Defining Mobility: “The ability to move or be moved freely and easily”    
(Oxford Dictionary).  

 Look at the definition and think about the last time you attempted to get into a front rack position. Or  the last time you tried to keep your head and back upright in an air squat.  Did it feel "free" or "easy"? When evaluating that, It's likely easy to recognize that your mobility is in fact limiting your performance. 

​   Through periods of inactivity our bodies begin to lose the properties of flexibility we experienced in our youth (at least some of us).  This inactivity causes our shoulders to experience pain under the stress of moving the barbell into the front rack position. This lack of mobility makes it difficult to get below parallel in our squats.  If our mobility limits our movements then we are losing movement integrity and that will decrease our overall efficiency and ability to break-through to higher levels.  

    While increasing your activity will help you open those tight joints, mobility must be intentional as well. Coming by the box a few minutes before the start time is a great opportunity to open joints in preparation for the workout, while staying just a few minutes after using the warmth in the body to help loosen for next time. A GREAT way to focus on your mobility and recovery is to get into one of our YOGA classes (it's included in your membership). 

Over the coming weeks we will be working with you through the blog, and in the gym to help with your mobility and recovery. 

    Obviously, any list on a blog will not be all encompassing, and if you are doing these for the first time it is best to consult with a coach.

​Here are some tips

To begin - upper body mobility movements can include:  

• Banded Movement to help with regular tension.  
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mAYray4xbe4
• PVC - Great to do at home, or at the box.  Go by a local hardware store and pick up a 5-6 piece of 1-1.5” diameter PVC pipe.  This allows for you to control tension to the mobility exercise.  
  • https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vAUFxcsW5SU
• No Equipment Required.  Forearm and Wrist mobility limitations affects almost all positions.  
  • https://www.wholelifechallenge.com/relieve-your-wrist-forearm-pain-mobility-exercises/

    Our Coaches look forward to helping you develop greater mobility and function in our bodies to continue our question for fitness! 

ANNOUNCEMENTS

FNX Supplements available for order!
Order forms are in the lobby - receive 15% off of any FNX product. We'll place orders each Friday and you'll receive your supplements the following week. ​

"CrossFit Open" Competition
The worldwide CrossFit Opens begins on February 23rd and continues for 5 Fridays. Our CrossFit program will be participating in these workouts each week. If you want to register to compete in the open to see how you stack up against people in your division, register here! 

BIRTHDAYS
We want to wish a happy birthday to gym members who have birthdays coming up next week. If you see these folks in the gym make sure to wish them happy birthday in person! 

Happy Birthday to Tammy Belcher! - January 31st 
Happy Birthday, Sierra Zurek! - February 1st

PERSONAL RECORDS! (PR!)
Let's congratulate following athletes on new personal records they set this week!
Allen Riddle - Bench Press  PR (2 rep)
Amber Day - Bench Press PR (2 rep)
Jacob Geldrich - Bench Press PR (2 rep) 
Jordan Taylor - Bench Press PR (2 rep)
Laurie Cagle - Bench Press PR (2 rep)
Maria Vicens - Bench Press PR (2 rep) 
Ronda Blevins - Bench Press PR (2 rep) 
Sierra Zurek - Bench Press PR (2 rep) 
Timothy Johnson - Bench Press PR (2 rep) 

Happy Friday! 

This is the first of our Friday updates. Each week we'll be sending out an email and publishing this blog post to celebrate some things, provide information, and make sure you're filled in on everything that's coming up!

ANNOUNCEMENTS 
FBB - We hope you enjoyed the free week of FBB work included in the programming. If you want access to that same programming + more great supplemental work you can sign up in the gym or online for only $8mo. Register here: FBB SIGN UP
​
Nutrition - If you're interested in signing up for nutrition coaching we are offering a January promotional discount of $45mo.
​For more info, check out the nutrition page on our website. NUTRITION COACHING

BIRTHDAYS
We want to wish a happy birthday to gym members who have birthdays coming up next week. If you see these folks in the gym make sure to wish them happy birthday in person! 

