Blue Crab CrossFit October 2023 Newsletter

Blue Crab CrossFit • October 7, 2023

Blue Crab CrossFit October 2023 Newsletter

Congratulations to our October BCCF Athletes of the Month, Lurine Jackson! Always showing up with a smile and ready to challenge herself, Lurine is one of our dedicated early morning’ers. She just hit her one year with BCCF and we couldn’t be more thankful to have her as part of the BCCF Family!

Thank you for being such a great BCCF role model and member! Congratulations on a nomination well deserved!

Tell us a bit about yourself!

I was born in Inglewood California, I am a twin, Lorraine, and Lurine…yes, we do have very similar names. My family simplified things by handing us nicknames Lulu(me) Mush (my twin). We lived in Oakland, California for a bit and then we settled back In Los Angeles, more specifically South Central. Things were not easy growing up, but my father was very strict, and looking back it most likely saved my life. I moved to Victorville, California to go to a better school and have better opportunities in my Junior Year.

I dabbled in Softball and basketball; I say dabbled because I was only mediocre, borderline not good at both. More so, my family really could not afford sports. Growing up I was able to visit quite a few theme parks, Six Flags, Disney Land, Knotts Berry Farm, and Universal Studios. These outings were usually birthday gifts from our father.

Tell us about your fitness journey and discovering CrossFit

I have been a CrossFitter for 5 years, my husband who at the time was my Boyfriend was hard-core into CrossFit. I would visit with him every month In Texas, and he kept talking about CrossFit. I finally joined him for a class, and when I walked into that gym, I was intimidated…and I am a hard person to intimidate. The workouts were difficult, and I had no idea what I was doing, but I still joined. I only did CrossFit in Texas for 6 months before we moved. When we moved to West Virginia I did boot camp at a CrossFit gym for a while. I was nervous to go back to CrossFit, mainly because I had gained weight. The itch to lift heavy eventually came back. 3 months before moving to Hawai’i I was a full-blown CrossFit chick again. My gym in Hawai’i is where I went all the way down the CrossFit rabbit hole. I went to class Monday through Saturday and on Tuesday and Thursday I did the Olympic weightlifting class. The Community in Hawai’i was amazing and essentially solidified my love for CrossFit. I even participated in two different competitions in Hawai’i. Moving back to the mainland was a little bumpy with CrossFit gyms, and I almost gave up at one point. Once I found Blue Crab, I knew I found my community and my people. CrossFit has influenced my life because I enjoy lifting heavy and meeting new people who share those same interests. I am well aware that CrossFit does have a bad reputation, but I try hard to make sure new people feel welcome. It is not hard to say hi, Introduce yourself, and smile. It may change how someone sees the gym, and you’re your community just might get a new member.

CrossFit inspires me every day to be a better me and show up. I have made some amazing friends in this community over the last few years for which I am grateful. I move so much, it’s nice to go somewhere, where everyone knows your name.

What goals do you have within the next year – CrossFit and non-CrossFit?

My CrossFit goals are to be more efficient with pull-ups and toes to the bar. I have them just need to get better at stringing them together. I also plan to keep working on my cardio engine.

Non-CrossFit- I am 6 classes away from finishing my Master’s, and the goal is to be done by the end of 2024.

Tell us more about your life outside of the gym – favorite thing to do when you’re bored, favorite meal, music, job etc.

My main hobby is you guessed it…. CrossFit. I also enjoy bike riding, hiking, and traveling and I love to read. My favorite meal hands down, is Sushi. I love all music except heavy metal can’t get into it. The last concert I went to was Carrie Underwood, she is my favorite artist at the moment. I am a Senior Human Resource Manager in the Army. I am in charge of the personnel shop where we service over 450 Soldiers, so I stay pretty busy at work. I have a large magnet collection; I always get a new magnet when I visit a new place. I love, love, love cheesy 80s music, I also have a playlist for almost everything.

What to Expect in October’s Programming

September brought us some big wins, starting with the retests of our Snatch and Clean + Jerk. Everyone saw huge improvements, and even if it didn’t lead to heavier weights, it resulted in a greater understanding of the Olympic Lifts! We also got a small taste of the short but potent strength cycle on the horizon, with the Overhead Squat and Bench Press taking center stage almost every week.

We saw some focus on the Deadlift and the Double Under, as well as a shift in our conditioning focus to be more General Physical Preparedness (GPP) instead of those shorter anaerobic burners! Going into October, we have some super exciting stuff, so let’s dive in!

October is going to kick off our final two strength cycles of the year! This month and next month, we will see wave loading for two different sets of movements, and this month will revolve around the Power Clean, Bench Press, and Overhead Squat.

