December 2024
From the Desk of the Gorilla:
From Thanksgiving to Christmas, it’s crunch time—not just for shopping but for staying on top of your health and fitness. Statistically, this is when the U.S. sees the most weight gain of the year. But you’ve worked too hard to let a few weeks derail your progress. We’ve got everything you need to stay motivated, engaged, and crushing it through the holidays!
Here’s How to Stay on Track:
1. No Grazing!
1. Nothing healthy comes from grazing. Snack foods aren’t your friends. Stick to regular meal times and stay mindful of what fuels your body best.
2. Keep Your Routine.
Don’t let the holiday madness or chilly mornings rob you of your habits. Show up. Do your training. Prep your meals. The grind doesn’t stop because there’s pie on the table.
3. Weather Isn’t an Excuse.
“But baby, it’s cold outside…” Wah. Tell me another story. You’ve come too far to let the weather win. Bundle up, get moving, and prove to yourself that excuses don’t run your life.
4. Don’t Wait for January.
“I’ll start fresh next year…” Nope. That’s a trap. Start now. End the year strong. Your future self will thank you when the new year rolls around, and you’re already ahead of the game.
Why You’ll Want to Show Up This Month:
🎯 Shoe Challenge: Log scores at least 4 days a week, and you’ll be entered into a raffle for a free set of shoes!
🎁 CrossFit Garage Sale for Charity: The Gym is de-cluttering! I don’t want to give away the surprise, but it’s going to be a great time to have a little fun and make some donations….
🎄 12 Days of Christmas Workouts: 12 Days is always a special treat, I’ve got all the confidence in the world that it’ll be a helluva day of training!
🚣♂️ Rowing to a Christmas Movie: Lil rowing and fellowship to have on Christmas Eve, bring your spousal units, friends, family, there will be a movie on or something, along with a lil fitness.
You’ve got all the reasons in the world to keep your training on track and no excuses to fall behind. Finish the year strong, because we didn’t come this far to only come this far. Get after it fam, Christmas 2025 is only a year and some change away.
-Steve
The Iron Pen
We’ve got so much fun training coming up in the second half of December!
On December 9th we complete our deadlift cycle and test our new one rep max. A week later, on December 16th, we will have a special seated workout to celebrate Jeff Williams’ birthday. Things like seated wallball shots, dips, bench press, dumbbell snatch from your lap, and skiing might be on the menu.
I inserted a two-part skill series on Thursday the 12th and Thursday the 19th on ring muscle ups. I know that many of you are comfortable with bar muscle ups, but not yet ring muscle ups. Ring muscle up progressions and dedicated skill work are the way you change that. If you have bar muscle ups but not yet ring muscle ups, these classes will be a great way to move you towards the next level. We will then put your new skills to work in the classic benchmark Nasty Girls after the skill series concludes. For a great read on Nasty Girls and how that workout, and ring muscle ups in general, affected the early days of CrossFit, check out this article. https://www.crossfit.com/essentials/nasty-girls-a-retrospective-2
Monday December 23rd will be our annual 12 Days of Christmas workout. Christmas Eve is our annual “row while we watch a Christmas movie” event.
Next month we are kicking off the new year right by building some boulder shoulders with a push press cycle on Mondays and pullups every Thursday.
I’m looking forward to spending 2025 getting stronger and fitter with all of you!
-Jeff