Newsletter #21 July 2023
COMMUNITY UPDATE
bring a friend week is back, starting saturday, july 8!!
We’re bringing back Bring a Friend week, and we’re kicking it off with a Partner WOD that will be accessible to all at 9:00am on Saturday, July 8. Bring your friends, family, colleagues, and other folks you know who you think would like to be healthier, happier members of an amazing community.
As a reminder, your friend will work out the entire week for free (through Saturday, July 15). And if they decide to join, they get $100 off their first month’s membership, and you get $100 off your membership in that month as well!
Does it sound pretty good to get paid to get fit with people you like? Just forward this link to your friend so that they can sign up, and have them show up on Saturday for their first workout—or if they can’t make it Saturday, then any other day that week. We’ll make sure they feel welcome and have a great time!
Reach out to Connor or Greg with any questions.
THANKS TO YOU, WE’VE DONATED MORE THAN $7,300 SO FAR THIS YEAR.
We’re excited to report that through our Feast thROWdown, Murph, the silent auction we hosted supporting Val, and our partnership with Feast Member Andy Boyer in his charity WOD, the Feast Family has this calendar-year-to-date raised and donated more than $7,300 to support causes locally and internationally, including Americares and their work with Ukrainian refugees, Chicago House and TPAN Chicago and their work with people impacted by HIV/AIDs, and Val Cohen in her efforts to threepeat as women’s lower extremity adaptive champion at this year’s CrossFit Games.
Thanks to all the Feast members who participated in each of these events, and those who generously donated your time and your funds.
Thanks to our coaches for putting in the extra hours to make these events happen, and encourage participation.
And thanks to these incredible organizations and people who inspire all of us to give!
FEAST HVAC + WILDFIRE SMOKE
We hope Chicago has only clear skies ahead, but in the event we continue to experience wildfire smoke, we’re well prepared. The state of the art HVAC system we installed over COVID is designed to filter out the smallest particulate matter, and we’ll be running it any time there is a bad air quality advisory to help protect your lungs while you’re in the gym.
If you’ve got friends who are training at gyms that don’t have similar HVAC systems, or who are normally training outside, invite them to drop in to Feast on any bad air quality days. We’ll be happy to have them, and they can literally breathe easy with us.
WELCOME COACH AIDEN!
We’re excited to announce that Aiden Kreml has joined the coaching team.
Aiden is young in age, but old in experience—he’s been training CrossFit since he was a pre-teen.
He took a break to play academy soccer in Germany during his high school years, and returned to the U.S. (and Feast!) for his senior year in high school.
He’s currently focused on Olympic Weightlifting with his own training, and recently placed 2nd at Nationals in his classification.
Aiden has his CF-OL1, and has been shadowing other coaches for several weeks now.
Initially he’ll continue co-coaching with Greg on Monday afternoons, and be the lead coach of Thursday afternoon and evening classes, and Saturday Oly.
He’ll be attending a local college in the fall. Please congratulate Aiden on his new role when you see him at the gym!
JULY 29 MONTROSE TRACK WORKOUT FOLLOWED BY BEACH HANG
CrossFit asked the gym to host a Level 2 Seminar on the weekend of July 29 - 30. So we’re going to take our workout outside that Saturday the 29th! Join us at Montrose Track at 10:00am for a fun outdoor workout, and afterwards we’ll walk over to Montrose Beach, cool off in the water, and grab a spot on the beach to hang out. Bring your beach blanket, and a cooler with food and beverages! As a reminder, we’ll be closed the 30th.
COMMITTED CLUB WINNERS APRIL, MAY, AND JUNE
As a reminder, members who log into class at least 16 times in a month are in the Committed Club for that month and will be entered into a drawing to win their choice of Feast T-shirt or 12 Pack of FitAids ($30-40 value).
And then each quarter, everyone who has been in Committed Club that quarter will be entered into a drawing to win a custom RPM jump rope ($90 value).
And then each year, everyone who has been in Committed Club 10 of 12 months that year will be entered into a drawing to win a One Month Membership ($239 value).
But the best prize is that Committed Club members will have the most success in becoming fit.
Congrats to our winners in April (Evan Hughes), May (Javier Valor), and June (Maggie Easley).
FITNESS UPDATE
STREAMFIT IS LIVE
As a reminder, we transitioned to StreamFit for our gym software on July 1. If you haven’t already taken the following steps to get started with StreamFit, please do that now!
Download the STREAM FITNESS MEMBER app from the Apple App or Google Play stores.
Open the app and enter your mobile number to sign in, then select Feast as your gym.
Edit your profile by tapping on the top right circle in the app. We need you to add any missing info, and correct any info that was imported incorrectly.
We’ll still collect payments through Zelle, but if you want to have the option of purchasing retail items through the app with a credit or debit card, enter your card info through the DASHBOARD icon (bottom left), then go to ACCOUNT (top right) and add a PAYMENT METHOD.
Import your SugarWOD Data to StreamFit.
With StreamFit, you will sign up for class by clicking on the the CLASSES (bottom left) icon, which will show you all the upcoming classes. Click on VIEW CLASS for the days/times you would like to attend. Then select REGISTER (top right) and you’ll be all signed up! You will be able to view your classes you are signed up for under MY CALENDAR in your DASHBOARD. On your way to the gym, you can sign in for class by viewing it, tapping the clipboard icon, and adding a check mark next to your name.
Although we’re confident that this switch is for the best, we know that change can sometimes be hard. Please let us know if you’re feeling frustrated—we’re here to help! And let us know if you’ve got changes you’d like to see in the app. In our experience, StreamFit customer support is great, and they’re willing to consider changes (we’ve already got adding GIFs to the scoreboard in their queue).
