June Athlete Spotlight–The Kieffer family!

How long have you been a member at CFD, and what made you want to get started?

• Julie – 3 years.  I was looking for strength and conditioning program for my kids to help them perform in their high school and college athletics.  Because it was new to me I wanted to participate to make sure it was safe and would improve our strength and stamina.
• Katie – 3 years.  My mom found out about CFD and we thought it would be a great way to get into shape for playing college volleyball.
• Cody – 3 years.  My mom wanted my sister and I to join a program that would help us get into better shape to help with our sports.
• Jim – 2 ½ years.  I have participated in athletics all my life and always want to be a role model for my kids.  CF was something my wife and kids started and they could not stop talking about it so I needed to see what the “cult” was all about.

What changes have you seen in yourself since your very first day?

• Julie – My strength and my desire to want to keep working hard and try to set a good example for my children about how important continuing to stay active for a lifetime is.
• Katie – I am a lot stronger, not only physically but mentally too.  I push myself more and I have more awareness of what my body is capable of.
• Cody – I am a lot stronger and have better mobility and cardio endurance.
• Jim – I have gained a tremendous amount of strength.  I remember struggling to use an empty bar in warmups for Olympic Lifting and thinking how crazy it was seeing others with weights on their bar.  I have learned that I can handle large challenges and I just have to keep moving and I will survive and get thru it.

What did you do for fitness prior to CFD, and what do you like most about Cross Fit?

• Julie – I dedicated a lot of my time to coaching kids and did not focus on my own personal fitness.  I did walk and do Pilates at home.  What I like most is working out with a great group of people and coaches.  They challenge me on every level (mentally & physically) to give everything I have so when I leave the box I feel that not only did I work hard for myself but also the class did too.
• Katie – Played volleyball and ran track.  I like that there are endless possibilities for WODs.  The variations keep it fun and each day it is different and you don’t know what to expect.  I really love the community we are part of thru CFD.
• Cody – I played sports; football, basketball and ran track in high school and plan on playing football in college.
• Jim – Being as old as I am I had plenty of time to dabble in many different things prior to Cross Fit.  I was primarily road bike riding prior to joining CFD and thought I had good endurance but little did I know CFD would take endurance to an entirely new level.  What I like most about CFD is our community.  I am so impressed with everyone and how they take on the day’s WOD to the best of their abilities.  It is very inspirational and drives me to give it my best effort.  I really enjoy the social aspect of class; it makes the workout go better and not feel like punishment.

What type(s) of workouts are your favorites?

• Julie – Lighter weight lifting along with movements that keep you moving for 10-20 minutes.
• Katie – WODs that have running, box jumps and cleans in them.
• Cody – WODs that have rowing, toes-to-bar and are shorter sprint type workouts.
• Jim – It is obvious I am not built for speed so heavier squatting workouts or rowing to take advantage of my jumbo legs.

What type(s) of workouts do you least like to see come up?

• Julie – My least favorite WODS are the ones that involve my weaknesses, which would be upper body and arm strength movements like jerks, pushups and hand stand pushups.
• Katie – WODs that involve thrusters are the ones I like least.
• Cody – WODs that I have to do thrusters, long runs burpees or the OPEN 15.5.
• Jim – The extremely long chippers get to me and I struggle the most with those.  

What are you goals going forward?

• Julie – My future goals are to develop upper body strength and stay positive throughout WODS.
• Katie – To keep pushing myself to go outside my comfort zone in WODs and to improve on the gymnastics movements.
• Cody – To get faster with better form and develop more core and upper body strength.
• Jim – The way I treat Cross Fit is a means for me to maintain a healthy quality of life with hopes of being able to fully enjoy it as I grow older.  I want to prolong the aging process and be able to do activities without thinking I am not able to because of my age.

What advice do you have for someone just starting out at CFD?

• Julie – Don’t be afraid to get out of your comfort zone and to fail at something.  You have your coaches and your CFD family there to encourage you.  Sometimes that may be a smile, a helping hand to lift you up off the floor or an in your face aggressive holler to try again.  Know that pushing through the challenges makes you a stronger and better person.
• Katie – Everyone is different, keep track of your progress so you can compare yourself to where you were previously instead of comparing yourself to others.  Use others to push you but not to measure your own fitness.
• Cody – Even though it hurts to sit down or move for like 3 weeks keep going.  You will feel much better with every WOD and you will see major improvements in everything you do.
• Jim – For anyone starting at CFD I would suggest that they have patience and take their time to do things correctly.  Use the “modifiers” and follow the coaching advice and the ability to do various movements will happen.  I have records since the day I started at CFD and those early numbers are very humbling.  I know I am nowhere near a top performer but I am a hell of a lot better than who I was when I began.  I look forward to challenges and track my WODs and continue to set new personal records.  There is so much to learn and the variation of WODs keeps working out fresh.  You will not regret making a long-term commitment to yourself.  Ask yourself what is more important than your health and you should very quickly realize nothing is.  

