PECF April News Letter

Performance Edge News Letter

The 2017 CrossFit Open has come and gone leaving an imprint on all who participated.  It is the coolest thing in the world seeing people do something for the first time – something they couldn’t do before.  We find new strength when we force ourselves into uncharted territories.  That is what CrossFit is all about, that’s what PECF is about and the Open brings it out of us.  We thank you all for spending your Friday nights with us these past 5 weeks.  With the support of our community, the atmosphere was electric!

Big thanks to our friends Alex from KC North Spine & Joint Center, All about you massage, Supplement Super Store, and Pro Alpha for hanging out with us and serving our members!

Top 5 PECF Ranking

Ladies:

1Taylor

2Bailey

3Teresa

4Kaisha

5Brittany

Gentlemen:

1Logan

2Torey

3Jimmie

4Dusty

5Tino

Team standings: 85th in the Region

Whats next with our fitness?

We have a lot of exciting things to work on now that the Open is over.  Our fitness is only going up.  The main focus at Performance Edge is improving in every capacity.  We are looking forward to helping you take your fitness to the next level!

We will begin with a few fitness tests that cover the full realm of CrossFit.  The testing is to gage our current state in each aspect of fitness.  For strength we will do a version of the CrossFit total.  This will include a back squat, strict press, and a clean.  Why not deadlift?  The back squat and the deadlift are the two biggest pure strength movements there are.  Maxing out both in the same session is excessive stress on the body.  Substituting the clean will be a far better test.

Other tests include 50 wall balls for time, 2 minute pushup test, max pull-ups and a 1 mile run or row.

Finally we will do 2 benchmark WODs: Grace and the 2nd will not be announced.

*bonus test: there will also be a Handstand pushup test and muscle up test*

Those will be our primary tools for assessing progress in all capacities.

After the assessment, we will enter into an 8 week program designed to improve each score.   At the end of the 8 week program we will retest and celebrate all of our gains!  Use SugarWOD to track everything.  Get ready for GAINZ!

March PRs!

Remember to right down all of your PRs on the community PR board.

Say Happy Birthday To: 

Caleb Benner

Ryan Huff

Jill Simonie

John Sims

Jennifer Marchand

Carol Schumer

Megan Jansen

Jacob Paige

Jimmy Conner

Meredith Snyder

Trainer Tips

When to Rx and when to Scale? by Clay Henderson. 

We look at the Rx on the whiteboard like Ron Burgundy sees the teleprompter automatically thinking Rx is the only thing to do.  Often this is completely wrong.  The idea that if something is good for us then more of it is better is a logical fallacy.  More volume, more load, more intensity all equal more stress.  Stress is required to make any gains but ‘more’ stress damages the body faster than it can repair itself.  ‘More’ is a relative amount that takes time and dedicated effort to adapt to.

If you like hitting PRs and want to keep those gains rolling then you have to learn how to approach the workouts and that means scaling correctly.

Each WOD is designed to elicit certain physical changes when done correctly.  First it is important to understand on the hierarchy of fitness, cardio ranks higher than strength.  That means cardio should take priority, especially if it is lagging behind.

For example: ‘Fran’ (21-15-9 Thrusters/Pullups at 95/65) is designed as a sprint.  For beginners the cap should be 10 minutes.  For intermediate it is around 6-8.  For the elite the cap is closer to 3.  You will get more out of it by scaling down to meet the intention of the workout.  If the weight is too heavy and slows the WOD down, the intended benefits are gone.  A great way to test what you should be doing is to follow these standards: Pick a weight you can do at least 12 reps unbroken.  Pick a pull-up scale you can do at least 8 reps unbroken.

The reversal for this is when you are an experienced crossfitter (1 year or more) and your cardio is excellent but strength is way behind.  In this case it is advised to go as close to Rx as possible and doing as much as you can within the time domains.

