Hypoxia Gym

A few items of interest for your calendars.

We will not be having a class Sunday or Monday.  Take the holiday to enjoy the last few days of summer.

Beginning next Tuesday, September 7, we will resume our 5:30 pm classes.  Tell all of your friends.

Next Wednesday, September 8 is the start of our fall CrossFit Kids class.  It will run Mondays and Wednesdays from 4:30 to 5:15.  We all had a blast this summer and learned lots of new skills.  Mostly, we played games and had fun.

Saturday, September 18 in Montrose is the Uncompaghre Mesa Team Fitness Challenge being promoted by John Brown and Crossfit Agoge.  Teams of four will cover about 3.5 miles while completing mental and physical challenges along the way.  Let’s field a few teams.  Register here.  Don’t want to compete but still want to go?  Be a volunteer.  Let us know and we’ll put you in touch with John.  Volunteers are needed, so don’t be shy.

Sunday, October 3, we will be hosting USAW regional coach Don McCauley of Savannah, Georgia.  He will be in Colorado for the USAW/CrossFit open competition in Colorado Springs.  Spaces are limited and we must know if you want to attend this four hour coaching session.  The cost is $90.  We will also have a few folks from Agoge, Durango, and Telluride for this event.  Don’t delay.  Want to be around a great coach?  Sign up now.  Read about Coach McCauley here in an interview he did with CrossFit recently.

Todays Workout

Mobility – Posterior chain

10-20-30-20-10

Jumping squats, sit ups, Spiderman push ups

This is a rest day musing from Mel’s adventures in Minnesota and nursing school.  We miss her already.

We asked if we could share her experiences with the group and she heartily agreed.

So……enjoy the story.  Thanks, Mel.  Hurry home.

"So, after one week I am still alive.  I had a flat tire on my bike

three blocks from the car on the first morning of class.  I now know

that it takes 22 minutes to walk from my parking space (riding only

takes five...).  At least I have that first "late day" out of the

way!  I bought my fitness pass a few days ago so I can use "the weight

room".  I asked the student worker for a tour and she was taken

aback.  When I questioned if it wasn't her job to do tours she smiled

and just commented on the fact that it was 3 pm and I was the first one

of the day that wanted a tour.  I was mostly curious of what this

"fitness expert" was going to tell me.  She asked if I was faculty

here...I suppose I was old enough to be her mother.  I know, it's

starting already.  It's all relative of what you surround yourself

with.  Here on campus I'm an old dog.  I asked her if they had a

pullup bar, kettle bell, plyo box, abmat, row machine, racks and

medicine balls.  They have one pullup bar and one ancient rowing

machine.  The guy behind the desk did tell me that they have one plyo

box that they keep behind the desk, and I would have to ask to use it

each time and that it was "really high.”  So, I asked him if I could

use it.  It's a 24" box.  He then proceeded to pepper me with endless

questions about CrossFit.  My quick workout stop was turning into an

extended education secession.  I had to go into the bowels of the

building to find the kettle bell "instructor" to get special

permission to check out a bell each time I want to use one, carry it

up to "the weight room" and then be gawked at by all the guys pumping

iron.  Good thing I don't care about such things.  I think I can make

it work when I'm stuck on campus on long days.  In the mean time I

have begun to set up my own "house of pain" (as my sister now calls

it) in the garage.  Looks like I'll have just about everything I need

within two weeks (seems like an eternity).  I have already discovered

that sitting for long periods in a lecture does not suit me.

Cheers, Mel

p.s. Things I learned today:

The muscular jolt people have just before falling asleep is caused by

the cerebellum checking for proprioception (just in case you are so

tired from studying while in nursing school that you are falling

asleep while standing).

Also, if you park within 20 feet of a sidewalk, even if there are no

signs or other indicators, it will cost you 20 bucks.  Writing

expletives on the check will not change the fact that you have to pay

the fine but it will make you feel better.  It will also enable you to

do more pull ups in a row than you previously thought possible.  I got

to thinking if I was just pissed off just before each time I worked

out maybe I would P.R. more.  Then I thought I don't get pissed off

that often so my plan to scoop Kristen Clever in the next worked was

foiled!"

Sadly, another hero workout.

10 rounds for time:

10 Thruster 95/65

10 Ring push ups

On hero workout days, it is easy to remember to go hard…because we still can.  Great job today, everyone.

5 @ 65% of 1 rm

5 @ 75%  of 1rm

5+ @85% of 1rm

Then:

Seven minute AMRAP, 7 American KB swings, 7 pushups.

So you go and take the dog for a walk at Crystal Lake and what do you see?  Parker, kiteboarding.  Sweet!  Way to get out there, Parker.

So, we all know Jenny.  We also all know that Jenny is quite fond of squatting and deadlifting because she moves huge amounts of weight….Ok, that may be a stretch.

What most of you don’t know is that Jenny is one of the first people at the gym, at the 6 am class, no less.  And this is what we usually see as she peers un-glassesed (I made that up) to see what the workout is for that day.

What many of you don’t see is Jenny staying late working her weaknesses, stretching, using the foam roller, and rolling on the lacrosse ball.  She also helps wrangle children at the kids class.  In short, Jenny works every day to be a better at all the things she knows she needs to work on.

She learned to run better this summer and took almost a minute off of her time running the river trail loop.  Did she improve aerobically that much or did she get more efficient?  Probably some of both, but more efficiency is where she made the biggest gains.

And she does all of this every day in addition to being a heroine for her two little people.  Quietly, confidently she marches toward improvement using every tool available to her.  And, Jenny even manages a bit of time to run a little smack on the teenage boys she taught in elementary school, even though they are now bigger than her.

So, this may embarass her, but that is the price of greatness.

We learn physical skills, gain strength, have our bodies change, and push ourselves during our workouts.  But, what we all have learned in our little cult is mental toughness.  Overcoming the voices in our head telling us to quit, to not pick up the bar, to tell ourselves that we really don’t need to learn pull ups, that we really don’t need a bigger deadlift, or that learning to snatch our bodyweight is either not possible or just plain stupid.

Make no mistake, Jenny is tough.  She also works extremely hard and we want to recognize and honor her hard work.  We are so happy you are part of our gym family, Jenny because you help make every day more awesomer (I made that up too).

Now, if we could just get her to eat some meat.