The Move is Here!

Dear 215ers,

The move is finally upon us. We are seven days from our new facility. As many of you know, this process has taken a little longer than we expected. Next door to us a new Bikram yoga facility (Nilgun Yoga) has opened up and we want to support her. In order to do this we will be holding PM classes outside in Sherman Mills for this last week. This will not effect 6am and noon but programming will be the same for all classes. This will not take away from your training but rather give us an excuse to do some much needed aerobic work as we have been heavy in our strength training for some time now. On your rest days, I encourage you to stop by next door and try one of her classes. By next week we will banging, crashing, and rocking out in our new facility. I can’t wait for everyone to see it.

On that note, I am writing you to ask for your help. This Saturday and Sunday there will be no classes as we set up the new facility. If you have some free time and you’re looking for a real “functional workout,” come help us lift anything and everything, and move it down the street. Yes there will be trucks and no we are not doing 800m carries, but that doesn’t mean you can’t do it if you want to J Lunch and refreshments will be provided each day.

I hope see many of you there. Thank your for your patience and help during this time.

Sincerely,
Micah

Wyebrook Farm

We are offering a great new opportunity for CrossFit215 members to enjoy Wyebrook Farm‘s sustainably-raised beef, pork, poultry and produce.

Every Tuesday, you will have the opportunity to receive sustainably-raised beef, pork, poultry and produce delivered fresh from Wyebrook Farm. Located in Honey Brook, PA, Wyebrook Farm provides an alternative to the industrial food supply. Farmer Dean Carlson and his staff produce healthy animals and great food without the use of artificial fertilizers, pesticides, herbicides, hormones or antibiotics.

Details

It’s simple to order and there is no minimum. Just click here to view Wyebrook’s product and price list. Send all orders to [email protected] and cc [email protected] Please indicate “CrossFit215 Pick Up” in the subject line. Upon confirmation of your order, you will be given directions for online payment. Farmer Dean will be dropping off all orders on Tuesdays and you must pick up your order between 5:30PM and 8:30PM at the gym.

PLEASE PLACE ALL ORDERS BY FRIDAY AT 5:00 P.M. If you have any questions please email [email protected]

We're Moving!

We announced in August that our gym will not only be moving locations, but expanding our space. Well, the time has come, and it is a bit sooner then expected. The new studio Nilgun Yoga have begun classes next door. Unfortunately, the combination of our music plus weights dropping does not mix well with meditation. In our efforts to be responsible neighbors, we are going to try to accommodate as best we can. So, what does that mean for you? In the next few weeks we will be implementing more endurance and gymnastics into our programming. This will also give us the opportunity to work on more technical movements and progressions (i.e. handstand push ups, pistols, muscle ups, double unders, etc.), as well as experiment with different energy system work. We will still be able to do some creative strength training, but we are trying to eliminate anything where the risk of dropping weights is an issue. We ask that you please bear with us during this transition.

Many of you have asked where the new gym location is. The address is 4002 Ridge Avenue, next door to the beverage distributor and across the street from Dobson Mills Apartments. The location is close enough that anyone can walk from Sherman Mills parking lot, or there is street parking available. We do not have a hard moving date yet, but we will update you as the construction process progresses. More details and some pictures of the build out will be coming soon. We are looking forward to unveiling the new space to the 215 community and we promise it will be all be worth it!

If you have any additional questions or concerns please email [email protected]

Thank You and Announcements!

First and foremost, thank you to all of the participants, volunteers, and donators whose efforts helped make the Happy Hour WOD for Breast Cancer Awareness a huge success!

Group warm up

We had over 75 people show up for the event, with 50 individuals participating in the workout. Special thanks to Dan Rau and Mather Wiswall/G Wis Concepts for creating the awesome t-shirts and tank tops. Due to popular demand, we will be placing another order of t-shirts. If you would like to order, please write your name on the sign-up sheet that will be posted in the gym tonight.

Gluten Free Chocolate Chip Cookie Cake from Sweet Freedom

We would also like to thank Sweet Freedom Bakery for generously donating delicious gluten free chocolate chip cupcakes. If you have not checked out this place it is a must try!

Announcements

A small silver necklace with a little ring pendant was lost on Friday night. If anyone finds it please give it to a coach so it can be returned to its owner.

Our next event is quickly approaching. The 215 vs Schuylkill Dragons boat race is happening this Sunday at 2pm. We need more paddlers for Team 215! The sign-up sheet is located on the announcement board at the gym. For those who would like to carpool we will be leaving from the gym at 1:30PM and should be back by 5PM. This is a unique opportunity to apply your fitness to a unique sport like dragon boat racing.

We had 16 visitors participate in the Happy Hour WOD on Friday night! If you know someone interested in CrossFit have them email [email protected] to learn more!

Ryan and Rachel

Happy Birthday Micah!

“A coach is someone who tells you what you don’t want to hear, who has you see what you don’t want to see, so you can be who you have always known you could be.” – Tom Landry

Coach.  Friend.  Mentor.  Leader.   You are all of these things and more to your family at CrossFit 215. Your dedication is palpable, your support is unwavering, and you strive to make sure every person who walks through the door of CrossFit 215 leaves with a feeling of accomplishment and pride. Thank you for everything you do!

Big Changes for CF215

New Location Coming Soon

For those of you who have not heard, CrossFit215 will be moving our location soon! In the next month or two, we will be relocating to a larger space down the street on Ridge Avenue, about a five minute walk from where we are now. Recently our current space has undergone some unexpected changes, including the loss of the back room. We apologize for the inconvenience and we ask that you please bear with us as we prepare for the big move.  While we are still in transition, we are asking all gym members to help us to keep our space as clean and organized as possible. This includes, putting all equipment away after class, keeping all bags in the cubby areas, and disposing of empty water bottles. We will continue to keep you updated on the progress of our new location and cannot wait to provide our community with a bigger and much improved gym space!

