Champlain Valley CrossFit
October 2011 Newsletter
Wow another month has gone by quickly. We’ve had some gorgeous weather recently and I hope you are all getting out in the sun a bit. With that being said, it is currently raining as I type this and it looks like more rain is to come. I imagine if it’s raining we will be seeing a bunch of you in the door training and working hard. Champlain Valley CrossFit has been bustling with traffic and new members. I know I’m pumped to see this and it’s been so much fun having some big classes. A bunch of you who were gone for the summer have resurfaced and we’ve got a number of new people in, training hard an chomping at the bit. We’ve got 12 new On-rampers right now, and the November On-ramp is starting to fill up already. I purchased a couple new toys for the gym recently, if any of you have questions on the GHD, Reverse Hyper, or using the chains please ask. With the current growth I’m hoping to nail down a lease and be able to make a jump to something bigger and better as soon as able. In the meantime check out some things below, read some articles, get pumped, and train hard.
Billing
I wanted to give everybody a heads up now so they have time to make sure they can do this and it isn’t a surprise when we make the change. Starting January 1st, 2012 we will be making some alterations to our membership and billing. Rest assured we aren’t changing prices on your guys, just changing some options and requirements.
In an effort to save myself, and others at the gym time, as well as keep our financials as accurate as possible we will be moving all billing to an auto withdrawal. Checks and Cash will still be fine if your paying for more than a month at a time. If you have a monthly membership at Champlain Valley CrossFit you will have to setup a monthly billing option. I understand that everyone has different bills on different days of the month, so you will be able to setup your billing for any day of the month, we will not have a strict day that your membership has to process on. Right now we are currently doing this through credit card only. If there are enough people that would like to do ACH, directly take the money from your checking account I will take the necessary steps to set this up. With auto billing we will have the option to freeze your account/membership if you are gone for 7 or more days. The only catch is that you need to tell me before the dates. If you happen to not come to the gym for a week and then want us to extend your membership for a week that is a no go. If you let me know you will be out of town for 9 days before you leave that will be perfectly fine. Keep in mind if a membership is frozen it will change your billing date. The monthly CrossFit memberships starting January 1st, 2012 will be the following…
Unlimited Classes/month $150
9 Classes/month $100 (roughly 2 classes/week)
5 Classes/month  $65 (roughly 1 class/week)
For those who have been using punch cards, our punch cards will be changing a bit as well. Starting January 1st, 2012 we will only be offering the 30 class punch card, with a 6 month time line (about 1 class/week). We’ve had a lot of people come in and out, buying a 10 class card and never coming again. We want our members to understand that CrossFit is an investment, an investment in their health. With the On-ramp now costing $200 we are having a much better commitment to the program because our clients are putting a little more thought into whether or not they really want to be doing this. In addition we want people to be here consistently, so they can get a good handle on the training and learn the movements. Honestly CrossFit as a program is not designed to be a once a week thing. Coming for a couple of weeks and then disappearing for a couple months makes it very difficult for folks to really get a handle on the program. We don’t like to see people coming in that fashion, and usually you guys don’t like the feeling either when you disappear for weeks on end and then come back. Price will remain the same at $300 for 30 classes, with a 6 month expiration date, but of course you could use it as quickly as you like.
The options for 6 months or 1 year will still be available and those will not have to have any sort of auto billing setup. They will still be setup as an upfront payment. We will likely be adding a 3 month option as well with a slight discount.
Last but not least. If you are buying a membership with a spouse, or you have the whole family coming, and you want to make use of the discounted family memberships they need to be paid in one payment. It’s been a bit hectic receiving different payments from different people all working towards paying for one membership. If you want a family membership, awesome, but it needs to be paid by one person not by 2 or 3 different payments. These will also be setup as automatic billing so this should ease the collection process.
It’s important for you all to remember we still are not dealing with any sort of contract. You are not obligated to pay or come to Champlain Valley CrossFit for any period of time. Obviously if you purchase the punch card, or pay for a 6 month membership we’d hope you use it, but if you’re setup for your membership to bill monthly you can cancel it at anytime, whether that be after 3 months or 3 years.
If anybody has questions or concerns regarding this please come talk to me. Please remember we are doing this to help streamline business procedures to allow us to spend more time on training, programming, events, etc. for all of you.
MindBody
By now I think everybody is on the MindBody system. All the client billing and management is done through this system now, and will continue to be done through this. If you haven’t been issued a key card please come get one. Please, please, please, please sign-in on the computer. It has been a little glitchy so if it isn’t working please mention it to whomever is coaching class. In addition you don’t have to use your scan card, typing the 4 digit number on the back is just as easy. But please, sign-in, I’m trying to create an accurate history of how busy the gym is to help provide the best possible class times as well as give me an accurate idea of whether or not we are really ready to move yet. Thanks everybody.
Kids Program
Dani and myself finished the CrossFit Kids trainer course about 2 weeks ago and along with Laura are going to start offering some kids classes. Because of our limited space we will only be offering a Saturday class at 10:30 AM, and because of our busy fall it won’t be every Saturday to start. We’ve had some great classes thus far and as the gym continues to grow we will be looking to continue to grow the kids program so that we have a few classes a week, ideally paired with an adult class. The following dates below will be the Saturday kids classes for the next couple of months. Because of the sporadic schedule, pricing will be a drop-in fee. Class will be $15, and the class will be for kids aged 6-12.
