A Little Love Pt. 1: CrossFit Munich

Remember a few weeks ago… when I was all,

Oops, I’m in Europe #Again

Well, now that I’ve been home long enough to recover from this thing called Family Vacay, it’s more than time to show a little love to the two boxes I had the privilege to train at while I was in Europe.

Alas: A Little Love Pt. 1: CrossFit Munich

So imagine this:

I have an address for the CrossFit gym in Munich, Germany and I’m wandering with my folks.  I wanted to find the gym on Friday, so I could complete Open Workout 15.4 on Saturday morning.

Google Maps leads us to what looks like a deserted fairgrounds housing an empty factory complex that had been forgotten about- except for the artists. I imagine that in the summer, when it isn’t 45 degrees and drizzling rain, the space is used as a complex of clubs to host festivals.

However- it isn’t summer…

it’s starting to get dark out and our map leads us farther into this complex of buildings.

Those artists I mentioned?

They definitely hadn’t forgotten about this place and on any and all free wall space there was dark (I mean, if we’re being honest, they were creepy) cartoons in graffiti.

But then, behind all of these weird paintings and buidlings there was CrossFit Munich. 

I hadn’t trained in four days and needless to say it was probably the hardest thing ever to walk into this huge space where wall balls were waiting to be slammed and walk out without even breaking a sweat or hook-gripping a barbell. Mission find CrossFit Munich: accomplished. 

The next morning, my parents huffed it with me across Munich again from our hotel to the box. After all, most people bring their own judge and photographer when they do their open workouts, right? #Queen 😉

So….

Mimi takes a CrossFit Class in Germany…

Here I am holding in giggles the whole time I warmed up because the German language was extra funny to me on Saturday morning… let’s say it had something to do with nerves? Uhh.. obvi.

The one thing I learned from taking a CrossFit class in Germany is that hand stand push up still means hand stand push up and power clean still means power clean.

After I finished 15.4, I was disappointed because I didn’t hit the reps that I wanted to and my competitiveness got the best of me.

Fifteen point four taught me to look forward to getting stronger and that sometimes, actually, most always, it’s more about the experience you have and less about the score (completely making peace with the fact that my score was less than impressive AND I forgot to submit it: DOUBLE WAMMY: seriously.. whatdya gonna do moment.)

 A little love for CrossFit Munich is obviously in order, so thanks, CrossFit Munich.

Thank you for the high fives, the PICK UP THAT BAR, GIRL, for the where are you froms, those ‘hell yeah, it’s over’ fist bumps, and even that accidental ass grab.  (Made me feel like I was back at CFW 😉 )

Reppin CFW Swag in Munich, duh 🙂

I can’t wait to rock CFM’s sweet tank that says…

just by the way, “Hard. Fast. No Cuddling After.”  I mean really, when I get tired of snatches I just jerk it.

And off you go, to make this day great, with a few dirty CrossFit jokes that I hope made those pretty lips into a beautiful and goofy smile.

xo-

mimi

Open Fitness Journal: April 11-21

Happy Hump Day, beauties 🙂

I thought this rainy gross rest day might just be the perfect time to update y’all on this whole process that is healing through CrossFit.  It’s pretty cool stuff. Wanna hear what I’ve been up to?

Well good.  Because even if you didn’t, I don’t know if you heard but I do CrossFit, which means that I have to tell you about it even when you’ve begged me not to.

CrossFit Rule #1: ALWAYS TALK ABOUT CROSSFIT.

Obvi….

So anyways… being three weeks into April must mean that there’s been some pretty killer WOD’s and some pretty awesome #gainz being made. You (clap) are (clap) right!!!! (clap)

Not only have the last few weeks brought some spicy sessions on the bod but they’ve also included a few badass partner WOD’s that are slowly starting to work their way to the top of the Mimi’s Favorite Things list.

JEEZ GET TO THE GOOD STUFF ALREADY WON’T YOU?!

Along with The BarbellWOD work that I get after Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays, I am also into my third week of the Hatch Squat Cycle… Am I noticing squat gains yet?

Let’s just say I can hardly wait for the next 7 weeks to retest my maxes as I’m sure they are going to be huge.

And without further a due… this is the other fun stuff I’ve been doing to get all sweaty and what not 😉

WOD 1: April 11

For time:

25-20-15-10-5
Thrusters (65#)
5-4-3-2-1
Rope climbs

25 thrusters, 5 rope climbs, 20 thrusters, 4 rope climbs (etc.)

