Here are some pics of our on going box expansion. Mats laid, more bars and bumpers in, so extra space and gear to work in and with. But with such a beautiful thing as the sun out today, we decided to take the RAMP outside...RAMPs have been fully booked the last 3 weeks (last week was overbooked) so if you want to train at our facility and be part of the Team CrossFit Reading, then book your self onto the next available RAMP.

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We love our Bank Holidays. For some it's a a chance to rest up and chill out, but for us, this weekend it was a chance to hit a team workout before the Reading BeerFesitval.

Saturday started with our biggest RAMP induction to date....over booking meant we had to adapt and bring in two coaches to run the session. This was followed by a great Team WOD again, and of course, everyone helped move the 2 tonnes of new mats for the additional space.

The mats are the first part of our expansion and changes which we're really excited about...keep an eye for some exciting news coming ahead.

And just to finish this post, just a random quote as food for thought, I saw on a YouTube video of the Elite CrossFit Athlete that is 'Chris Spealler'

'This isn't a maths test....this is a different type of test where passion has a funny way of trumping logic...' awesome!

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Just one of the quotes from tonight's sessions. The general feeling was that this workout was pretty epic but it was also a great demonstration in how scaling can allow everyone to get involved and work in different training zones.

Some went heavy and fast, some took the longer route and some went purely Rx.

Everyone went away feeling like they had got work done!

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It’s been a busy old time since the last post with so many things happening around CFR that it’s only just now we’re getting a chance to catch our breath.

So, after the disappointment of not making the regionals, Team CFR were back at it with attempts to qualify through to the CrossFit Central Manchester Games 2012.

The programming for this was fun with nothing too insanely beastly, but enough to make them somewhat challenging and want more of the same.

WOD 1

Complete as many rounds/reps as possible in 6 minutes, of; 

- 10 Power snatch (Women-25kg / Men-35kg)

- 10 Burpees

- 10 Box jumps (Women-22″ / Men-24″)

WOD 2

Complete as many rounds/reps as possible in 12 minutes, of;

- 6 Power cleans (Women-35kg / Men-50kg)

- 4 Push press (Women-35kg / Men-50kg)

- 10 Toes to bar

WOD 3

Complete as many rounds/reps as possible in 10 minutes, of;

- 150 Double unders

- 100 Wall ball (Women-6kg ball & 8′ target / Men-8kg ball & 10′ target

Once all scores were submitted, It was great to see 3 of our guys qualify for the men’s Open, with Roger leading the way, with Sav and Bolts. The result that caught my eye Bolts' performance as he did enough on WOD 1 to finish in 54^th…So what?…So it was with 1 functional hand that’s what. Having injured it during the Outlaw workshop, Bolts single hand snatched and burppeed his way for enough reps to put him in the finals…awesome work!

In the women’s open, two of our girls, Becky and Kate, both also finished with enough points to earn a road trip ticket to Manchester. Well done girls.

Wait, and there’s more.  With the individual spots claimed, it meant that Team spots still had to be filled, and this was hotly contested at CFR, but at the end of the 3 WODs, a familiar few faces appeared, as Andy Riley, Seth Roose and Sian Pitman all earned the team spots. They were also the same faces that made up part of the team for the Divided We Fall Games back in October 2011. With the team format being 2 males 2 females, they will also  be joined by Jo, who will be hitting her first competition on the competition circuit. Well done Dudes and Dudettes.

Talking of dudes, Doods finished the the qualifiers in 1^st place in the masters with a score of 804 which would have put him in the top 10 in the mens Open. Top of the masters is becoming a familiar spot for Doods…as shortly after the qualifiers, he went on the capture the first Raise the Bar, European Masters Mens title. Talk about inspirational. Leading by example and walking the walk. Well done Coach Doods. Doods will also be joined by Jules in the Masters group, who returns by right as defending champion.

Well done also to Jules and Debs Rumble who also represented Team CFR in the ladies division at the Raise the Bar, European Masters and had a smashing time showing how the CFR massive do it.

Then there was the usual great stuff going on, such as Micky hitting his first muscle up and quoting, ‘That was better then a 200kg squat.’ Classic.

And then to top off all this excitement, the box gained some space….we’ve now added an extra 800SQFT taking our floor space…so more gear and fun stuff are on the way to make the Box an even better place for our members to get better at the stuff they love most…CrossFit

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Saturday mornings are busy at the CFR box . Sessions start early with some PT taking place (yes folks, we do PT for those that want that extra special bit of attention), RAMP and of course, Open gym. On top of these, we've just introduced a new Team WOD session where a workout is completed in teams...great for building some bonding, team spirit and great fun.

Today a paired work out say the gang complete quite a tag team thrashing that comprised of 400m partner carry (twice), some squat cleans ladders, some atomic push ups to name a few movements involved. Was it hard? Lets just say the Teams 'Earned Their Rest'.

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Well, it’s been a hectic month for CFR with so much going on, most of it revolved around trying to qualify for the CrossFit Regionals.

