Champlain Valley CrossFit
September 2011 Newsletter
Hope everyone is doing great. As I’m writing this I can’t believe that we are already half way through September. It’s great to see so many faces in the gym. We’ve had almost 20 new members come on this month between the On-ramp, privates, and college students, and we’ve seen a few of our members who were gone for the summer resurface. With that being said, it’s promising to see so many folks in and things look better as we are working on negotiating a lease at a new space. A couple quick things below for you all.
Coaches
If you haven’t noticed our schedule has shuffled around a bit. In addition we’ve added some new coaches. Dani, and Laura are now teaching classes, and for those who weren’t here in the spring Trevor is back from school and is helping with classes as well. Please give them your attention as you would anyone else. They are all great coaches and will be able to help you with all of your movements.
Fun Flood Relief Event this Friday
One of our members Berne sent this over. Check it out, go do it, looks like it should be a fun event for a great benefit.
MindBody
Our MindBody system is full operational at this point. There are a couple of small kinks that I’m still working out, but otherwise it is good to go. You are welcome to purchase memberships online, with that said, anyone who gets a discounted membership, i.e. students or active military need to purchase their memberships in the gym. If you don’t already have a scan/key card already make sure you get one, I can help you out with that. Lastly, PLEASE make sure you sign-in before you come to class. You can do this online, or just by scanning your key card, either way works. We are using this system to track peoples attendance, as a billing system for those with punch cards, and as a tool to help us be as efficient as possible with are classes. So please scan in before the class you are attending (and it seems the scanner doesn’t like the key cards to close, so hold it 4-6 inches away).
Olympic Lifting Class
Again we have an Olympic lifting class on Tuesday at 7 PM. We’ve had a great first 2 sessions, so if you want to work on your Oly lifts a little extra come into class.
Fight Gone Bad
If you still wanted to donate to the Fight Gone Bad fundraiser or just didn’t get a chance to, you still can until September 26th. The link to our page is below.
Boot Cancer
So maybe you’ve thought about going a little farther with CrossFit than just coming to the daily classes. If so I think that’s awesome, in fact I think you all should consider attending this event. A little competition is good for your health both mentally and physically. The Boot Cancer event is a great event for beginners, and super fun and low key. The workouts can be scaled if needed and there is a great supportive community at the event. Plus, it a fundraiser for the American Cancer Society. I know we’ve got a handful of people signed up for it already, and if you’re on the fence you should definitely go for it. The workouts are already released so you’ll know what you’re doing ahead of time, that easier than coming to the gym. The Boot Cancer event will be held Sunday, October 2nd. The gym will be CLOSED that day, there will be no open gym. The link to sign up is below.
That’s it for the moment and I absolutely know I’m missing some stuff. I lastly just want to say thank you so much to all the amazing people in the gym, that’s each and every one of you that make this gym possible. We’ve been open just over a year now and each and every one of you have been a critical component to the success of Champlain Valley CrossFit. I’m looking forward to another awesome year and to expanding our facility and our offerings to give you all the best possible health, fitness and wellness facility possible.
I’ve been slacking so no articles this month except for the text below. Thanks to Dani for finding this. She sniped it from CrossFit New England.
I. The Power of Positive Thinking:
Positive thoughts: By now, most of you have heard Ben or one of the other coaches talk about how important staying positive is during a workout.  That said, it is so important that it is worth repeating. In fact, this just came up with a member today who was having a hard time with negative thoughts creeping into her mind during the wod, as happens to all of us at one point or another. As I mentioned to her, having the tools to deal with it readily availabe when it happens is the key. I’ll take a shot at giving you a few here:
Every one of us has this inner dialogue going on in our heads all day long, every day (I’m not the only one, AM I?), and this is especially true during a wod.  The important thing to note here though, is how impactful those thoughts can be. Tell yourself in the first round of Eva that this is a long ass workout and you’ll be lucky to finish in the time limit and guess what happens??  Instead, focusing on positive thoughts such as, “I can do this” or  “I am strong and fast” can help tremendously.  If a negative thought enters your mind, automatically go to a positive thought IMMEDIATELY.  Having one or two “go-to”  positive thoughts isnt a bad idea either. If you cant think of one, just use, “I can do this.” Say it over and over if you have to!
Also, the way you phrase things in your mind is critical.  Your brain hears, “I am not going to put down the bar” much differently than, “I am going to get this set straight.” This is the reason while you will always hear our coaches phrasing things in the positive (its, “set your back.”  And NOT “don’t round your back.” Always phrase things in the positive.
I could write pages and pages about this, but for now I will wrap up by encouraging you to watch Greg Amundson’s video below:
If the link doesn’t work, log on to the Crossfit Journal (you do have a subscription to the CF journal, right???), and search for Positive Self Talk, and watch the video titled “Positive Self-Talk: The Greatest Adaptation.”
In the video, Firebreather Greg Amundson shares a classic story about two athletes and how important their self-talk is. If you haven’t seen it, watch it. If you have, watch it again.
II. Staying in the Present
The challenge of not getting caught up in one’s larger surroundings has long been an issue for athletes.  For example, if an NFL quarterback spends too much time thinking about the score of the game or his team’s record, and not the play he’s in the middle of, he might be taken out of the game on a stretcher. Likewise, a baseball player thinking about his batting average or the score of the game (or the blonde in the third row), and not the next pitch, isn’t likely to have much success at the plate.
While the situation is different in Crossfit, its also the same.  Its not hard to get caught up thinking about how long the wod is, how many rounds you have left, how tired you are, etc.  In competition, add in things like: how loud the crowd is, things the judge might be doing or calling you on, where other competitors are or even the fact that you are in a competition, and there is no shortage of distractions keeping us from where our mind should be – ON THE REPITITION WE ARE DOING!
A quick example- just the other day, I was watching one of our athletes as she approached the end of a grueling workout. The final part of the workout involved 9 reps of a barbell movement with a weight that was very challenging for her. I could see it on her face as she failed one of her first reps, and looked at the clock with obvious frustration – she was getting overwhelmed with the thought of having to complete the 9 reps to finish the workout. She was forgetting that before she had to do 9, she just had to do ONE!  I got her to slow down and just think about doing ONE REP.  I reminded her to think about a few basic fundamentals of the lift, and she addressed the bar and completed the lift easily. VERY EASILY.   She proceeded to complete all 9 reps, ONE AT A TIME, again easily.  Physically, she was more than capable of doing the work, but her mind was simply getting in the way.
Every wod is different, depending on the movements, the reps, etc,  but the message here is – stay focused on what’s immediately in front of you.  Forget about the next round, the next movement, the next workout, the fact that you’re lifting more weight than you ever have before, that it’s the second workout of the day or the fact that it’s the Garage Games and this is what you’ve been training so hard for. None of those thoughts can help you in the middle of the wod.
Instead, concentrate on and be present to what you’re doing. Focus on what’s immediately in front of you, and just keep moving forward. 
  
Crossfit wods in general, and Crossfit competitions like the Garage Games,  are largely individual endeavors.  When you’re in the middle of the workout, its just you and the workout and the thoughts in your head. You may be lucky enough to have a coach around, but often times you have to be your own coach.  My hope is that by sharing some of these thoughts and techniques that I have learned from other athletes, coaches, and through trial and error, that I can give you a few tools to help you to be more successful on Game Day.
GOOD LUCK!