Thank you to the entire CrossFit Dubuque Community, from the coaches to our classmates you have made an impact on the Kieffer family and words cannot express just how much that means to all of us.

May Athlete Spotlight–Tim Saunders

1.  How long have you been a member at CFD, and what made you want to get started?

I have been a member of the CFD community for 3 + years now. I began in February 2012 I believe one of the first few foundations groups. I started the Saturday after meeting coach Mike at an athlete convention in Dubuque. I had injured my back and suffered a severly bulged disc in my low back doing concrete work when I was 19 and thought that fitness was a thing of the past for me. I lost all interest in fitness for many years and was headed in a bad direction. The saving grace for me was my daughter Zoe, I was a pretty poor example of a healthy father for her and this began to eat at me.  Fast forward to my mid thirties and I knew something had to change, I had watched a poor lifestyle take my parents at a young age, my dad being only 49 years old! I actually found CFD by complete coincidence at an athlete convention. I was only there to watch my friends daughter compete in a dace comp. Coach Mike was manning a booth, I was sharing that I dead lifted 135# for my sets and didn’t do this very often at all because I didn’t want to hurt my back! Mike told me that  because I didn’t train my back for strength that it was prone to injury, he told me that “strong backs are less likely to sustain injury than weak backs”  He challenged me to show up to the box and do a Saturday intro workout with them. I showed up that Saturday, and by the end of that first workout I was hooked. I joined CFD shortly after and have never stopped. I am in my 40’s now and I am in better shape than I was in my 20’s!! I no longer look at working out as something I “have” to do, it has become something that I love to do again, and that is awesome!

2.  What changes have you seen in yourself since your very first day?

The changes are enormous, not just in what I can do, but more in my belief system. I rarely look at something and say “I can’t” anymore; I look at things as challenges to overcome. Oh and when I showed up that first month or so, I could only deadlift 135#, and now my deadlift is 405#. But more than that the changes are in my whole family, my daughter, girlfriend, sister, and niece all crossfit together now, and that is the biggest change. We have become a crossfit family together, and that is my proudest achievement. Our family is on a fitness journey together and it is amazing to watch the ladies of the family become strong confident women. To think that I played a small part in that makes me proud beyond measure.

3.  What did you do for fitness prior to CFD, and what do you like most about CrossFit?

Prior to Crossfit I was into home fitness programs, and did the globo gym type stuff. The thing I like most about Crossfit is that it never gets stale; I am constantly challenged to get better every day. Just when I get to a point where I think I am just getting pretty good at something and then some first timer comes in and kicks my butt at something and I get humble again. It’s that constant support, challenge and fun that keeps me coming back for more. There are plenty of other gyms in town but none in my opinion that offer the same level of expertise, camaraderie, and fun in a top notch facility as CFD.

4.  What type(s) of workouts are your favorites?

Chippers, Chippers Chippers with Burpees, pull ups, and a Barbell. Ohh and Diane, I love that workout

5.  What type(s) of workouts do you least like to see come up?

Snatches and Muscle ups because I stink at them both!! Ohh and Row sprints….ick!

6.  What are you goals going forward?

Moving forward I just want to be Crossfitting for many years, and getting a solid muscle up before I break my arms would be a bonus. But realistically for now I will settle for beating Fullan at anything in next year’s open!!

7.  What advice do you have for someone just starting out at CFD?

I would simply advise someone just starting out to stick with it, get out of your comfort zone and try stuff that you have never done before especially if you think you can’t. You never know what you’re capable of if you never try. I would also advise listening to the coaches, allowing yourself to be coached can be a challenge especially if you come from an athletic background but it pays off in the end.

Hey CFD, I just wanted to update you all about our gymnastics program we offer here at CFD.

As many of you may know, John Haines is our gymnastics specialist here at CFD.  His credentials and ability really speak for itself, and you are more than welcome to check out his bio, even if for no other reason than to see a picture of him doing something that looks really hard!