Time: 13:31

Partner WOD 1: April 13

“Cindy Learns Burpees”
AMRAP 20
Burpees
5 pull ups
10 push ups
15 squats

One partner completes 1 round of Cindy, while the other partner completes as many burpees as possible, alternating rounds.

Score is total number of burpees between partners: 238 Burpees

WOD 2: 

EMOM 20
1. AB – 10 cal
2. G2OH – 4 reps (135/95)
3. double unders – 40 reps
4. russian swings – 15 reps (53/35)

WOD 3: 

5K Run for time followed by 30 burpees

Total Time: 31 something…. 😉

WOD 4: 

For Time:

20 HSPU
20 DB hold squats (45/25)
15 HSPU
20 lateral burpees over DB’s
10 HSPU
20 DB power clean (45/25)
5 HSPU

Partner WOD 2: 

AMRAP 30
400m run
20 pull ups
30 wall balls (14 @ 10′)

Alternating movements between partners.. i.e. Partner A runs 400 m while Partner B rests, Partner B does pull ups while Partner A rests.

6 Rounds !!!!

That was fun, wasn’t it?

Tell me what you’ve been up to!  Spring has sprung which means summer is just around the corner! Don’t let that be a stressful thing. You are beautiful.

Let it happen.

What have your WOD’s looked like recently? Have you hit any awesome PR’s? Instagram them to me! @trueyoustrong 🙂 I promise I’ll getcha back!

xo-

mimi

Open Fitness Journal: April 1-7

There is something really awesome in the air today…

perhaps it’s the sunshine…

or perhaps it’s the fact that The Open is over….

or that my programming today includes some heavy benching…

Whatever it may be, I am not complaining. BUT I am looking forward to the pre-WOD walk I’m going to take this afternoon and sunning myself like a kitten.

WOAH.

Anyways… I thought it was about time I shared my favorite WODs from this past week with you.  I’m feeling so spoiled to be back on my BarbellWOD programming now that The Open is over.

I’m HUNGRY for some PRs, ya dig?

WOD 1:

For time:

50 box jumps (20) *step down
40 KBS (44#)
30 hang squat cleans (65#)
20 HSPU
10 strict pull ups

Time: 15 (something?)

WOD 2: 

B. Partner WOD

3 rounds for reps:

1 Partner works while the other partner rests, all movements are completed by both athletes.

1 min box jumps (24/20) *step down
1 min rest
1 min KBS (35#)
1 min rest
1 min air squats
1 min rest
1 min push press (80#)

Reps: 714

WOD 3: 

30 burpees
30 KBS
run 1 mile

Time: 12:48

I find that my favorite WODs are those that leave me burning.  (Kind of like 15.5…. but not actually….)

What did you beauties do today to get sweaty and work that awesome bod?

Instagram me your post-WOD selfies so I can see!! Tag me @trueyoustrong 🙂

be true. be you. be strong.

xo- mimi

Radical Heavy Liftin’, Pink Wearin’, Veggie Munchin’

Mimi, Mimi, Mimi, where have you been?

Oh you know…

just working too many hours as a waitress, trucking off to Europe for a few weeks, finishing my first CrossFit Open in Amsterdam, and organizing a Love Your Body Challenge.

I have so many awesome things to talk to you beauties about this month and can’t wait to get back to work with y’all.

I thought that it was about time to get back onto this, “treat your body like it belongs to somebody you dearly love,” train.

After all, we’ve only got one body and one life, why does it have to be so hard to love both of them? I have some juicy nuggets coming your way this month, THAT, I am warning you now, ON A WEDNESDAY, that April is going to be so chalk full of positivity and support that every day might just find itself in the running as the best day ever. 😉

Sound like hard work?

Good. It should.

I know I’m ready for it, so you should be too.

Okay, good talk. Thanks for getting so excited with me 🙂

You’re talkin’ this huge game girl, what you go up those sleeves anyways?

Things to look forward to on be true. be you. be strong. in April:

My First CrossFit Open: All the thoughts/all the feels/all the tears

PR Playlist #3: Drake just happened to come out with a new album since the last time we talked, no? YES. YES HE DID.

Escaping Winter: #OopsI’mInEurope…Again

CrossFit: International Fit Family

A Little Love Pt. 1: CrossFit Munich

A Little Love Pt. 2: CrossFit Amsterdam

Previewing of the Love Your Body Challenge: updates on how the trial run is going.

SO EXCITED FOR APRIL

#LookBackAtIt Campaign: The Return Of

……..

That’s just the beginning, are you even ready?

All that cool stuff on top of the already radical WOD-lovin’, burpee-smilin’, heavy liftin’, pink wearin’, veggie munchin’, protein hoardin’, beautiful-bod-cherishin’ fun that is be true. be you. be strong.