We will see these movements once a week in a strength session that will gradually build us to heavy doubles and then finish off with a 1RM attempt. While this won’t be a test/retest strength cycle because it’s so short, we are confident we can see some serious progress over the five weeks to put a nice bow on the end of the year.

We will also see a gymnastics skill session once a week to help continue the things we learned/improved upon throughout the year! The overall conditioning through the end of the year will get back to more consistent GPP…this means we will see a more even split of time domains across the weeks which will prime us nicely for the Open that’s right around the corner!

The last piece of this month will include an optional finisher for Chad, the Hero WOD we will be completing the week of Veterans Day. It is a four-week build-up and is meant to be done outside of class times. We are looking forward to starting the final three months of the year, so let’s get to work!

Workout October Highlights

Strength Focus

(1) Gymnastics Skill Day

(1) Overhead Squat Day (Wave Loading)

(1) Bench Press Day (Wave Loading)

(1) Power Clean Day (Wave Loading)

Metcon Focus

(2-3) Moderate Time Domains

(1-2) Short Time Domains

(1-2) Long Time Domains

(2-3) Benchmark Retests

BCCF CrossFit Youth – Starting October 14th!

We’re excited to announce that BCCF CrossFit Youth will be making a return from October 14th – November 11th on Saturdays from 9:30-10am. Keep an eye out for an email this week to reserve your spot – space is limited!

We are excited that Coach Sam will be taking the reins as our CrossFit Youth coach, focusing on ages 5-10 to start and eventually we plan to build out a program for 11-15 year olds. As soon as we finish ironing out the details, we’ll send it soon! Currently the plan is to run six week programs, 3-4 times a year.

Thank you, Sam, for proposing the classes! We’re so excited to get our future generations into the gym and inspiring them to be strong like their parents!

Saturday Class Time Change

With CrossFit Youth starting on October 14th, we are going to change the Saturday class times to the following starting October 14th:

8:30am will now start at 8:15am
10am will now start at 10:15am

This will allow for a 30 minute CrossFit Youth class in between the class from 9:30-10am. If this change is well received, we may keep the times at these times to allow for Open Gym between the two classes whenever CrossFit Youth is not in session.

The post Blue Crab CrossFit October 2023 Newsletter appeared first on Blue Crab CrossFit.

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November Blue Crab CrossFit Newsletter

By Mandy Brezina • November 1, 2024

What to Expect in November Looking back on October, we had a lot on our plate! We started our final strength cycle of 2024, working through a Deadlift, Back Squat, and Push Press 5-3-1 cycle that although shorter, it effectively built athletes up to new PRs. We saw one Oly complex a week to keep our skills sharp, and we began to see prep for our Veteran’s Day workout, Chad. We hit some big retests of DT and Jackie, tackled a new Halloween workout, and got after Mary and Cindy for the gymnastically inclined. We saw a broad distribution of workout types throughout the week, meaning that we weren’t focusing on specific time domains or workouts types like previous Phases - October and the next 2 months will be all about as much variety as possible. Looking ahead to November, we have some BIG benchmarks to get us excited. The first thing we have on the agenda is Chad…1000 Weighted Step-Ups is a great way to pay tributes to any and all Veterans around the world and has become the staple workout on such a special day. We will also finish off our 5-3-1 strength cycle right around the same time and take note that because Chad falls on a Monday, we will be splitting the retest days (2 retests the week of Chad, one the week after) to ensure everyone is primed to hit some PRs. On top of these two exciting things happening almost simultaneously we will be doing the NCFIT Lift-Off right around this time as well. Think of this similarly to the Mid-Year Challenge…3 consecutive Fridays (11/8, 11/15, 11/22) that will prioritize a longer strength session. This is just for fun and no extra work has to be done, just getting excited to lift heavy! For the rest of the month, we will still see a broad range of workout types to get us as much variety as possible. We will end the month with a 12 Days of Thankfulness and Black Friday workout. We have stuffed a lot into this month, so hang on for the ride! 5-3-1 Strength Cycle 10/7-11/18 (Deadlift/ Back Squat/ Push Press) W1 - 1RM Tests W2 - 3x5 @ (RPE 7) W3 - 3x3 @ (RPE 8) W4 - 5-3-1 @ (RPE 7-8-9) W5 - Deload W6 - 1RM Retests November Weekly Workout Commitments (3x/ Week) Back Squat/ Deadlift/ Push Press Strength (1x/ Week) NCFIT Lift-Off (11/8, 11/15, 11/22) (1x/ Week) Workout of the Week or Benchmark/ Classic workout (1x/ Week) Optional Partner Workout Chad Hero Workout 11/11 12 Days of Thankfulness + Black Friday Workout