To the handful of you who have been wondering about clinics and why we haven’t had any in a while, let me explain:  Put simply, attendance to the gymnastics clinics was very low—many times between 0 and 1 member would show up.  That is reason enough to discontinue the program, but we had many people who would benefit from doing regular gymnastics work, so rather than kill the idea, we brainstormed and decided to evolve it:  we instead implemented a progressive gymnastics program to do after workouts or as an entirely independent session so as to get that extra volume in that many of you may have wanted but we weren’t able to implement regularly due to our 1-hour time constraints of being in a class setting.

If you’re an unlimited CFD member, it’s already available to you!  All you have to do is request access to the private page here and get started!  I will advise, however, that because it is a progressive program, it would be in your best interest to start at the very beginning.  John regularly posts demonstration videos and weekly workout blocks to do every week for the last 24 weeks, so jumping right into the mix at this point will probably be very difficult and confusing!

John would like me to add that a lot of the holds for time, numbers, and rep schemes can be modified depending on the athletes’ fitness level.  The intent of the program is to be a progressive plan that has built on itself over time, however a lot of people may find they’re getting buried. If this is the case, simply scale back the amount of reps or time, but try to keep it as challenging as possible yet still manageable. 

We may eventually entertain the idea of hosting some small-group sessions with Coach John a couple days a month for him to be able to personally work with those of you on the program, answer questions, and give some insight on the direction and intent of the program in the weeks and months to come.  However, this would be very dependent on attendance, and not supporting the service will inevitably cause it to be removed from the schedule, so if you support an idea, make sure you show up!

As always, I’m open to suggestions, so please don’t hesitate to bring things to my attention if you have a question, concern, or an idea to make CFD even more valuable!

—Coach Phil

If you’re ready to kick your strength training into gear starting next week, join our CFD Strength Gain page. I’ll be posting warmup tips, nutrition guidelines, and a 10-week program design exclusive to CFD members. Ask permission to join the page and stay tuned for the posts!

Post Open 2015

If you’re looking for the cliff notes on this blog, the take-away is simple:  the CFD community has a lot to be proud of regarding our performance during the 2015 CrossFit Open!  Whether what we do or how we train every day is the same or not, we all train together as a community daily.  For the last 5 weeks, it was time to trust our training and fight the battle together.  Although we can probably all agree that we’re glad it’s over, looking back, it was a pretty great time.

We finished tied for 50th as a team in the region (out of over 300 affiliated teams).  CFD as a community is still young relative to the competitive community that exists in the midwest—just over 3 years old.  When I think about what is necessary to get enough people proficient enough at a sport that demands such a broad spectrum of proficiency in order to be competitive, I’m amazed at how far we have come!  I think back to just a few short years ago when certain feats (doing multiple muscle-ups, doing HSPU’s, lifting big weights) were limited to a very small number of us, and even then our abilities in those areas are greatly overshadowed by what a much larger percentage of us can do now.  it’s quite impressive to take that step back once in a while and see how high a level of fitness many of you have achieved in our community.  This might be hard to believe, and it’s taken me a while to swallow this pill, but I’m glad to have been passed up this year by younger athletes who have more genetic potential and a huge drive and willingness to work hard and win.  It tells me I’m doing something right as a coach, and I’m happy to pass my placing along to athletes who are truly better than I.

However, I must admit—my pride in our performance takes a distant second to what I think is even more valuable.  What I am most proud about with the community of people here at CFD is the willingness of being held to a high, strict standard.  Having worked alongside you all now for the 3rd Open season in a row, what I’m most proud of is the integrity of our athletes across the board, and our willingness to work together for the good of the whole.  I’m confident that you can’t take a rep away from any of us, and we train together holding one another to a higher standard than I would expect of an unbiased judge at a competition.  To me, the honor in that fact alone is worth more than all the points in the world on that leaderboard.

…So what’s next?

I have already started regrouping and working up a new course of action for the remainder of 2015 in regards to direction.  I have to take the tests given this year and our performances in each event as use that information to my strategic advantage.  Where did we excel?  Where are we deficient as a community relative to some of the other gyms?  What might YOU want individually to achieve with your fitness goals, or where are you wanting to focus in the months or even years to come?