Hold on tight babes, this could get really awesome, really quick.

A #VeryLate Valentine’s Day Ode To My Box

With the beginning of February also came the one year anniversary of CrossFit Waterbury.

YAY! Happy birthday, happy birthday, happy birthday, RAH RAH RAH!

A whole year of business.

A year of new members.  New passions.  New PR’s.   New shoes.  New friends.  New goals being chased.  New goals being crushed.

But most importantly a year of teamwork, building a new community of wonderfully unique individuals people who have put their health first and worked their asses off to come together as a family that happens to be fit as f***. (peep the casual flex photo next door….)

To celebrate, CFW held an in-house team competition on the first Saturday in February.

Fourteen teams competed in “Couple’s Therapy” or four WOD’s that went as follows…

WOD 1 

Bear It All

7 minute time clock

20 calorie assault bike sprint

followed directly by

Synchronized Bear Complex (yes, meaning both partners had to be perfectly in sync in order for the reps to count)

building to max of

Clean-Front Squat-Shoulder to Overhead-Back Squat-BTK Shoulder to Overhead

WOD 2: 

Don’t Leave Me Waiting

10 minute time cap

Completed in relay race form

Partner one completes 500 m row

Partner two completes 600 m row

Partner one completes 30 thrusters (35#)

Partner two completes 30 thrusters (45#)

Partner one completes 15 partner over-unders

Partner two completes 15 partner over-unders

Parter Over-Unders: 

WOD 3: 

Positive Communication

150 single-unders (each partner completes)

100 Russian KBS (44/26)

50 burpee box-overs (combined)

50 overhead lunge steps (20/14)

20 dead lift (each partner completes w/ max weight from bear complex in WOD 1)

15 minute time cap

WOD 4 (floater)

Rowling

Each partner has one try to row and have the meter counter stop as close to 100 m as possible.

Remember how this was a Valentine?

“WHY MIMI WE HATE VALENTINE’S DAY IT WAS WEEKS AGO I THOUGHT WE WERE FAR AWAY FROM ALL THIS GROSS LOVE STUFF”

Woah. Why’s it gotta be like that, yo?

I love Valentine’s Day and wish that it happened like once a month.

It’s a day all about love where all I wanted to do was smile at people and tell them how wonderful they are.  Exude all the love.

LOVE LOVE LOVE.

Can you tell, I’m the biggest and most hopeless romantic out there?

“Couples Therapy” taught me a lot of things and I experienced support and encouragement from the fit family competing against one another.  My partner shared competitive confidence with me through his own work in previous competitions and rocked my Nano’s right off when partner-over-unders sucked even when it was ‘rest’ time.  We finished under the time cap because we supported each other to keep going.  Fourth place is pretty freakin’ phenom if you ask me.

I learned that being no-repped still sucks.  It sucks.

Okay. Seriously. BEING NO REPPED SUCKS.

Just in case you were wondering.

I was awed by a team of two women, new to CrossFit, working like they’d been friends forever, sweating, and smiling– they reminded me why I started doing this crazy thing called CrossFit.

Sometimes I forget how important frequent high-fives are or how much can be accomplished when the only option is team work, and of the selflessness that is pushing yourself so that you don’t let yourself or your partner down.

‘Couple’s Therapy’ showed me all of this all day long.

Strength is so beautiful and sometimes it scares me half to the moon.

When I am given the honor to watch other women hit incredible PR’s of weights that I am working towards that on somedays feel like I’ll never get to, inspires me every time I add more weight.

It is something special to be able to watch another woman clean 150#s and to have my mind register this as both gorgeous and graceful.

That lift isn’t just that lift.

It’s the energy that lights the body on fire and the courage that empowers the mind.

It is the tenacity when we’re so hungry for that weight and the respect for our bodies after fail #5 when it’s just not going to happen.

It is the relentlessness that doesn’t leave room for giving up and the being stronger than yesterday.

That’s pretty bad ass.

Fourteen teams doing allluhhhdat

and #killingit.

Happy Valentine’s Day, CFW.

❤

Open Fitness Journal: February 16

Yasssss Monday was great yesterday.

A proper butt kicking was handed to me atop a pile of pull ups and push ups.

Slowly as this day goes on my arms are starting to scream at me more and more. Guys, come one, we have some more work to do today, you’ll be okay.

To be completely honest, Sunday’s training session sucked and I couldn’t hit anything.  I left the gym feeling really discouraged.

On Monday, I changed my attitude and decided to crush it.  So boom. That’s exactly what happened.

