Blue Crab CrossFit July Newsletter

The Blue Crab CrossFit Committed Club Results

Congratulations to the following individuals who made it to the gym 15+ times in June AND to those with an * that made it 45+ times for the quarter! Awesome job, everyone! Consistency is key for growth and your hard work is showing!

On July 3rd, we’ll spin the wheel to randomly select a name to win the monthly $20 AND quarterly $50 store credit to be used at the BCCF store. If you think your name was missed, please send us a note by the 2nd with proof of 15 sign ins.

Why 15 check ins to make the list?

We believe that you if you are consistently attending the gym 3-4 times per week, you’re going to achieve your goals more quickly over time. If you’re struggling to get to the gym consistently, treat it like a meeting with yourself. Schedule it out for the week and show up for the meeting to prioritize yourself and your health.

Didn’t make the list? We restart TODAY – so your chances of making the list start over!

**Share your Blue Crab CrossFit love! Remember to check in to Blue Crab CrossFit on Facebook and Instagram and one or all of the following hashtags #bccfcommittedclub #bluecrabcrossfit #bccfcommitted #bccffamily #bccf

JULY ATHLETE OF THE MONTH
– Karina Dudley –
Congratulations to our July BCCF Athletes of the Month, Karina Dudley! Karina always shows up to class with a smile and a great attitude! She’s impresses us as a busy intern finishing up her degree and still prioritizing her fitness and consistently making it on the BCCF Committed Club! She recently competed in her first CrossFit competition and I think she may be hooked 🙂 Thanks for being such a great BCCF role model! Check out her great story below!

Tell us a bit about yourself!

I’m from Omaha, Nebraska. Growing up, I was a very active child. I did tap dance for a couple of years, figure skating for a year or two, gymnastics for 3 years, and soccer for 10 years. Eventually my parents made me choose a singular sport, and I ended up choosing soccer. Since there were not a lot of local soccer teams in Nebraska that were competitive, my soccer club constantly travelled out of town to play games, nearly every weekend during competition season. I used to call the main soccer season “living out of a suitcase for 1.5 months season”! Post-soccer life, I’m majoring in Computer Science at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln and will be returning to Maryland after graduation to work in cybersecurity.

Tell us about your fitness journey and discovering CrossFit

After medically retiring from soccer in high school, I got into weightlifting to stay in shape. However, after a couple of years, I was bored with the monotony of traditional weightlifting programs. I ended up watching the 2021 CrossFit Games while packing up my dorm to move to Maryland for my internship and decided to give CrossFit a try. Blue Crab CrossFit ended up having a Groupon deal and was only five minutes away from my apartment. One Groupon deal and two years later, I’m still doing CrossFit!

CrossFit helped provide structure and fun back into my workout routine. Prior to CrossFit, the monotony of my workouts caused me to be inconsistent with the gym. With a variety of workouts and movements, I regularly make it 3-5 times a week to the gym and no longer dread working out. Well, I guess I dread some workouts but for a different reason (yes, looking at you Fran). Temporarily moving to Maryland every 3-4 months for my internship makes it difficult to form long lasting relationships (even within the interns as people are constantly graduating from the program or rotating at different times), but CrossFit has given me a supportive community to return to.

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

CrossFit – Get muscle ups (bar and/or ring) and strict handstand pushups. These two moves still elude me but look like a lot of fun to do! While I can do kipping handstand pushups, I want to build the strength to be able to do them strictly.

Non-CrossFit – Graduate college! I head back to Nebraska in August to do my senior year before returning to Maryland permanently. Outside of school, I’d like to go snowboarding in Colorado. I’ve gone snowboarding at Killington in Vermont but want to experience the powdery snow in Colorado instead of the icier mountains in the Northeast.

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

I love being outdoors! Hiking, camping, biking. If it’s an outdoor activity, I’m 99% of the time down for it. This year I’ve also gotten into indoor rock climbing and boulder. Maybe one day I’ll try them outside! My favorite meal is a Burmese dish called Mohinga. It’s a rice noodle and catfish soup that, when done properly, takes hours for the broth to be ready. The wait and cooking effort is worth it!

