WOD: Friday

CrossFit Journey reflection

CrossFit journey reflection- Marie Saliba As an affiliate owner and coach I am asked quite often how our CrossFit journey started. This article will aim to articulate my journey- the how, the why and the impact it has had on myself and my family and why I love what we do day in and day out. Over 15 years ago Chris and I started Coastal CrossFit, and what a journey it has been. Far from being a sporty kid, I would always place 4th at school sports. It was during my 11 years in the Air Force that I developed a love of training. I wasn’t great at any sporting endeavors but I enjoyed challenging myself and the military fitness kept me “fit”. After having our first child (Chloe) Chris (my husband) and I moved back to our home town in the Sunshine Coast, with our daughter Chloe being 1 year and our son Jesse on the way soon after. After leaving the security of the AirForce Chris and I started renovating properties and at the same time started a Fitness Bootcamp in Beerwah & Kawana. Life was definitely busy with a young baby, renovating houses and running a business. At this stage we had a fully decked out home gym with the bells and whistles. However the lack of time meant we couldn’t spend hours in the gym so we had to learn to condense training into a short time block. This is the first time Chris introduced me to CrossFit (although I didn’t know that was what we were doing). Strength/cardio combined in short sessions (most under 20 minutes). Over a couple of months we were both experiencing improvements in all areas of fitness. What/how? – it didn’t make sense until we stumbled across one of the best articles ever written by Greg Glassman “What is Fitness” (CrossFit journal article). Little did we know that reading this article would change the trajectory of our lives forever…. It was a humbling experience for both of us. Who would have thought defining FITNESS could have such an effect? We had to take a step back and relearn everything we thought we knew about fitness. And this was just the start of our journey…The urge to help others and share ‘the secret’ saw us start Coastal CrossFit in March 2009. We asked our Bootcamp clients to take a leap of faith and train CrossFit with us for a month and if they liked it – stay, and if they didn’t, no hard feelings. We are eternally grateful to have our very first Bootcamp clients (who have become family) still train with us today. It is on reflection that I realize the things that drew us to CrossFit originally are the same things that have kept us in business and loving the journey. Why do I train?I hadn’t really given thought to why I trained, but it was to improve the quality of my day to day life. To have confidence in my ability to turn my hand to any given task I chose. So why was my (and most peoples) training so far from this – Specific strength days, cardio days, isolation movements, etc. This was not in line with what I was needing and yet I didn’t question it. “What is Fitness” created my new perspective. Functional movement- Amazing things happen when you start using your body as a whole and learning to move properly. Starting with bodyweight movements then adding more complex movements and weight as movement quality allows. My body responded – improvements in all aspects of fitness, my run times, strength, flexibility, stamina. I felt and looked the best I ever did. Simplicity-The no gimmick approach of CrossFit “Give me a barbell and somewhere to hang and we can create some of the fittest humans”. We sold off all of our fancy equipment, bought olympic barbells and Chris built pull-up bars and squat racks. I love the old school feel of CrossFit gyms – everything you need to get fit, no lace and frills. No ego-I thought I was fit, until I didn’t. If you asked me I would have said with confidence I had 10 strict pull-ups, until Chris held me to CrossFit standard of movement (not half reps) which left me with a total of ZERO.Many athletes are humbled and are then faced with the choice – work hard to improve or walk away and pretend it doesn’t matter (don’t train CrossFit). Realizing there are things you are good at and a list of things you need to work at – there are no shortcuts and moving with standards takes effort.I am proud that many of our athletes can do many things that most people can’t, simply because they are prepared to work hard. Achievement/Time horizon –Realizing I am training for me and my quality of life (now and into the future)I have achieved more in CrossFit than I ever thought possible and the best part is that it doesn’t end. The reward of challenging yourself and achieving your goals one step at a time, putting in the work now and for 50 years in the future.I want to lead an active life right to my end and I know this is the preparation time. Community-Through CrossFit I have met my best friends. There is unspoken understanding in our achievements and unwavering support for one another. Despite our individual abilities I have the best cheer squad a girl could ask for, and will cheer as loud as anyone for my crew. Many of our crew have watched my children grow from babies and vice versa. It takes a village to raise children and our village is strong. Family –What I am most proud of is the legacy we are creating for our children. Growing up in a positive environment, challenging themselves physically and mentally, leading quality healthy lives, surrounded by a loving community.My kids have learnt that they can achieve anything through hard work, discipline and dedication. I…

