As most of you who have been part of this family for some time know, I am not one to sit still nor am I someone who is ok with complacency or letting things “happen on their own”. As a result, we (TEF) are pretty much in a stat of constant evolution.
Faces come and go, some even come back. We’ve experimented with class offerings to supplement our main daily class like IntervalFit, ObstacleFit, Endure45, Kettlebell S&C. We’ve added new equipment, replaced or discarded things that we don’t use, and even moved the rig off the wall. At time I’ve tried to optimize our space so much that I’ve heard athletes say “Where the F@(% are the wallballs now?!?“
To this point, I am in a constant state of growth. Something that I truly believe every person on this planet should strive for. When you stop learning, you stop growing. To me, not growing means I’m ok to just exist. Kinda extreme, some would say, but I really do believe in “better than yesterday” – thats not just a line that I borrowed from somewhere I don’t even recall – its something I think about every day that I wake up.
As a business, we made decisions in 2019 to affiliate with DEKA and Hyrox as we saw business potential, but more importantly how incorporating their movements, equipment, and methodologies could benefit you as athletes. We also saw how the DEKA competitions sparked new life into the gym and in out athletes in a time where we were all trying to navigate a world with COVID.
Thirteen months ago, we decided to lease the space up front to Revolution Sports Medicine to give our members and the greater community local access to new services, and more importantly to Jeff Fairman; someone that from day one I not only respected, but I knew was passionate about helping athletes recover and grow, and it just fit with who we are as a company.
Today, I am announcing that effective October 1st, TEF became a licensed Crossfit Affiliate. We are still The Endurance Factory, we are just now The Endurance Factory – Home of CrossFit TEF. This may come as a surprise to you, to others it won’t at all. We are not shifting our focus away from OCR, that will always remain who we are.
This doesn’t change who we are, it simply adds to who we are and gives more opportunity for our community, and you as athletes, to grow.
Why make this change? It just makes sense.
There are a large number of reasons. Too many for a post that is already going to be too long but if you’re really interested, just ask. But make sure you have some time. 😉
From a business standpoint, on many, many levels, being an Affiliate brings stability and a huge growth potential, so it makes sense.
From the standpoint of the reason(s) that any of us as athletes have for being at TEF, it makes sense. IMHO, CrossFit’s core methodologies blend perfectly not only for the needs of someone simply looking to get fit, but undoubtedly, for the OCR athlete as well. Mix that with our approach of skewing our programming more towards the conditioning side and I think that we have effectively landed on a training style that meets the needs of all of our audiences. So it make sense.
It makes sense because I truly believe that there is not a single person in this group who doesn’t already benefit from what CrossFit is – because it literally is what we’ve been doing for a long, long time.
What does this change day to day?
Many things like class schedules, your coaches, class programming & the methodologies behind what we teach won’t change at all, but there are some exciting new things that this affiliation brings not only to the business, but to the coaches in their professional development, and ultimately and most importantly to you as our TEF family.
To stress it again, our classes and the programming you are familiar with are NOT changing. As I work to help all coaches, including myself, develop our abilities you may expect to see an increased adherence to form and movement patterns, but Ive always been a stickler for great form; you know like when I demonstrate and repeat the how’s and why’s of doing a deadlift that you’ve hear me say 463,872 times?
Our Competitive Nature.
While I still firmly believe in one of the first things I ever wrote on the wall “Look in the mirror. THAT is your only competition.” There is an undeniable part of the human spirit that make us all have a competitive side, even if it is just a competition with who you were yesterday.
That competitive spirit has come out in a big number of you who have transitioned into running ocr. Some of you who got that bug have seen a competitive spirit develop. We’ve also seen friendly competition in-house during DEKA events, and day to day in classes. Those of you who participated in our Comp Team program last Fall saw great personal development and fitness growth in the span of a few weeks of higher-level workouts in a competitive scenario. Across the board, I think it has had nothing but a positive effect on everyone as good friendly competition tends to build community.
But, if you don’t care about competing even against yourself, thats cool too! Theres room for everyone at TEF and there always will be.
Coming off of the “Rx” conversation from last week, being able to set goals for certain lifts knowing what they might be in a competition could give some of you like James, a target to work towards without it being “Rx”.
Community. And the Open.
A big part of the CrossFit community is the competitive side of the sport itself, and I don’t mean just for those that go to the CrossFit Games. Its down to the affiliate gym level with the CrossFit Open – we’ve done some of those workouts including last Friday when we did 19.1 (rowing and wallballs) and this Friday we are doing 18.2. Take a look at both of those workouts, they are exactly the types of workouts that we’ve always done and are excellent for general fitness and ocr engine building as well.
When it comes time for the Open, we’ll participate. And as a family, we’ll motivate and support each other in class as we always do; we’ll just have a scorecard just like we would in a DEKA event. And if you’re nervous about some of the Open workouts you’ve seen, don’t worry, there are multiple levels of each workout to meet you exactly where you are.