Happy Birthday, Paula Greer! - January 18th
Happy Birthday to Chris Hodge! - January 21st 
Happy Birthday, Ronda Blevins! - January 21st 
Happy Birthday, Jonathan Wilson! - January 22nd

PERSONAL RECORDS! (PR!)
Let's congratulate following athletes on new personal records they set this week!
Amber Day - Front Squat PR (2 rep)
Angela Clapp - Power Clean PR (2 rep)
​Bethany McNabb - Front Squat PR (2 rep)
Brent Allen - Front Squat PR (2 rep)
Caleb Swanson - Front Squat PR (2 rep)
Derek Bowers - Power Clean PR (2 rep)
Donnie De La Cruz - Power Clean PR (2 rep) / Front Squat PR (2 rep)
Ellie Bales - Power Clean PR (2 rep)
Evan Anderson - Power Clean PR (2 rep)
Evan McNair - Power Clean PR (2 rep)
Jacob Geldrich - Power Clean PR (2 rep)
Joel Brannon - Front Squat PR (2 rep)
Kelly Houston - Power Clean PR (2 rep)
Laurie Cable - PR on Benchmark "Fight Gone Bad" / Power Clean PR (2 rep)
Maria Vicens - Power Clean PR (2 rep)
Robert Hodson - Power Clean PR (2 rep)
Sierra Zurek - Front Squat PR (2 rep)
Sydney Chrisman - Front Squat PR (2 rep)
Tommy Clapp - Fron Squat PR (2 rep)Valerie Crabtree - Power Clean PR (2 rep)
Wesley Thomspon - Power Clean PR (2 rep)


Happy Friday! 

At Mossy Creek Fitness, we have adopted the mindset that being healthy involves significantly more than just getting to the gym a few days a week. In fact, we believe that there are elements to your health that even come before exercise and fitness. ​

We don't want to overwhelm anyone with massive amounts of information here; so, we'll just touch very briefly on all five below. 

Eat: You've heard it before - you can't out-train a bad diet. It's cliché, but it's also true. Your nutrition is the base of your health pyramid, and we encourage you to become educated on the types of food you're eating and how they're affecting your health systems long-term. Nutrition is a really daunting subject, and it takes understanding a lot of different parts to be able to wrap your mind around the complexities of food and how our bodies respond to it. My encouragement is that you simplify it as much as possible. Don't worry about all the complicated stuff, and start by eating real food and not too much of it. Avoid all the processed fast food. Avoid the food that won't go bad if you leave it on a shelf for 5 years. An easy switch for your grocery list is simply to trade your canned vegetables for frozen vegetables. After you focus on the quality of your food, focus on the quantity. Don't eat too much, and control your intake to a responsible level. 

Sleep: In our culture it's almost become a badge of honor to be the person that can operate on very little sleep. You'll hear of people who work 2nd and 3rd shifts take pride in how they can function on only a few hours of sleep each day. You can observe the majority of college students pretend like they're still emotionally stable after going two days with no sleep just so they can get their homework done AND still have time to watch Netflix. I was, and in many ways still am, the kind of person who does this. It's bad, and it's something we have to take control of if we truly want to be healthy. Among the many health benefits of good sleeping habits, it's one of the primary things that will help you get the results you're wanting from exercise. If you want to look lean and fit, sleep more and find 8 hours to sleep between 10:00pm and 8:00am. 

Train: By training, we mean exercise. By exercise we mean actual exercise aimed at burning fat, building lean muscle, and developing functional abilities that help you move well late into your life. Exercise should always involve some element of intensity, and that intensity must be relative (or scaled) to the individual. All the good stuff you want out of exercise is on the other side of intensity. If you want to feel better, breathe better, look better, and live better - then get off the cable resistance machines, get off the treadmills, step away from the bicep curl station, and start an exercise program that's focused on functional intensity. 

Think: Our health is much more than just physical. We should be sharpening our minds as well as training our bodies. We all learn in different ways, our emphasis on "thinking" is simply us encouraging you to learn something new in whatever way works for you. Whether it's reading biographies of people who inspire you, listening to podcasts, studying articles, or even determining to continue your education in some capacity - thinking is something we are always doing, so find ways to make it productive. 

