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 continue 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!

Adventure Series || Liz Ronco || Grand Teton National Park

Hello CFA community! The next chapter of the Adventures Series has arrived. Earlier this month, while visiting friends out in Jackson Hole, we took the time to hike the Grand Teton National Park. It’s a typical thing for us. The best vacation, in my mind, is a little relaxation mixed with adventure and exploration; or as CFA would say, “functional fitness”. It was only a short few days, but that is never an excuse to not push the limits of experience.

The Grand Teton Park is beautiful yet mostly forgotten national park by the average vacationer. It sits just south of the famous Yellowstone National Park and is often overlooked in favor it’s even more southerly neighbors, Zion and The Grand Canyon. But I can tell you, this 18 mile hike from Jenny Lake through the Cascade Canyon and ending at Lake Solitude, is breathtaking. Literally, there were parts I couldn’t breathe; hiking up a glacier will do that to you.

Hiking has always been an activity I’ve enjoyed. Its freedom from an ordinary routine. And there is nothing as fresh or as therapeutic as mountain air. I’ve never experienced a runner’s high, but I’ve experienced a hiker’s high and its awesomely rewarding. Hiking is also a good benchmark. I can tell when I get on the trail how good my conditioning is and CrossFit absolutely transfers in my benefit. It’s great to be 5 hours in and still have fresh legs under you. To feel the dividends of all squats and met-cons. But it’s also level sets your stability, flexibility and breathing. When your making your way up a mountain on loose or shear rock, how good is your balance? Are your hip flexors getting tight? Are you shoulder or belly breathing? It’s fun to remember how my body feels and where I can improve.

But getting back to this particular experience, we started at Jenny Lake trail head where the first part of the trail twists and turns next to the lake. Then you take a left hand turn and shoot straight up for about a mile finally landing in the Cascade Canyon where you are surrounded by enormous mountains on all sides. The next 5 miles are rather tame as the trail takes you up a slow incline towards Cascade Falls. Then the fun begins. The last 3 miles are a fairly arduous climb up to the lake. And when you finally think you are there, the last half a mile is across slushy, compact snow that ultimately lands you next to a glacial lake and a very inviting sandwich (self provided). Rest for a little bit and then head back down.

Hiking is our family thing. Its allows us to experience a place in a unique way. Its therapeutic. Its affordable (once you’re stocked with gear). And it’s challenging in a different way than everyday fitness. Maybe it isn’t for you. Maybe cycling or running or skiing is your thing. Whatever it is, use it. Use it to stay healthy. Use it to have fun. And use it to challenge yourself.

Until next time! Adventure on fellow CrossFitters.

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 August Athlete of the Month is Darien Nuckols! Darien joined our family with fundamentals in August last year. She’s primarily an early bird with either the 5:30 or 6:30 am classes. Not only is Darien a great example of how drive and determination can guide you, she’s also an amazing member of this community. She’s had an incredible transformation since her inception at CFA. Darien’s lost close to 40 pounds and is down 4 sizes in her clothes.

It’s not all about the aesthetic measurements, but she has worked so hard for those results and in addition to looking great, she’s stronger than ever! We’ve enjoyed Darien’s positive attitude and infectious smile in class. Darien, the CFA Team is proud to honor you as our August Athlete of the Month and as an awesome part of this community. Thanks for your all your hard work! Congratulations!

Let me be the first to congratulate you on surviving the dog days of summer (so far). While there’s no immediate relief from this heat coming, we can at least rejoice that football returns this month. Also a new treat for functional fitness fans, the CrossFit Games makes its August debut this weekend.  I’ll be tagging along with my wife to the games this weekend, and I’m hoping to get an Adventure Series video in beautiful Madison, WI this weekend. Meanwhile a new month means a new programing update! As always a brief rundown of our general structure….

• 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 August

We are deep in the heart of our front box squat cycle. Things have and will continue to get heavier over the next three weeks.  That said remember percentages are not absolute rules, if you need to hang back at a lower percentage to perform the reps with the proper mechanics that’s perfectly alright. Additionally don’t let your strict pull-ups be an afterthought. All your reps should be performed with a nice tight hollow body, and no chicken necking! Don’t add weight or reduce your band tension unless you’re accomplishing these things!

We close the book on this front box squat cycle at the end of the month and turn the page to snatches and dips.  Both of these movements benefit tremendously from mobile ankles, shoulders, and thorax (upper back).  Do yourself a favor and get ahead of the game by work on your mobility in those areas now, before you start tossing a barbell over your head. If you’re not sure  how to attack it, contact your CFL and they will get you setup with a game plan!

Conditioning Test in July

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

Heavy:
Monday August 7th
“Open WOD 11.3”
Max reps in 5:00
Squat Clean & Jerk
@ 165lb / 110 / 75
*last tested 1/18/2016

Heavy:
Thursday, August 17th
“DT“
5 rounds for time.
12 Deadlifts @ 155 / 105 / 75
9 Hang power clean (same)
6 Push jerk (same)
*last test on January 17, 2017

Bodyweight:
Thursday, August 10th
100 Burpees

Team:
Saturday, August 19th
“Jackwagon”
5 rounds
20 deadlifts @ 225 / 155 / 75
(one person works at a time)
20 DB push press @ 45-55 / 25-35 / 15
(one person works at a time)
10 Synchro Bar Facing burpees
(in unison over one bar)
400m run
(run together)
*Two Person Team

Long:
Tuesday, August 25th
Open WOD 14.5 /16.5
21-18-15-12-9-6-3 reps for time of:
Thrusters
Burpees

Here’s to a great August at CFA! Don’t forget we also have free Weightlifting classes all month! Stay tuned for some great community events, and get those summer adventures in before school starts back again!

