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From the pages of “I’d never be able to handle your schedule!” comes another weekly update on the activities of Chris Kaag.  Doing more in one week than most do in a year!

Did you see this national article by Fox News - a huge shout out to all we’re doing here in Berks County!!  Click the photo below to be linked to the article:

Other items on Chris’s recent and upcoming agenda include:
Attending Berks Catholic’s Career Day this Friday
Indoctrination of IM ABLE / Corps Fitness principles with Alvernia students at Hogan Learning Academy
Exploring collaboration with Hempfield Rec for Got the Nerve as well as Inclusive Fitness
Working with Alecia Pagerly Eberly to establish a partnership with Riverfront Federal Credit Union, who is supporting the Corps Fitness Badge 27 Program
Intro class Saturday March 25th, including IM ABLE partners Berks Oral Surgery Crew
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I’m so proud of our IM ABLE Foundation team and honored they took on the challenge of the NYC Marathon to support IM ABLE’s mission of getting as many people MOVING as possible! Despite some challenges, everyone maintained the Can-Do attitude and completed the goal they set out to accomplish. So great to be in the middle of the energy of the day while tracking and supporting all of our athletes! Congratulations Zach, Brett, Devann, Karen, Sam and Cathy (not pictured)!!!
-Chris

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We have some schedule updates, and we are not waiting until Thursday to tell ya!
EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY: The Tuesday/Thursday 9:30AM CrossFit classes will now be in an Open Gym format. The workout for those days will be posted for anyone coming in at that time to perform.
EFFECTIVE NEXT WEEK: After it’s summer hiatus, Aimee’s Tuesday 10:30AM spin will be back on the schedule beginning 10/4. Spin classes are a great non-impact work and Aimee spins a kick@$$ playlist (and she might even sing for your too!). Come join her next Tuesday! **Krank-ers are welcome to join in too!!!
EFFECTIVE NEXT WEEK: On a TRIAL basis, we are going to launch a SPIN HYBRID class with Melissa beginning next Thursday, 10/6 at 8:45AM. This class is also a non/low impact class that will be part spin (hills, sprints, jumps and all that fun cycling stuff) and part strength (bodyweight, free weight, kettle bell exercises, etc.) circuit. We will be experimenting with this class as well as the time/day that it is offered to see if there is enough interest. Come and check it out!
See YOU at class!

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**REMINDER!!  Saturday 5/28: ONE CLASS ONLY - MURPH!**

This is a MEGA workout.  Don’t get rhabdo!  Please read up on rhabdo, the causes and symptoms, hydration, and know where that tipping point is for you!  The most important part of Saturday is making sure everyone pushes hard for Murph without any injuries!!  Scale as needed, listen to your body, do what you can, push your limits.


Memorial Day 5/30: Cadence Run at 8 AM, meeting at Wyomissing Pool.  Followed by ONE class at 9 AM at Corps Fitness.

TEACHER + NURSE APPRECIATION
We’re rolling out a new pricing schedule for our teacher and nurses!  Check out the top of CF’s fees page for more information!

SUMMER KIDS CLASSES
See previous post for summer kids class information!

HERO WEEK
Submit your honorees TODAY!  Summer 2016 HW will be June 19 - 25th.

GENERAL UPDATES
- The Kaag Challenge is extended indefinitely, so be sure to get in touch with Chris or Melissa for a time slot!  CFers have been gettin’ it done week after week - congrats!!
- A reminder to check out the CF Loyalty Program and Incentives we announced April 1st. You can also earn points via membership and merchandise purchases!  Check out the link for full details, and start earning today!  For newbies looking to take advantage of the incentives, remember you must attend an intro class first.  After that, you’re be eligible for 2 weeks of free membership and then an additional month at $70.

SCHEDULE UPDATES:
- Memorial Day 5/30: Cadence Run at 8 AM, meeting at Wyomissing Pool.  Followed by ONE class at 9 AM at Corps Fitness.
- REMINDER: Typical Saturday class times are now 8 AM (Corps Fitness) and 9:15 AM (CrossFit).  Two different class types on a Saturday!

SPIN / KRANK
– Tuesdays 10:30 AM with Aimee
Thursdays 6:30 PM with Mike - CANCELLED UNTIL FURTHER NOTICE
Wednesday, Thursday and Saturday SPIN classes are on hiatus for summer.

FREE INTRO CLASSES
Next Intro to Corps Fitness class will be Saturday 5/28 at 9:30 AM with Chris.  Come on by and then enroll in our incentive program!

WEEKEND INSTRUCTORS
Friday 5:30 PM – John
Sunday 8:30 AM – Gretchen

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MURPH
A HUGE thank you to Rob and Kim R for sponsoring the Murph Challenge again this year!  Check out Tuesday’s blog post for details on how to sign up (if you want to) and when / how we’re running it at CF.  You don’t have to sign up on the Murph website to participate in the workout.  This is a mega workout, so please make sure you are physically (and mentally) prepared.  Scale if you need to.  Listen to your body.  Don’t get rhabdo!