Connect: ​This is one I'm particularly passionate about. In life, we are created to engage with each other. If we were meant to be alone, we wouldn't be surrounded by literally billions of people. Connecting with people who are like you and with people who are nothing like you is a way to become a more holistically healthy person. I don't mean surface level interactions that involve a "How are you?" followed by some mumbling and a thumbs up. I mean connecting in a true, authentic sense. The healthiest and happiest people are those who truly know others and are known by others. A true measure of health is that you're able to share that health with other people. 


Our aim is to coach people to becoming the most effective and thriving versions of themselves. These are the ways we believe that happens and we're here to help you focus on all these factors. ​

The idea of investment may seem foreign to many of us. When we hear "invest" we think of making a monetary exchange with a business in which we're going to see a financial return greater than that which we gave. However, the idea of investment is applicable to every single part of our lives.

We believe that in life we're always investing into something. We're either making investments and deposits into positive things that will get us closer to the life we desire to live. Or, we're making investments into things that yield really negative returns. We are never just "sustaining" or "maintaining. This perspective should be apparent in everything we do ranging from every relationship we have, our work, our faith, and our health. 

So in 2019 are you willing to making positive investments into your health? Investing into your health takes a lot of intentional effort. It means recognizing that your health and wellness should be considered a really important part of your life. It means accepting that you need to make a change in the first place. It means creating the time and space for it. It means picking an approach that actually works. It means surrounding yourself with a community of people that will help you when it gets difficult. 

In this case, it's also going to mean investing money (yikes). As a disclaimer, I do want to say that it's very possible for you to pursue a life of health and fitness on your own. You don't HAVE to join a gym, you don't HAVE to pay for a nutrition coach, you don't HAVE to hire a trainer to help you. If it's possible for you to invest in your health without any of those things, I applaud you. This encouragement is for those who have tried that many times before, and it's never worked out. 

By our own confession we know that CrossFit is more expensive than a traditional and conventional gym membership. $115mo versus $20mo is a really big difference. With that being the case, I want to throw out some numbers for your consideration. 

First of all - The average "20 buck club" gym has an attendance rate of around 30% - that means 70 out of 100 people are paying for a gym membership and still moving towards sickness rather than fitness. For that 70% they are quite literally throwing away $20 every month (and some gyms are much more expensive than that). 

So Consider This: 

The average CrossFit gym costs $150mo for an unlimited membership (we're cheaper by the way). If you visit a CrossFit gym five times a week or 20 times a month at that rate, you pay $7.50 per visit. That number is already below the average cost of a yoga class, (Yoga is included in our membership) and even though yoga requires far less equipment than CrossFit, it could be considered similar in that an instructor leads a group.

So let's say you join our gym at our most expensive rate of $135mo. Break that down weekly and it's around $30.00 a week. I understand some budgets have no flexibility whatsoever, but most others are full of impulse buys, iTunes purchases, overpriced coffees, evenings out and costly electronics. I’d suggest I can find an extra $30 a week in just about any budget. 

We know it's expensive to do CrossFit and if you'd like to know why we'd encourage you to read this article as to why CrossFit and other trainer led courses are more expensive: CrossFit Journal: Why CrossFit Isn't Free

Even if it doesn't lead you to membership at Mossy Creek Fitness - we encourage you to believe that your health and wellness is worth your investment. It's worth the sacrifice. It's worth the investment. 

As a coach, I'm not interested in changing who you are. The "New year, new you" strategy is one that people have tried for years. Take a quick look at the statistics of those who maintain their New Year's Resolutions past the month January and you'll see that this strategy isn't working. An all or nothing, now or never, change everything at once mentality is great to get you in the door of the gym. However, it's not sustainable and once the New Year's passion wears off; your new gym clothes, reebok shoes, and matching water bottle will end up gathering dust. 

Maybe you've made health and fitness resolutions before and they've never worked out. Now you find yourself motivated and ready to try again, but somwehere in the back of your mind you're thinking "I know it probably won't stick." I, along with our other owners and coaches, truly believe that this could be the year that those exciting resolutions turn into actual results. Like I said, I'm not interested in changing who you are. I'm interested in helping you realize that who you are is enough, and that inside of you is everything you need to change your current health and fitness situation. You can do it, we're just here to believe in you when you stop believing in yourself.

