Happy restriction-free July. 
 
Saturday Fierce & Menace hosted their going away potluck party giving Empower members an opportunity to rediscover how much we enjoy hanging out and sharing laughs together outside the gym.  Sometimes a little pandemic-induced separation helps you really appreciate the value of community!  It was a wonderful party even if the ending was bittersweet as we bid au revoir to two beloved members of our community. 

Empower Annual Award Ceremony 2pm Saturday July 24th
Happily we have other reasons to come together as a community.  2pm Saturday July 24th at the 3 willows in Jericho Beach Park we will hold our annual award celebration.  This year it will be a picnic potluck and we will be presenting awards not only to the winners of our first annual COVID Games (and they are great awards) but also the long overdue 2021 Spirit of the Open award as voted by you, our members!

We will open at 2pm with the awards and then relax into food, conversation, laughter and hijinx.  Maybe I’ll get to rematch Silk in the handstand walking race or maybe Hard Rock will crush us both. 

If you are unfamiliar with Jericho Beach Park, the 3 willows are visible from 4th Avenue so if you come toward the park from 4th we will be easy to spot under the willows at 2pm and beyond.  Families and friends are welcome!

Unstoppable 20 in 2021 Challenge
We’ve now crossed the halfway mark and our Unstoppable crew are still going strong.  If you are new to Empower, the Unstoppable 20 in 2021 challenge is a challenge inspired by departing community member Fierce as she completed all 273 programmed CrossFit workouts in 2019 despite spending 9 months of that year pregnant and delivered her fourth child.  She proved that you can do anything you set your mind to!  No excuses. 

It was a heroic feat worthy of an award to commemorate such profound Unstoppableness.  Thus in this spirit, we challenged members in 2020 to complete 20 workouts per month for 12 consecutive months.  Little did we know that 2020 was going to present us with a bit of a worldwide pandemic and a 2 month shut down.

But never mind that because Unstoppable is what the challenge was about and COVID was the perfect proving ground for demonstrating we are unstoppable.  Fierce, Dauntless, Shine, HHH, Smash, Sprite, Shades rose to the occasion, embraced the challenge and refused to let anything stand in their way becoming our 2020 champions.

Now 6 months into 2021 Dauntless, Shine, HHH, Smash, Shades and Sprite look to repeat their 2020 triumphs and this time our original heroes are joined by new contenders Venom, Magnum, AV, Jedi, Hard Rock, DT, Silk and KMT who are all going strong and looking unshakable in 2021!

Monday WOD
Remember when we could take turns sharing equipment and run workouts in heats?  Lucky us, because Monday’s short but fierce burner is the perfect workout to have the support of a cheerleader/scorekeeper.  I felt this short, fun, lung burner in a way I’ve felt no other workout in quite some time.  It took me to rarely visited levels of intensity and nearer to nausea than I’ve been in quite some time.  It pumped me right up for a double personal best the next day followed by a two-day recovery period – unusual for me.  Hit it right and you can get similar results.

Because it is so short, it is easy to run in heats.  Because the equipment is limited, this is convenient.  If you can’t get an airbike, a rower is a great substitute.  If you’re zooming, a 20 minute sprint will be a good substitute or do 20 seconds of burpees as fast as you can.  We’ll pair you up and take turns.  Get the most out of your 10 minutes and push to your limits.  This is not a pacing workout.  Sprint that 20 second airbike/row with everything you’ve got then try to recover during the box jumps and push jerks. 

In the gym I recommend dumbbell push jerks in order to maximize space, barbells will just add unnecessarily to the congestion in the gym.  Pick box heights and weights that you can do unbroken without missed reps.  This one is supposed to be about the bike/row, the other movements are just the buy in.

Warm Up

A.
Bike/Row
1 min warm up
4 Rounds:
30 sec sprint (80%)/30 sec recover (50%)

B.
1 min Judo Push Up Rocks
1 min Full Body Rocks
1 min Samson Lunges
1 min Step Ups
1 min Broad Jumps

Tech
Airbike/Row/Sprint
DB Push Jerk
Box Jump

WOD
10 min AMRAP
10 Box Jumps
10 Push Jerks
20 sec Airbike/Row

Score = Total Calories