The Open is finished, some of you are thinking thank god, some are wishing they had joined in and others are planning on what competition to go for next.
My take on the past 5 weeks is a mixed one. I programme around the Open and DWF (Divided We Fall). I try to put a package together to put us in the best place to perform at our best and reach new heights in our fitness. With this in mind I feel we have had exceptional success. Many have attempted and succeeding at elements of these wods they had never even dreamed of. 12 months ago Allie hitting Toes 2 Bar was emotional yet 12 months later we are smashing them out and even now hitting multiple reps on Chest 2 Bar Pull ups. A very significant improvement. Jess and Kirsty both PB'ing on a 43kg Clean & Jerk was also a highlight for me.
On the flip side there is the mental side of fitness/competition that has been a real roller coaster. It is crucial to analyse exactly where you are in terms of fitness and development. Training age and ability is key to determining where your goals and targets should be set. If you have been CrossFitting for less then a year you would be classed as a beginner. This will also be true if you were lacking a few of the skills i.e Pull Ups or a Bodyweight Back Squat. 12-36 months would put you at an intermediate level. This would mean a grasp on all skills and a strength foundation of double bodyweight Back Squats, BW Bench Press and Bodyweight Clean & Jerk. With 36 months+ CrossFitting under your belt this would put you in the advanced category. Meaning you can do multiple wods in a day and compete regularly.
Reading those minimal guidelines and they are by no means the holy grail. These past few weeks have seen a lot of people realise that no matter how many bodypump classes you have done in the past doing 150 Wall Balls with a weight you have never lifted is going to be a major wake up call. Spinning does not help with olympic lifting and if you have only cleaned once per week for 3 months you are never going to be efficient when it comes to loads and rep ranges you are not used to. When all is said and done I hope that what we have learned is humility. You can only affect the things you can change and you definately can not do anything about anyone else. So long as you keep working hard and improving you should be happy and the proof is there in black and white now!!
These past few weeks have also presented a challenge in terms of programming and how I want the gym to move forward. I am very keen to give value for money and at £50 our pricing is the cheapest on the market in terms of CrossFit. The program however has come to a crossroads. Many of you are only interested in CrossFit as a general keep fit tool and have no interest in competitions or Squat Programs. I would class myself in the keep fit category. Then there are the guys who are looking to compete.
Moving forward we have a few changes coming into effect. After this phase of conditioning and mobility we will keep the whiteboard program following a very typical CrossFit model. We will keep it general and inclusive to keep participation as high as possible. The membership will remain at £50/month with PAYG at £10 per session. The Barbell Club is going to become an official Sport England recognised club. As a result the membership for the BB Club will be £50 / month with individual classes being £10 per session. This leads us onto the major change. With competitions comes periodisation and planning. Strength phases, Cardio Phases and the like to prepare. As such we will be bringing in our Gold membership package. This will give you access to the advanced programming, use of the BB club (which will be part of the program) and this will be the pool that our teams for DWF etc will be selected from. This will cost £65 which still falls into the cheap bracket when compared to other CrossFit Gyms. We will be introducing a 1900 Advanced class* from the 6 May 2013. Please let me know ASAP if you would like to upgrade your membership.
3 years have flown by. I used to have a full head of hair. We need to keep moving forwards. Our competition on the 21st is good chance for us as a gym to welcome fellow CrossFitters and throwdown in our own house. All money raised will be going towards new equipment. We need to set goals. I have a goal of getting to 150 members thus putting us in a position to move into a bigger unit meaning better facilities and a wider range of CrossFit disciplines being catered for. You guys should be setting short (3 months),medium(3-6 months) and long(6-12 month) term goals. I would love to see them in the comments section below so we can look back in 3,6 and 12 months to see how we did.
Get After It TAFS
Gareth
*Obviously there is going to be some who can't make classes but still want to be involved in the advanced sessions. Please contact me to discuss the options.