When we say "Always Forward" we're speaking about the process of growth. In life, there's no such thing as standing still. You're either moving backwards or forwards. Sometimes we move backwards because we quit moving all together. Other times we move backwards because instead of learning from failure, we let it keep us defeated. In the gym and in life, we believe we are meant to celebrate every success and learn from every failure so that we're moving forward, always. 

If you're not a part of the gym, we'd love to start this new year's journey of pursuing health with you. Come and give it a shot. 
​
If you're already a part of the MCF community, we're excited to start a new year with you. Stay committed in your journey and bring others along with you. 

Forward.
Jp

SCHEDULE CHANGE

CROSSFIT:
Monday - Thursday: 6:30am, 8:00am, 12:00pm, 5:30pm, 6:30pm
Friday: 6:30am, 8:00am, 12:00pm, 5:30pm 
Saturday: 10:00am
B | X:
Monday - Thursday:  5:30am, 8:00am, 4:30pm, 6:30pm. 
Friday: 5:30am, 8:00am, 4:30pm
Saturday: 10:00am
Yoga: 
Monday & Wednesday: 5:30pm
Saturday: 11:00am
Open Gym: 
Monday - Thursday: 9:00am-4:30pm / 7:30pm-10:00pm. 
Friday: 9:00am-8:00pm
Saturday: 10:00am-3:00pm
The 9:00am and 7:30pm CrossFit classes will be discontinued.
During the 8:00am and 6:30pm classes we will be running CrossFit and B | X at the same time. We have restructured things in the gym to be able to accommodate larger classes and dual classes. 


SUPPLEMENTS AVAILABLE
We have become sponsored partners with the company FNX (Phoenix). Due to that partnership we are able to offer their products to our members at a 15% discount. We will be creating a space in the foyer to keep a stock of supplements for purchase. You will also be able to place an order for any of their products and supplements that are not stocked in the gym. You'll be able to order any time, and we'll place those orders with FNX every Friday.
We will also be selling single servings of FNX protein shakes for you to be able to purchase after your workouts!


We believe in FNX as a company and in each of their products. Visit their website at www.fnxfit.com to check out what they have to offer. Again, we'll be able to offer you a 15% discount on all items.

NUTRITION
Our Nutrition coaching program is up and running! We are offering a New Year promo during the month of January that will allow you to sign up for Nutrition coaching for only $45mo (usually $65mo). Learn more about the Precision Nutrition program by visiting our website. Nutrition is the base of your health and wellness, and we've done our best to create an affordable and sustainable service that will help you learn what it means to have "good nutrition" personalized to your life. We strongly encourage you to sign up for the program and commit to it!

REHAB / THERAPY
We're not quite ready to reveal all the details yet, but we've nearly completed construction on space within the gym to offer rehab, therapy, mobility, chiropractic, and massage services. We're developing qualified, trusted, and professional partners for each of these areas and intend to be able to offer these services in-house to our members as well as to non-members. Stay tuned for more information!

KID'S AREA
The long-awaited kid's room is nearly ready for use. With the construction of our therapy room nearly complete, we're able to move forward on finishing up the kid's area. Once completed, this room will be available throughout the day for our gym kid's use. In addition to that, we will have certain hours where child-care is also offered.

COMPETITIONS
CROSSFIT OPEN: The CrossFit Open, an online competition organized by CF Headquarters will begin the end of February and continue for 5 weeks. We will participate in these weekly competition workouts as a gym. Like always, all the workouts can be scaled and modified to each individuals’ level. This is going to be an awesome time to connect as a community and encourage one another.
TYLER'S VOICE: On April 27th, we will be hosting an individuals competition. There will be RX and Scaled divisions available. Stay tuned for more information about this competition.

That's a lot of information, but we want to be sure to communicate clearly as we begin the new year. We are all truly grateful you've chosen to trust us with playing a part in your health and fitness journey. We want to do our best to make sure your hour in the gym is the best hour of your day!
​
In 2019, let's keep moving forward!
Scooter & Kelly, Jamison & Lesley, Jonathan & Lisa, & Matt.