10/29/11
11/5/11
11/19/11
Paleo Challenge
Just want to say congrats to those who participated in the Paleo Challenge, we saw some amazing gains and losses and I think everybody came out of it with some sort of success and a different perspective on their diet. I know it is almost 3 months away but we will be doing a 60 day Paleo Challenge starting January 2nd, 2012. I’m hoping a ton of you hop on and get with it. Whether it is for a new year’s resolution or not, it’s a great time to do it and we had a lot of people do it last January with some great success. So keep it in the back of your heads. It will still be $20, 90% of the cash still goes back to you guys and there will be completely different benchmarks. Hope to see lots of your training hard and eating like a caveman come January (and I will have the winners of the current Paleo Challenge next week)
Garage Games/Events
More and more have gotten interested in competing at CrossFit. Dani has been a great ambassador for the sport and has pushed a bunch of you to sign-up for events. Some of you have and have already competed while some have yet to compete. As I voice and have voiced before I think competition is a great thing and I encourage you all to look into competing at a CrossFit event. We all do CrossFit because it’s fun, and going to a competition is no different. It’s a great opportunity to test yourself, deal with a little pressure and see what it’s like to be strictly judged on your movement. It’s a great experience. I know there have been a number of people who have signed up for the Garage Games event at CrossFit Southie. There are still other spots open so if you’re interested in competing I encourage you to sign-up. Saturday, October 29th, and Saturday, November 5th I will be holding a “training camp” at the gym from 4:30 PM to roughly 7:00 PM. You don’t have to be signed up for the Garage Games to come take part (you do need to be a member of the gym though). This will be for anybody who is thinking about signing up for a competition or is already signed up for one. We will be going through 2-3 workouts that will all be judged. I suggest you all bring adequate nutrition. Roughly resting 45 minutes between workouts. We will go over standards that I personally expect from people, but also standards that will be expected at an event. All athletes will be judged which we will all take part in. No need to sign-up, just show up. If you guys have any questions about it, please feel free to ask me or Dani. If you’d like to sign up for the November 12th and 13th Garage Games event you can do so at the link below.
Olympic Lifting
For those who don’t know or have spaced about it, a reminder that there is an Olympic Lifting class on Tuesday night at 7:00 PM. Whether you’re well versed in the Olympic movements or are a complete beginner it’s a great time to come in and spend a solid hour drilling one of the movements and brushing up on your technique and form.
Swim Seminar
Laura has been kind enough to put on a Swim Seminar on Sunday, October 23rd. If any of you are interested in Triathlon stuff, or just learning how to swim properly I suggest you check it out. It will be $10 at the door and will go from 8:00 AM – 10:00 AM, at the Saint Michael’s College Pool in the Ross Sports Center. There are flyers at the gym with some more information.
Soft Goods
I’m going to be doing some more soft goods. A bunch of people have been asking about them. There will be a sign-up on a google docs document so I know roughly how many to order. We will order a few extra but otherwise, just enough for those who order them. I will be ordering another “Hawks” shirt, it will be going on a black/grey shirt with a red print, I’m working up a brand new shirt that will go on a blue colored shirt, and we will be doing an orange zip up hoodie. We are bumping the price and the quality a little on the items. The t-shirts will be going to $25, I’m not definite on the hoodie, but I believe about $45. All of the clothing will be American Apparel and the hoodie will be a full zip.
New Space
There has been a lot of talk about moving to a new space. I promise you all that I am still working hard on getting this solidified. I am still moving back and forth in negotiations working on getting into the old “Close to Home Space” on Marshall Avenue. We are working on subdividing the space so that we can take 6,000 square feet which will more than double our existing size which is just shy of 2,500 square feet. Nothing is definite but I promise you all I’m working hard to make the best possible space happen given our current membership and financial depth. In the meantime I’ve been making the best of our existing space and have purchased some new goodies for you all to make use of.
Feedback
This helps us make a better experience for all of you. A number of you personally let me know things you’d like to see happen in the gym, whether it be setup, programming, coaches, etc. and then I often hear stuff trickle down through the grapevine. Please, let me know, whatever it is, awesome, good, bad or awful, I want to hear from all of you. There is a feedback form on the CVCF website that you can leave information for us completely anonymously. The link is below. If you’ve got something to say, please let us know. Thanks.
Treat it Like Your Own
A last little note for everybody. I know more than anybody that the gym is definitely not the cleanest place, but I try to keep it clean and organized as best I can. It’s small, it gets a fair bit of traffic, and it’s not meant to be a spa. With that said if you guys could all treat stuff like it’s your own, and if you treat your own stuff poorly, then treat it like your Mom’s or Grandmother’s. All I’m saying is lately a lot of stuff has been getting left out, so if you use something please just put it away, boxes, bands, abmats, plates, and waterbottles have been left everywhere lately…and with that don’t waste your water, mark your name on it or something, I probably throw away close to a gallon of bottled water a day. Not trying to be a nag or act like your Mom, but it makes a better place for everybody, and leaves the gym ready to go for the next class that walks through the door.
Articles
CrossFit Games Nutrition
Improving Ourselves and Each Other
How Hard Can You Really Push?
Positive Thinking
Training the Mind
Nutrition
Starting Position of the Snatch
Accountability
This is Me
Why Train in a CrossFit Box
Personal Best
That’s it for now. Hope there is something in those articles you guys liked, and I hope I covered everything I meant to. If you guys have questions about anything, absolutely anything please don’t hesitate to ask, e-mail, etc. etc. Have an awesome weekend.