Thanks for your patience during this transition. Feel free to play around with the app, and e-mail Greg or Connor with questions!
ANNOUNCING THE RUMBLE ON RAVENSWOOD!
We’ll be hosting a CrossFit competition on September 30, 2023, so that local athletes can come together to showcase their skills and fitness in a friendly and supportive environment.
The format will be teams of 3 athletes of the same gender in Rx and Scaled divisions. There will be 8 teams per division. Teams will complete 3 workouts plus a final workout for the top 4 teams in each division. Teams will get an event t-shirt and more swag. Cost is $75/per athlete paid via credit card through the StreamFit app or via Zelle to greg@feast-fitness.com.
More details can be found here.
Here’s the registration link to sign up.
Grab a couple of friends and sign up as a team, or let us know if you’d be willing to volunteer on the day of the competition as a judge or otherwise!
NEW PROGRAMMING CYCLE: BASE
Welcome to our next workout cycle, BASE.
The next 9 weeks will be focused on building a strong BASE that we will continue to develop in upcoming cycles.
Here’s what you can expect to see each week.
Monday - Back Squats. Volume will increase over the weeks to prep us for some heavier squats coming up next cycle
Tuesday - Cleans and Power Snatches. Every Tuesday we will alternate between cleans and power snatches. Our goal is to master positions and timing in these lifts. We will start with lighter weights and increase loading through the cycle.
Wednesday - Longer Metcons. We’ll keep Wednesday focused on longer aerobic/conditioning work, but we’ll mix up mono structural, gymnastics, and weightlifting. Your goal is to practice proper pacing while increasing endurance.
Thursday - Snatch Overhead Stability + Front Squats. Each Thursday will include behind the neck snatch work to build overhead strength and stability. We will test overhead squats at the end of the cycle. Thursdays will also include wave-loading front squats. We won’t be doing metcons on Thursdays.
Friday - Deadlifts + Strict Gymnastics. On Friday, we deadlift to build our posterior chain. Loading will be moderate so that we can really hammer in the movement pattern in anticipation of building heavier deadlifts next cycle. We will continue to see strict gymnastics work this cycle, knowing that the stronger we are with strict movements, the better and safer we are at kipping. We are looking forward to high volume kipping in upcoming cycles.
Saturday Oly - Clean & Jerk. Saturday WODs will continue to be accessible partner WODs, while Oly class will start with testing our 1RM C&J before spending the rest of the cycle dialing in form. Expect to see a lot of tempo and pause work!
Sunday - Sweat Class. These workouts will be cardio capacity focused.
As always, although the whole week is programmed, you need to listen to your body, prioritize recovery + take rest days! Need help deciding when to rest or with effective recovery strategies? Reach out to any coach.
Congrats to our athletes in recent competitions
Congrats to Britta Dahlberg, Nate Abraham, and Coach Connor Scherer (1st place!) for competing at the Bucktown Battlegrounds; Lindsey Herndon and Kristy Cordes for competing at the TFX Throwdown; and Mike Kocourek, Andy Boyer, and Dan Short for competing at 630 CrossFit!
AND CONGRATS TO VAL FOR MAKING IT BACK TO THE GAMES—WE STILL HAVE 3 TICKETS AVAILABLE TO CHEER HER ON!
Congrats to our very own Val Cohen who will be returning to the CrossFit Games in Madison on Aug 1 - 6. We still have 3 Coliseum tickets left for our members who want to watch Val and the rest of the fittest on earth compete. E-mail Connor or Greg if you’re interested in purchasing them.
NUTRITION UPDATE
ANNOUNCING THE FEAST FIFTY CHALLENGE & AN INTRO NUTRITION SEMINAR
On July 22, we’re launching the Feast Fifty Challenge for all Members who wish to participate. Members will score themselves daily on their progress at adopting the following healthy habits:
Good Night = Good Morning! 2 points if You Were in Bed Lights Out for More than 8.5 hours. 1 point if You Were in Bed Lights Out for 7 - 8.5 hours.
Savory Breakfast: 1 Point if Your Breakfast Had at Least One Card Deck Protein (4 ounces) and 0 added sugars
Protein and Produce Lunch: 1 Point if Your Lunch Had at Least One Card Deck Protein (4 ounces) and at least One Fist Produce
Protein and Produce Dinner: 1 Point if Your Dinner Had at Least One Card Deck Protein (4 ounces) and at least One Fist Produce
Healthy Fat Bonus: 1 Point if each of your meals contained one of the fats from the "Protein, Produce, Fats" sheet
Water Intake Bonus: 1 Point if you drank at least half your bodyweight in ounces of non-caffinated, non-sweetened liquids
Meal Prep Bonus: 2 Points if you prepared all of your meals today. 1 Points if you prepared 2 of your meals.
No Sweeteners Bonus: 2 Points if none of the foods you ate today included added sugar or sweeteners
At the end of 50 days, we’ll announce the top 3 scorers in the challenge.
We’ll launch the Challenge during an intro nutrition seminar at 11:00am on July 22, so mark your calendars to attend. If you can’t make it, or if you’ve got questions, get in touch with Greg.
JUNE PRODUCE GIVEAWAY: MANDARIN ORANGES
We hope you were able to grab a mandarin orange during the June produce giveaway. Mandarin oranges are a great post-workout snack. They help to re-hydrate you, and they’ve got 12 grams of carbs with 2 grams of fiber, which slow those carbs from hitting the bloodstream too fast. They also have 26% of your daily value of Vitamin C.