Some random facts: I’m the middle child of 3, I have 2 dogs (German Shepherd/Belgian Malinois and Lab/Boxer/Supermutt) and a leopard gecko, I love to listen to and attend operas and symphonies, my favorite animal is a three-toed sloth, I love to garden/am a plant mom, and I’m a giant bookworm.

We had a busy June giving back to our community and putting our mark on our new space!

Thank you to Megan L. for coordinating the donation of 30 birthday bags to the Howard County Food Bank! These birthday bags will go to families in need – they contain all the basics to throw a birthday party for their children!

We also painted our original slogan, Experience the Molt, along the wall behind the rig. Thank you to the painting crew for showing up and leaving their mark and a special shout out to Coach Tyler for the idea, designing it, and staying up way past your bedtime to get the wall taped up for painting!

What is “Experience the Molt?”

Molt stands for a couple of things in the context of Blue Crab CrossFit and its history. As part of “Experience the Molt,” Molt stood for “Movement of Life Training.” According to the dictionary, Molt is defined as “to cast or shed the feathers, skin, or the like, that will be replaced by a new growth; to cast or shed (feathers, skin, etc.) in the process of renewal.” If you’ve ever heard of a softshell crab, it’s a crab that just molted and is in the process of growing a new shell. Given our logo has the crab, Molt in the context of BCCF is the process of shedding your old skin to be replaced by new growth. When you join Blue Crab CrossFit, you are joining a community of like-minded people who are working hard to live a healthier, stronger life. In the process of that, you are shedding your old skin to replace it with a stronger, healthier version of yourself.

Stop by and see the new wall today. It looks great!

Blue Crab CrossFit June Newsletter

The Blue Crab CrossFit Committed Club Results

Congratulations to the following individuals who made it to the gym 15+ times in May! Awesome job, everyone! Consistency is key for growth and your hard work is showing!

On June 3rd, we’ll spin the wheel to randomly select a name to win $20 store credit to be used at the BCCF store. If your name has a * next to it AND you make the June list, you’re eligible for the quarterly $50 drawing! If you think your name was missed, please send us a note by the 2nd with proof of 15 sign ins in by June 2nd.

Didn’t make the list? We restart TODAY – so your chances of making the list start over!

**Share your Blue Crab CrossFit love! Remember to check in to Blue Crab CrossFit on Facebook and Instagram and one or all of the following hashtags #bccfcommittedclub #bluecrabcrossfit #bccfcommitted #bccffamily #bccf

JUNE ATHLETES OF THE MONTH
– Jami & Brian Silvia –
Congratulations to our June BCCF Athletes of the Month, Jami and Brian Silvia! If you’ve been in a class with Jami and Brian, you know they always show up with a great attitude and well coordinated outfits 🙂 We appreciate them, their consistency, and their desire to always challenge themselves and embrace the stimulus for each workout. We appreciate you both for always showing up with a great attitude and for making class fun! Check out their great story below!

Tell us a bit about yourself!

Jami – I’m from Seaford, DE. Growing up, I hung out at Rehoboth Beach a lot, I swam most summers and then I was on the high school swim team and swam a little in college. I was the Drum Major leading our competitive marching band in high school (I played bass clarinet during concert band through middle school and high school, I am a big fan of music). In college I played Rugby (open-side flanker). When I got out of college, I did civil engineering until I moved to Baltimore and got a job with Maryland Dept. of the Environment penalizing people who pollute Maryland’s waterways.

Brian – I’ve been in the same 20 minute radius pretty much all my life (Arbutus, Halethorpe, Ellicott City & Pasadena) except when I went to College at Salisbury. Growing up I was an “indoor kid,” spent my free time playing video games and poker. I have always been interested in computers, so I dual majored in computer science and mathematics and I have been working in the technology industry for over a decade.

