Whole Life Challenge

Congrats to our Whole Life Challenge winners!

We had 94 participants in our Whole Life Challenge, playing from all over the country. We’ll be announcing Friends & Family winners later today, but want to recap the CFM awards/winners announced on Saturday at the after party.
Congrats to Wayne on winning the 2012 Whole Life Challenge!!! Our finalists also made huge progress: Brianne & Laura made the most improvement on the WOD, Taylor lost the most inches, Bri won the accountability prize for scoring/logging workout, mobility, fish oil and nutrition points, and Woody won the ITP prize (and NARROWLY missed the Grand Prize, losing to Wayne by a hundredth of a point!)
Special thanks to all our sponsors: RiRa, lululemon howell mill, SlantShack Jerky, Brighter Fire apparel, Vita-Coco, Paleo People granola, Rock 100.5 and Center Stage/The Loft.

WINNERS!

Brianne rolled up to Finals almost an hour late… so she insisted on doing her penalty burpees at the after party. What a trooper.

Thanksgiving schedule

Closed Thursday & Open Gym Friday
CrossFit Midtown will hold all regularly scheduled classes next week on Monday through Wednesday. CFM will be closed Thursday for Thanksgiving. On Friday, regular classes are cancelled, but there will be Open Gym sessions from 10am to 12noon and 4 to 6pm. Saturday there will be an open gym session from 10am to 12noon.
Open gym sessions will be supervised by a coach, but will not have formal group warm-ups. A coach will be on hand to answer questions, review movements and technique. You’ll have a choice of doing skill work, a programmed workout and/or doing a workout from recent weeks.

Workout of the Day

A. For Time: 30 Muscle Ups OR 6 rounds of 10 strict ring dips & 10 strict pull ups
B1. 3 rounds: 15 kettlebell tricep extensions @4010 tempo, 30sec rest
B2. 3 rounds: 15 kettlebell bent-over rows @4010 tempo, 90sec rest

TUES 11.13.12 Read More »

Whole Life Challenge ENDS TOMORROW

Congrats to everyone who’s completed the Whole Life Challenge. I hope you’ve created some new healthy habits, learned a little about yourself, and had a great experience! Join us tomorrow (whether you did the WLC or not!) for the Final WOD & Measurements, followed by a PAR-TAY to announce winners, hand out some prizes, and hang out with the CFM community!
Final Measurements & WOD: 9:30 to 11a at Piedmont Park Active Oval
We’ll be doing measurements from 9:30 to 10:15, and running finals heats from 10 to 11.
Finals Party & Awards: 1 to 3p at Rira Irish Pub
Dermot and the gang at Rira are hosting a shindig for us to crown the WLC winners, hand out prizes, and enjoy some good fun. All CFMers are welcome to join in.

No class at CFM Saturday

A note from Mrs. Saunders

That’s right, my 67-year-old mom just completed the Whole Life Challenge as well. I’m so proud of her progress over these eight weeks, especially as she worked for the elections office down in Florida (save the jokes) and had some very long hours over the past month. Congrats Mom! Here’s the email I got from her this morning (note: the Saunders women have SICK hula hoop skillz):

Subject: I DID IT!
I completed the challenge with pretty good points — I now know I don’t have to drink alcohol every night — that’s pretty good for me. I also know that I do not need fake sugar in my diet at all. Have even gotten used to black coffee; even almost like it.
I’ve lost 4 pounds — that means I’ve lost a total of 10 pounds since May — pretty good I’d say.
Thanks for convincing me to join the challenge — but I doubt I’ll keep on having perfect diet days — they’ll be better diet days than I had before the challenge. I’ll continue to stretch daily, and at least do the kettlebell every day. I really want to learn how to hula hoop again — do you know where I can get a really good hula hoop?
I really do feel better — couldn’t have gotten through the last few weeks of 12 and 13-hour work days without the challenge.
Love you, Mom

Post in the comments: What did you learn about yourself during WLC? Also, if anyone knows where my mom can find a “really good hula hoop” 🙂 please share.

The Whole Life Challenge prelims crew

Workout of the Day

A. CrossFit Total: Find your one-rep max of the following:
Back squat
Strict Press
Deadlift
Add these numbers up for your CrossFit Total score.
B. AirDyne:
One minute, max calories

FRI 11.09.12 My mom is fitter than your mom Read More »

