Sunday 7.04.10

"[The essential principles of our Government]... form the bright constellation which has gone before us and guided our steps through an age of revolution and reformation. The wisdom of our sages and blood of our heroes have been devoted to their attainment. They should be the creed of our political faith, the text of civic instruction, the touchstone by which to try the services of those we trust; and should we wander from them in moments of error or of alarm, let us hasten to retrace our steps and to regain the road which alone leads to peace, liberty and safety."

--Thomas Jefferson -1st Inaugural Address, 1801

Happy Independence Day! And Thank You to all who have fought for our freedom!

We have quite a few new members to our growing family here and with that in mind I wanted to discuss a little about what we do at The Compound. First off, welcome to the gym. And if you’ve been here for a while and you don’t know who the new ones are, shame on you, go introduce yourself right now. We have several ways we keep in touch with everyone; the most resourceful has been the internet.

We have a Facebook page, that is growing in members and we can share anything that we want, upcoming competitions, gym events, etc. You can get to that page by following this link, Compound on Facebook. We also have this website, crossfitvvn.com, with a “Workout of the Day” posted on the blog. From there you can post in the comments section, start a discussion, or check member’s scores from other classes that you rarely get to see. I enjoy looking at the improvements I see daily from the comments section and putting faces with the names I read when I finally get to meet you. I hope more members will start posting there because it does a few things: allows you to record your score for the following workout, allows you to see improvements or deficiencies, and breeds competition which innately brings out the best performance in most people.

Our "Workout of the Day", is a workout we post daily and then coach everyone through assuring proper form and efficient movement. The workout is engineered carefully to care for ALL of your fitness needs. If some days seem too easy that is because workouts either before or coming are extremely demanding on the body and the backing off is warranted. We are providing you a schedule that represents the ultimate challenge for even the best athletes.

The "Workout of the Day" is designed to accommodate additional sport training, recreational activity, or stand alone by simply modulating the intensity of your effort. If you are concurrently training for something, moderate your efforts to allow for successful sport specific training. This is a learned skill requiring a finely honed sense of self and takes time to develop. We can help you do that as well. On the days when your specific training regimen is lighter, tear it up with our strength and conditioning workout. On days when your sports training regimen is tough, moderate your efforts. Going through the motions of the "Workout of the Day" at a lower intensity still provides benefits to include; recovery, skill development, and improved form.

And most important, use the first few minutes at the gym when you are warming up to work on skills you want to improve. We were capable of a lot when we were younger because we weren’t afraid to try new things and we took the time to play and try it out. When we failed, we laughed it off and tried again. Nothing is different now. If I want pull ups, I need to play on the pull up bar. If I want hand stands I have to get into the position. I for one am spending more time playing on the rings. A 245 lbs man on the rings is not the most graceful thing in the world (or is it)? But I’m having fun anyways.

Enjoy the holiday and hope to see some of you at the fireworks. cc