Weekly Roundup * July 24th – 30th, 2022

Here’s what’s going on this week at the gym!

Week of July 24th – 30th, 2022


Birthdays

July 25st – Coach Casey & Jay C.

Casey B.
Jay C.

Announcements

We will have a normal schedule this week.

Please remember that we start class on time.  We will no longer be reviewing SEMM content before the WOD brief, as it is now in all of the weekly emails, so the brief will start the minute class starts and applies to everyone. This means that we need everyone to be there on time. We do understand that every now and then something comes up that can make us late. We try our hardest to respect you and your time, please give us that same courtesy and show up before class starts. 

If you would like to get on a team for the Mountain Madness 50 Miler, reply to this email.
The teams can be:
-Team of 2, with each of you running 25 miles.
-Team of 4, with everyone running 2 legs each with each leg being anywhere from 4-8 miles.
-Team of 8, with each person running 1 leg.
Let’s all participate and represent Vernal Fitness!

Our next Gains & Games night will be August 12th.  We would love to see you there!  If you can bring a friend, great!  If you can’t, that’s ok too!  This is open to all and is a fun way to spend your Friday night.  Click here if you’d like to join us!


InBody Scans

All Vernal Fitness members are eligible for a complimentary InBody scan each month. Aside from tracking our performance in Wodify, body composition scans are the best way to track progress and measure results.


PROGRAMMING OVERVIEW

July 25-31

We will continue to work through week four of our Pause Front Squat and week three of our Push Press and “Pump Complex” strength pieces. New this week will be the start of a percentage-based deadlift cycle that we will be working through in August.

Workouts this week will see a few longer time domain pieces with “Mamba,” “Thelma and Louise,” and “Dancing Queen,” with all workouts prioritizing maintaining solid technique while under fatigue. 

Monday

This one will get sweaty in a hurry!

Avoid rushing through the first few sets of Devil’s Press and Burpee Pull-ups! Breathing and deliberate movement will provide a much better pacing strategy.

Air squats should be quick and to full range of motion on all reps.

Tuesday

You will want to maximize your time working with an elevated heart rate by finding a moderate but sustainable pace. Intensity level should challenge your comfort zone, but it shouldn’t result in having to take long or frequent breaks!

Move, move, move!

This longer AMRAP isn’t heavy but the reps scheme will have the reps adding up quickly!

Set a pace that feels like a 5-6/10 that you will attempt to maintain through the full workout

Wednesday

If improving fitness is your goal, approach this workout with the mindset of achieving a 7-8/10 level of effort through the entire WOD.

Quick runs, heavy lifts!

400m runs should be done at a brisk pace that  will allow for similar run times each round.

S2OH should be done at a weight that allows you to maintain good mechanics overhead, even when out of breath from the run!

Thursday

Lifting heavier weights can have enormous benefits for us all! Weightlifting makes us stronger, increases bone density, stimulates hormone production, and improves dynamic range of motion and core strength.

Weight selection on the Hang Power Cleans should be challenging but allow you to complete at least 8-10 reps when fresh.

You can go harder on the 500m row with the knowledge that they’ll earn a 1-minute rest before tackling the next round.

Friday

Scale DU’s as necessary, you will need to keep moving well to finish the WOD in the 10 minute cap.

Deadlift weight should be heavier today. Choose a weight that you can handle for 5-8 reps when fresh to start with.

Saturday

Partner day! Find a buddy who is well matched to your intent for today’s WOD.

Scale movements as necessary to allow you to keep working through reps

Active rest (keep moving and breathing) while your partner is working and cheer them on!

Full workout descriptions and notes are available to all members of Vernal Fitness & Nutrition. For more info, email us here.


Perfection

Perfection is the enemy of good. I’m sure we’ve all heard some version of this saying before, right? We often get consumed with the picture of the perfect thing we want to achieve: the perfect day, the perfect workout, the perfect nutrition, etc.

This idea of perfection can be crippling and stressful because we never have perfect control over everything. So we do nothing. And this causes stress and feelings of failure. Imperfection is realistic, allows for progress, and can leave you feeling proud that you’re doing the best you can on any given day.

Self-Talk

Self-talk can be amazing for your confidence and morale when things are going well….but when things are tough, self talk can make things even worse.

Journaling can be an immense help! You can broaden your journaling style by using the THINK method to analyze the way you are speaking to yourself. The THINK method is an acronym that you can use to analyze each negative thought or self talk by asking:

Are they True?
Are they Helpful?
Are they Inspiring?
Are they Necessary?
Are they Kind?

Analyzing thoughts in this way can help us better understand our self-talk. You can discard the thought or keep it but analyzing it first gives us the power to decide. 

Meditation

There’s no wrong way to take care of your mental well-being and stress. There’s no wrong way to meditate.

If the word meditation turns you off, seems gooey or hippie-ish, think of meditation as simply giving your mind time to recover the same way you give your body recovery.

Give yourself the gift of some quiet time to care for your mind. All you need to do is:

Set a timer for 2 minutes and go through these steps:
– At the start, deliberately declare to yourself this time is for your mental well-being.
– Notice the thoughts in your head, do some deep breathing, a body scan, or just listen to the sounds in the room.
– There’s no wrong thing to focus on, just notice what you’re paying attention to right this second.
– When you get distracted or lost in thought, just come back to the present.



Yoga/Meditation

If you would like to try a guided meditation, here is one from Mindful Peace.