Monday is New Year’s Day is “observed” Monday but we are sticking with the normal schedule. We have classes at 5:30 am, 6:30 am, 9:30 am, noon, 4:30 pm, 5:30 pm, 6:30 pm (with CrossFit 101 classes as well), and 7:30 pm.
NEW YEAR NEW STRENGTH CYCLE!
This week we will start a 6-8 week gymnastics cycle. You will have three tracks to pick from:
Bar Muscle Ups
Pull Ups
Toes to Bar
Here are the guidelines to choosing the correct one:
Bar Muscle Ups- If you have them already or if you can string together 8+ Chest to Bar.
Pull Ups – If you are looking to get stronger with them, string more together or get your first one. We will focus on strength and the skill of the movement.
Toes to Bar – If this is something you struggle with or you can not master kipping and feel like you are lacking core strength.
One day a week will be focused on skill and drills. Then one day a week will be an EMOM of that movement. Use the skill and drill days to dial things back and focus on great movement. Use the EMOM days to see progress and also focus on great movement. The key throughout the cycle will be moving well. Getting 5 kipping pull ups with your feet apart, reaching your chin to the bar in a broken position is not our goal. We want clean movement that will transfer to strong positions and keep us safe. The coaches will nit pick position, it is your job to execute.
NEW YEAR GOAL SETTING!
We hope you all saw Coach John’s post about the “Goal Wall”… it is being erased and reinvented on Monday! Yes, we will be wiping the Goal Wall clean and starting anew for 2017.We’re not here to abolish your goals but rather give your more guidance to help you achieve them. In addition to the goal wall, we will be allotting some time for “goal setting sessions” with anyone who needs some help or guidance. We are here to Coach you through movement and your fitness journey, but a better understanding of those goals and WHY you want to do these things is incredibly important context. Stay tuned for more information on how to get with a Coach to talk through goals!
If you missed John’s post, here’s how to re-write those goals for the Goal Wall for 2017!
But, for the Goal Wall… in order to achieve your goals they must be SMART:
SpecificMeasurableAchievableRealisticTime BoundHere are some quick guidelines for the new Goal Wall:THREE goals per person at a time- We are not trying to limit your goals here, but we’re trying to channel your focus. If you write down 15 goals on the board, how do you choose which one(s) to focus on?! By focusing on 3 at a time you can give each goal equal amount of attention and practice. Not to mention we have a lot more members and need more goal space. (P.s. the 3 goals is just for the Goal Wall, you should have a personal list written down somewhere with way more than 3 goals)Goals should be able to be achieved in 2-3 months- You should have both short-term and long-term goals. For example, say your long-term/ultimate goal is a Muscle Up but you can’t do 1 strict pullup, butterfly chest-to-bar pullups, and dips. You should be focusing on a strict pullup first. If you feel like 2-3 months isn’t a long enough time to develop a strict pullup then you can make even shorter-term goals such as being able to move from a green to a blue band in all pullup WODs or being able to do 10 inverted ring rows. By breaking down your long-term goals into a bunch of short-term goals you will be able to keep checking off goals in a timely manner and that will give you the juice to keep plugging along!Try to vary your goals (maybe have 1 gymnastics goal, 1 weightlifting, 1 metabolic conditioning)- This one is coming straight from Coach Maria and it is a fantastic idea! We want to be as well rounded in CrossFit as we can- we need to be strong, have great body control, and have a good metabolic conditioning capacity (or a “good engine”). By varying your goals you will force yourself to work on all aspects of your fitness.With all that being said these are just guidelines. If you want to work on just strength, by all means go ahead. But you are going to feel like you’re dying during metcons. If you want to focus on all cardio, by all means go ahead. But nobody wants to hear you complain about not getting stronger.
NEW YEAR NUTRITION CHALLENGE!