My take on the past 5 weeks is a mixed one. I programme around the Open and DWF (Divided We Fall). I try to put a package together to put us in the best place to perform at our best and reach new heights in our fitness. With this in mind I feel we have had exceptional success. Many have attempted and succeeding at elements of these wods they had never even dreamed of. 12 months ago Allie hitting Toes 2 Bar was emotional yet 12 months later we are smashing them out and even now hitting multiple reps on Chest 2 Bar Pull ups. A very significant improvement. Jess and Kirsty both PB'ing on a 43kg Clean & Jerk was also a highlight for me.
On the flip side there is the mental side of fitness/competition that has been a real roller coaster. It is crucial to analyse exactly where you are in terms of fitness and development. Training age and ability is key to determining where your goals and targets should be set. If you have been CrossFitting for less then a year you would be classed as a beginner. This will also be true if you were lacking a few of the skills i.e Pull Ups or a Bodyweight Back Squat. 12-36 months would put you at an intermediate level. This would mean a grasp on all skills and a strength foundation of double bodyweight Back Squats, BW Bench Press and Bodyweight Clean & Jerk. With 36 months+ CrossFitting under your belt this would put you in the advanced category. Meaning you can do multiple wods in a day and compete regularly.
Reading those minimal guidelines and they are by no means the holy grail. These past few weeks have seen a lot of people realise that no matter how many bodypump classes you have done in the past doing 150 Wall Balls with a weight you have never lifted is going to be a major wake up call. Spinning does not help with olympic lifting and if you have only cleaned once per week for 3 months you are never going to be efficient when it comes to loads and rep ranges you are not used to. When all is said and done I hope that what we have learned is humility. You can only affect the things you can change and you definately can not do anything about anyone else. So long as you keep working hard and improving you should be happy and the proof is there in black and white now!!
These past few weeks have also presented a challenge in terms of programming and how I want the gym to move forward. I am very keen to give value for money and at £50 our pricing is the cheapest on the market in terms of CrossFit. The program however has come to a crossroads. Many of you are only interested in CrossFit as a general keep fit tool and have no interest in competitions or Squat Programs. I would class myself in the keep fit category. Then there are the guys who are looking to compete.
Moving forward we have a few changes coming into effect. After this phase of conditioning and mobility we will keep the whiteboard program following a very typical CrossFit model. We will keep it general and inclusive to keep participation as high as possible. The membership will remain at £50/month with PAYG at £10 per session. The Barbell Club is going to become an official Sport England recognised club. As a result the membership for the BB Club will be £50 / month with individual classes being £10 per session. This leads us onto the major change. With competitions comes periodisation and planning. Strength phases, Cardio Phases and the like to prepare. As such we will be bringing in our Gold membership package. This will give you access to the advanced programming, use of the BB club (which will be part of the program) and this will be the pool that our teams for DWF etc will be selected from. This will cost £65 which still falls into the cheap bracket when compared to other CrossFit Gyms. We will be introducing a 1900 Advanced class* from the 6 May 2013. Please let me know ASAP if you would like to upgrade your membership.
3 years have flown by. I used to have a full head of hair. We need to keep moving forwards. Our competition on the 21st is good chance for us as a gym to welcome fellow CrossFitters and throwdown in our own house. All money raised will be going towards new equipment. We need to set goals. I have a goal of getting to 150 members thus putting us in a position to move into a bigger unit meaning better facilities and a wider range of CrossFit disciplines being catered for. You guys should be setting short (3 months),medium(3-6 months) and long(6-12 month) term goals. I would love to see them in the comments section below so we can look back in 3,6 and 12 months to see how we did.
Get After It TAFS
Gareth
*Obviously there is going to be some who can't make classes but still want to be involved in the advanced sessions. Please contact me to discuss the options.
1 comments:
Nice post Gareth, my 6 month aims is based around 2 areas. Olympic lifting and Engine (cv).
Olympic lifting - Better technically all round and increase squat snatch to 90kg and squat clean to 120kg. I'm currently at 70kg and 105kg respectively.
CV - Generally want to improve on gas all round, particular focus on running and rowing. Want sub 3:15 1000m row and keep improving on the run, painful as it may be i need to be quick again over 5 sets of 400m. Used to have a sub 8min mile and half, thats long gone :( Cheers Spence
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