How are you going to change your attitude this week?  Get up and get moving, make yourself smile.

Warm Up

500 m row

dynamic stretch

quad and ankle mobility

5 x 15 GHDSU @ 15#

Barbell WOD cycle 2.16.15

Fave part?

3 Rounds 

5 DL @ 155#

5 box jumps @ 24″

Front Squat

3 x 3, 3 second hold at bottom of squat

14 minutes to build to max

WOD

AMRAP 4

10 pull ups

10 push ups

rest 2

AMRAP 4

9 toes to bar

9 burpees

AMRAP 5

8 front rack lunges (75#)

8 back squats (95#)

3 + 18, 3 + 2, 2 + 3

(That lil weight change is pretty tricky 😉 )

Open Fitness Journal: February 9

OHHH KILL ‘EM 😉

Monday rocked my socks off this week fuhhh-reals.

uhh, Mimi, when isn’t Monday your favorite day of the week?

Oh, still never. Okay.

In case you needed some motivation, maybe check out my post from yesterday on ALL THE BODY LOVE.

I kicked off my #LookBackAtIt Campaign and couldn’t be happier about the response I’ve gotten so far.  I am so grateful that you all are liking and sharing the goings on of be true. be you. be strong.

You guys are serious #rockstars ❤

Warm Up

500 m row

Dynamic Stretch

thoracic mobility focus

Squat Cleans

15 minutes to find 1 RM (finally hit bodyweight!!! +3 lbs)

Push Press

4 x 5 @ 65% of 1 RM clean and jerk

Back Squat

16 minutes to find 5RM (omg #PRParty 😉 )

WOD

AMRAP 9

2 pistol squats (each leg)

9 pull ups

2 hand stand push ups

9 box jumps

Ca$h Out: 24 Clean and Jerks @75#

#LookBackAtIt

who else are you going to wink at when you leave the bathroom?

you look freakin’ awesome. 

you are so confident it is refreshing to me.       **surprised face

looking at another smokin’ hot lady: giving her a mental high five.

you will see progress and remember how every day, you. get. better. 

Look back at it

we all come from somewhere that is worth our gratitude. 

(Mental talk game so strong tonight guys and now you know… try it.)

Disclaimer monologue : Something somebody might think (and if they don’t now they will) is this:

‘Look back at it’ could be seen as a potentially degrading statement towards a woman. But real talk: what I take out of it is that it’s a compliment to’look back at it,’ we obviously have got it going awwwn.

(seriously, Damon Salvatore is already winking at you.)

Let’s

get

after

it! rah rah rah 

Build each other up and take back this saying,

#LookBackAtIt and

give a real compliment and mean it. Nobody deserves to be called fat. Bodies are different. Let’s find some integrity in our strength and be confident, so confident that it’s not a surprise anymore and everything is radical and nothing sucks.

woah… woah… woah…

bing bang boom.

#LookBackAtIt 

Today I’m sharing with you my #LookBackAtIt campaign where other confident and strong women leave you little nuggets of why bodies are awesome and why we should love them. #AllTheLove #AllTheTime

You guys are rockstars.

xo-

Liza Hill, 19 Years Old

mimi

Open Fitness Journal: February 6-8 (you’ll see why tomorrow ;) )

JUSSSSAYIN’ BABES

“Three things you are better off avoiding.

“Any fool can criticize, condemn, and complain but it takes character and self control to be understanding and forgiving.”

Now these things may not be easy to avoid all together. Much of our interactions and perhaps even bonds are created and maintained through those three negative C’s. There is a sort of twisted pleasure in criticising, condemning and complaining. It might make you feel more important and like a better person as you see yourself as a victim or as you condemn other people’s behaviour.

But in the end these three C’s are negative and limiting to your life. Bringing up negative stuff and wallowing in it will lower your mood, motivation and general levels of wellbeing. And this can trap you in a negative spiral of complaining, complaining with other complainers and always finding faults in your reality.

You will also be broadcasting and receiving negative emotions. And people in general want to feel good. So this can really put an obstacle in the way for your interactions or relationships.”

–Taken from Dale Carnegie’s Top Ten Tips for Improving Your Social Skills

Active Rest Day: January 5

ermahgerd this song is such #vibes I just had to share it with y’all.

There’s nothing better than bangin’ out work that is due on Friday while listening to awesome music.

SPOILER ALERT: It’s not Nicki #jawdropping CHILL HOMIE.

Let me fuel the rap music addiction though- I can’t help it.

xo-

mimi

#lookbackatit (you know you want to wink at that booty on the way out later 😉 )