Unfortunately, despite some amazing performances, our team didn’t quite make it, finishing outside of the top 30, in 34^th position out of the 134 teams across Europe. The standard this year has obviously increased massively making it so competitive and little room for mistakes. Despite this Team CFR had an amazing time being part of it, and like all competitions, they are a great place to highlight the areas that you need to work. Well done everyone, and next year we’ll go again…

The closing of the Open of course means that the next stage begins…and with CrossFit and the Sport of Fitness growing fast in the UK, it means the next event is only just around the corner. Team CFR sights are already set on the Raising the Bar European CrossFit Masters Competition, The CrossFit Central Manchester Games Qualifier for starters…and it’s a great summer to be a CrossFit suporter too with the Regioanls and of course the Finals in the summer. WE LOVE SUMMER!

So, it’s back to work at the office, which this week saw ladies and lads displaying some fine racks and swinging skills which meant of course more portraits and potential profile pics ;o)

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Tonight was our last night with Team CFR member Tom Jones as he is moving stateside to work for a year in New York. Tom has demonstrated dedication and determination during his time at CFR and everyone will remember his epic performance at the CFR Throwdown!!!

Good luck Tom it's been a pleasure having you as part of the team.

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A key aspect of at CrossFit Reading is competition. Competition on many levels.

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 Pertinently, we have just completed the second workout of the Reebok CrossFit Games Open (http://games.crossfit.com/)

 It was during the 12.3 workout that I captured one of my favourite photos…shown with 3 of Team CrossFit girls. Kate do the snatch, Becky supporting and Jo supporting

 The picture captures so many things and can be described by so many words.

Key descriptors are for me: 

Desire

Commitment

Passion

Support

Team

The facts are, all of Team CFR are competing against each other, because should CFR qualify for the European Regionals, only 6 members will go.

But it has to remain a TEAM effort because everyone will work hard together to score the highest points we can to put CFR as high up the table as possible.

And this is what is so special about training at CFR, you’re always part of the team.

Then there is competition with yourself for yourself.

And for this I’ve put up photos of Tom and Ben. Both have been working hard to be better in what they do. Tom has lost 5kgs since the start of the Palo nutrition challenge just under 2 weeks ago. He has been training at the 6am sessions and has now started his new unlimited membership. This is because he’s proving to himself he can face the challenge to achieve what he wants.

Then there’s Ben, who knocked out 3 muscle ups this morning…through patience, practice and dedication, he achieved one of his goals (and that of many CrossFitters), to do the ring muscle up. 

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Hard work by all involved - great stuff!!!

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This time last week, Team CFR were about to embark on the second day of the weekend competition that was the SicFit London Throwdown. Team CFR represented in both the men’s individual through Bolts and in the team competition with Doods, Sav, Mike, Marie and Kate. 

This was a big competition, with top 60 guys and 60 girls and 40 teams from around Europe taking part having made it through the online qualifiers.

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Team CFR tee, 2XU/Skins compression gear, Razorstorm wod shorts, Inov8s, knee sleeves and wrist wraps...is what the average CFR member's gear is about...but you're not going to see this on the catwalks of London Fashion Week.

However, this week, one of our members, Lauren, is working in a highly coveted role at London Fashion Week, and she attributes her success to getting this position partly to being at CFR.

Here's the story. Lauren is a Make up artist and she won a job to work with some of the very top names at LFW. Think if you have to ask the price, you can't afford it type fashion names.

This is like...getting to the CrossFit Games final because you're just so damn good at what you do...i

So how did CFR help Lauren get the role? Well, Lauren has been with us for while now, and a couple weeks before her 'trial', she took part in a Crossfit Reading team throwdown competition that we organised with some fellow affiliates taking part (see blog post 26th Feb Post Wod-Pre-Comp Partaaaaay).

Lauren later revealed that taking part in the throwdown was one of the most nerve racking things she had ever done. However, having participated in the event and overcoming her fears, Lauren told us that she felt that she could do anything....That included going to a trial for the mentioned job at LFW with enough confidence to perform and beat others also hungry for the opportunity. She tore it up.  Well done Lauren!

For those of you who 'um and ah'..about CrossFit, you should take the step as you will find it is one that will only take you forward in life, and you'll have an awesome team with which to help you do it.

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Coaches/trainers and affiliates owners all know that people just want to do things as Rx (prescribed). This is a wod which when you look at on the surface is simple so everyone must be able to do it as Rx.

But we should all know by now, you don't need to do it as Rx to get the full benefit of the wod. In this instance, you should certainly not do it as Rx if you don't have basic foundation movments.

So, we scaled some members and subbed the ring push ups with...push ups on parlettes with feet raised, just push up on parlettes,   good old fusion chest and quad to floor push ups, push ups on knees.

The aim of scaling is not to male the wod easier. It's to make the wod doable with form that's to an acceptable and beneficial standard.

Well done everyone on this tough wod. Rest well earned.