Join us

Click here – I AM READY!! The scariest part of making change is taking your first step, however once you do you will be rewarded immensely. When you enter our doors you are greeted by the most amazing community. We are of all ages (age 12 -74 years young), athletic abilities (Absolute beginners to advanced), shapes and sizes (big, small and everything in between), BUT we have a common goal that brings us together – we work towards better health and fitness and leading our best lives. If you are in our gym (box) everyone in our community is cheering for you!!!If you are ready to take your next step towards better health and fitness? Our 5:30pm session (Monday to Thursday) is the perfect place to start! This class is suitable for anyone new to CrossFit. Our experienced coaches will make you feel at home as they guide you from start to finish. All you have to do is book in and turn up!! Regardless of your training history, our goal is to build your abilities and confidence assisting you towards better health and fitness. Don’t hesitate – come and join us for a FREE TRIAL SESSION.To get started click here – I AM READY!!

CrossFit KIDS

Our Coastal CrossFit KIDS classes are designed to help young athletes improve in all aspects of fitness, improve confidence and most importantly fall in love with being active!!! Our program is age appropriate and includes elements of gymnastics, Olympic weightlifting, cardio-vascular work, nutrition and so much more. Most importantly each class is designed to be FUN and keep kids engaged!! Kids sessions are run via blocks throughout the school term.BLOCK 4: 1 October – 10 DecemberTuesday 3:30pm-4:15pm (Age 5-13 years). Contact Marie Mob:0432710684 for details or check our Coastal CrossFit Kids Face Book Cost:Casual $17 (Please contact us prior to ensure a position is available)1 Session per week $165 (11 Weeks)

Attendance Challenge

Attendance has been much lower over the past couple of months – Let’s turn this around!!!Frequency and consistency is the key to improvement and improvements lead to higher levels of motivation. In an effort to light the fires of motivation we have decided to run an attendance challenge. Our Challenge to you all during October is to achieve a minimum of 4 days training per week, each week. Individuals that achieve this will have their names placed in a hat and one person will be drawn out at random to a receive a Coastal CrossFit Shirt & Funky sock Friday pack.Congratulations to Deb for winning the August/September pack. Notice someone missing? Remember we are all better together!!! Share the love and help each other out. If someone is M.I.A reach onto them – a training partner and our community is the best!! Want to see progression? Turn up more frequently:Base line- We recommend a minimum of 3 days a week (this will allow you to see progression and keeps your routine in check)4 Days a week (gets things rolling much quicker)5 days a week is considered 100% attendance (You can be guaranteed those that are performing best in the gym are hitting 5 days consistently).

WOD: Monday

Nutrition: Hopefully you made if through another weekend of good eating! Those participating in the challenge should have received another email with new recipes and more tips on how to succeed. Our goal for you this week is to pair up with someone else who is doing the challenge and to share some of your experiences with them (recipes, time/money saving tips, where to shop, etc.). Simply talking to someone else who is sharing your journey can be a great motivator. AMRAP in 20 minutes of: Power Snatch + Snatch (1+1) – (instructional video) 5 Toes to Bar – (instructional video) 7 Lateral Burpees (over barbell) – (instructional video) Rest 30 sec. *The aim for this workout is to maintain approx. 1:1 work/rest. Please keep this in mind when choosing the load the for the snatches. This load should certainly be a challenge but should not require excessive set up time between lifts and should be repeatable in a fatigued state. One the snatches are done, it’s a sprint to the rest break.

chris

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