Positive-Thinking February

How’s your February going?

Yes, it’s almost the end of the month. But this is not the time to write February off and begin planning for your awesome March/Spring.
YES, we’re all looking forward to Spring. I’m writing this from New Orleans where the high is 70 today. HOORAY SPRING! So YES, begin planning for March. But ALSO take the last seven days of February to CRUSH THIS MONTH!
Goals not going the way you’d planned? What can you do in seven days to change that? Plenty.
Did you hope to train more or eat better or save more this month? Well you’ve still got a week. Get to the gym. Cook some healthy meals. Save a few bucks.
Or are you already CRUSHING your goals this month? Sweet. Don’t derail now. Be extraordinary.
Make this your best month ever. And then make March even better. 🙂

Are you succeeding at the THINK POSITIVE February challenge? Post in the comments with any tools that have helped you be positive this month.

Workout of the Day (WOD) – BENCHMARK FRIDAY

A. Push Press: 5-5-5, every 2min
B. “Jackie”
1000m row
50 thrusters 45/35#
30 pull ups

And coming tomorrow…TEAM WOD

Complete three rounds with your team:
P1. 100 singles or 40 double unders
P2. 40 wall balls
P3. 40 kb swings
P4. 40 walking lunges

Each partner must finish their task before anyone rotates. All partners rotate through all stations three times. If you finish first, ENJOY the rest until your partners finish.

Halfway through the month…not too late for a healthy new habit!

Two weeks left in the month. That’s plenty of time to make progress toward your goals.
Overwhelmed? Start with a smaller goal.
That “workout four times a week” goal starts with one workout. Or even start with just 5 squats…something so tiny you can’t quit it.
Floss. Just one tooth to start.
And if you get derailed… miss one workout… eat one bad meal… miss one day of flossing… GET BACK ON TRACK the next day! Don’t keep backsliding.
Here’s another post from my new favorite blog Zen Habits, on how to stick to habits and habits that form habits. Don’t write February off. Remember our positive-thinking HAPPY February challenge? You’ve still got two weeks to become a happier person. Enjoy the journey!

D-Cap, Nate K, Matt M, Dan W & Vicente hanging out for Mardi Gras

Workout of the Day (WOD) – Benchmark Friday

A. Close-grip bench press: 15min to find 1 rep max
B. “Cindy”:
As many rounds & reps as possible in 20 min of:
5 pull ups
10 push ups
15 squats

And coming tomorrow… Partner WOD

Partner “McGhee”:
Alternating movements with your partner, complete as many rounds & reps as possible in 30 minutes of –
5 deadlifts 275/185#
13 push-ups
9 box jumps 24/20

How’s your HAPPY FEBRUARY going?

Earlier this month, I challenged you all to think positively this month. Practice chasing negative thoughts from your mind and you’ll be surprised at how much happier you’ll be! A good friend of mine shared this Zen Habits blog with me and I enjoy reading it regularly now. Here’s his great post from last week with some advice the author offers his kids. I wish the same for all of you/us!

Rowing class tonight at 7!

Every Tuesday, Uran leads a rowing class in the front room at 7pm. Please RSVP in advance, because only 5 SPOTS are available. Here’s tonight’s rowing workout:
Pyramid Workout
Keeping a steady stroke rating of 25-27 spm (strokes per minute) for all but the last piece (piece is rowing talk for an interval or distance…in this case, “the last piece” is the final 500m max effort):
500m, rest 2:00
750m, rest 2:00
1000m, rest 2:00
1500m, rest 2:00
1000m, rest 2:00
750m, rest 2:00
500m max effort (28-30 spm)

And here’s a great video from Concept2 (okay, a good video… very informative, but I’d like to add some dancing WB frogs or maybe give the narrator a wise guy gangster accent like in the cartoons) with some rowing form tips. Uran can teach you all this AND MORE!!!

Mardi Gras WOD tonight at 8!

Join us tonight as we celebrate Mardi Gras at the 8pm class. This class doesn’t count toward your weekly visits AND it’s open to the public/beginner friendly, so bring a friend. Wear your Mardi Gras yellow, green and/or purple to earn some beads & masks!
Bridget, Lynn and Nina have arranged for some post-WOD refreshments. I won’t give specifics but there might be spiked jello, king cake, a special cash-out and an after-party down the street at Front Page News (it’s a New Orleans Cafe. You know they’ll do it right). If you attended the holiday party, you’ll remember what an amazing jello chef Lynn is. Don’t miss it… we’ll be doing a special WOD to celebrate:
Every minute on the minute for 20 minutes:
Odd rounds – 5 burpee bead tosses
Even rounds – 3 dance-atop-a box jumps (anti-dancers can do 5 squats atop the box instead)

All other classes will do the boring ole regular WOD, listed below…

Laissez les bon temps rouler! (aka LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL)

Workout of the Day (aka regular ole boring WOD)

A. Power Clean: 3-3-3-3-3-3-3, every 3min
B. 5 rounds for time:
12 toes-to-bar
10 wall balls 20/14#

And coming tomorrow…

A. As many rounds & reps as possible in 20min:
10 handstand push ups
2 rope climbs
20 walking lunges
B. accumulate 3min each of L side bridge & R side bridge

Record your workouts

Last week we announced you can track your workouts through Zen Planner online (use the login you got when you started at CFM) or using their iPhone app.
Tracking your workouts will help you make quicker progress in the gym and helps your coaches help you.
If every time we back squat, you have no record of the weight used last time we squatted, you’ll spend your first few sets guessing at a good starting weight. Instead, track those numbers so you know exactly what you did last time and we can hopefully add a little weight next time around.
Note: new students are different. We’ll use your first few workouts to determine your starting weights for lifts and modifications for other movements.
Want to get better at pullups? When you approach your coach to ask for help, we might take a look at your training records (which we can see through Zen Planner…so cool!) and be able to recommend some additional work to complement what you’re doing in the gym. Or we might see that perhaps the reason you’re struggling with pull ups is that you avoid them every time they come up in a workout. Hint: today. pull ups. be here.
It’s also important to take a few minutes before class to review the workout of the day and your past results at similar workouts to decide what your starting weight will be or what modifications you might make. Your coach in class will always help with this, but checking your numbers during class can eat up valuable training time.
Come prepared and track your progress! It makes a big difference!

Olympic Lifting Seminar with Travis Cooper

Sunday, March 10th, Travis Cooper will be joining us for a six-hour seminar (9a-4p with an hour break for lunch) to teach us the finer points of the snatch and clean & jerk. Travis has competed and coached at the national & world levels. He is now a member of Team MDUSA and aspires to compete in the 2016 Olympics.
Register now! This seminar is limited to 24 athletes (8 spaces are already full!). Athletes and coaches of all levels will benefit from this course.

$75.00 – CFM Members
$85.00 – CFM Guests

Visit the FB event page for the seminar timeline and more info about Travis.

Workout of the Day

A. As many rounds & reps as possible in 15 minutes of:
1 chest-to-bar (CTB) pull up
1 box jumps (24/20)
2 CTB pull ups
2 box jumps
3 CTB chin ups
3 box jumps
… And so on, each round increasing by one rep until time expires.

Score= total reps

B1. Three rounds: Powell Raise 8-10, 30sec rest
Dumbbell External Rotation 8-10, 60sec rest

And coming tomorrow…

A. Power Clean 3-3-3-3-3-3-3, every 3min
B. 5 rounds for time:
12 toes-to-bar
10 wall balls 20/14#