With many of us coming off of excessive holiday eating and to kick off the New Year right, we are offering a nutrition challenge unlike any we have done before!Yes there will be food rules, but this is not a “30 Day Paleo Challenge”. This is 5 weeks to a new you… but you won’t be alone! Although sign ups will be individual, we will create teams for greater accountability. There will be some rules, but more importantly, you will be coached on developing the mindset that will transform and ingrain these guidelines into habit and lifestyle.
“Eating clean” is one of the least restrictive and most effective pathways to better health. You’ll learn how identify and eliminate processed foods that may be wreaking havoc on your body, and how to replace them with foods that will make you stronger, leaner, and overall better. Most importantly, you will be coached to adopt the mindset that will make this outlook your lifestyle, setting you up for success in the new year and beyond.
This Challenge will be led by coach Brittany and will last 5 weeks.
This challenge is for those who are willing and dedicated to making a change. The cost is $100 and includes the following:
Kick Off Meeting Thursday January 5th at 8:30PM.
The Challenge officially begins January 9th and ends on Sunday, February 12th.
There will be a Mid-Challenge group meeting and potluck on January 22nd.
We will set up a Private Facebook page to post recipes, challenges, successes etc.
InBody body composition analysis at the beginning and end of challenge, providing weight and % body fat analysis. The value and accuracy of this, similar to a BodPod, would be $50 PER use. So the $100 would cover the analytics alone!
(InBody Body composition analyzer is a tool we secured for the New Year clean eating challenge. See the InBody analysis below for an example of the information you will get:
Teams will be set up to increase accountability. Each week Teams will accrue points based on following food criteria, working out and weekly bonus challenges. There will be a can and can not eat list as this is a time to reset the body and clean out the sludge from the holidays. And instill healthy eating habits that can be pulled through all year long. This challenge is for those that are looking for fat loss, muscle gain and increased performance and just overall enhanced nutrition.
Winning team gets a 45-min one on one goal setting and personalized nutrition plan.
Health-supportive dietary recommendations, as well as coaching and support to keep you on track
We will post more information about the challenge over the next week. Space in this challenge will be limited and sign ups are live now. CLICK HERE to hold your spot!
ROW, RUN, RIDE: GO THE DISTANCE!
Caught the rowing bug after the 100,000 Meter Challenge? Want something new to challenge you in 2017? We have a great opportunity for you, and it’s for a great cause! Our very own Nassim E., inspired by Garth C’s Million Meters and the 100K row challenge she did herself, has partnered with CrossFit Federal Hill and Geo’s Rockwell’s “Community of Strength Project” to turn meters into opportunity for these deserving kids. If you don’t know about this program, read more HERE!
And now, The Community of Strength Project (COSP) is partnering up with Baltimore City Community College to raise money to send the COSP students to college!
You can help by joining this year-long challenge where you can chose to row, run, or ride 1,000,000 (that’s right, one million) Meters by the end of 2017.
All you need to do is create a team through this link, advertise the campaign on social media, and start rowing, running, or riding. All the money will go directly to Baltimore City Community College exclusively for the Community of Strength Project kids. In turn, we will be able to send our students to college, all expenses paid!
Read more about this awesome opportunity on our Team Page.
Spread the word; this is open to anyone wanting to set an awesome goal for themselves in 2017!
STRENGTH WOD
All legit cycles start with a test. We need data to compare and show improvement. We will test with an EMOM. A max effort set is also an option, but the improvement on that will not translate well to what we want to accomplish.. We want to be able to maintain volume over a long duration. Pick a number that you think you can maintain, but overall mark your score down as total reps completed during the 7 minute period.
Gymnastics Cycle TestEMOM in 7 minutes_____Muscle ups_____ Pull ups_____ Toes to Bar
WOD
“Fire it up”15 Squat Cleans60 Wall Balls15 Squat CleansFitness: 95/65RX: 135/95RX+: 175/11515 min Time Cap
Coach’s Tip:Don’t you think we today’s blog is long enough? Just keep moving. If you are looking to scale this workout, scaling the numbers of reps is an excellent option as well as the weights.
Meet Kasey, one of our newest and most awesome members! He’s killing it already!