May Newsletter

May Newsletter - CrossFit Fringe - Columbia MO

It’s Regionals Month!

Well, May definitely snuck up on me, so sorry for the late newsletter post! I guess as long as it gets out this month, we’re okay right? May is certainly off to some crazy swings in the weather but thankfully that isn’t the case in the gym! If you’ve been with us for a few years, you know we’ve always struggled with flooding in our previous locations, so it was a welcome change of pace to not have any flooding with the storms and heavy rains. Let’s keep the good news coming!

Intramural Trophies and Prizes

After a long wait, the Intramural trophies are HERE! You’ve likely seen them hanging up at either location and we’ve also purchased the promised gear for each location with your entry fees. East got new foam rollers, house ropes and rower. West got a rower and new men’s barbell to add to the mix!

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Lots of New Faces

If you haven’t heard the buzz, we had a big group of new athletes in our April Group Elements, 10 to be exact! We also had several pass through Private Elements, as well as some test-outs from other facilities. We have lots of new faces, so if you see someone new in class, be sure to introduce yourself and say hi. You can never have too many lifting partners! Let’s be sure to show them how welcoming the Fringe community can be!

Programming Talk Recap

If you haven’t caught Tyler’s talk in the Facebook group, I’ve done you the solid and exported it and uploaded it to YouTube. You can (and should) watch it below.

Where We’ve Been

A little history: For the past two years, CrossFit Fringe has produced its own programming in-house by Angelo, Mitch, and Tyler. We’ve actually only had intermittent periods programming produced out of house, as one of our values is to know our athletes and to make sure what we’re giving them is really for them. I think you’d agree that it has a particular style and approach and by and large, it works very well. But if you’ve never done it, we realize it looks very different than what a lot of people expect to see in a CrossFit gym.

Change is Constant

As we settle into becoming a two-location community, we knew it would be a continual endeavor. This was going to be an ongoing process. It didn’t start and end in a month. We, like our athletes, want to make continual improvements little by little. So when we received consistent feedback and data that programming wasn’t hitting our athletes in the ways they need or want, we knew we needed to shift our approach. Rather than implement an abrupt change, we opted to gradually introduce the new approach. We welcome and encourage additional feedback during this process and throughout your time as an athlete with us.

Where Programming is Headed

As Tyler says in the video, we’ve always approached programming for CrossFit in terms of sport and science. The balance of the mental health, happiness, and fun is also important, and that’s what you’ll see find it’s way back in the programming — along with all our science and data-driven portions. We would like to underscore that we are here to listen to you. As we regularly say at East, classes can feel like we’re throwing a party and we want this to be the best hour of your day! In using scientific principles of strength training and periodization and our unique data-driven approach, we truly do our best to set up all our members for the greatest level of success we can.

A Little Personal Story From Me Just Because

After nearly six years, one of the biggest lessons I’ve learned is to listen to my body. About a year and a half into my journey, I got hit with the bug of thinking every workout had to be heavy, long and awful always. And I got hurt. In multiple places. And I wasn’t improving.

I love sweating. I love chippers. I love long workouts. But I learned that by paying closer attention to skill work, my progressions and auxiliary work has kept me injury free. Those light days matter. You are still getting stronger.

Most importantly, we want our athletes to never have to experience what I went though. Your safety and growing strength matter are of utmost importance. When we have this work on the WOD, don’t neglect it and also don’t feel bad about scaling. The right scale will mean getting MORE out of the workout — and that’s what will make you better. Besides, if you’re with your friends, anything is fun, even standing with kettlebells overhead.

Why We’re Lucky

As Tyler talks about in the video, we hope you’ll appreciate these changes, ultimately they are part of a grand scheme for more programming integrations. Lifting and comp training will all be built into and on top of the work we’re writing every week for regular classes. This kind of customization and coach attention are what set us apart. Your specific performances will drive the progressions and decisions made each week, month and year.

We hope you’ve enjoyed getting to know staff from the other locations and that you’ll use them as references just as you do with the staff you’re more familiar with. We intend to have “house swaps” more often. We’ve enjoyed hearing about the connections our athletes and coaches are making, after all in Columbia you are only one person away from everyone else in town.

Driven Nutrition Orders

As you might have already seen there are clipboards at the front desk for Driven Products. We make monthly orders and if there is a product you want that we don’t carry, just add it to the list!

