Announcements

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!