Author: Coach Brittany

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News Preview

The Week In Review and Coming Up 11/13/22

Last week, we started our new strength cycle! I think we almost capped out some classes on bench day. Are we surprised? No. No we are not. 

We want to give a special shout out to Holly Downs! On back squat day, we saw a new energy light up as she found a new love for the barbell. She exceeded her own expectations with a picture perfect set at 95#. Couldn’t be more proud, girl!

We rounded out our training with Chad on Saturday. The gym had 25 people in there stepping up for that full hour. Boxes were shared, laughs were had, reps were forgotten. Thank you to everyone that came and supported not only The Step Up Foundation (raising $700!), but me (Brittany) personally. I know a few of you came because of my post and my heart couldn’t be happier.

Now, enough sappy stuff. Here’s what we have coming up:

Monday BENCH PRESS
Tuesday Long Chipper
Wednesday Back Squat and THE CHIEF
Thursday More Step Ups!!!!!!
Friday RDLs
Saturday Partner Day

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News

What Chad Means..

Uncomfortable laughter. That is probably the first thing people do when I bring up the workout “Chad”.

For those that don’t know, Chad is 1,000 box step ups to 20″ box wearing a 35# or 45# rucksack. The workout is in honor of Navy SEAL Chad Wilkinson who took his life on October 29, 2018 due to the effects of numerous deployments, several TBIs, blast wave injuries and PTSD.

So. One Thousand Step Ups. For a guy you didn’t know.

Why?

This is where I turn the objective conversation subjective and make it more personal..

My dad wasn’t a Veteran. He wasn’t in the military. He worked on the slope his whole life until he retired.
However, my dad did commit suicide. 481 days ago, I got a phone call saying my dad had passed away. The next day, I found out he took his own life.

My dad and I did not have a perfect relationship. It was far from perfect in fact. But I loved my dad. Through his addiction and imperfections- he was my dad.

So. Tomorrow, when I don’t want to step onto that box one more time, I will do it for him. I do it for anyone that has struggled with mental health issues. Anyone that has had suicidal thoughts. All the Veterans that have seen more than our own hearts could handle.

“Because he died by suicide I see stepups to be a poetic representation of mental health,” Wilkinson continued. “They are not technical but at some point in the 1,000 you are going to really hurt, question and maybe doubt yourself while alone in your thoughts. It’s a reminder to keep going, keep pushing and as Chad used to say ‘uncomfortable can’t last forever.'”

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Field Notes Preview Review

November Field Notes

PHEW! That last strength cycle was a doozy. Am I right??

HOWEVER! We saw a crazy amount of PRs! Time for some shoutouts:

Snatch
Karen Scoggins 75#
Sammie Johnson 120#
Lisa Jackson 80#
Rosemarie Waters 90#
Susan Haman 55#
Brennen Jackson 210#
Josh Hawley 205#
Patrick Metzger 155#

Front Squat
Elijah Kroll 315#
Allison Hardwick 145#
Amanda Wonnacott 130#
Karen Scoggins 170#
Makila Herd 160#
Sammie Johnson 220#
Michael Hull 275#
Courtney Abel 115#
Debra Silva 75#
Lisa Jackson 130#
Rosemarie Water 165#
Josh Hawley 325#
Jacquelyn Wetzel 190#
Jennifer Youngberg 80#
Kara Hawley 195#
Katy Meek 155#
Brennen Jackson 340#
Jared Swanson 225#
Kevin Bross 275#
Lee Millard 315#
Savannah Lyons 155#

Clean & Jerk
Amanda Wonnacott 95#
Debra Silva 75#
Holly Downs 55#
Jacquelyn Wetzel 155#
Jennifer Youngberg 55#
Kara Hawley 155#
Lisa Jackson 105#
Susan Haman 80#
Patrick Metzger 225#
Rikki Burns 85#
Savannah Lyons 140#

Now- On to the plan for November

It’s time for a little GPP love. Which means, you will see lifting, but not in quite the linear fashion you are used to. We will squat, press and pull once per week which will range from tempo to wave loading. This will get us primed and ready for our heavy singles at the end of December.
Oh. Did I mention exactly what the lifts are?
That’s right friends…….. Back Squat, Deadlift… and…. BENCH PRESS!

Twice a week this month we will see SPRINT style workouts. Coming off long GRIND workouts this month, we should have a solid conditioning base and now we challenge that with fast bursts of energy. This will help train the body to recover more efficiently!

Other promises for November: DT, Ripcord and 1-2 bodybuilding finishers per week to get a niiiiiiice pump leading into the end of the year.

Hang on tight, turkeys! This winter is starting off with a gobbling good time at Kainos!

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Preview Review

The Week in Review AND Coming Up 10/9/22

I missed a week!!! What can I say? I am human after all.

