Walnut Crossfit

Marisela on the Med Ball Run

Name: Marisela Santoyo Matthews

Age: 32

Profession: Business Manager

How long have you been a member at WCF?  8 Months

How has CrossFit changed your life, lifestyle, level of fitness?

Before doing CrossFit I tried keeping myself fit by going to the gym and running on a regular basis.  I always aimed on making the gym exciting, but many times I felt bored and dragged myself after work to the same daily routine.   As a result, I would take breaks from the gym during the year to build excitement and renew my goals again.  Now, as soon as I get off from work, I automatically know I am going to do CrossFit, even after a stressful and hard working day.  Every day is exciting and my level of fitness has surpassed the highest level I ever reached when working out at the gym.  As a former competitive athlete, CrossFit allows me not only exercise, but to challenge myself physically and mentally.

What is your athletic background? Volleyball, Basketball, Track & Field

Favorite WOD: When running is involved, sweating after running feels good.

Favorite Lift: Shoulder & Push Press

Least Favorite WOD:  Anything with a Hang or Power Clean

Least Favorite Lift: It used to be the Dead lift; I always took it easy because I thought I would hurt my back, but with the proper technique, I lost the fear and amazingly I started doing prescribed soon after.

What are your proudest CrossFit achievements? Losing weight in the Body Transformation Challenge and recently doing unassisted pull ups.  Before this challenge, my CrossFit improvements were minimal and unnoticed.   Now I get the most out of my exercise by eating healthy.

Name one goal and/or personal record you would like to accomplish through CrossFit?  Doing all the WODS prescribed.

Any advice for someone thinking about trying CrossFit or someone who has just started?  Don’t think about it and do it…it’s one of the best decisions you will make in your life.

Favorite place to eat?  Quiznos

Favorite cheat meal? Sandwiches

Robert on the Med Ball run

It’s that time! Time for our individuals who are participating in the Body Transformation Challenge to weigh in. Its the half way point of the challenge and its time to see how everyone is doing. Please grab coach Rob or Rosie, and one of us will quickly check your weight and body fat percentage. You have all week to weigh in. There are no set times for this. Can’t wait to see the numbers!

“Always there will be, along the sidelines of life, inferior souls who throw mud at those whose attainments who do not quite understand. The man/woman who really accomplishes doesn’t pay attention to such detractors. If he did, he’d be on their level. He keeps an eye singled on the higher goal-and the mud never touches him.”
-Jerome P. Fleishman

“Hold yourself responsible to a higher standard than anybody else expects of you. Never excuse yourself. Never pity yourself. Be a hard master to yourself-and be lenient to everybody else.”
-Henry Ward Beecher

There's the Athlete of the Month again......just killed another WOD. Way to go Brian.

I’ve been keeping a workout journal for years… literally. I can go back to a little blue spiral notebook that I was using to record workouts when I first started CrossFit, 4 years ago. For me, the most important part of keeping a journal is the actual act of writing. It helps me remember what I’ve done and what I’m doing so that I’m more conscious and aware when I step foot into the gym. It also serves to help me keep track of my personal records, achievements, and simply the weights I used for various workouts.

I thought I’d share with you my thoughts on the top 5 methods of keeping a journal so that you can choose what works best for you (these are in no particular order).
1. A little 3″x5″ spiral notebook. Simple. Straightforward. The drawbacks: can’t cut and paste things into it. There’s no search function to help you find things.
2. Evernote. This probably the most robust, free, note-taking application for smartphone, mac and pc. It allows you to keep track of everything, keep multiple notebooks if you want, insert pictures into notes, and search for just about anything.
3. Walnut CrossFit’s Success Journal. This is a journal specifically for CrossFit and nutriton journaling. With sections about the CrossFit Girls, Heroes, benchmark WODs, and nutrition; this is MUCH more than just a log book.
4. Simplenote. If you’re looking for something simpler than Evernote that is good for anything you can think of that you want to write about, Simplenote is the app for you. It syncs with your smart phone and apps like Notational Velocity and is also accessible through it’s web site. Great for simplicity.
5. I recently came across an app that is ONLY for Mac users on your computer, but also available for any smart phone. It’s called Day One. It is for one thing only – journaling. You could be journaling about anything, including workouts and nutrition, and it does it, beautifully. All the advantages of Simplenote, but with the beauty of a design that makes you feel like you’re actually writing in your journal.

The most important thing about journaling is choosing a format that you’ll actually use – consistently. Try ‘em out.

Naiara on the Overhead Squat

” I cannot give you the formula for success, but I can give you the formula for failure-try to please everybody.”
-Herbert Bayard Swope

What can happen in one year?

I found myself in a rut. Having given birth to my second child 8 weeks prior; balancing being a great mom, wife, and a full time teacher; and battling a recently diagnosed disease, Meniere’s. It was time to work on myself from the inside out. And so my journey began, one year ago here at Walnut CrossFit. Believe it or not (for those of you who know me) I did not speak for the first month at the box because I was so scared and intimidated by the task at hand. I simply gasped for air and quivered to myself at the sight of more unfamiliar moves and challenges. I have never been part of a sports team or even attempted to try any sport. I began crossfit using a PVC pipe or training bar and coming in last during every workout.

So why didn’t I use one of the many excuses I had (and believe me I had legitimate ones) and stop coming? It is simple. I belong to the WCF family. A family that acknowledges and cheers to even the slightest of improvements, whether it is climbing a rope all the way to the top, jumping onto the higher box, discovering the strength to lift something heavier than ever before, and placing something heavy over your head even after failing the first time. Coach Rob has created an environment where we are able to feel proud of our accomplishments and fail-in style. It is amazing the strength it gives me to have the sweaty, out-of-breath person next to me cheering me on. It is the same encouragement from the Coaches and teammates that, in time, I was able to shed the black band, green band, blue band, purple band, no band and then BAM!…… I could do pull ups on my own!

The most important thing I remind myself when I show up to my 5 o’clock class is I might not be able to do something today, but I will get it eventually. I just need to show up.

 Today, I ask myself, “What can happen in a year?” My response…

I climbed a rope all the way to the top.

I wrote a red RX next to my name, not once, not twice but several times.

I completed “girl” workouts as prescribed.

I ran miles. Without dying.

I pulled myself up unassisted.

“I bought a bikini and wore it, after two kids.”

I exceeded my expectations and now strive for more.