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By Mandy Brezina • November 1, 2024

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By Mandy Brezina • August 22, 2024

What to Expect in August July was a jam-packed month, so before we start looking ahead at what’s to come, let’s first take a look back at everything we accomplished last month. We have to start off by highlighting the start of our third strength cycle, which is all about the Snatch and Clean & Jerk. We kept things simple, working on building percentages week to week with triples, doubles, and singles before testing a 1RM for both movements in August! We also changed from Phase II, which was focused on longer GRIND workouts, to Phase III, which is going to be all about SPRINT workouts. We will still see a variety of workouts across the weeks, but the focus will be dropping the hammer 1-2 times per week. We saw a focus on the Pull-Up, chest-to-bar, and Bar Muscle-Up, along with tests of a new Benchmark workout/ Hero workout and a retest of the Filthy 50 from April. Looking at August, let’s first mention the three things that will carry over into this month. First, we will be finishing our Oly cycle with our heavy 1RM tests the week of 8/12. We also will be continuing with our Phase III SPRINT focus, which means we will see 1-2 faster workouts each week to build everyone’s anaerobic base. Lastly, we will still see 1-2 Flex Finishers per week to carry us through the second half of summer. Looking at some changes in the programming, we will have a greater emphasis on the Push-Up and the kipping handstand push-up. We focused on Strict HSPU in June, took a slight break in July, and now we are going to use that shoulder strength and add in some kipping! We will also test Nancy as our Benchmark for the month and retest Kelly from back in May. On top of those workouts to look forward to, we will also see an NCFIT Classic, Supersonic, and a new Hero workout for this month! Let’s keep our foot on the gas this month and keep training hard! Weekly August Workout Commitments (2x/ Week) Oly Strength Cycle (1x/ Week) Deadlift or Back Squat (1-2x/ Week) Sprint Workouts (1x/ Week) Workout of the Week or Benchmark/ Classic workout (1x/ Week) Push-Up/ Kipping Handstand Push-Up Capacity/ Focus (1-2x/ Week) FLEX-style Finishers

July Blue Crab CrossFit Newsletter

By Mandy Brezina • July 29, 2024

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June Blue Crab CrossFit Newsletter

By Mandy Brezina • June 16, 2024

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May Blue Crab CrossFit Newsletter

By Mandy Brezina • May 17, 2024

What to Expect in May We’re closing in on the halfway point of 2024, but before we talk about May, let’s review April and everything we worked on! First, we saw the beginning of our Volume/ Capacity cycle for the Overhead/Front Squat + Bench Press that carried through the month. Each week the reps got a little lower with the intent of increasing the weight.…we also got the opportunity to retest Death Row and see the engine improvement! The Strict Handstand Push-Up (HSPU) showed up a few times during the month, both as a skill session and in workouts…the goal was to develop strength/awareness while inverted, and even if this didn’t result in your first Strict HSPU, it still helped get some practice upside down! We saw a change in the conditioning focus, too…we are working on rowing capacity for the next few months, which means 2-3 GRIND workouts per week! Lastly, we saw the beginning of our four week extra credit Murph Prep, which will lead us up to Memorial Day and make sure everyone is ready to rock! Since we’re talking about Murph, let’s see what May has in store! The first full week of May is going to start on a high note as we test our 3x Rep Max for the Overhead/Front Squat & Bench Press! Once the strength cycle is done, we go back to General Physical Performance lifting, which will consist of barbell complexes and strength days, but there will not be a linear progression behind them. We will continue to get stronger by varying our strength movements! We have a special Cinco De Mayo workout, a great Mother’s Day Workout, our Benchmark workout: Kelly, and of course, we are tackling Murph on Memorial Day weekend! Throughout this month, we will see the gymnastics focus shift from Strict HSPU to building confidence/capacity in the Toes to Bar. This will take the form of skill sessions and higher volume TTB workouts, so prep those lats and midlines! We also will be prepping everyone for the Mid Year Mini Comp that will take place in the final 3 weeks of June! We will see some “Open Style” workouts to help us get ready for the 3-week event! We will still be focusing on longer GRIND workouts 2-3 times a week, so let’s get ready to keep building those engines through the month of May, especially with one of the best examples of an engine workout, Murph, right around the corner! May Weekly Workout Commitments Overhead/ Front Squat + Bench Press 3RM Test (2x/ Week) Grind Workouts (1x/ Week) Workout of the Week or Benchmark/ Classic workout (2x/ Week) Extra Credit Murph Prep (1x/ Week) Toes to Bar Capacity/ Focus