Currently, a good handful of our little community is coming off that incredible competition last weekend. For a recap on everything we did, check back later this week!

This week, we saw some split jerks, deep power snatches and cleans, and that long recovery EMOM on Thursday. I am seeing huge improvements in your olympic lifting with all this breaking down of the movement.

If we’ve said it once, we’ve said it a million times- PATIENCE is key. Not only in the lift, but with yourselves. The clean and snatch are the two hardest movements to pick up because they are complex and require the use of both mind and muscle. This is NOT something that you master in 1, 2 or even 5 years. Be kind to yourself. You ARE improving!!!

Some highlights this week:

Somehow, Patrick showed up Monday and blew everyone out of the water AFTER competing for two days straight in the Valley. We’ve all heard of mom strength, but maybe there is something to be said about dad strength. Hmmm.

Callie came back to 5am!! While it won’t be every morning like before, she coached the Friday morning. And I can guess how excited they all were (since they have been missing her for months).

We had 4 new members join this week! If you see Cindy T, Jen K, Kelcie, or Lee in class, be sure to give them the big Kainos welcome we all love. And no, I do not mean a sweaty hug.

And Finally, coming up:

Sneak Peek

  • 10/10 Clean and Jerk!
  • 10/11 Front Squats
  • 10/12 Snatches and “Atlas” (NOT ATALANTA)
  • 10/13 Max Rep Step Overs, Pull-ups, Up Downs kind of day
  • 10/14 Cleans and (you’re welcome Jac) Wall Ball Shots
  • 10/1 Partner day

That’s all for now crew! Nice work this week!

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Preview

Coming Up 9/25/22

Well. We are coming out of the hang position on our Olympic cycle. But this week, we will add in the pause and pull. The Clean / Snatch Pull is CRUCIAL! The triple extension. (cue angels singing). Come with an open mind, ready to listen to some killer cues and possibly be a little humbled. I personally am every time we lift.

Holy macaroni! Madness in the Mat-su is THIS WEEKEND! I came in to scrub the floors and walked in to the Koalas doing a little team training. I cannot WAIT for all the Soldotnans to show up to this thing!

Sneak Peek

  • 9/26 Front Squats
  • 9/27 Cleans and BMU work
  • 9/28 Pausing Split Jerks
  • 9/29 Some Dumbbells and Doubles
  • 9/30 Snatches and “Double Down”
  • 10/1 Partner day

What day are YOU looking forward to?

Looking forward to another week with all of you!

OTHER NOTABLE EVENTS:

10/1-10/2 Madness In The Mat-Su team Comp – Matsu CrossFit
Registration is closed, but our teams would LOVE to have you come support us. Our friends at MatSu are also asking for any willing and capable judges to come help out at this event. Our current teams are CrossFit Kainos (Scott, Brennen, Holly, Jac), Kainos Kangaroos (Patrick, Shawn, Savannah, Kara H), Kainos Koalas (Jared, Elijah, Randi, Hannah) and Ramblin’ Reams (Brittany, Jesse (CFNE), Rob (MatSu), Kaitlyn (Denali)). Should be one HECK of a weekend!

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Preview

Coming Up 9/18/22

This next week, we will continue to dial in our hang Olympic work in both the strength portion and continue it into the metcon.

We are officially 2 weeks out from the Madness In The Matsu competition! We are SO excited to watch our teams go up against literally over a hundred other CrossFitters across the state. It’s going to be a fun and new challenge for a lot of them! Consider coming out to watch!!

Sneak Peek

  • 9/19 Hang Snatch
  • 9/20 Front Squats and “Flatline”
  • 9/21 Overhead work
  • 9/22 Farmer carry day!
  • 9/23 Hang Clean
  • 9/24 Partner day

I don’t know about you, but my jerk game needs some WORK! I am looking forward to getting into class for some coaching on the Split Jerk on Wednesday.

What day are YOU looking forward to?

Reminder- We are rolling into fall faster than you can say “winter“. Please take your shoes off BEFORE you walk on the black mats!

OTHER NOTABLE EVENTS:

9/24-9/25 CrossFit Gymnastics Course – CrossFit Northern Exposure
This course is designed for both coaches and athletes. It is a 2 day course that involves movement assessment, programming and scaling, and how to spot and self spot. We don’t get many courses in Alaska AT ALL, and this one is absolutely NOT only for coaches. If you want to step your gymnastics up a level, I highly encourage you to attend this!

10/1-10/2 Madness In The Mat-Su team Comp – Matsu CrossFit
Registration is closed, but our teams would LOVE to have you come support us. Our friends at MatSu are also asking for any willing and capable judges to come help out at this event. Our current teams are CrossFit Kainos (Scott, Brennen, Holly, Jac), Kainos Kangaroos (Patrick, Shawn, Savannah, Kara H), Kainos Koalas (Jared, Elijah, Randi, Hannah) and Ramblin’ Reams (Brittany, Jesse (CFNE), Rob (MatSu), Kaitlyn (Denali)). Should be one HECK of a weekend!

