To all CFK Members,

The goal or “tag line” of CFK for many years has been to “inspire a fitter Knoxville”. But what does that really mean? To me, to our team…it means we are helping people work towards their health and fitness goals regardless of what they are, no matter how big or small. Whether it be a weightlifting meet, running a marathon, a first pull up, or your knees not being in pain while walking down stairs. None are any more or less valuable, or more or less important to us. “The needs of the Olympian and the grandparent differ in degree, not in kind.” The things we all need to make progress on our own fitness journey are more similar than we realize. The amount of weight, volume (number of reps) and speed at which they are performed will be different.

We work towards these goals with “constantly varied, functional movements, performed with intensity”, “across broad time and modal domains”. It’s literally the ethos of CrossFit. We do different things, different lifts, different movements all the time. It’s not about “muscle confusion”, that’s not really a thing, it is about minimizing the “holes” or gaps in your fitness. We do “functional movements”, things that generally involve many muscles or muscle groups and force your body to work more as a complete unit. The goal of these types of movements is to better understand how our body actually works and to make day to day life easier. We may never perform an overhead squat outside the gym, but if we are capable of doing them the rest of our daily activities are probably more easily accomplished. We occasionally “isolate” and work individual muscles but not all the time. Accessory work is to complement our training and target smaller muscles or groups that help facilitate the bigger lifts. Then last but not least is the intensity aspect. That is truthfully a bit of a relative term and does differ for each of us. We all have different strengths and weaknesses, levels of fitness and capacity to do things. Intensity IS generally where the “magic” happens, but it also needs to be appropriately managed. When we work harder we force our bodies to adapt greater. However sacrificing technique, movement quality and safety to achieve greater intensity is not the answer and should never be the goal. Once we have established we can move well, then we can move fast. There is no shame in slightly altering a workout or movement pattern to move better and achieve the desired stimulus of a workout in a safe way.

“Across broad time and modal domains” means the length of the workouts will change day to day. Sometimes they will be shorter and more intense, other days they are longer and require more pacing. If you run 2 miles every day, you will become pretty good at running 2 miles. However you may not be very good at running 1 mile really fast or being able to endure running 5 miles. Again we want to minimize the gaps in our fitness. We may individually gravitate towards certain things or workouts, and that’s ok. But we want to at least expose you to different things and allow you the opportunity to improve across the board. We made a social media post a couple weeks ago about the 10 General Physical skills…cardiovascular endurance, strength, stamina, flexibility, power, coordination, speed, balance, agility, accuracy. Being fairly adept at each of those in different length workouts, using barbells, gymnastics, running, rowing, all the different things we do in class will give a pretty broad spectrum of fitness.

The reason for all of this is to explain a little more of the “why” in what we do at CFK. Why it is important to us, why we think it is important for you. For some that have been around a while this may not be anything new. But a reminder from time to time is never a bad thing. I open my CrossFit Level 1 manual from over a decade ago to this day to remind myself of the basics and the foundation of what we are trying to achieve. For newer members this may be the first time this all has been explained to you at this length, sorry I am long winded even typing. But it is important to know and understand these things. To trust the process. To know the coaches at CFK do truly want what’s best for you. We work hard to constantly improve ourselves to give our best to you, because you deserve it.

Thank you and have a great week,

Dave

Programming Sneak Peek!

Monday:

LABOR DAY 8AM and 9:30AM Classes only (Burn and CF)! We are doing Cindy today! Let’s cheer fellow athletes on and have some fun! Let’s find a push up variation that allows us to work for 20mins and avoid taking reps to failure.

Tuesday:

Partners today. This Interval Pacer will give you a chance to work but just know that there is more work to do! Let’s see if you and your partner can be consistent on your intervals this will require some RPE Control.

Wednesday:

Wave Loading Back Squats! Use Wodify to get your working percentages today. Then is the Metcon we have Power Snatches with your ability to go unbroken being tested!

Thursday:

Chipper Intervals! You’ll be Hanging (On a Bar) and Hanging (With a DB) today these rounds are intended to be done as unbroken as possible. Go fast, get more rest, go to slow and you’ll be working again before you know it. In this one it is important to find the best “aggressive” threshold pace but don’t go to hot because you will not have enough time to recover. Total working time is scored today.

Friday:

Barbell Friday! If Squat Cleans get you excited then get excited for this complex building to a heavy weight! Following up the complex this EMOM will get you cycling the barbell!

Saturday:

Hero WOD “Nate” today! Time to put your gymnastics skills to work!

IT IS OFFICAL CFK is a Sanctioned USAW Club!

Save the Date: October 8th! We will be heading to the USAW 2022 Tennessee-Kentucky Meet in Johnson City!

So what does this mean? Our gym and Members will have the ability to compete and USAW events around the country like the “save the date” above. If you are interested in competing in OLY Lifting and pushing yourself this is you opportunity. More information will be coming. However, in the meantime check out Coach Nate’s Weight lifting class over at North Wednesday’s at 6:30pm and Weightlifting every Saturday at both locations! Any questions can be directed to [email protected]

Speaking of lifting…

Save the Date: September 17th, 2022 @ CFK West

Squat Seminar w/ Coach Blake

Spend some time with Coach Blake and take a deeper dive into squats, if you are looking to improve your numbers or adjust your squat this is the Seminar to be at!

Save The Date: Restore Core & Floor Workshop!

October 1st @ West w/ Dr. Kim Givelechian

Dr. Kim is back with another Restore Core workshop! More details will follow.

Saturday, September 24, 2022

Bristol Motor Speedway Infield

Join fellow CFK Athletes and form four-person teams (2 male, 2 female) for the chance at victory, all while helping raise money to support SCC Bristol’s mission of helping local children in need. The event will be held in the infield at Bristol Motor Speedway.

Click here for all the details!

Not looking to compete? Come out & support your friends!

Fitness is always more fun with friends! Our community WOD happens every Saturday at both locations at 9am. Bring friends and family! These workouts will be both beginner and veteran-friendly — challenging enough to get a good workout, but simple enough for anyone to join!

PLEASE have friends sign a waiver beforehand!

Waiver Link

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