GENERAL UPDATES
- Sunday May 8th is Mother’s Day!  All moms workout out for FREE!
- Have you done the Kaag Challenge yet?  You’re in for a real treat 😉  We’re extending it indefinitely, so be sure to get in touch with Chris or Melissa for a time slot!  If you have already completed the Kaag Challenge, remember to stop by the front desk for an IM ABLE t-shirt!
- A reminder to check out the CF Loyalty Program and Incentives we announced April 1st. You can also earn points via membership and merchandise purchases!  Check out the link for full details, and start earning today!
- For newbies looking to take advantage of the incentives, remember you must attend an intro class first.  After that, you’re be eligible for 2 weeks of free membership and then an additional month at $70.

SCHEDULE UPDATES:
- REMINDER: Saturday class times are now 8 AM (Corps Fitness) and 9:15 AM (CrossFit).
For now folks are looking to get outside (and who can blame you!)
- There is no longer spin / krank class on Saturdays.
- Starting next week (5/4), Lisa’s Wednesday spin / krank is on hiatus for the summer.

SPIN / KRANK
A great way to get in some zero-impact base mileage, especially on rainy spring days!
Regular spin / krank schedule:
– Tuesdays 10:30 AM with Aimee
Wednesdays 6:30 PM with Lisa - on hiatus for summer.  Return TBD (see above)
– Thursdays 6:30 PM with Mike

FREE INTRO CLASSES
Next Intro to Corps Fitness class will be Saturday 5/14 at 9:45 AM with Chris.  Come on by and the take advantage and participate in our incentive program!

WEEKEND INSTRUCTORS
Friday 5:30 PM – John
Sunday 8:30 AM – Gretchen
Sunday 9:30 AM – Owen (open time and CrossFit skills) Skills is no longer on the schedule.

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He leads by example….the example of No Excuses.  For the remainder of April, try your hand at Chris Kaag’s Challenge.  Before or after 9:30AM, 5:30PM and weekend classes, you have the challenge to do Kaag’s workout….and in “his shoes”.  To see what the workout entails, check out this video link.

And, we have an incentive:  Beginning this Monday, April 11th from 6:00AM to 1:00PM, anyone who emails their sign up request time for the challenge to [email protected] will be entered into a drawing for discounts on either the Got the Nerve Triathlon or the RU ABLE Duathlon, and a discount voucher for the 2017 IM ABLE Bash.  Plus, ALL participants will receive a FREE IM ABLE tee shirt!

And when considering this challenge, remember:  You CAN, you are ABLE, and most of all, NO EXCUSES!

1st….As already mentioned, we have our pull-up negative and positive challenge going on all month of November. Each day of the month add an additional second to both your negative and positive pull-up. If you are IN, put your name on the white board and check off each day as you complete. And if you haven’t started yet, no worries…it’s early in the game and you can jump on in today, by doing a 1 second +/-, a 2 second, 3 second and 4.

2nd….Have you been on the ski erg yet? That bad boy is tough, tough, tough. And we need YOU to sprint it out. Here’s the gig: Concept 2 is hosting their 7th Annual SkiErg World Sprints from Nov. 6th-8th. You can enter your 1000 meter sprint time as an individual and see where you stand in your age group. Top winners receive a custom engraved cowbell (and who doesn’t want one of those!? 🙂 ). BUT, better yet…..enter a group of 20+ results from a club or team, and we can get entered into a raffle for a new SkiErg for Corps Fitness. Cool, right? So let’s get on this team effort! Sign up at the desk to let us know you want to be a part of the team. Then, sometime during the time period of Nov. 6th through Nov. 8th, complete 1000m on the ski erg as fast as you can, and record your time on the sign up sheet. Nov. 8th is the absolute last day to get your time in as results need to be in to Concept 2 by the next day….. CFers are always up for a good challenge, so let’s get 20 or more and get this done!

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With the development that CF classes are going back to the original “all abilities” format, let’s take a few minutes to think about what exactly that means…

1. Scale as needed.  This is NOT an “out” for you to cut corners / reps / distance / weight / format (see #5).  But the full lap to a half lap or an in-front-of-building-5 lap.  You can scale if the full amount is definitely out of your reach and you’ll be holding everyone up for 5 minutes to finish your 400 (for now…).  We even encourage scaling!  But every so often, give it a try - you’ll never do better if you don’t push yourself (again, see #5).

2. Help each other out!!  Make sure everyone is doing what they should be doing - but make sure you’re right first.  Doesn’t matter if you know the person or not (but they’re a fellow CFer, so rectify that s*%t if you don’t know their name).  Doesn’t matter whether you’ve been a CFer for two weeks or ten years, there’s ALWAYS room for mistakes / improvement.  If you see someone messing up the format, the form, or the exercise, CORRECT THEM… in a nice way, but make sure everyone’s got their s*%t together.  Because if they don’t we’re ALL paying for it!

3. Get out of your rut / comfort zone.  Pair up with someone new, introduce yourself to a newbie, try a different variation of the exercise you’ve been given, RUN a freakin lap rather than jog (warm-up excluded unless you’re dead set on “winning the warm-up” - you know who you are ;0)).  The circuit isn’t over until you’re in the door.  Get some!

4. Listen to the instructor.  They’re there for you, and to make sure you get the most of the hour you have.  Do everything as instructed, and if there’s a medical reason why you shouldn’t do an exercise, let them know.  If there’s no reason for you not to do something as prescribed, then there’s no reason you shouldn’t do it.  Right? Right.

5. And above all else, Push Yourself!  This should go without saying, but here is where you SHOULD worry about what your neighbor is doing.  They’re moving, you’re moving.  Keep it that way.