fitness goals, the shear volume of social events increases seemingly exponentially during the month of December.  Office parties, and Christmas parties with friends and/or family all squeeze themselves on to the calendar in December. Generally these parties include free booze and plenty of poor nutritional options.

 

Travel

If you don’t have to spend significant time in an airport or on the road  in December, consider yourself lucky.  Let me just tell you there are very few “healthy” options in between Wichita Falls and Amarillo and even less in the Amarillo airport. Couple that with the fact that you are away from the gym and normal training routine and we have potential holiday landmines here.

Big Family Meals

Finally, we all love our Mom’s delicious home cooking. Unfortunately that 5 lbs of turkey, dressing, mashed potatoes, and pie isn’t going to help our six pack, or shave a minute off our mile time.

So what’s the answer? Well first of all I’m of the opinion that you should enjoy and maybe even indulge in all of the “problems” above. Why? Because they are all part of interacting with and participating in the lives of people that are important to us. We as humans are by nature social creatures, and the effects of isolation and loneliness can be just as detrimental to our health as lack of physical activity or poor nutrition.  Establishing and maintaining personal relationships is incredibly important and why the holidays should be enjoyed not stressed over.  So below are some ways to mitigate the damage done by the above obstacles while still enjoying and being thankful for the time we have with our friends and family.

 

Exercise Consistently

This is priority number one. One thing the holidays do bring is some extra time off from work, so commit to exercise 30-60 minutes 5-6 days a week. Trust me you have time. If you’re on the road go for a run, do one of our travel workouts , drop in to a CrossFit box, or even just help pops shovel snow for an hour. Exercise is the one thing you can have 100% control of during the holidays. Heck, you can even throw in some double days with Zone 1 work when you’re off from work.

 

Plan Workouts before and after big meals and social events

This is a simple, yet underutilized way to offset damage done by parties and big holiday meals. The post workout state simply put, allows the body to find productive uses for the calories we take in and mitigates the likelihood those calories will just be stored as fat (for a more detailed explanation of this check this article out). You should always train the day after (preferably in the morning) a big social outing or meal. While this doesn’t sound or feel appealing after a late night at the office Christmas party, it helps you mentally deal with “being uncomfortable” and not allowing that state of uncomfort to affect your training schedule. It also ensures that your training consistency is not negatively affected by social outings, and eliminates excuses from your vocabulary.

 

Reduce Calories outside of  big meals, and parties

Counting calories has a bad a wrap and rightfully so, but it does have some advantages especially this time of the year. The important thing to remember is that calorie counting on a micro level (per meal) is largely inaccurate. So stressing about the exact number of calories you take in per meal is counter productive. However, having an idea of how many calories you’re taking in over the course of the day has benefit to overall fat loss.  So on the days that you know you will take in a good amount of calories, reduce your intake by eating smaller meals earlier in the day or doing some intermittent fasting.

 

So there you have it! How to enjoy yourself over the holidays and not go completely off the rails! Enjoy yourself and your loved ones this month, and hopefully these tips will help you stay consistent with your training!

-Wes Kimball

Perfection

    It’s something that you may never achieve, but you should always strive for.  The perfect movement, or close to it, is what all of us as athletes and coaches should always be inching toward.  This goes for all movements that we use in the gym, but what steps we take to achieve these are rarely discussed.

 

    Many times coaches are on one of two sides, focusing more on technique or strength.  I learned from Olympic Coach Kyle Pierce that they cannot be separated, instead “they are one.”  Does an athlete get pulled forward on the first pull because they have bad technique, or have a weak back?  We must fix the weaknesses as they occur so proper technique can continue to be achieved.  This of course means that once technique breaks down you do not go heavier, even if you are close to a personal record.  Do not inhibit the continuation of gains for one PR. Constantly working on weaknesses will give you the ability to perfect your technique as you get stronger, so you can lift more weight correctly!   There are some simple exercises we can do based on weight that create a problem with your movements.

 

Let’s say you are getting pulled forward when you pull the bar off the ground, or “bottoming out” in the bottom off the catch.  Both of these are due to Leg/Back weakness.  If the weight was 100 kg (220 lbs), we would work off of that weight and try to work up to a Front Squat with a 3 sec pause in the bottom for 3 sets of 3 at 100% (220 lbs).  Theoretically this should help fix the weakness at that weight in the clean so we can continue to progress.

 

This is just one of the ways we continue to get our athletes stronger and more technically sound in SouthSide Weightlifting.

-Coach Thomas

It’s Really That Simple

http://spencergarnold.files.wordpress.com/2013/06/tommykono.jpg

    I recently returned from a weightlifting training camp with members of the Russian National Team.  With all of the complex technique approaches, catapult vs. triple extension talk, and self proclaimed weightlifting coaches shamelessly blasting social media, I knew I was in for something good from this training camp.  When the lecture began, there was no extravagant technique approach with “must hit” positions. It was better. It was perfectly simple.

    The interesting approach they take to weightlifting is nothing new. Back in the 1950’s and 1960’s, Tommy Kono was absolutely dominant in the weightlifting world, setting World Records in four separate weight classes, winning two olympic golds, and six consecutive world championships. But, after his career, Kono also did some coaching.  When Yasha Kahn, Coach for Norwood Weightlifting, began lecturing at the training camp about the Russian Training System, someone from the back raised their hand and asked what the American System is.  He sort and laughed a little bit and went into the fact that in the 50’s and 60’s there were two systems to train Olympic weightlifters, the Russian and the American.

After Kono was finished competing he began coaching. First he coached the Mexico National Team, then the West German Team, and back to America.  By that time his style of training was out and the Russians, who were dominated by the Americans, adopted this system of training, which is now the Russian System.  So while we are off trying to find the next big thing by bringing in coaching from Bulgaria, Hungary, and Poland, we are getting beat by teams doing what we were doing 60 years ago!  This is a great lesson for any athlete, stop looking for the next best thing!  Find a good coach, and then work. When you start to plateau, work harder!

    I have dedicated much of my career to these movements.  Even before I began to compete, I was studying and analyzing them from a coach’s perspective.  When you get as deep into it as I am, it is refreshing to take a step back, learn from a world champion, and look at the movement as a whole instead of dissecting every inch of the pull.  I believe that we can do this with all movements that we coach and that you as an athlete learn, but it’s not all on the coach.  As an athlete you will have more success, more quickly if you just listen to the cues that the coach is giving verbally and nothing else.  I noticed this at the training camp on multiple occasions.  They would give you two or three things you must do, and the rest took care of itself.  This drove people crazy in the camp!  Many times I would hear “what about the double knee bend,” “where should my shoulders be on the finish,” and the classic “when do I drive my hips into the bar?”  They stuck to their guns, refusing to talk about all that nonsense, giving simple cues to do on your set-up, and then stand up!  The best part about it is it worked!

Here is the bottom line…  These movements, along with other movements including gymnastics, were conventionally taught to kids.  Then, CrossFit came along and we began teaching these skills to knowledgeable adults.  With that came all of the Pose Running and Catapult nonsense, simply because adults are always looking for something new, and more importantly they want to know why it works.  The truth is high quality coaches are not going to give you gimmicks. It’s going to sounds overly simple, but it is suppose to be.  There is no need to over complicate a complicating movement or skill.  Now as an athlete, you must try to clear your thoughts and focus on the the cues the coaches are giving you. It will make the learning curve much shorter so we can get you moving and feeling better.

-Coach Thomas