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18.1

The 2018 CrossFit Games season has officially begun, and the dumbbell has made its much anticipated return. Week one of the 2018 Open brought us a 20 min AMRAP made up of toes to bar, hang clean and jerks, and rowing for calories. This unique triplet was the first time a dumbbell hang clean and jerk has been programmed in an open workout. While dealing with a new movement and movement standards can be difficult, the meat of the workout came down to pacing and conditioning. The dumbbell was essentially a non-factor for most athletes.

As always, our community gathered Friday night to throw down on 18.1. The dust has settled and our top performer this week for the women was Kasey Reis with a score of 353. Kasey’s score places her 94th in the Central East region. Kasey is also a 35-39 year old masters athlete, and her score places her 124th worldwide in that division.

On the men’s side of competition, our top performer this week was Doug Cairns with a score of 414. This score puts Doug in 101st place in the Central East region.

The CrossFit Games also has a team division in which we placed 28th out of  241 registered teams in the Central East. The team score is made up of the top two men’s and the top two women’s scores each week. This week the four athletes that contributed to the team score were Doug Cairns (414), Matt Taylor (402), Kasey Reis (353), and Serena Goode (349).

Serena Goode, who is competing in the 16-17 year old Teen Division found herself in 13th place worldwide with her score of 349.

Week 1 was pretty exciting and we have much to be thankful for. 18.2 is hours away from being announced live at games.crossfit.com. Are you ready?!

 

-Coach Pete

CrossFit Roaster Barbell takes on Wodapalooza!

Every January thousands of athletes and spectators make their way to Bayfront Park in downtown Miami, Florida for one of the biggest fitness festivals in the world, Wodapalooza! Hosted by Peak360 CrossFit and founder Guido Trinidad, Wodapalooza is the unofficial start of the 2018 competitive CrossFit season. Over the course of 4 days, individual athletes and teams take on 9 workouts as well as a weightlifting face-off and various other activities for spectators to get involved with. Wodapalooza is a truly inclusive event, with divisions spanning all ages divisions as well as adaptive, and teen divisions.

This weekend, CrossFit Roaster Barbell had 4 athletes participate. Our women’s team was made up of Kasey Reis, Suzi Cancar, and Rachel Price who competed under the name Bar Slammin’ Babes in the intermediate women’s division. We couldn’t be more proud of their effort and attitude all weekend. Their best performance was the “Wreck Bag Mile” where they each carried a sandbag for a mile. They ran away with 2nd place in the event . They also had a strong finish in the “PowerDot 7k” taking 5th place overall. 3 days and 9 events later, our women claimed 14th overall out of the 36 teams in their division.

Our 4th athlete, Michael Reis, a member of team “Bros to Bar” had a spectacular weekend. Michael and his team finished 8 of 9 events in the top 10 with their best finish in the “Barbell for Boobs Finale” which was 70 thrusters at 105# as well as some 15′ rope climbs and bar facing burpees when transitioning a new athlete to the floor. At the conclusion of the weekend, Michael and his team stood atop the 2018 Wodapalooza podium, taking 1st overall in their division!

Wodapalooza 2018 was definitely a memorable experience for all athletes involved. Big thanks to Carly Senko, Michelle Seghi, Ben Price, and Patti Seghi  for making the trip to Miami to show their support!

-Coach Pete

The Most Powerful Tool, that is also your Enemy

In training we use a variety of tools to reach our goals. We utilize various equipment, use specific training modalities, and eat specific foods. However, one tool we often overlook is the most powerful, and useful tool of them all: Your Mind.

Your mind can also be your worst enemy. Just like you train your body to perform, you need to train your mind to perform. If you don’t train how you think, your mind can be the difference between progress and regression. One of the biggest issues that athletes struggle with is self doubt and negativity. They think, “This is hard,” or “I can’t do that.”

We put countless hours into our physical training. Equal amounts of time should be put into honing our mental game. The mind controls the body, right? You may have all the physical tools needed to be successful but if you enter a workout with a bad mentality, you are setting yourself up for disappointment.