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Uncategorized

The Week in Review 9/16/22

Well, well, well! We are halfway through September already. Blink and you’ll miss it! While I just returned, here are a few of the highlights from the week relayed from the other coaches!

Workout Wins
Shawn Coe achieved his first Bar Muscle Up! He’s been dangerously close for a while. All it took was some coaching tips to push him (literally) on top of the bar!

Monday we saw the Hero workout, Harro. Coaches saw everyone take this workout very seriously as it is near and dear to many of our hearts in this small community. You guys pushed yourselves to honor the brothers and we are so thankful for that!

So proud of your commitment this week, fam!!

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Midweek

Member of the Month- September 22!

It’s been a while since we have done a member of the month. But, in the words of the great Tupac… it’s time for us to make a CHANGE!

Jared Swanson has been with us since 2018. In that time, he has been a consistent and encouraging force. While he refuses to check himself in and swears it’s just pre-workout in that red solo cup, we love him all the same. His attitude, humble and sassy, puts a smile on everyones face. He can find humor through class, both during the workout briefing and after any workout he happened to muscle his way through..

Most recently, Jared spent hours and hours of personal training time with Coach Brennen to finally get his Bar Muscle Ups down. He consistently committed to putting in the time and work, and as a result, he was able to achieve one of his biggest workout-related goals.

KEEP BEING AWESOME, Jared!!

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Preview

Coming Up 9/4/2022

Aside from our lovely Hero Workout listed for tomorrow’s Labor Day Holiday, here’s what ELSE we have to look forward to this week!

Sneak Peek

  • 9/5 Holleyman
  • 9/6 Alt. Back AND Front Rack Lunges, Slam Balls, Sit-Ups
  • 9/7 1 Rep Snatch
  • 9/8 28 Minute EMOM
  • 9/9 1 Rep Clean and Jerk
  • 9/10 NO CLASS – POWERLIFTING MEET

Which day are you most looking forward to? I can tell you without a doubt it’s Wednesday for me!

OTHER NOTABLE EVENTS:

9/10: USPA Powerlifting Championship – CrossFit Kainos
Registration is closed. However, THIS IS OUR HOME TURF! If you are free and in the area, please Support Jerem and watch some truly incredible humans lift alllllllll the weights. Jerem is still needing 2 spotters / loaders and an announcer for this event. Reach out if you can help out.

9/17: CrossFit Redox Ergatta– CrossFit Redox
I am currently signed up for this one. Redox is needing volunteers / judges if you want to come spend a day in Anchorage watching us row indoors! This comp is great for beginners, or people nervous about competing. It’s just a few rowing workouts 😉

9/24-9/25 CrossFit Gymnastics Course – CrossFit Northern Exposure
This course is designed for both coaches and athletes. It is a 2 day course that involves movement assessment, programming and scaling, and how to spot and self spot. We don’t get many courses in Alaska AT ALL, and this one is absolutely NOT only for coaches. If you want to step your gymnastics up a level, I highly encourage you to attend this!

10/1-10/2 Madness In The Mat-Su team Comp – Matsu CrossFit
Registration is closed, but our teams would LOVE to have you come support us. Our friends at MatSu are also asking for any willing and capable judges to come help out at this event. Our current teams are CrossFit Kainos (Scott, Brennen, Holly, Jac), Kainos Kangaroos (Patrick, Shawn, Savannah, Kara H), Kainos Koalas (Jared, Randi) and Ramblin’ Reams (Brittany, Jesse (CFNE), Rob (MatSu), Kaitlyn (Denali)). Should be one HECK of a weekend!

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Review

The Week In Review 9/2/22

It’s been one heck of a week with our 3 rep retests, some brutal Dumbbell work, and Wall Ball Push Press to a Target!

We saw some incredible lifts. Here are some Personal Records we saw. (Did you know that is what “PR” stands for??)

3RM Strict Press

  • Elijah 145#
  • Allison 85#
  • Kristin 65#
  • Sammie 90#
  • Michael H 155#
  • Lisa 72.5#
  • Natalia 75#
  • Brennen 185#
  • Michelle H 63#

3RM Front Squat

  • Elijah 265#
  • Sam V 195#
  • Allison 120#
  • Amanda 105#
  • Makila 115#
  • Brittany 220#
  • Patrick 255#
  • Scott 245#
  • Michael H 255#
  • Brennen 310#

After a hard week of training, you guys deserve a long weekend to relax. OR hit it hard with us Monday for our Hero Workout.

Monday will be an UNCOACHED 10am class ONLY. If you have 24 hour access, you are welcome to pop in anytime to hit it hard. If not, we look forward to seeing all of your bright and smiling faces at 10!