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Since the last blog up date, some super things have happened, including Team CFR making a great show at the SicFit London Throwdown, which we’ll give you a write up about later, but prior to that weekend, there was some pretty stupendous lifting taking place.

1RM dead-lift night saw some fantastic efforts. Becky, who had not done a 1RM in quite a while pulled 120kg! Impressive? Hell yeah, around 2x bodyweight! Jo also pulled 100kg, great for someone who came from an endurance running back ground.

We also saw Andy R pull 175kgs, a 25kg PB….erm, could be the fish oils, shoes? Or just plain old regular training. Then there was Seth, who pulled a pretty useful 230kgs…more then 10 x his age!

1RM max sessions are fun…as long as you’ve put in the time and effort to make the gains. Superb work, well done everyone!

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Work hard, Train hard, Partaaaay hard, and Compete harder

Members of Team CFR are hard working citizens of our planet, and deserve all the good and happy things that come their way. Being part of Team CFR means they get to make awesome friends who are more then happy in sharing in what ever excuse there is for a celebration.

This past week, there were multiple birthday celebrations for several of our members, including Jules and Georgia and a couple of others to tag on. This meant another CrossFit Reading Social, which are starting to have a bit of a cult status for their Epicness of Fun.

To quote:

‘Just experienced her first night out with CrossFit Reading = EPIC! You animals! Bring on the next social :)’

But of course, there’s some training to be done, and they guys have been really busting their chops this week in preparation for an epic weekend of Partying and Competing…in that order.

 More details of the competition coming up, but it is essentially an opportunity to get some of our CrossFit friends from other boxes to come to CFR, hang out and give the chance for more of our members to get exposed to a team competition, because as we know, there’s nothing like a bit of competition to bring out the best in you. The emphasis here though it ‘Fun’.

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Deadlifts 5x3

15 Pull Ups
20 Swings
25 DUs 5 rounds

Also tonight we had a visit from Mr Nick Jones from CF Velocity who was in the area and dropped by to get involved - he's the guy on the left who hasn't broken a sweat...!

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Those were the words of one of our members this week...Iain, he's the one with 110kgs over his head (jerks for doubles).

My response was, 'No it's because I don't hate you. I put them in to make you better cause you're $hit at them.'

And in all honesty all this was in jest, becasue that's how we are fun caring and cuddly. Our guys know what weaknesses they need to work on and working on them they do. In addition to the double unders in the WOD, Ian also checks out each session with 50 double unders....and once these are fixed, it's another piece in the jigsaw of Iain being better, in some cases, most excellent, at nearly everything....and that's a good thing. And this goes to everyone. Feed you GOAT.

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Back Squat 6x5

100 DUs
75 Box Jumps
50 KB Swings
25 Burpees

Great work by all - some big lifts with Iain getting 140 for reps.

Nice work.

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Already, we’re two weeks into the 1^st month and how fantastic it’s already been. CrossFit Reading members are already back with a bang and a vibe of expectation of the great things they will be achieving in the year ahead.

Right now, Team CFR are preparing for a friendly competition at the end of the month with some Friends, Britannia CrossFit and AFS of Andover. This is meant to be a fun competition and an opportunity just to expose more of our members to that competitive environment and gennerally have a blast of a time. Then right after this, there is a matter of the London Throwdown in which Team CFR will be entering in what is looking to be a fantastic competition.

Then before you know it, the CrossFit Open will be upon us..and all this is just by end of February.

With events growing there are more qualifiers taking place, which are events in themselves, such as the UK CrossFit Games hosted by CrossFit Central Manchester. There’s the ever growing epic Divided We Fall Games at CrossFit Velocity, the CrossFit – British Weightlifting event at AFS. Among all that there are numerous Throwdown events with fellow affiliates and on line challenges taking place. Take your pick.

And of course we have the UK Strength and Power Series, qualifiers and Final for those who fancy a bit of StrongMan based challenges…what surprises are in store this year from this event?

This is all not even taking in the what are now becoming pretty special CFR socials…

There are so many things to look forward to in the CrossFit calendar that we’re almost becoming spoilt for choice. The key though is that there is something for everyone who is a member of Team CFR, be it competitive or just ‘non-competitive’…that term is used loosely, but its intention is all positive. To compete or not compete, the choice is yours. We only ask that members give 100% in what they do and we promise, they will have an AWESOME time and meet even more AWESOME people doing it.

Check out what some out members at a recent Saturday Open session. The vibe is relaxed, but the attitude is positive and doing what we love and getting fitter doing it.

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Haven't posted on here for a while, apologies for this but 2012 has been pretty hectic so far!

Just wanted to comment on how impressed and proud I was with everyone at tonight's session. As people looked at the WOD when they came in they were talking about time caps and not being able to finished - but everyone did. In what ever fashion they attempted it everyone still made it to the end. And this is all I would every ask of anyone who comes down to train with us.

Well done Team CFR

Promise that normal service will resume with pics and post.

Paulo x

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