One of the characteristics of CrossFit training is that we train in adverse conditions. Your heart rate is through the roof, your muscles and lungs burn, and your mind is going a thousand miles an hour. In this moment, you have to make hundreds of small decisions. Your mental game is going to influence what decisions you make.

Keep your head in the game. Remember all those moments you thought you would never make it though? Well, here you are, still kicking ass and fighting for your fitness.

Your mind is your most powerful tool, or it can be your worst enemy. The choice is yours!

-Coach Pete

Finding Balance in Yoga

Yoga Instructor and CrossFit athlete: Kara Corrigan

If you have taken my yoga class over the last few weeks you have probably noticed an abundance of balancing poses. Cues such as feeling all four corners of your foot and taking up space have been repetitive. Why is this important? Balance on your yoga mat will lead to balance in your life. Most of us, I assume, lead rather hectic life styles, trying to fit work, fitness, family, friends and sleep into our daily lives. At some point it all gets to be overwhelming and we slowly begin to slip here or there, until we reach a breaking point. For me, it happened during test week with a single bad lift. I was disappointed to say the least, skipped the remainder of the week, and quitting crept into my mind.

I reflected that week and realized that I was out of balance. I needed to fix it. For me, it was getting back to a regular yoga practice, making the time for it – not excuses.  I re-committed to my personal practice and in return have found myself performing better and overall, much happier.

When in a balancing pose, if your mind is cluttered, you’re tired or stressed, you will most likely find yourself struggling to hold the pose. If simply being still is a struggle and it’s hard to quiet your mind, you need to pay attention. Listen to your body, it is always telling you something and maybe it is telling you to slow down. Just breathe in, breathe out, and be PRESENT in the current moment, after all, it is the only certain thing.

In the ultra competitive Crossfit world, it is necessary to take time to re-center yourself and find balance. You must take care of yourself- mind, body and spirit-  if you want to succeed. Your body will thank you mentally and physically. I encourage everyone to check out a yoga class, because it is one hour that is totally yours. If yoga is not for you, find something – anything that gives you mental pause and allows you to find balance in the hectic world we live in.

Much Love ~
Kara

I didn’t PR.

You’re in the middle of “test week.” You approach your barbell which is loaded with 5# more than you have ever lifted in your life. At this moment, doubt creeps in. You second guess if you should be attempting this lift. You think to yourself, “This is too heavy. I can’t possibly lift that.” Your friends are setting personal records left and right and here you are, just you and your bar. There is sweat on the ground from the class before and chalk dust in the air. You take a breath, attempt to clear your mind, and place your hands around the bar. You pull, and your PR clean attempt ends up looking like a deadlift high pull.

ITS OK. Test week is about putting all your hard work into the final week of the cycle, where day in and day out you get tested. Unfortunately, this day is just not your day. ITS OK. You didn’t get a great night of sleep and you ended up missing lunch because you had to make a deadline for work. ITS OK.

Where do you go from here? Easy. You pick yourself up, get your mind right, and you come back tomorrow with that same fire. Ready to attack.

Test week is NOT about setting personal records everyday. Test week is about putting your best effort into the tests that are presented. You’re not going to win every race, you’re not going to PR every lift, and you’re not always going to get perfect sleep, perfect nutrition, and have a perfect plan everyday. Thats life, and ITS OK.

BUT, this day is over, and tomorrow is a new day with a new challenge. Winning requires that you move forward, learn from your mistakes, and make the best of the situation. Ive said this before, and ill say it again. The most successful people in anything, have failed the most. Remember that.

 

-Pete

The Thing You Need the Most.

There are many factors within a training regime that will help push you to get results. You need to sleep well for recovery, have great nutrition to fuel performance, and you need a good coach that will design the blueprint for your success. However, there is one thing that makes CrossFit much different than any kind of training you will find in a traditional gym. Community.

What is community? Community is what drives us. There is something special about shared suffering. Have you ever looked up a CrossFit workout and attempted to do it on your own? Its damn near impossible to keep intensity high with no one around.

