Craic

Practice makes Permanent

You often hear people say ‘practice makes perfect’ but this is not accurate. If you practice something incorrectly, over and over again you are actually teaching your body how to do it wrong. In other words you are getting good at doing it bad .

A better way to phrase the above quote is: perfect practice makes perfect.

Katie G came to me a couple of months ago with a list of things she wanted to improve. One of them was her squat positioning. Squatting translates into so many things, and having a limitation in it can be extremely frustrating so we prioritized that as number 1.

The pictures below show the progression of Katie’s squat over the last 8 weeks.

The photo on the bottom right is what we eventually want Katie’s Squat to look like without holding a weight out in front.

The difference between the top left photo and the bottom left are pretty significant.

So what did she do? My prescription to her over the 8 weeks was 1,200 squats with the kettlebell out in front of her pictured in the photo on the bottom right.

That seems like a crazy number but when broken down it’s just five sets of ten three times a week which was very manageable for her. I’m not suggesting that everyone who has trouble with their squat needs to go and follow this protocol as everyone is a little different. This example just shows how we can change movement patterns over time by practicing them correctly. Eventually Katie’s squat is going to look like the photo on the bottom right and she won’t have to worry about it anymore.

“I have been doing CrossFit for almost two years now and have seen a lot of improvement in my overall fitness but I felt like I had reached a plateau and I was not getting exactly what I needed out of day to day classes. When I decided to talk with John about setting up personalized programming I was a little skeptical. It has now been two months since I started with John and I am still shocked at the results I have seen. I have one private session a month and then 3 days a week of personalized programming that I do before or after class and the gains I have seen have completely exceeded my expectations. I have gone from 3 deadhang pullups to almost 6 , 145# clean to 155# clean, 1 Muscle up to 3, and so much more.  

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Congrats to all competitors this past weekend. Huge props to G and Jayme who finished 8th and 10th respectively.

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Nicole J – First Muscle-Up

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Today's Workout

A)12 min amrap @85%
Row 250m
10 Hang Power Cleans
10 Wallballs
rest 6 min
B)12 min amrap @85%
Run 200m
10 burpees

Friday evening high street and washington street will be blocked off for the Flag Day parade. Getting to Craic will be difficult so we have canceled the evening classes(4:30, 5:30, 6:30). We will have open gym from 4:30pm-7:30pm for those of you who can make it. 

LJ’s first Pull-up

Congrats to our Masters Susan and Neil who finished 1st and 3rd in their respective divisions last week

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Congrats to Gienah  - winner of the Intermediate group. G has been keeping a blog since April to track her workouts and progress: click here to check it out.

2 people entered the Rx category. Due to 1 person moving away and 1 person being unable to complete the first tests due to injuries, we are not declaring a winner for this category. 

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Before this challenge, I was already eating pretty well. Bread and pasta haven’t been in my vocabulary for a little over a year now.  This time around, I wanted to lean out, but at the same time make sure that my performance didn’t suffer. I gave up dairy, fruit, most sugary sauces, salad dressings, and limited starches to days when I knew I would need it for workouts.  I didn’t realize how many sauces I put on my food until I removed them from my diet – I realized I was using them for almost every meal!

I also cut out alcohol. Before I started, I can’t tell you how many times I said “alcohol is not my problem”, “it’s not going to make a difference”. I didn’t sign up for the NB “rx+” division, simply because I really didn’t think I would be able to go 50 days without alcohol.  It wasn’t until NB5 Day 2, when I got to the gym for Saturday morning class, and felt like a complete waste during class, because I had too much tequila the night before.  It was that night that I started cutting it out, and I woke up on NB5 Day 3 with a clear head and more energy than I knew I was capable of having on a Sunday morning. I stopped drinking my 1 or 2 glasses of wine with dinner every night during the week to “get me through the week”, and noticed almost immediately that my energy during the week was better than ever – I don’t dread waking up in the morning now.  There were 2 weekends within the challenge that I had some drinks… but I planned ahead for them, and also didn’t expect anything from the workouts I did the next day.

I have noticed my abs starting to come through…exciting. Even more exciting, though, is how much energy I have and the performance gains I have made by cutting out alcohol. I’m PRing all over the place and feel better than ever for it!

-G

The photos below show G a year and a half ago before she walked through our doors and the transformation she has made since then.

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Congrats to Sara Follen – Winner of the Beginner category.

My no bread challenge began when I joined Craic in January. Ben had been trying to get me to join but my insecurities got the best of me every time. I was “too fat to join”. I told Ben that maybe I should lose some weight before I joined, which now seems absolutely ridiculous and of course never happened. Then my sister got engaged and asked me to be in her wedding and what was supposed to be a happy exciting time turned to dread. If I was too fat to join a gym I was obviously too fat to be in my sister’s wedding. I had also recently begun shutting myself off from people. Ben would want to go out with friend s and I would fake sick because I was too ashamed of the way I looked.  I knew it was time to do something.

My first night at Craic I drove around the block three times telling Ben to call Jarrod and cancel. He refused, so I had no choice but find a place to park and go inside. I think the personal sessions to start are the best thing you can do for a new member. I immediately felt comfortable with Jarrod and after my three sessions not only felt more secure with the movements but also felt like I knew someone at the gym.

More than just learning about health and fitness at Craic I have also come to see the root of my weight and food issues. I have come to see that food has been a way for me to deal with my struggles over the years. When I stepped on the scale in January and weighed 196 pounds I didn’t understand how it could have happened.  I thought that there must be something medically wrong with me to have put on so much weight so quickly. Now I realize that years of over eating, poor food choices and lack of physical activity had just caught up with me. I also realize that I have control over my body and my choices. I can’t blame my past or use it as an excuse to be unhealthy. I make the choices and those choices have an effect. So today I choose no bread and make an effort to come to the gym at least four times a week. I feel great, have lost over 30 pounds since January and feel so much more confident. Since joining I have fallen, thrown up in class, gotten scrapes and bruises and even had an asthma attack. Call me crazy but I’m hooked. The improvements I have made since joining are amazing. I can’t tell you how great it felt running around the corner and see Sara McEvoy cheering me on as I finished the 3 k run. That is something I never thought I would be able to do.  Thank you to each and every one of you. You each add something different and special to the gym that makes it an awesome place to belong.

Thanks!!!
Sara

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The Winners of the No Bread Challenge will be announced in Wednesdays post

Craic High Schoolers

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Friday Night Jackie is tonight from 6-10pm. 

We will be running heats of the workout starting at 6pm and will go until everyone is done. Come celebrate the end of the No Bread Challenge with us!

All members are welcome. 

There will be no evening classes. 

Giorgio

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Reminder that we are hosting a Nutrition talk this evening @7:30pm.

Adam Show

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Congrats to this months Member’s of the Month – Jason + Tyler. Click here to find out more about them

Jason

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Congrats to everyone who PR’d in May!

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