What I love about this sport—the sport of fitness—is that there isn’t ever an end.  Whether your goals are to be competitive and throw all your chips on the table, pursue other sports, or train for meaning, longevity, and/or health, there’s something for you.  Whether you want to go all in towards a goal or simply have fun with your fitness, you can do that.  For those of you who are quickly rising amongst the ranks in the sport:  your time is now.  I want to give you all the tools necessary to unlock as much of your genetic potential as you are willing to work for.  For those of you will differing goals, simply enjoying the journey of training, wanting longevity in your fitness, or simply wanting to have a life:  you are the majority!  How you approach your goals and your mindset towards your training makes all the difference in the world.  I, for one, and looking forward to warm weather with the doors open and more months and years of training with such a great community.

Keep up the great work, CFD.  You’re pretty easy to be proud of!

RLTW <1>

—Coach Phil

Say hello to our April CFD Athlete Spotlight–Jen Schwartz!

How long have you been a member at CFD, and what made you want to get started?

I have been a member at CFD for approximately 2 years now. I knew about CrossFit for over a year and half prior to starting, but was always too intimated, too self-conscious and had a wide array of "excuses" or reasons I "shouldn't" or "couldn't" do CrossFit. Finally, after a year and half of contemplating, one summer while back for summer break from college, I forced myself to step out of my comfort zone and start up with Foundations.

What changes have you seen in yourself since your very first day?

Strength. Mental strength. Self confidence. Who I am mentally now and 2 years ago are two different people. I still have lots of room to grow and make improvement, but even walking into the box was a struggle, knowing there would be things I would fail at was not easy. Becoming comfortable with being uncomfortable. Pushing myself mentally and physically to new levels. CrossFit has made me mentally stronger in every aspect of my daily life inside and outside of the box. The physical strength will always come, but the mental strength I've gained really can't be measured., but it is by far the biggest change. CrossFit has trained and strengthened my mind just as much as it has trained and strengthened my body.

What did you do for fitness prior to CFD, and what do you like most about CrossFit?

Prior to CrossFit I had played tennis and snowboarded my whole life. Throughout college I took group workout classes like spin, pilates, etc. What I like most about CrossFit is the people. There really is nothing like having others believe in you, sometimes more than you believe in yourself. There is no better feeling than having others truly support you and wanting you to be the best you can. It's the people who know how grueling of a workout you are going through, pushing you to move faster, keep going and not give up on yourself. It's being able to celebrate each others victories, and watching others grow in the process. It's the relationships that are created that I like most about CrossFit.

What type(s) of workouts are your favorite?

My favorite workout depends on the day honestly. Although, I will say, there is something about finishing a workout that initially gives you a sick to your stomach feeling at the 3-2-1 GO, or finishing a workout you went RX on when you were thinking about doing scaled and realizing you are stronger, faster, better than you credit yourself for.

What type(s) of workouts do you least like to see come up?

My least favorite workouts usually involve thrusters and push ups, or workouts that involve sprints on the rowers.

What are you goals going forward?

My goals going forward are endless, there is always room for improvement. Right now, it would have to be working on strict movements, such as strict pull-ups, ring dips, etc and becoming more efficient and stronger on the base movements. I would also like work on my technique in regards to Olympic lifts.

What advice do you have for someone just starting out at CFD?

My advice for anyone starting out at CFD would be believe in yourself. You are capable of more than you realize. We all start and come from different places, but we all strive for the same goal: to be better, and everyone wants to help each other achieve that. If you have questions, ask. Don't be afraid of failure, failure means you're trying and you're growing. Keep track of your scores, your PR's, and how you felt that day/during the workout, being able to reference these numbers and times is a true testament to your progress and is a crucial reference. Don't give up on yourself, the workouts are as challenging as you make them, the lifts can be difficult to learn, but give yourself time to learn and listen to your mind and body, nothing great ever comes easy.

Wrapping up the Open

 
15.5 is almost here!  I’m excited to see what’s in store for us, but I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t excited for the 2015 Open season to be drawing to an end.  5 weeks is a long time to try to keep everyone at 100% for, and I think we’re all feeling the effects of the increased intensity leading up to and through the Opens.

Just to keep you all informed, here’s what you can expect:  The week following the Open (the week of the 30th) will be taking things a bit easier, working on some tech work, and (hopefully!!!) getting outside for some shorter runs.  I expect this in and of itself to cause some people to be a bit more sore than usual, simply because we haven’t really been able to get out and run all winter.  But, the point is, this next week’s intent is to take things a bit easier to try to recuperate from the competition season.