Rx is programmed at an extremely high standard that few of us are able to hit regularly.  The purpose of this is to push everyone of all levels of fitness.  It pushes the elite by giving them tough standards.  It pushes the rest of us to scale up as high as we can.  Rx is a benchmark to chase.  Small progressions over time add up quicker than skipping steps.

The programming is done for you and the coaches are your biggest asset.  If you follow the programming as intended and listen to your coaches you will make massive gains.  Be patient and take pride in doing things right.

Events to look forward to:

May 29th – Mark your calendar for this years’ edition of Murph, the grueling workout honoring the notorious American Hero ‘Murph’ who gave the ultimate sacrifice for his country in the line of duty.

We will run, push, pull, squat and run some more in his honor and every member (past and present) of our armed forces.

We will run two heats, 8:30 and 9:30 AM.  Arrive early to stretch out and warm-up.  The clock will start at 8:30 and then again at 9:30, so be ready!  You must sign-up for your time slot prior to the day. Sign-ups will be located on the 2nd white board.

We would also like to BBQ after the WOD.

Other programs at PECF!

• Bootcamp is a strength and conditioning program similar to crossfit with more emphasis on the conditioning component.  It is high energy functional training.  The difference is Bootcamp does not focus as much on maximum strength or olympic weightlifting.  This allows for a faster pace class.  It is included in your crossfit membership!

• Private training.  Do some one-on-one sessions to accelerate your fitness.  One-on-ones will have you hitting PRs in no time by helping you overcome weaknesses and improve any domain of fitness you want to focus on.  Use these sessions to perfect your gymnastics, Oly lifting or anywhere else you want improvement.
  • $50/hour
• Yoga.  Nothing speeds up recover like yoga.  Yoga is the ultimate contrast to crossfit.  The quicker we recover, the better we feel and the quicker we make gains.  We have 2 amazing instructors to work with!
• Kids Class.  Our little Ninjas class is designed to improve over all athletic abilities, better movement quality and most importantly instill the importance of exercise in our youth.  It is for all skill levels.  The age group is 8-13.  We will be adding a class for younger kids soon!

We also offer a Free Intro Class for anyone interested in trying crossfit!  Every Saturday at 8AM.

Use these resources to stay up on things and to interact with your community.

• SugarWOD is an excellent resource for tracking your workouts.  Keeping a record of your workout is a must!  You can also use it to keep each other motivated and read Wade’s posts, which are always entertaining.
• The Facebook group ‘Performance Edge Members Corner’ is a private group for members only.  If you are not currently in the group, send a request.  This is perfect for quickly communicating important info.

We now carry the best supplement brand in the Industry 

We have a full line of 1st Phorm supplements!  1st Phorm is a leading brand in the industry originating from St. Louis MO.  Before you go buying more Progenix, you need to try it.  It’s amazing.  Products include:

Phormula-1 is a whey isolate used for recovery

Level-1 is a whey/casiene blend used for supplementing protein intake.  It is great at night or between meals

Ignition is a blend of sugar that is used with the phormula-1.

Alpha Cre – non-simulate pre workout

Mega watt is a pre-workout with stimulate

Gym etiquette and housekeeping 

Please be respectful of the gym and everyone you share it with.  Here are some house courtesies we should always follow.

• If you get it out put it up
• Wipe down everything you used
• Leave it in better shape than you found it
• Please keep chalk in the buckets and do not get it on the turf.
• If you bring your kids, they are your responsibility.  Tend to their needs and please keep them off the floor.  It is a safety issue.

Open gymers – Open gym is a privilege given to allow members to maximize their fitness with auxiliary work or specific competition training.  If you are participating in open gym workouts during class times, please be respectful of the class.  Study the WOD carefully to see the space and equipment that class requires.  Please position yourselves out of the way and do not disrupt class.  There have been frequent incidents where equipment was left out and chalk was all over the floor.  If these courtesies are not given we will discontinue Open gym during class times.

Thank you for being awesome members!  Looking forward to seeing all the great gains in the month of April.  Stay tuned for more updates at PECF!