Tell us about your fitness journey and discovering CrossFit

So, Brian had talked Jami into joining a Globo-Gym and she absolutely hated the monotony of doing the same thing all the time. We knew we needed to work out, but were at our wits end after trying pretty much ever fad diet out there and none really working. Brian said that maybe we try CrossFit and see how we like it. We did a little bit of research and Blue Crab had advertised somewhere that they had 30 minute classes and we figured that was better than hour classes. Little did we know that all CrossFit were hour classes! We signed up for Foundations and it literally almost killed us, we were so sore for weeks! We stuck with it, still go up and down with our weight, but have a ton more muscle, and 4.5 years later, we are still here and absolutely love BCCF. Additionally, one thing CrossFit has given us is functional strength to just do more activities and even on vacation, we find ourselves looking for more active things to do (kayaking, hiking, snorkling, etc.).

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

Jami – My main goal within the fitness arena is to lose some of this body fat and keep gaining muscle. Non-Fitness would be to get our flip sold (construction is taking for-freaking-ever) and working on expanding our rental portfolio.

Brian – My main goals for the next year are to  lose fat, targeting ~20% BF, and to pay off debt. Longer term is to do a pull-up, and hopefully retire at some point!

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

Jami – I enjoy reading and hanging out with friends and family. I’m a big fan of punk rock. I love visiting new restuarants and traveling to fun new places. I am a foodie (I have tried to cut this back), I cook and would love to one day open a restaurant and I have gotten into smoking meats and other foods.

Brian – I love the same music when working out, and when having to deep dive into some code: rap, electronica, and heavy metal (the heavier the better) and I started college as a second semester sophomore. I was never into sports growing up, but I was the number 1 board in my high school’s chess club.

Facts about you both: We both love our four cats (we are disgusting cat people) and sushi and love to travel. When we do travel, Jami typically picks an island or somewhere on the coast so she can be on the water.

Our final Bring a Friend Week of 2023 is only a couple of weeks away!

Do you have a friend/family member that you would like to share CrossFit with, risk free?! If so, bring them by for one day or the whole week!

Referrals go up to $75 for BOTH you and your friend/family member during BaFW! See you there!

Blue Crab CrossFit May Newsletter

The Blue Crab CrossFit Committed Club Results

Congratulations to the following individuals who made it to the gym 15+ times in April! Awesome job, everyone! Consistency is key for growth and your hard work is showing!

On May 3rd, we’ll randomly draw a name to win $20 store credit to be used at the BCCF store. If you think your name was missed, please send us a note by the 2nd with proof of 15 sign ins in by May 2nd.

Didn’t make the list? We restart TODAY – so your chances of making the list start over!

**Share your Blue Crab CrossFit love! Remember to check in to Blue Crab CrossFit on Facebook and Instagram and one or all of the following hashtags #bccfcommittedclub #bluecrabcrossfit #bccfcommitted #bccffamily #bccf

May ATHLETE OF THE MONTH
– Lavin Chainani –
Congratulations to our May April BCCF Athletes of the Month, Lavin Chainani! Lavin has been nothing but consistent with his workout routine since joining Blue Crab CrossFit. He always shows up with a great attitude and you’ll often see him at various class times throughout the week, getting that workout in! Thanks for being a great role model for everyone at Blue Crab CrossFit, Lavin! Check out his great story below!

Tell us a bit about yourself!

I was born and raised in India and came to the US at 22 to get my Master’s at Syracuse. After graduating in 2005, I moved to Baltimore for work and have lived here since. I went to Catholic School and loved playing soccer and cricket growing up.

Tell us about your fitness journey and discovering CrossFit

I had no background or heard about CrossFit. I just took a Groupon for one of the CrossFit places in this area and fell in love with CrossFit, but I wanted to try other places before committing. I dropped into a few other places for a 1:1 class but was not 100% sold. Finally, I bought the Groupon for the ten classes at BCCF, and after the first class with Ben and Josh, I knew I had found my place.

It’s been nine years! When I joined, I was completely out of shape, close to 250lbs, eating like crap, out of breath when I would tie my shoelaces, and had no foundational knowledge of factors of health (sleep, nutrition, exercise, etc). CrossFit has completely changed my life physically and mentally.

