If you remember a couple weeks ago, we talked about the stimulus of our programming. In that post, we discussed the need to save our competitive spirit for the right time…and that time is now.  
 
The Crossfit Open is just around the corner, February 21st to be specific, and this is the time to bring your best. The biggest Crossfit competition in the world will pit you against your competitive peers from around the world.  Over the next 5 weeks, you will be challenged with some creative and intense workouts.  Events are released Thursday evenings and you, the athlete, has until Monday to submit scores to the Games Scoreboard.  
 
To ensure that you are prepared for the demands the Open will place on your body we have some recommendations. 
 
Friday Night Lights.  
A term that has been used quite a lot in the Crossfit community, Friday Night Lights will be your chance to take on the Open workouts in a truly competitive environment.  The  coach calling out 3…2…1…GO, the song that pumps you up and preps you for a PR, or the crowds just calling your name, the Crossfit community comes together on Friday Nights to cheer one another on during the open. MCF will be hosting the Crossfit Open at our first Friday Night Lights events, every Friday for the next 5 weeks. 
 
What does your competition week look like? 
A post from Comptrain Programming details what the week surrounding the Open events should look like.  If you follow Comptrain at all, you know that this programming is built from Ben Bergeron, the coach of Elite Athletes like Katrin Davidsdottir, and Mat Fraser. Now, before you look at the week, determine what kind of competitor you are going to be.  If you are looking to submit your scores and challenge the top of the leaderboard for the coveted spot in the Games then you should seriously consider the sample schedule coming next. Or If you are competing to see how much you have improved from last year, you should also seriously consider the same schedule. 
 
To look at the Crossfit Open competitive week, we start the calendar on Thursday.  

Thursday is announcement day, preparation day, an active recovery style day.  Fitness is good; however, we want to make sure that we don’t take energy reserves away in preparation for Friday Night Lights!  
 
On Friday, we prepare our bodies for battle.  We know that starting at 4:30 the Spartans go to war.  We remember our nutrition, we remember our mental development, and then we put our fitness to the test.  
 
Saturday, before the effects of battle sets into our muscles, we look at areas that we could be better and work to fix them.  This is the practice and the time to correct inefficiencies in our movements. 
 
Sunday, a much needed day of rest.  We recover, work on mobility, quench our thirst, and meal prep for the next week. 
 
Monday, if you are truly competing for a games slot, this is the day that you will retest Friday’s workout. In this attempt, you will take your experience in the workout, your technique work on Saturday, and your recovery efforts on Sunday and deliver an even more impressive effort into your results.  If you don’t improve, you submit Friday’s effort.  If you improve you submit today’s effort.  One way or another you know you gave your all and you left your best effort on the field.  
 
Tuesday…build a better you. Back to normal training.  Come into the class of your choice. Make sure you arrive on time and go through a full range of mobility movements and warm-up prior to class. Complete the components with your best effort.
 
Wednesday, we are looking for you to be in class, but you may look at a significant scaling variation. This may look like a set with lower weights, a decreased rep scheme, or a lower energy demand.  In many of the competitive communities, this would be considered a tapering period, although short.  
 
…and now, we prepare for the next week's announcement!  

In the Open, you compete against yourself. It's the time to celebrate what your body can do and to encourage others as they push themselves to new heights. 

Let's do this together! The fun starts on Friday. 

Register for the Open at Games.CrossFit.com

ANNOUNCEMENTS

Reservations for the 5:30am Class
Our new 5:30am CrossFit class on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday has been a huge hit. If you've been around the gym at that time I'm sure you've noticed that it's getting crowded. Effective immediately we are going to be requiring reservations for the 5:30am CrossFit class. Use your WODIFY app to reserve your spot in the class. You can make a reservation up to 72 hours in advance. If you don't make a reservation and choose to show up for the class anyways, you may not have the space or equipment to perform the workout. We're requiring this so that we're able to serve you best! We'll continue to find more ways to expand class times so that you're able to always get your workout in.  

"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 one of our staff, Helen Seed! - February 14th

PERSONAL RECORDS! (PR!)
Let's congratulate following athletes on new personal records they set this week!
Bryan Miller - Bench Press PR
David Durfey - "Randy" Benchmark  PR 
Donnie De La Cruz - Bench Press PR 
Donnie De La Cruz - "Randy" Benchmark PR
Jason Spoon - Bench Press PR 
Justin Graham - Bench Press PR 
Luke Norman - Bench Press PR 
Maria Vicens - Bench Press PR 
Robert Hodgson - "Randy" Benchmark PR 
​Tommy Clapp - "Randy" Benchmark PR 

Happy Friday! ​

ANNOUNCEMENTS

New CrossFit Class Time! 
We are adding a 5:30am CrossFit class on Monday/Wednesday/Friday. We've had several people request this additional class time so we're officially launching it this coming week. We're adding members to our coaching team so that we're able to add these times in order to serve you best! Keep in mind that space in this class is limited and after this week we'll be requiring beforehand reservations / check-ins for the class. 

"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 Megan Henshaw! - February 2nd
Happy Birthday, Sarah Doute! - February 3rd
Happy Birthday Shon Jordan! - February 4th
Happy Birthday to Kollyn Hurst! - February 7th 

PERSONAL RECORDS! (PR!)
Let's congratulate following athletes on new personal records they set this week!
Allen Riddle - Clean and Jerk  PR (1 rep)
Allen Riddle - Back Squat  PR (2 rep)
Amber Day - Back Squat PR (2 rep)
Angela Clapp - Clean and Jerk PR (1 rep) 
Angela Clapp - Back Squat PR (2 rep)
Connor Whetzel - Back Squat PR (2 rep)
Ethan Griffith - Clean and Jerk PR (1 rep) 
Ellie Bales - Clean and Jerk PR (1 rep) 
Evan McNair - Clean and Jerk PR (1 rep) 
Lisa Johnson - Back Squat PR (2 rep) 
Rual Swanson - Clean and Jerk PR (1 rep) 
Sierra Zurek - Clean and Jerk PR (1 rep) 
Sydney Chrisman - Back Squat PR (2 rep) 
Timothy Johnson - Back Squat PR (2 rep) 
Tommy Clapp - Back Squat PR (2 rep)
Will Dalton - Back Squat PR (2 rep) 

Happy Friday! ​

Happy Friday!