December Newsletter

We have reached the end of 2017!

Aurora here! Well, we’ve arrived at the December Newsletter! It’s hard to believe that another year has almost come and gone. In the past 3XX days we have seen a ton of changes, all for the better, and we are continuing to strive to be as close to perfect as we can. We are grateful to you for joining us on this adventure and cannot wait to see what 2018 has in store for each of our athletes and Fringe as a whole!

Holiday Hours

Christmas/New Year’s

• 12/23: 12 Days of Christmas WOD; regular Saturday hours
• 12/24: Christmas Eve – Open Gym from 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm for all members at Fringe WEST ONLY (East CLOSED)
• 12/25: Christmas Day – Closed
• 12/26: Open Gym 8:00-11:00 am for all members at EAST ONLY (West CLOSED)
• 12/27: Normal schedule
• 12/31:  Normal Open Gym from 12:00 pm – 2:00 pm, NYE-themed WOD
• 1/1: Open Gym 8:00-11:00 am for all members at WEST ONLY (EAST CLOSED)

PushPress Merge for East / West

Guess what? Fringe is Fringe is Fringe now on Push Press. While we will still use the East and West as location identifiers, we will have both locations in one single CrossFit Fringe PushPress, so there won’t be an East or West designation anymore when you use this application. Our plan is to migrate everyone so there will be less confusion at check in and in general!

As we’ve continued to work to make your lives easier (and in this case our own as well) we’ve realized having two separate systems running PushPress is highly confusing. So we are going merge into one system and get everyone on the same page (literally) moving forward.

The truth is you likely won’t see much of a difference even if you are looking closely beyond a few hiccups as we roll it out.

What does this mean for you?

It will be very similar to the process we used in July of 2016 for those of you that were here — there will be a little headache — but we promise to do all the work on our end to make it easier for you.

You’ll have an easier time reserving classes at either East or West because there will be one web address instead of two! You’ll also have one account that will be billed from and only one PIN moving forward. See? Already two fewer things for you to remember, or in the case of some of our members (like me!) forget!

Best part of it all?

We saved the very best for last! Push Press now has an App! That’s right! No more bookmarked mobile browser pages. This app keeps the functionality and the look and feel very close to the web based one, but lines PushPress up to begin working on v2 of the app, which will have a LOT more functionality. You can get the apps here:

• iTunes
• Google Play

Questions about this process or need help downloading the app? Email us at [email protected]!

Our 2018 CrossFit Fringe Member Survey is Ready!

On January 1st the goal board will be wiped clean and you’ll set your goals for 2018. We’re so blessed you’ve chosen to take this journey with us at CrossFit Fringe, and we will do everything we can to not only help you reach your goals, but have a lot of fun along the way!

2017 was a big first year for our combined community. From the Intramural Open, new events like the Kids Camp, The CrossFit Games moving closer to home, plenty of new faces each month and our first bring a friend week, it’s been fun reflecting on all that we’ve done this year and get excited about all the things that are possible for next year!

Just like you’ll set your goals, we’re already well underway in dreaming and scheming about our own 2018, and we want your help to guide our direction! Want to help us plan our best year yet? Complete our 2018 Member Survey and help us plan! Your feedback was immensely valuable in 2017 and guided many of our decisions and improvements across our entire operations. You’ll see many of the same questions this year, but also a few new ones. As always, there will be an open section at the bottom to add additional feedback, or just tell your favorite coach how much you love them!

Follow this link to complete the survey: https://goo.gl/forms/QQ1EJVbWgpCMab0k1

Annual Nutrition Challenge Dates Announced

We are excited to announce that we will again be doing a Whole30/Hybrid Nutrition Challenge beginning January 8!

All options are a part of a 30-day nutrition challenge that prioritizes healthy eating and better habits. Par for course, you’ll make it your goal to eat lean meats, plenty of veggies, some fruit. and good fats. While dedicating 30 days toward resetting your digestive system is a good start, we believe that the best results will come from longer dedication, as well as learn what personally works for you and your long-term goals through continued experimentation.

We are bringing back the 3 program options this year:

• Option 1: Strict Whole30
• Option 2: Whole30 Base with up to 3 exceptions
• Option 3: “If it fits your macros”

Timeline for the Challenge:

• Now through January 8: Sign-up for this year’s challenge at the front desk or Push Press, or email [email protected].
• January 6: Informational Meeting at 10:30 am at West. During this meeting, we will discuss all the specifics of the challenge options and answer all your questions.
• January 8 at 12 AM: The Whole30/Hybrid Nutrition Challenge begins!
• Halfway Community Potluck: January 20 at Noon at East! Nothing boosts the mood during the hardest part of the challenge like a potluck where you don’t have to do all the cooking yourself!
• Closing Community Potluck: February 10 at Noon at West! Gym-wide community potluck where you will receive an awesome t-shirt for finishing, as well as the chance to win prizes depending on how well you did!

