Crossfit Cleveland News - January 23, 2008

If you've been to our gym lately you've probably noticed a bunch of us practicing things you don't normally see at other gyms or fitness centers. Handstand holds, handstand pushups, ring dips, kipping and inverted ring pullups, etc. We're really not nuts, practicing these movements help build strength, coordination and balance.

Check out this handstand video posted on the main CrossFit website. I haven't seen our members do these moves quite yet, but we're getting there! Click here for the video.


GPP

CrossFit is a General Physical Preparedness program. It works to develop all ten of these general physical fitness skills.

1. Cardiovascular/respiratory endurance
2. Stamina
3. Strength
4. Flexibility
5. Power
6. Speed
7. Coordination
8. Agility
9. Balance 10. Accuracy

Here is a link to an issue of the CrossFit Journal giving some great information on fitness. The Feature article is titled "What is Fitness". You'll also find more information on the 10 physical skills listed above as well as Crossfit's two other fitness standards. Read more here.


Five lazy guys decide to get back in shape

If you are having difficulty getting started doing something-anything, get a few friends to start with you. If you don't have any friends, join a group.

I mentioned last week about how several years ago four of my drinking/golfing buddies and I got together to get back in shape. We all realized that years of inactivity and poor eating habits helped add an unappealling layer around our midsection.

It all started when my good friend Chuck P. faxed me a page from the Westlake Rec Center's program listing a Hapkido class that was starting soon, I believe it was that very same night. We showed up at the Rec dressed something like Jules and Vincent at the end of Pulp Fiction. Oh yeah, we were the only adults in the class!

It took us less than five minutes to realize we made a mistake. 20 minutes later we were on our favorite stools at the Cabin Club, still in time for Happy Hour. If Chuck was still alive today, he would be telling that story for the 105th time.

We did not give up though. We decided to try martial arts again, but definitely not in a classroom full of strangers. We rounded up Dean, Bob and another Bill and made bets on who would quit first. I arranged for private training with our soon to be best buddy Randy L. and we gave it a shot. Randy put a hurt on us real bad for the first month or two, but no one was going to be the first to quit.

More on the adventure next week.


Saturdays are our busiest days

The 9:00-10:00 hour is the busiest time. Members may want to come earlier or later to avoid the crowd. We're open from 8:00am - 11:00am on Saturdays. See below for weekday hours, or check our website.

There has been some confusion on Saturday mornings concerning the Free workouts at 9:30am. We hold a free Basic Training Workouts in the Classroom side of the facility (the side with the blue matting). People attending the free workouts are not permitted to use the equipment on the Gym side (the side with the weights and rowers) unless they have a membership package or pay the daily fee. Thanks for being respectful of our members.


Free Basic Class starts at 9:30am SHARP this Saturday.

We're having another free Basic Training group workout this Saturday morning starting at 9:30am 'on the dot.' The class is limited to the first 15 people who arrive so please be a little early. You'll need to sign in and fill out a liability waiver before you start the class.

If you show up after 9:30am, you may not join the class in progress. If we have a larger crowd, we may begin a second session immediately following the first. Please be aware that if you are attending the free workout, you are not permitted to use the equipment on the Gym side (the side with the weights and rowers) unless you have a membership package or pay the daily fee.

You'll learn the basic exercises that we use in our CrossFit workouts. We'll teach you proper form and technique while we warm up, then we'll give you a workout scaled to your fitness level. We're located at 17140 Madison Avenue in Lakewood. We're on the north east corner of Mckinley and Madison, two minutes off the McKinley/I-90 exit.

If you've been to our free workouts and want something a little more challenging, you may want to check out our other classes available six days a week. We're open from 8:00am - 11:00am Saturday, M-W-F mornings 5:30am-7:00am and T-W-Th evenings 5:30pm-7:00pm. We have additional details on our website, CrossFitCleveland.com

Membership packages

We have several ways you can join and attend group workouts. We don't require any term commitments or contracts. Rates are based on the frequency of your workouts. The more often you want to train, the less it costs per workout. See our Rates Page for more details. You can pay online or stop in and pay by cash or check.


3rd Concept 2 Rower is here

Our new Concept 2 Model E rower arrived Tuesday. We now have a Model C, D, and E. If you haven't had a chance to use our Concept 2 Rowing machines yet, please ask us for a lesson. Rowing is a great total body workout. It's also a great way to warmup - 4 to 5 minutes of rowing will get you ready for just about any workout we do.


Special Introductory Self-Defense Course

Master Chris Price of Four Gates Hapkido is offering an introductory course on the basics of karate and street defense at CrossFit Cleveland starting this month. We have flyers at the facility with more details. Email me if you are interested and I will forward you a copy.


Copy of weekly newsletter on our website

Starting this week, a copy of our weekly email will be available on our website. I've made anewsletter archive page here, or you can find the link on our CrossFit Cleveland home page.


Mailing List

If someone forwarded this message to you, click here to join our mailing list so you can receive future messages directly. You can unsubscribe at any time.

We hope to see you soon.


Bill Russell
440-527-0527