Happy New Year CFABQ! 2017 is in the rearview mirror, and 2018 is upon us. Before we focus our attention on goals, dreams, and aspirations for the new year, I want to encourage you to reflect on 2017. Together, the CFABQ community celebrated countless PR’s, new marriages, professional accomplishments, and athletic accomplishments. Our community welcomed new members, new coaches, and new babies. The CFABQ family banded together to comfort those who experienced loss. We snuck around for weeks in order to surprise Joe with an amazing t-shirt, color corrective glasses, new vacuums, and a killer party to celebrate it all. CrossFit Albuquerque is the hub for all of this life to happen because of the people that make up our community. Thank you, for being a part of our CFABQ family this year!
This year is sure to bring new members, and while our class sizes may be larger than normal and full of people who are just beginning their CrossFit journey, there are a couple things I’d like us to remember. Starting a new exercise program is hard in itself, and even harder when you’re in a class full of awesome athletes! Please do your best to encourage and get to know our new members. Try to be understanding if someone disrupts your workout in someway. Also, please be patient with your coaches, as we will be paying closer attention to our newer athletes. After all, COMMUNITY is the heart of it all anyway.
Another thing the new year will bring is a new 4 week cycle of programming. For my turn at programming, I found it fitting to start off the year by going back to our roots and following CrossFit.com. There are plenty of reasons to be excited about this small change. First and foremost, it will be a great opportunity to pursue VIRTUOSITY. Virtuosity means doing the common uncommonly well. Further, following CrossFit.com leading up to the Open will give you an edge because their programming is geared specifically towards Open movements. If you have been a member of CFA for some time, CrossFit.com WOD’s may seem relatively basic. While these workouts may not seem overly complex, they will allow for us to fine tune our movement as well as focus on really achieving the intended stimulus of the workout. Better movement will lead to better results and lower the risk of injury. The amount of volume will also be different. CrossFit.com programs only one workout part per day, ranging anywhere from 5 heavy singles to a long chipper. The decrease in exercise parts will allow for us as athletes to reach a higher intensity and preserve the intended stimulus of the workout. Another benefit of this is that it allows the coaches to have the ability to work more on coaching the movement and helping each athlete become a better mover. In addition, your coaches will have accessory work and mobility to go along with the WOD. As always, there is open gym time to fill in the gaps for your specific goals, but keep in mind: More isn’t better, Better is better. Tommy Hackenbruk said it best: “you don’t need harder workouts, you need to go harder in your workouts.”
Cheers to you, CFABQ FAMILY, may 2018 bring you many PRs, joy, and fulfillment.
-Linda