For example, this year, the Rx 21.1 workout was:
For time:
– 1 wall walk
– 10 double-unders
– 3 wall walks
– 30 double-unders
– 6 wall walks
– 60 double-unders
– 9 wall walks
– 90 double-unders
– 15 wall walks
– 150 double-unders
– 21 wall walks
– 210 double-unders
Time cap: 15 min.
One of the scaling options, Foundations was:
For time:
– 1 bear crawl*
– 10 jumping jacks**
– 3 bear crawls
– 30 jumping jacks
– 6 bear crawls
– 60 jumping jacks
– 9 bear crawls
– 90 jumping jacks
– 15 bear crawls
– 150 jumping jacks
– 21 bear crawls
– 210 jumping jacks
Time cap: 15 min.
*The bear crawl can be modified by placing the hands on an elevated surface and simulating the walking motion by bringing the knees to the chest.
**The jumping jacks can be modified to a “stepping jack” if needed.
Now, anyone who has seen ME even holding a jump rope knows that there isn't a chance in hell that I would be doing the Rx version of that workout.... "I'm the World's most okay-best jump-roper guy."
Other workouts this year included alternating db snatches and burpee box overs. How many times have we done those? Anyway, my point is that while we are now a CrossFit affiliate, we are and always will still be TEF. Our focus is NOT changing, we just have more avenues to explore together.
The TEF Roadmap
There are few things in development on the roadmap for the gym’s development. (There are more but these are the ones I can announce at the moment.)
Josh and I are revamping the OCR program with a retooling of the clinics that will culminate with an athlete being a member of Team Endurance Factory. A program that we envision will field a team of highly competitive AG and Elite ORC athletes.
Skyler who recently acquired her USA Weightlifting Level 1 (USAW L1) 🏋🏾♂️ will be launching a new powerlifting program focused on teaching and improving the barbell snatch, clean, squat, and jerk. The program will be for beginner lifters as well as athletes looking to improve their performance in these movements.
Also moving into the mix as an athlete and also as a Coach is Shawn. Some of you have met her over the last few weeks, and more of you will get a chance to meet her soon I’m sure. Shawn recently moved to the area with here wife (well, her wife is still in Atlanta but will hopefully be here soon!) Shawn has been a CrossFit athlete for 9 years and is currently ranked 8th in the World in her age group amongst Adaptive CrossFit athletes.
Shawn is a CFL2, ATA adaptive and inclusive trainer, ACE CPT, PNL1 (nutrition), Body Positive Trainer, US Soccer D Licensed coach. Shawn will slowly meld into our family and help out coaching here and there for the time being. There are a few programs we are discussing, including launching a program for adaptive athletes in the area; something greatly lacking in the area.
Don’t worry, Ashley, Jodi, Claire, Sara, and Katie (if she still wants to coach post-baby 👶🏻🍼 ) aren’t going anywhere. Although after the last few ObstacleFit killers some of you may be hoping otherwise. Im working on a full map of TEF and will share it with all of you as soon as it is done. (Not that ill ever let it be “done”.)
So Where Do We Go From Here?
Onward and upward! And to start, this change comes at a perfect time. From Oct. 21-25, CrossFit is holding an online competition – Lift Move Work.
The 2021 Lift Move Work virtual competition is made up of one lift, one gymnastics skill component, and one test of general physical preparedness. Athletes will complete all three components together within a single specified time frame and may make as many attempts as they want within the competition window of October 21-15.
Athletes can choose one of three versions of the trio of components: Track 1, Track 2, or Track 3. These tracks will range from most advanced (T1, which will include bar muscle ups, along with other movements) to intermediate (T2, which will include pull-ups, along with other movements) to least advanced (T3, which will include ring rows, along with other movements) and will be programmed so athletes can see how they stack up against others of a similar fitness level while maintaining the intended stimulus across the leaderboard.
An athlete’s division will be based on their gender* (man or woman), adaptive category (if eligible**), and age*** as of Oct. 21, 2021. This competition includes 20 age divisions ranging from ages 14 to 65+, and 16 adaptive categories, consistent with the CrossFit Games Open. Each adaptive divisions has one Track option for this year’s competition.
The 2021 CrossFit Lift Move Work competition has something for every athlete, from the newbie to the seasoned competitor. Plus, it’s a great way to test your current fitness level in preparation for the 2022 Open!
The cost of registration is $10 per athlete, but to get you all even more excited about this change and to introduce you to what participating in a CrossFit event feels like, TEF will pay for the entry fees of the first 30 current members who register for the event as a member of CrossFit TEF!
To keep things simple, I’ll ask you to register and pay your entry fee yourself and we will reimburse you the $10 by way of a one-time discount on your next month’s membership fees. (Just text a screenshot of your registration confirmation to 443.629.0992)
To find out more and to register, goto:
https://crossfit.leaderboards.com/competitions/2021-crossfit-lift-move-work/
DON’T FORGET to use the hashtag #CrossFit TEF and select CrossFit TEF from the Affiliate dropdown.
As always, thank you all for being part of this journey with us and for listening to me ramble way too much. If you have questions, concerns, comments, drop them in the post on insiders, text me at 443.629.0992, or see me in person!
LFG!
-Ken