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

CrossFit – my main goal is to keep working on my nutrition and mobility and enjoying the process.

Non-CrossFit – I am playing cricket in the Howard Country League; my goal is to play as many games as possible.

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

Life outside the gym is mainly running around with my six and 8-year-old (Riya & Rohan). They are getting into soccer, tennis, and dance, and I enjoy all the sports with them.

Blue Crab CrossFit Kicks Off the Ambassador Program

The BCCF Ambassador Program was established to identify members who can be ambassadors to the gym and help our new members settle in and have a person to go-to for questions. The role is not much more than what the nominated ambassadors already do, rather a formality and process for onboarding new members to link them up with a person before/during a class.

We’re excited to announce our inaugural group of BCCF Ambassadors who will be helping us out for the remainder of 2023:
Anna Anderson
Veronica Talbert
Tom Burke
Ron Mabe
Ashley Smith
Danielle Attiliis
Jami Silvia

The BCCF Ambassador position will be a six month position that will rotate members to give others the opportunity to fill those shoes. Ambassadors will be chosen based on their consistency at the gym, attendance to BCCF events,  and their ability to interact with new people. BCCF staff will attempt to select members across a range of classes to ensure Ambassadors throughout the day.

We all know that group classes can be intimidating for new people and we’d like to give new members a buddy for their first class. Ambassadors are not expected to coach the new member – their primary role is to be a part of our welcoming committee. Ambassadors will attend the new member’s first group class, answer general questions about the gym (like where we keep the equipment, where the bathroom is), but most importantly create a relationship with them that keeps them motivated, having fun, and wanting to come back day after day.

Are you interested in becoming an Ambassador? The next round of nominations will go out in December. Keep meeting the criteria listed above and chances are, you’ll be a future BCCF Ambassador nominee.

An Exciting Partnership!

We’re excited to announce that we are a drop off location for John’s Fit Meals! They offer meals each week as well as bulk items to help free up your time from food prep while being able to eat healthy each week!

This is one of the most affordable food prep businesses in the area and it’s also a small, local business that we’re excited to support. Drop offs at BCCF are usually around 8am on Mondays.

Use code JFM20 for 20% off your first order!

BCCF August Newsletter & Athlete of the Month

Wow! We’re so excited to see such a LONG list of people for the inaugural Committed Club Month! Congratulations to the following 24 individuals who made it to the gym 15+ times in July!

Consistency is key for growth and your hard work shows. Here’s to being committed in August! On August 3rd, we’ll randomly draw a name to win $20 store credit to be used any way at BCCF (coaches’ names will not be in the drawing).

Didn’t make the July list? We restart in August – so your chances of making the list start over! Don’t forget – just RSVP’ing does not count towards attendance – you also have to sign in!

**Share your Blue Crab CrossFit love! Remember to check in to Blue Crab CrossFit on Facebook and Instagram and one or all of the following hashtags #bccfcommittedclub #bluecrabcrossfit #bccfcommitted #bccffamily #bccf

 

Congratulations to our August BCCF Athlete of the Month, Jamie Cook!

We are so proud of Jamie – her hard work and dedication to the gym shows and she always shows up with a smile and a great attitude! Check out her great story below for a nomination well deserved!

Where did you grow up? Did you have any siblings, pets – what was your home life like? Were you involved in sports and/or other activities? Favorite memory growing up?

I grew up in Pasadena MD. I have one brother who is 2 years younger than me, and we are best friends. I started out doing ballet at a young age, but quit that to play baseball with my brother. I played baseball for years on my brothers team and I was the only girl. I remember the other teams coach would tell the boys to move in, when I got up to bat. But, quickly they learned that wasn’t the best idea. After several years of baseball, I played softball, then switched to lacrosse, and in high school I played basketball & field hockey.

 

How were you first introduced to CrossFit? How long have you been a BCCF member, what is your favorite workout/movement, etc. Do you have a favorite BCCF memory? How do you feel CrossFit has changed/influenced your life?