Every community is different and I think ours is exceptional. We are students, professionals, kids, teens, adults, moms, dads, brothers, sisters, grandparents, and everything in between. We show up, work hard and unconditionally support one another. A support system that doesn’t judge you for who you are, and actually cares about your success.

Couple that with a well designed program and you are bound to have success.

“I welcome you to the community of people who have decided that easy will no longer suffice.”

“CrossFit Makes You Bulky”

Here we go again. The topic of women becoming bulky from CrossFit and weightlifting has been discussed to death. Somehow, the impression still exists out there so my hope is to reach those that still have this impression. Here is my take.

Being a CrossFit affiliate owner, I get the pleasure of meeting with many fitness newbies who are looking to improve their health and begin exercising. Often times they will express concerns that they have seen female CrossFit Games athletes who appear bulky. Many will agree, but what isn’t considered is that these women are professional athletes who are training much differently than the day to day training that goes on inside of the CrossFit Affiliates. CrossFit Games athletes are competing against the FITTEST PEOPLE ON EARTH. That isn’t just an opinion, its proven. Not only is the training much different, the amount of years it takes to get to that level is often times in the double digits. Basically, it doesn’t happen on accident.

Saying that CrossFit is going to make you bulky is like saying that you don’t want to swim because you might accidentally make the olympics. Get real. Its almost offensive if you think that your genetics are so good, and that the training is so perfect, that you will accidentally become a professional athlete. Its just not happening.

In CrossFit, we lift weights. But why? There are a countless, proven reasons to lift weights but for women, there are some very specific benefits. Bone density. Did you know that osteoporosis affects women 4x more than men? When a muscle is used, it pulls on the bone which stimulates osteoblasts. Osteoblasts are in charge of creating more bone. More bone makes your body more resistant to fractures. That is just one example.

In our society, we have people in their 20’s who are already on prescription drugs to control blood pressure, diabetes, and cholesterol. CrossFit is not about getting big. We are here to battle chronic disease on a daily basis. I want to give you the tools to battle lifestyle illness. I want to empower you to take control of your health.

 

Time is a Trap.

The most valuable resource we have is time. The difference between successful people and unsuccessful people is their understanding of this resource. You and Bill Gates both have the same number of hours in a day. Mark Zuckerberg has the same number of hours that I do in my week.

You have goals. We all do. You also have bills to pay, children to take care of, work to finish, reports to write, grass to cut, laundry to wash, dogs to walk, meals to eat, and your favorite shows to watch. When are you going to workout? You don’t have time?! We all have hundreds of tasks and to do’s to get through everyday. Its a matter of prioritizing. Basically, you don’t have to workout and take care of yourself. You don’t have to feel good. You don’t have to be healthy. Its a choice.

You have to make time. You need to cut out the excuses first. When you say you don’t have time, you are accepting being a victim. Being a victim means that its not your fault. Yes, it might not be in your control that you have to stay late when your boss asks you to. But, did your boss ask you to stay late everyday for the last 30 years? Is it your boss’s fault that you don’t make time for the gym?

When you first sit down and go over your goals, are they really your goals? Or are they just something you are interested in? Making goals is serious business. You are making a commitment to yourself that you need to accomplish something!

Cut the bullshit out of your life. Stop derailing your progress because you have things to do. No matter who you are, there is always someone else who has it harder, who is getting it done. Your goals and commitment with yourself should not be negotiable.

Lets look at a person who wants to make some changes in their life. They need to start training because they need to lose some weight, and feel better about themselves. They want this more than anything. They also work 8am to 5pm. When they get home they have to get the kids dinner, clean the house up, and run some errands all before 9pm when they sit down to watch their weekly show. Seems pretty impossible to get 3-4 days in at the gym. Guess what, life doesn’t care about your goals. The idea that you have no time is an illusion. You need to make time. You need to cut the TV off and get your ass to bed and wake up at 4:30am to get to the gym at 5am.