CrossFit and Body Image

by Instructor Training Program member Urán
This post is geared toward the ladies, but fellas should feel free to chime in as well. A well-known myth finds its way into the mind of every female who ever considered picking up a weight:
“Lifting weights will make you bulky.”
It bums me out. And it bums me out more that I’ve heard variations of this myth spoken from the lips of some of our very own members. I could spend days talking about why this bothers me and why it’s completely untrue. Instead, I’ll let you read this, this and this, and share with you my own body image demons.
Now, everyone who meets me knows that I’m not a slight woman. I never have been. CrossFit or not. Part of that is because, while I generally eat cleanly, I put on weight very easily. I love fruit (carbs) and sweet potatoes (more carbs). I spent most of my life struggling with my weight and body image, and to say those days are completely behind me would be a lie. But CrossFit teaches me to care about different things than I used to concern myself with.
Take being “thin”, for example. If I may be totally candid, my biggest motivator for dieting and exercise in the past was my hope of being “thin”. When I weighed in at nearly 200lb a few years ago, the driving force for me to lose 40+ pounds in less than a year was the desire to just be smaller. It wasn’t until I joined the crew team, and later CrossFit, that I realized how much sexier it is to be strong… how lifting, jumping, rowing, and throwing heavy stuff around gives you confidence and satisfaction that seeing shrinking numbers on a scale never will.
Nowadays, I never even think about being thin. I think about becoming stronger and working harder and eating healthier. And working with my body, rather than against it, to make the most out of what I’ve been given. But it’s taken time to get there. Time to retrain my mind and to shake old habits. Time to start thinking of food as fuel. Time to find happiness in improvements at the gym and enjoyment in how that transfers into my personal life.
How has your idea of body image changed since joining CrossFit?

Whole Life Challenge Finals & Party

It’s the final week of the WLC! In addition to the other benchmarks we’re testing this week, on Saturday we do final measurements and retest the WLC workout. We hope to see you, your friends, family and the whole CFM community at the Finals WOD and the Awards Party on Saturday. Be there!
Final Measurements & WOD: 9:30 to 11a at Piedmont Park Active Oval
We’ll be doing measurements from 9:30 to 10:15, and running finals heats from 10 to 11.
Finals Party & Awards: 1 to 3p at Rira Irish Pub
Dermot and the gang at Rira are hosting a shindig for us to crown the WLC winners, hand out prizes, and enjoy some good fun. All CFMers are welcome to join in.

No class at CFM Saturday

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Workout of the Day

A. Quarterly Progress Checks – Baseline retest: If you didn’t retest the baseline yet this week, warm up and do it today. If you already did baseline, you get extra time for mobility/foam rolling.
Baseline:
500m row
40 squats
30 situps
20 pushups
10 pullups
B. In 20 minutes, complete as many rounds and reps as possible of:
20 Thrusters 135/95
20 Pullups
20 Burpees

WED 11.07.12 Read More »

Quarterly Progress Checks!

What did you accomplish in the last three months? What’s not working for you in the areas of health, fitness, nutrition, lifestyle, athletic performance? What stops you? What is your vision for the next three months and what action steps will help you achieve that vision?
We’ll be reviewing these questions with a 10-minute reflection at the beginning of your first class this week. This is your chance to reflect on the past quarter and set some goals for the next three months.
We’ll also be retesting the Baseline and several other benchmark WODs this week. So get to the box this week, do your best and crush some old numbers! I’m looking forward to all the PRs*!
*PR= personal record

Whole Life Challenge Finals & Party

CFM Field Trip

There will be only ONE CLASS on Saturday, November 10th: 10am AT PIEDMONT PARK. Even if you didn’t get in on the Whole Life Challenge this time around, join us at the park for some fun with burpees, kettlebell swings and running!
I learned SO MUCH at the BIZ seminar I attended over the weekend at VA’s CrossFit Woodbridge…and got a quick WOD in over the lunch break too!

Workout of the Day

A. Baseline: As part of your warm-up today, all classes will retest the baseline –
500m Row
40 Squats
30 Sit Ups
20 Push Ups
10 Pull Ups
B. 5 Rounds for time:
7 Handstand Push Ups
14 Pistols
21 Double Unders

MON 11.05.12 Quarterly Progress Checks Read More »

Quarterly Progress Checks are next week!

We’ll be retesting the Baseline, as well as several other benchmark WODs next week. So that you can plan your week of workouts, here is a sneak peek at next week’s programming:
M 11/5 – 5 rounds for time:
7 Handstand Push Ups
14 Pistols
21 Double Unders
T 11/6 – Olympic Total
1 rep max of Snatch and Clean & Jerk
W 11/7 – 20 minute AMRAP
20 Thrusters 135/95#
20 Pullups
20 Burpees
Th 11/8 – OPT Tester
A. 1 Rep Max Weighted Pull Up
B. OPT Tester:
250m row
15 kettlebell swings 2/1.5pd
25 burpees
15 kettlebell swings 2/1.5pd
250m row
F 11/9 – CrossFit Total & 1 min AirDyne
1 rep max Back Squat
1 rep max Strict Press
1 rep max Deadlift
Then, 1 minute AirDyne test for calories
S 11/10 – WLC Finals
9 minute AMRAP:
7 kettlebell swings 53/35
7 burpees
50m run

Eat your vegetables!

We’re excited to partner with South Metro Produce for weekly deliveries of organic fruits and vegetables from local family farmers. You can choose from a small/$27, medium/$35 or large/$45 box of produce each week (or partner up and split the order!). Josh will be delivering to us every Monday (orders due by Sunday) so visit his site and place your order today! Here’s a sample of what a medium box includes (the huge bag of local almonds is a huge chunk of this week’s box):

Workout of the Day

A. Front Squat: 2 sets of 4, 3 minutes rest
B. In 7 minutes, complete as many rounds & reps as possible:
Buy in: 150 double unders or 100 tuck jumps
7 wall balls
7 burpees

FRI 11.02.12 Read More »