I first found out about CrossFit through a friend and I’d say my favorite movements are deadlifts & db snatches… oh, and abmat sit-ups! I became a member in 2019, and its been the best decision by far! I couldn’t imagine my life without BCCF. I’ve met the best of friends & the love of my life! The gym is my happy place and all of members and coaches have made me feel so welcomed, ever since day one. Every single time I step foot into those gym doors, my stress goes away, I’m greeted by smiles, and surrounded by nothing but positive vibes & encouragement. BCCF is not just a gym, it’s a family and I’m so grateful to be apart of it!

What goals do you have within the next year – CrossFit and non-CrossFit? My goals are to get butterfly pull ups, make bar & hip contact, and sleep better! Tell us more about your life outside of the gym – favorite thing to do when you’re bored, favorite meal, music, job etc. Give us one really random fact that people may not know about you.

If I’m not at the beach or outside in the sun, then you will find me on the couch cuddling with my dogs Wilson & Quinn. My favorite meal is breakfast… specifically crab cake Benedict from Johnny’s restaurant in Pasadena or a chicken fajita omelette with blueberry pancakes from IHOP! I used to go to IHOP after almost every workout. And that’s just one of the many ways Tyler won my heart… was with an IHOP gift card!

 

 

Welcome to the Coach Staff, Tom Chatt!

Congratulations to Tom Chatt, who recently passed his CrossFit Level 1 Trainer Certification! If you’ve been to a morning class, you’ve seen him shadowing. With the passing of his CF-L1, you’ll start seeing him more on the 6am schedule! Congratulations, Tom and welcome to the coaching staff! We’re excited to have you on the team, sharing your knowledge with the BCCF members!

 

 

Class Reservation Reminders

A friendly reminder to please reserve a spot before arriving at the gym. This gives the coaches time to make any necessary adjustments to make sure we have the proper equipment for everyone. You can reserve a spot up to 24 hours before the class. If your schedule changes, please cancel your reservation to allow others the spot! Auto-Class Cancellations Beginning August 1st for the classes where a coach travels to the gym to open it up, they will now be auto-cancelled if there are no reservations one hour before the class begins.

The following classes will be set up for auto-cancellation: M-F: 6am, Noon, and 4:15pm; Sat: 8:30am This helps our coaches out who travel from home/work to coach the class. If no one has reserved a spot, this will save them a trip! Thank you for understanding and please let us know if you have any questions or issues reserving a spot. Signing Into Class In addition to reserving a spot, make sure that you sign in! Not sure how to sign in? Ask a coach or check out this article! You can do it either from your app after reserving a spot or upon arrival at the gym by clicking your name from the reservations list. This is important – this is how we track your attendance for the Committed Club!

 

 

Relocation Efforts

We wanted to provide a quick update on our relocation efforts. We’re working hard to remain within 5-10 minutes of our current location and are really trying to purchase a property, rather than lease. This will provide us a space we can call our own and build a solid foundation for the future of BCCF! Our current lease ends on September 30th, so we’re working to try to get moved before then if at all possible. Depending on the new building, that may be delayed, but we’re doing our best to avoid that. Stay tuned for more updates! Thanks for your understanding and support! – Mandy & Josh L.

 

 

Upcoming Events

August 11th – BCCF Happy Hour The Ale House – Columbia @ 5pm. Reminder, no 5:30 or 6:45pm class on happy hour days.

August BCCF Foundations – 15th, 17th, 19th, and 22nd @ 5:30pm Limited spots available! $100 for four classes, one week of classes after Foundations, & a tailored nutrition report. Let your friends/family/coworkers know! If they sign up for a membership after Foundations, you’ll receive store credit for the referral.

September 10th – Annual BCCF Float Trip @9am River Riders in Harpers Ferry It’s time for our annual event! Bring a friend/spouse! If you are planning to float and/or camp, please contact Megan L. Reminder – no classes on September 10th so that our coaches can make the event as well!