Sports and the weight room have always been a huge part of Dylan’s life. He started lifting and competing at the age of 10 in the sport of Olympic Weightlifting under the tutelage of  USA Senior International coach Tim Swords. By the age of 13 Dylan was competing at the national level and gained his USAW Level 1 coaching certification. Since then he’s had the opportunity to coach many athletes at local and national level competitions. In 2012 Dylan received an internship opportunity with the Olympic sport strength and conditioning program at Texas State University under Leo Seitz. He’s now currently the head Graduate Assistant for the Strength and Conditioning program under coach Seitz,  and is pursuing his degree in exercise and sport science.

Dylan leads the Strength and Olympic Weightlifting Program at CFA

A Message from Dylan:

Lifting, competing, sports, the weight room have all been in my life as long as I can remember. Through the process I have found a passion for coaching that far surpasses my love for even lifting! I didn’t achieve all what I dreamed of in Weightlifting but my love for it has allowed me to turn that passion into helping others achieve their dreams. Nothing is better than seeing someone else succeed because of my help. I want to help others. I want to see good posture/technique. I want to help create explosive athletes. I believe in it, I believe for it, and I know that it is so.

-Dylan

But let’s backtrack for a moment. When I originally fell in love hiking, it wasn’t for the stunning views or the deep feeling of tranquility that nature provides. To be honest, that came later. In the very beginning, it was all about the workout. And why not? The beauty of hiking is that you can make it as leisurely or as challenging as you’d like it to be – whether it’s a spur-of-the-moment stroll to the Greenbelt or a vigorous scramble up the side of a 12,000ft peak.

So we challenged ourselves – hiking over 150 miles in 10 days. We climbed the frosty, jagged peaks of Wyoming, we rafted down the crystal clear, glacial-fed lakes of Montana, and we trekked through the dense rain forests of Washington. We spent more time with the bears and the moose than we did in any town and spent more time sleeping in hammocks than in any bed.

The workout was great, and though you can’t find those views in a gym I’ve found myself thankful for practicing functional fitness in the past three years. To me, CrossFit is not the “be-all and end-all” of fitness as much as it is a compliment to my life. Using functional fitness as a tool, I’ve been able to explore more of the countryside than I ever thought possible and snowboard down peaks I never thought my legs could withstand. My lungs breath deeper when the air is thin and my body pushes farther when I’m taking the next step seems impossible.

Whether CrossFit is your mecca, or it is a compliment to your health – I urge you to get outside and use your fitness. You see, getting outside is everything to me. It’s my church, it’s my therapy, and – much like working out – it’s a challenge. I’m not sure where the next adventure will take me (I’ve been dreaming of Machu Picchu & Mt.Kilimanjaro lately), but I will be looking for you when I’m out there.”

First off thanks again for everyone that participated in Murph Day! What a great day with the CFA family and great effort to give back to our community. Stay tuned, we’re working with the other affiliate owners to get the first rower of many to our local fire fighters. That said,  let’s get to our programming overview for the next several weeks. As always we start with an overview of how our cycles work.

• 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 July

Today was our post test of the Split Jerk and it was great to see so many “PR stars” by folks name.  As we discussed last month we are starting our Front Box Squat Cycle and strict pull-up cycle. July will be the meat and potatoes of this strength cycle so consistency and focus on strength days are priority number one.

The front box squat is one of those high ROI movements that most folks are unaware of. Not only does it improve our trunk and core strength in the front squat, it also provides great assistant to the start position in the snatch and clean. A full pause on the box allows athletes to learn how to “push with the legs” while maintaining a strong upright torso. So once again while the lift is less sexy than some of its relatives front box squats have great applications to many different barbell lifts.

Conditioning Test in July  

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

Heavy – “Open WOD 11.3” Monday 8/7  (last tested 1/18/2016)

Light – “Chief” Thursday 7/20 (last tested 12/4/2013)  

Bodyweight – “Annie” Tuesday 7/25 (last tested 2/23/2015)  

Long – “ Wittman” Monday 7/31

Lastly, we understand that summertime is full of travel, vacations, and fun.  That doesn’t mean you have to let your fitness go to waste! Please reach out to us so we can help you with gym recommendations on the road, equipment free workouts, and fun active outdoor ideas for your vacations! We love a great adventure as much as you do!

CFA is excited to announce that we will be hosting another guest coach for the month of July! Rebecca has been a client of or Coach Wes Kimball’s for almost 5 years now. More importantly she’s been coaching and training people to achieve their fitness goals for over 14 years! “RB” is currently a full time CrossFit coach at CrossFit Optimistic, and has been involved with CFO for the past 7 years. Rebecca will cover Monday evenings for us in the month of July!

Rebecca’s coaching background:

In her “first life” Coach Rebecca worked in the networking field for companies such as Lockheed Martin, Qwest and MCI. Unhappy with the instability of the field, she made the leap from geek to jock, and left the tech world to pursue a passion for fitness and nutrition full time. She has over a decade of fitness experience and has been a certified trainer since 2003. Rebecca loves, and is quite good at helping people incorporate fun, daily activity and healthful nutrition into their lives. She started CrossFitting in April 2010 and has found her calling, and her true home in the CrossFit community.

Rebecca holds the following certifications: CrossFit Level I and II, CrossFit Olympic Lifting, CrossFit Rowing, CrossFit Kettlebell, ISSA Certified Physical Trainer, ISSA Performance Nutrition Specialist.

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.