Upcoming Events

2017 CrossFit Central Regionals:

  • When/Where: May 26-28 in Nashville, TN at the Music City Center | Official Website
  • What: Every year there are groups and carpools, so watch the Facebook group for more details and who is headed to Nashville to watch Brooke smash it!

We are putting together a t-shirt pre-order to support Brooke through the Regionals and Games, so stay tuned and order FAST!

Murph Event/Memorial Day Hours:

  • When/Where: May 29th at 9am at CrossFit Fringe West | Facebook Event
  • What: You know from the programming over the past month that we’ve been prepping for it  – the Annual Murph Challenge. With a very busy and packed weekend, we will be hosting “Murph” on Monday, May 29th at CrossFit Fringe West, with rolling starts beginning at 9am and brunch/potluck to follow as people finish up! We are also doing a shirt for Murph this year:

 

Awesome right!? Want one? Just visit our PushPress Pre-order page and order before 5/22 at 5am. There will be no extras, so miss it!

Memorial Day Weekend Hours: 

  • Friday: Normal Hours
  • Saturday: Normal Hours
  • Sunday: Open Gym at East (for both houses) only
  • Monday: “Murph” at Fringe West (only) — don’t forget the brunch/potluck following!

Coach’s Spotlight: Tom Sandifer

Tom, many people probably don’t know this but you were one of our first members, what brought you to CrossFit?

T: I stumbled upon it through another coach, Matt Keel, who I grew up across the street from and share a birthday with (one year apart). I began reading about CrossFit in late 2007 and moved back home in 2009. Shortly after moving I ran into Ben Frissell, who would eventually become a co-owner of the gym before moving to Colorado and he told me there was a box opening up locally. I went to one of the first classes and have never looked back. I did strength training in high school then transitioned to endurance in college. I missed the camaraderie of the weight room, but also really enjoyed running. However, when I exclusively ran I missed the strength that I had while weight training. CrossFit has struck that balance for me.  

And you’ve kind of found your niche as the “Endurance guy,” how did you find yourself in this little pocket of expertise?

T: With picking up running after high school I ended up running Cross Country for my college.  Don’t get too impressed though, it was at the only college of pharmacy with an athletic department, we didn’t cut anybody.  But I ran 3 years while in the professional curriculum.  When I started CrossFit (as I still do today) I watch a lot of Youtube videos related to the sport and how CrossFit can help with sport-specific athletes. I was intrigued by what Brian Mackenzie was putting out as it was related to a world I am familiar with and have knowledge of, distance running.  It was contrarian to what I had been taught, but I had not been in the endurance world long enough to have my beliefs held too closely.  So I learned and found I could run my distances as fast, if not faster, with CrossFit and targeted running without being as beat up, with better strength and range of motion. I wanted to know more so I ended up going to California (secretly hoping to meet Brian) on a vacation and attended a then CrossFit endurance course.

You’re also quite good with mobility/recovery — move or flow do you use most to recover from CrossFit?

T:  I would say lately it is the 10-minute paleo chair hold.  I have known about this since 2010 but haven’t made a serious focus on it until recently.  Otherwise, most of my mobility if focused on my ankles and hips from running injuries and being a desk athlete.

Over the past 6 years, are there any workouts that have come to be infamous (good or bad) or stand out in your memory?

T: I don’t remember the rep scheme but there was this atrocious couplet with running and deadlifts back when we were located on Fay street. I specifically used my memory of that WOD to help me PR my 10K time as I was heading into the last mile. I kept repeating to myself “…this isn’t as bad as the deadlift WOD, you can keep going, keep this pace…”.  I always like doing Helen and remember at Big Bear wondering if I would ever break the 10-minute barrier.  A while later at WW I did a sub 9:30 Helen.

If you had any advice for those somewhat new to CrossFit (less than a year), what would it be?

T: General would be ensure you are eating enough protein and getting adequate sleep.  When I started I burned the candle at both ends regarding sleep and stalled my progress.  With the nutrition through self-experimentation (zone, paleo, IIFYM) and getting consultation from sports nutritionists I have found that I under eat protein, overeat on fat and my estimation of my carbohydrate intake is about right. Working to up my protein, decrease my fat intake while maintaining my carbohydrate intake has really helped with progress for me. The last thing is let yourself be new at this, former athletes especially. We remember how good we used to be in high school/college but take for granted that it took us X years to get there and we practiced up-teen hours a week at it. Remember to back when you were new at your sport and allow yourself the same amount of grace to be new at CrossFit.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].