We seem to make time for all the things that don’t even matter but we can’t seem to make time for the things that do matter. If this is something that you can relate to, please take a moment to reflect on the fact that you are not special, we all have time. 24 hours to be exact. The difference is what we do with that time. Don’t let time and victimhood be the reason you can’t succeed. Its an illusion.

Our community wants to help and support you. To remind you that you are not alone. We all go through the same issues. You will not be perfect, and thats ok. However, we all genuinely want to get better and reach our goals. Maybe you just need to surround yourself with like minded people. We have that. Don’t let another year, month, week, day go by! You CAN do this. You CAN succeed. You CAN reach your goals. The power of the community can help you get there!

You are not special.

This past week I’ve had the same conversation 3 times so I felt it was necessary to share this message with a broader audience. You are not special. Now don’t take that the wrong way. You are special because of all the unique characteristics that make you awesome. What I mean is that when you are having a bad day, or you are having a rough time dealing with something, don’t for one second think you are the only one dealing with stuff. We are human, we are all imperfect. We all go everyday carrying the stresses of our lives. What you need to realize is that having a pity party for yourself is not going to help the situation. You need to acknowledge the issue, and plan your attack to overcome. Feeling sorry for yourself only adds to the stress.

Here in 2017 this carries even more weight. We live in a society where kids are growing up entitled. Everyone gets a trophy and no one gets a failing grade. When every kid gets a trophy, the actually achievement of earning a trophy is gone. When you don’t have to worry about failing, why put in the effort to pass? Older generations want to blame millennials for everything and millennials want to blame their parents and society for their problems. Guess what? Get over it. Everyone, just get over it.

This is not an attack on anyone for having feelings or for having legitimate problems. I understand there are some truly difficult things that we all deal with. But thats the thing, we all have them. I love adversity. Adversity is an opportunity. An opportunity for growth. Embrace your struggles, your hardships, your shortcomings, for they are showing you a path for improvement.

This is where CrossFit comes in. Along our personal journeys towards improved health and fitness, we will encounter many obstacles. Identify the obstacle, make a plan, attack the plan. No one can do it for you but we are all here to support you along the way. That is what truly makes the CrossFit community so unique. We all understand the struggle because we have all been there too. You are not special.

 

The 2017 CrossFit Games Open

 

The Open is upon us. What is the Open? Every winter, the CrossFit Games season begins with the first stage of competition. We call this the Open. This year the first of five workouts is announced on Thursday February 23rd at 8pm. This happens every Thursday for five total weeks. Once announced, every CrossFit athlete in the world has until Monday evening to complete the workout for that week and submit their scores to games.crossfit.com.

“But I’m not training to go to the CrossFit Games.”

Of course! But, you are training to become the best version of yourself and that process involves competing with yourself daily. Why not add another level of accountability? The Open is announced with RX and scaled standards, along with age divisions that will help you workout at a pace and level that is appropriate for you! Once you enter your scores, you will be able to see your name on the same leaderboard with the best fitness athletes in the world. Its a great way to stay motivated! Every Friday, the day after the workout is announced, the WOD will be the open workout! So you will be doing it anyway, might as well join in the fun officially! That brings me to our event called “Friday Night Lights.”

FNL will be a little different than normal classes. For week 1, Lululemon and Nooma will be on site with some surprises. Don’t worry, they will be participating too, I can’t let them just watch. We will go over the workout description and go over tips to get through the workout. Since the turnout is usually pretty big we will have heats and judges for each athlete! This should add to your experience and will give you the opportunity to encourage your friends through the workout. This is what makes CrossFit so special. There is no community like ours. Everyone genuinely wants to see you succeed. You will have unbelievable support from your gym. We got you.

Last year we divided everyone into two teams. The Red Team and Black Team. I plan on doing the same thing once registration is complete. Your score will help your team. There will be a special prize for the winning team at the end of the 5 weeks. Ill have more information on this as we get closer to week 1!

Now, its time to sign up. Head over to games.crossfit.com and make it official. Make a commitment to yourself. You can do this. Ill be right there doing it along with you.