Bear Bear Pro Media Project

Tied into the move will be a re-skinning of CrossFit 215’s media content on our website. Recently, CrossFit215 and Bear Bear Pro have partnered up to launch a new video media campaign. Do not be surprised if you see some filming occurring during classes throughout the week as select members will be shooting footage for our new promo videos. The tentative schedule for this week is as follows

Monday 8/13 – Prep/test film. Nothing this day will be used but we will be testing out different lighting and shots.

Tuesday 8/14 – Coaches will be filmed training and coaching in a class setting.

Wednesday 8/15 – CF215 Promise film shooting. Athletes and coaches will be involved in this.

Thursday 8/16 – Featured Athlete of the Month

The coaches and staff at CF215 appreciate your patience during this busy time. If you have any questions or concerns please do not hesitate to reach out to Micah, or any other coach via email or in person. We are extremely excited about what these new changes will bring to our community and are looking forward to sharing them with all of you!

215 vs Schuylkill Dragon Boat Race

The Schuylkill Dragons have challenged our gym to a competitive friendly dragon boat race on the river! As some of you may or may not know, CrossFit 215 partnered with the Schuylkill Dragons during the winter of this past year, integrating a strength and conditioning program into their off-season training. The Dragons have invited us to join them on the water and show us what they do best – race! Here are the details of the 215 vs SD Challenge:

Date: Sunday, September 23rd
Time: 2PM (subject to change)
Where: Camden County Boat House (only a few miles across the Ben Franklin Bridge)
Address: 7050 N. Park Drive, Pennsauken, NJ
# of 215’ers needed: 18 paddlers and one drummer (drummer should be on the smallish side)

The event is expected to take at least two hours. The Schuylkill Dragons will give everyone some instruction on land and then water. The session will end with a head to head race between CrossFit 215 and the Schuylkill Dragons!

If you are interested in participating and can make this date, please comment on this post! For any additional questions please email [email protected]

Weekend Competitions and 31 Heroes

Saturday Competitions

We have many athletes competing in a few different local competitions this weekend. Adler will be throwing down at the Festivus Games hosted by CrossFit South Philly. The first heat kicks off at 9AM for anyone who would like to show some support!

In the evening on Saturday we have a handful of athletes competing in CrossFit Love’s Summer Classic event at the Piazza in Northern Liberties. Admission to this event is free, so if you are not competing we are encouraging you to come down and cheer on all of the 215ers. There will be an after party with a DJ, vendor tents, mini competitions for non-competing athletes and other exciting events. You won’t want to miss it!

ATTENTION ALL MEMBERS! We need some helping hands to assist in moving our pull up rig down to Northern Liberties for the Summer Classic event. If you can donate some of you time please contact Micah and let him know. Plan to meet at the gym by 3PM on Saturday. This is the perfect opportunity to apply your fitness for the greater good!

31 Heroes

We will continue to support the 31 Heroes Project this year by running the partner wod on Saturday morning during both 9AM and 10AM classes. Open gym will still be an option at 10AM. The mission of the 31 Heroes from the website is as follows

“The 31Heroes Project exists to honor our fallen heroes killed in action August 6, 2011 through fitness and raise funds for programs that provide support to families of all fallen military heroes—past, present, and future.

All funds raised in 2012 will be split three ways going to the following organizations: Snowball Express, the Travis Manion Foundation‘s Challenge Grants program, and the memorial funds of each of the men killed in action August 6, 2011. Please check out the websites of these great organizations for more information about what amazing things they are doing in the lives of surviving military families!”

This is a partner workout that will be sure to test your strength and mental fortitude for all 31 minutes of work. We will be programming a scaled version of this workout for members who we deem not quite ready to complete this workout as prescribed. This is for safety reasons only. If you do not have a partner you can still participate on Saturday and we will have a single athlete version of the workout ready for you. Come out and support a great cause! For more information and to donate to the 31 Heroes project please visit their website.

We BETTER see you at some point, somewhere on Saturday!!

Summer Slam Success!

Congratulations to every athlete who competed in CrossFit Generation’s Summer Slam team competition on Saturday. Our three teams made up of three guys and three girls went head to head against local affiliates CrossFit Generation, CrossFit King of Prussia and CrossFit Center City.

For many of our members, this was their first competition outside of our home box. Special props to Morgan R. and Micah for stepping in during workout one under short notice. Morgan competed in the first workout twice in back to back heats when we were short a girl. Still a bit under the weather, Micah stepped up and filled in on another team when we were short a guy. Our team comprised of Mike A, Tim, Steve, Sarah C, Sarah D and Emily showed a ton of resilience throughout the day, with an especially strong finish during a long chipper in the pouring rain. Intern Mike got his first taste of CrossFit competition joining Jess, Meg, Morgan R, Matt G, and Jake to make up our second team who missed qualifying for the final workout by only a few spots. Our top team of Amy, Rachel, Perrin, Marc, Sean K and Kevin competed hard throughout the day with a first place finish in workout three and never placed lower then fourth in any workout. Both Marc and Kevin showed their strength by finishing the full clean & jerk ladder during workout two, while many of our other athletes set new PR’s on their clean & jerks during the same workout. At the end of the day our best team finished tied for second place out of 15 teams!

We are so proud of everyone who competed! Thank you to the host gym CrossFit Generation for putting on a great event, and to all of the supporters who came to cheer us on. We hope everyone will join us next time!