I know we still have one more workout to log as a community together, but I can’t say it enough—I’m so proud of how far so many of you all have come and the quality of athlete we attract here at CFD.  I’m grateful to be a part of this community, and I’m proud of not only our great work ethic, but our ethics in general—there isn’t a rep you could take away from any of our scores this last season.  We hold ourselves to a high standard of integrity, and I’m proud to be regularly training alongside you all.

What’s next?

 
Heading into April, we’re looking at changing gears and going back into that long-game approach to fitness—steering towards building that absolute strength base, working some progressions in the technical movements, and working on picking back up in building our aerobic engines again.  I’m always looking forward to this part—it’s a fresh start, and new beginnings.  I already have written a new Strength Gain cycle that we can start that very next week as well!  It’s free to unlimited members and continues to add value to your membership here at CFD.

Reaching out…

 
Also, just to put this out there:  If you need help in any way (you’re feeling run down, plateaued, need specific work, etc…), PLEASE reach out to me and bring your issues to my attention.  In short, every single athlete hits peaks and valleys, ebbs and flows with their training for so many reasons.  It can be the program taking a toll on your essence as an athlete, it can be inappropriate fueling, resting, mobility, and/or recovery protocols, it can be any combination of lifestyle issues, etc.  The point is, the one hour you spend at CFD a handful of times a week is a very small part of the puzzle.  Please allow me to help out in other areas if you’re feeling like something isn’t working for you, because there is certainly many approaches to addressing issues that could be holding you back.  Not bringing issues to my attention that I could potentially help you with is not the solution!  I’m here to help, and I WANT to help, and I try very hard every day to make CFD a better place, so please utilize me!

For only being a few months into 2015, it seems like so much has already been accomplished!  Let’s keep this momentum going.

RLTW <1>

—Coach Phil

Please accept my apology ahead of time, but I have to do this.  After what happened yesterday (Jeff Oakes hitting a muscle up), I don’t think a lot of people really know how awesome it was, so a little backstory is necessary for the full effect.

Many of you may not know this, but Jeff was a member of CFD a few years back, when we were still at our old location.  He drove about an hour one-way to take classes when he could, which was usually only one or two nights a week at most.  Always, working hard and always willing to learn new things—he was great to have in class.  One Thursday, Jeff hit his first muscle up, which, as many of you know, is a huge accomplishment in your journey as a CrossFitter…it was awesome, as muscle up stories generally are!

Unfortunately, that very same weekend, Jeff got into a bad wreck while racing motocross, something he has always loved to do.  It was a pretty devastating accident, and left him badly broken up—both arms were broken, at least one leg was broken, ribs were broken…the guy was basically Humpty-Dumpty getting put back together again.

For the next 2 years or so, Jeff kept in touch with me throughout his healing process.  Some weeks, he was getting better and seemed to be on the mend, and other weeks, it seemed he would take some steps backward (through no fault of his own, of course) and have complications with the multiple injuries and surgeries that went into everything.  It was scary to see that demon named depression take hold of him at times…it’s hard not to fall into that rut when it seems like the road to recovery is so damn long and painful.  Few people know that process better than Jeff.

Yesterday evening, Jeff hit his first muscle up since his accident!  To think that after all that, you’ve been able to climb back to where you were and hit a movement that many athletes aspire to perform….I’m simply blown away!

To have witnessed and been only a tiny part of the last couple years of Jeff’s life—his accident and the recovery process that is still ongoing—I can attest with every fiber of my being that this is one of the mentally toughest people I’ve ever met on the planet.  When the choice to throw in the towel and give up or keep on pressing towards what only seemed like an impossible goal, Jeff showed perseverance and dedication time and time again.  Sorry to be cheesy, Jeff, but you are the embodiment of what it takes to be great.  You don’t have an ounce of quit in you.

You are the difference between the majority of people who face adversity already telling themselves ‘I can’t,’ with the few people who face adversity telling themselves ‘I CAN.’

Sorry for not asking permission to write about you briefly, Jeff, but I had a feeling that you’re too damn humble to brag about something that is so brag-worthy.  Your story deserves to be told, and I think the community deserves to know just exactly who you are at your core.

Things like this sure don’t happen often, but when they do, they make me really have a sense of fulfillment with my job.  Thanks for the inspiration, Jeff!

RLTW <1>

—Coach Phil