This coming weekend, Zach will be running the Blues Cruise 50k - quite an accomplishment!! He has been training hard on the Blue Marsh trails and is looking forward to getting more CF time after the race. As if that isn’t enough, Zach is raising money for the IM ABLE Foundation through his first giving site as well and is almost 1/2 way to his $1000 goal. If you’d like to donate, please visit Zach’s site!
Good luck, Zach!!
Did you ever stop to think about your joints and how they work? Some are stable and others mobile and some can be either but it’s preferable to control it. All work together in perfect harmony to get you where you need to be!
“To protect your knee, then, you must maintain good mobility in the other areas, especially those immediately above (hip) and below (ankle). If you lose mobility in the hip or ankle, your knee must compensate for the missing movement. Your knee becomes mobile to make up for the missing mobility above and below, and since the knee isn’t supposed to be mobile, you get pain, and injury, and downtime, and co-pays, and surgery bills. All those hip mobility drills, and the ankle mobility exercises – that’s what you want. Those are the keys to healthy knees.”
-Marks Daily Apple
And here for joint mobility drills: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/joint-mobility-drills/#axzz3ii5Se700
Sorry, no link to one of those online quizzes that are so hot these days. Just an old-fashioned newspaper article about fitness… We have quite a few “seasoned” athletes in our ranks at CF, serving as real, physical proof!
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.
It’s ok, you can pretend you weren’t just singing along and channeling your inner Olivia Newton John (but nobody will believe you)!
Let’s discuss functional fitness for a moment… I’m going to take a shot in the dark and guess that part of the reason you work out is so you feel better and are better able to perform your normal daily activities. Carrying heavy stuff over a long distance quickly (or at least without dropping it), keeping up with you kids, running with your dog, playing a different sport without getting injured. Even if you do face an unfortunate injury, you’ll recover faster due to your strength and fitness level.
Well you’re in the right place because that is EXACTLY what CF is all about! Our goal is to increase your strength, balance, endurance, adaptability, speed, and more while keeping you injury-free and just sore enough :).
Maybe you’re more into the strength side, and maybe you’re more into the endurance side (thank you, warmer weather!), and either is ok. In fact, they complement each other perfectly. You will become a better, more well-rounded athlete by working on the stuff that you’re NOT good at (hmm, imagine that). And even though you may despise it at the time, you’ll be thankful when you’re able to avoid that collision on the field, or you get a PR on a lift, or to have the confidence that you can and will finish a big race without specifically training for it. Because you’re a CFer, you have the mental and physical training and toughness, and you KNOW you will do it!
First and foremost:
CF is hosting the first Stay and Play TODAY at 930 am. $5 to drop your toddler or preschooler off while you take class!
TONIGHT AT 6:30: Corps Fitness is joining forces with Garage Strength and will hold an intro session. Garage Strength specializes in strength training and Olympic lifting and their team of knowledgeable trainers will be on hand on 9/4 for demos and to field questions from interested participants. This info session is open to anyone; it’s not necessary to be a current CFer to attend.
**Saturday’s Throwback Class will start at 8 AM at Gring’s Mill. (not 8:30 as previously indicated). The start time is moving forward so we can be out of the way for a 5k scheduled at Gring’s Mill that day. Directions from Corps Fitness to Gring’s Mill are at this link. A word to the wise: you may want to pack a water bottle, change of shoes (or clothes) and a towel… just sayin’
Since we’re not at CF and can’t have everyone check in using their punch cards, etc, the following price structure will be used (please make every attempt to have exact change!):
- Unlimited members - no additional charge
- Punch card holders - $5 fee per person
- Drop-ins and newbies - $10 per person (newbies arrive EARLY to complete a waiver)
Friday 930 am Basic class is starting back up again on a trial basis. If we get the numbers it will remain on the schedule!
The deadline to sign up for the next Call to Action Challenge is September 15th. Do you know a police officer or first responder who wants to get into better shape so he / she can better serve those around us (and maybe, but hopefully not, you)? Send them our way! The Call to Action Challenge is a three-month training course for local first responders, led by Chris Kaag and dedicated to the memory of Kyle Pagerly. Kyle was a Deputy Sheriff in Berks County and dedicated CFer who tragically lost his life in the line of duty on June 29, 2011. He truly believed that if you wear the badge, you need to look the part, and his widow Alecia started the C2A Challenge in his name to keep his competitive spirit alive.
Other Upcoming Events:
September 14th: Corps Fitness will be CLOSED due to the RU ABLE Duathlon and 5k. Come on over to the Wyomissing High School to take part in the action!!
Weekend instructors:
- FNL - Van
- Sunday 8 and 1 - John
Phew… I think that’s it… Post any questions to the comments.
…pretty much anything! Carrying kids or groceries or hoisting heavy stuff into your car. Bending, lifting at odd angles, climbing the stairs, having the strength to recover from an accident or injury. No, we don’t focus 100% of every workout on running or strength or agility, but all of these are 100% percent included in what we do every day. And we pretty much never swim (though some days it may feel *or look* like we do), but CFers are pretty good at that, too!! You know you can do it, you have the mental toughness to get it done, no doubt you will do it! Keep up the good work, CFers!!
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