A post with more details and information, including options and rules is up on the blog. And yes, we already have an awesome shirt in the works!

Elements for January/February/March

Because we know that the early months of the year are huge for those looking to make a change (and maybe even your friends and family looking for a new gym home), here are the Elements dates and locations to share with them for the first part of the year.

• January 3 (PM Session – 6:30 pm) at CrossFit Fringe West (3302 W Broadway Business Park Ct A)
• January 29 (PM Session – 6:30 pm) at CrossFit Fringe West (3302 W Broadway Business Park Ct A)
• February 26 (PM Session – 6:30 pm) at CrossFit Fringe East (901 Old 63 N)

We are still working to set the AM sessions based on interest, so if you know someone who is interested in attending in the AM, have them get with us ASAP! We also do Private Elements, as well as Hybrid Elements (a combination of the group classes and Private sessions) for those scheduling conflicts, keep athletes from attending.

As always, if you are ever interested in knowing the upcoming Elements dates, just visit our Elements Schedule page on the website.

Getting rid of toys this holiday? Consider helping us refresh the Childcare rooms!

If you are like us, you have so many toys laying around they are creeping up the walls. And the thought of more finding their way to your home is terrifying. If you are looking to thin the herd this holiday (or after — any time of year really), consider helping us refresh the childcare rooms with more books and toys to entertain the kiddos while you train! If you’d like to help us out and have toys to donate, just drop us a line at [email protected]!

FROM THE QUESTION/COMMENT BOX

Question: What’s the newest information on soy? Good bad? It seems like so much changes all the time, it is hard to keep up!

Plant-based proteins, specifically soy, has been a hot topic for decades. It’s a hot enough topic, that my masters thesis was on the differences in Soy vs Beef proteins in relation to appetite, satiety, and hormonal response. Needless to say, I’ve been fielding questions for quite sometime! So let’s dive right into the topic.

Statement: Soy consumption causes breast cancer.

False: Soy does not increase chances of breast cancer, and likely lowers the risk of all-cause mortality.
Having long been demonized as a plant protein that increases imitates and potentially stimulates the hormone estrogen, it was thought for a significant amount of time that soy was likely to increase the chances of chances of breast cancer. This idea largely stemmed from an article in 1996, suggesting there was an estrogenic stimulus that came from consuming soy isoflavins¹.

While the idea seemed sound – biochemically soy isoflavones can and do bind to estrogen receptors which are in fact linked to increases of cancer incidences – it was later discovered that soy actually acts on a secondary receptor. Alpha receptors are the ones that are associated with cancer and acted upon by estrogen. Beta receptors, on the other hand, are associated with decreased growth of cancer cells – aka soy can actually act as a way to lower cancer risk. This has been seen and confirmed in many studies, most notably in a large correlational study published earlier this year^2-3.

Statement: Soy is good for your heart health.

True: An American Heart Association paper published in 2006 found, “soy products should be beneficial to cardiovascular and overall health because of their high levels of polyunsaturated fats, fiber, vitamins and minerals and low levels of saturated fat.⁴” This means soy has also been shown to decrease circulating levels of LDL cholesterol aka it can help to decrease the bad cholesterol. Later, soy was added to the USDA healthy eating guidelines in 2010 – it is just as satiating as other forms of protein and may add the same benefits to managing weight as other proteins. As we know it’s hard to go wrong with recommended a whole-food based diet that’s low in processed foods.

We’ve come to the end of a short discussion on what is a hot topic with a lot of information available out there. So what is the takeaway?

• Soy is a solid plant-based food to add to a balanced diet
• It may help positively influence both body composition as well as other health markers like circulating cholesterol
• Natural occurring soy likely has more health benefit than other heavily processed vegetarian options (READ: as always, unprocessed fresh foods seem to have greater positive impacts on our health than things that are heavily processed)

Sources:

1. Cancer Epidemiol Biomarkers Prev. 1996 Oct;5(10):785-94. Stimulatory influence of soy protein isolate on breast secretion in pre- and postmenopausal women. Petrakis NL1, Barnes S, King EB, Lowenstein J, Wiencke J, Lee MM, Miike R, Kirk M, Coward L.
2. Addressing the Soy and Breast Cancer Relationship: Review, Commentary, and Workshop Proceedings. Mark Messina Worta McCaskill-Stevens Johanna W. Lampe. JNCI: Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Volume 98, Issue 18, 20 September 2006, Pages 1275–1284, https://doi.org/10.1093/jnci/djj356
3. Dietary isoflavone intake and all-cause mortality in breast cancer survivors: The Breast Cancer Family Registry. Zhang FF, et al. Cancer. 2017.
4. Soy Protein, Isoflavones, and Cardiovascular Health. An American Heart Association Science Advisory for Professionals From the Nutrition Committee. Frank M. Sacks, Alice Lichtenstein, Linda Van Horn, William Harris, Penny Kris-Etherton, Mary Winston. https://doi.org/10.1161/CIRCULATIONAHA.106.171052 Circulation. 2006;113:1034-1044. Originally published February 20, 2006

COACH FEATURE: JESSICA KOHLER

How did you get started in CrossFit? When? Where? Why?

Let’s talk about where I was when I found CrossFit. I was diagnosed with endometriosis while in college. Long story short: I often have crippling pain and fatigue. When I met Neil I tried to become active several times in our first years, but was met with constant disappointment. I couldn’t do a push-up, more than 10 air squats, and couldn’t run 200m. Everything was hard and never seemed to get better. I always resorted to “well I have endometriosis so this is as good as it’s going to get.”

I first heard about CrossFit from Bob Harper at a blogger’s conference in the summer of 2011. He took us through his Yoga For Warriors routine and I was WRECKED. I’d never been sore from exercise before, I thought I was going to die. I hadn’t made the connection, but the CrossFit Bob was talking about was the same training our next-door neighbor Ben Frissell was doing at his gym that he’d been trying to get us to for months. The website showed shirtless guys and a bare-bones gym, very unlike the safe, cushioned, machine-filled environment of Wilson’s where I currently went. He’d also sent us this video and I thought the people were literally Vikings — and they were okay with being dirty and really sweaty, which was totally not my game at the time.

But we went in any way and ended up doing a half “Cindy” as a trial and we’ve come back at least 3x a week ever since. There was no Elements program then, I just learned skills as I needed to for workouts — some of them CrossFit Open workouts. If you ever need a YouTube video for something CrossFit-related, I’ve probably already watched it.

CrossFit ended up being that something I never knew I was really missing in my life. I was afraid of my own shadow, would buckle at the tiniest trigger to my insecurity and thought my medical condition was an inescapable barrier to the shape and body I deeply wanted for myself. I still have pain and fatigue, but it’s not going to sideline me from my life. I think that’s the story for many of us, and the gratitude we have for not only finding CrossFit but the support system we’ve found within our little tribe has never wavered.

What motivates you to keep coming back?

CrossFit has taught me to define fitness not only by its methodology but the entire spectrum of my health. It’s taught me to constantly seek improvement, whether it be in my lifts or the quality of my sleep and time with family. I’m less afraid to tackle new or hard challenges, and my attitude has more optimism than a church revival. I strive constantly to be a better person, a better example, and a better support to others. Plus, I’m always learning and perfecting something new, so that has my OCD piqued at all times. I love saying that at 35 I’m still getting better.

Why’d you become a coach?

I’ve always felt women needed to special representation in the coaching staff and I was lucky Tyler and the Fringe family supported my pursuit (they also didn’t have a choice, I literally have all the passwords to everything). I wanted to take the L2 specifically because I wanted to attack weaknesses I know I have in front of groups and public speaking, as well as fine tune some strategies for cueing and triaging (that’s an official term) movement patterns.

What’s the best part of coaching?

It’s that line we tout about the last person finishing being cheered just as much as the first. That super social in your face interaction really intimidated me when I first started CrossFit (then again it was Nate Bacott in my face), but I never realized just how much we really need that in our lives. You need people looking out for you, and I’ve done my best to pay that forward with everyone I come into contact with. My coaching inspiration, Rory Zambard, talks about the transmission of culture as an expression of our passion, and I think nothing describes the power of CrossFit more. I delight in being able to impart lessons and wisdom I’ve gained in order to make someone’s life better, fuller or in some way easier. That lightbulb moment when someone makes another connection is intoxicating.

What’s your favorite movement?

I think like many, the one I take the most pride in is muscle-ups. When you earn them, it’s just that notch in your belt that makes you walk a little taller every day. My favorite exercise to watch is butterfly pull-ups. It reminds me of the same power movement used to do the butterfly, which was my favorite swimming stroke in high school.

What do you do outside of the gym? (work, family, other hobbies)

I am…everywhere all the time as they say. I have a full-time job, my duties at the gym both in front of people and behind the scenes and my family business with my husband Neil. We also love to do everything our minds can think of, but mostly auto racing, CrossFit, camping and backpacking, general travel and plan ol’ nights at home with our famous Plex server that’s full of every movie you can think of. Kaitlan and I also have a voracious appetite for books, so you will find us at the library literally every week which isn’t a big inconvenience because it’s only a few blocks from our house (seriously intentional decision).

What’s a piece of trivia about you?

Probably not so secret, but as I mentioned above I’m a voracious reader. I’m tackling at least two books at any one time. I also touched Eddie Vedder once (HUGE Pearl Jam fan).

 

Have an amazing month of love, lifts, and GAINS! As always, if you need anything, you can reach out to us on social media, or email [email protected].