Next week we will be having another test for the Advanced Class, however we are doing it a little differently this time. You must SIGN UP by FRIDAY, June 21st  if you plan on taking the test. Where can you sign up you might ask? There is a piece of paper on  the Upcoming Events board WAITING for your name The Advanced Class will be doing a different workout Tuesday and we ask that you only sign up for the test if you are seriously trying to make it into the class, we simplydo not have room for people to do the test just for fun this month AND have the Advanced Class test at the same time.

Also – THIS FRIDAY(the 21st)  we need all the RARE women to come to the 9:30AM class. Why?!?! Well, Coach Maggie is doing her Burpee Fundraiser (for more details click this link) and is going to be filmed coaching/doing burpees during that time. Let’s get a huge group of ladies – and don’t forget to bring your cash.. Have you ever been late to class and made to do burpees by Coach Maggie?!?! Well, now is your time for revenge AND it’s for a GREAT cause.

Wednesdays Workout

Dynamic Strength: Bench Press

8 x 3 on :45 @ 50% of 1RM

-then-

AMRAP in 10 minutes:

Chinups

-Every time you come off bar perform 12 x Hand Release Burpees to a 45 lb bumper

Post loads used and number of chinups to comments.

The hike this past weekend was SO MUCH FUN!  Our next adventure will be Sunday, July 21st at GOAPE in Williamsburg,VA. Check out the website for more information.

Basically, we get to climb around in trees. It will be about $50 per person and well worth EVERY CENT! If you are in town, you should definitely plan on making it.

There will be a sign up sheet at RARE tomorrow – let everyone know that you plan on coming to this fabulous RARE Takeover!

Only 28 will be able to go, so reserve your spot now!!!!

Tuesday’s Workout

AMRAP in 15 minutes:

7 x Power Snatches

24 Ft Handstand Walk (sub 30 sec handstand hold)

Run 200 Meters

Post rounds completed to comments.

I have been around small family businesses all of my life. My Grandfather purchased his first truck at the age of 17 and hauled sand and gravel, bricks, ceramic tiles and later grains and food sources during World War 2. At the age of 14, my Dad began helping to run the family business. At that time we were hauling coal for the National Coal Board. Presently, the business is municipal based, run by my Dad, Uncle and Cousin’s in Staffordshire England. As a third generation business owner, I know what it takes to run a successful small business; LOTS OF HARD WORK. Not to mention the blood, sweat, and a few tears along the way.
Working in the fitness industry, we are associating ourselves with individuals from all walks of life. We have met so many wonderful people in the 4 ½ short years RARE CrossFit has been open, some of whom would give us their last dime if we were struggling to make ends meet. I will not lie, it has not been easy. Adam and I have made lots of sacrifices along the way and had our share of disagreements too. He worked 3 jobs for several years, and I worked two, one of them helping to run my parents truck repair business in Fredericksburg, the other as an office manager at a Corvette dealership near Quantico. Our hard work is finally beginning to pay off and we have established a sound foundation for RARE CrossFit. We have lots of exciting and new things in store for our RARE athletes in the coming months. Please be patient. There just aren’t enough hours in the day to achieve our goals fast enough but we will get there.
Some of you may think that I do not play much of a part in the running of RARE, and that couldn’t be further from the truth. As the old English saying goes; “Behind every successful man, is a good Woman.” Adam may be the voice, but I am certainly all eyes and ears. I know what is going on in all aspects of our business and very little escapes me. Adam has the reputation of being the feisty “Scrappy” business partner and me the quiet subdued counterpart. I also believe that to be true. Adam is also the louder coach, whereas, I am the quieter more laid back one. Everyone has their own style and some members may prefer one to the other. Although I may not know everything about coaching, I am a sound and knowledgeable coach who cares deeply about each and every athlete. I may not cheer the loudest (English folks, by nature, are more reserved and stoic), but believe me when I say that I want you all to excel far beyond what you ever thought possible. If Adam and I can come home at the end of a long day, collapse into bed, and say, “Yes, we gave it our ALL,” then it is a great day for us. Sure, we are still going to come across the “Hingle McCringleberries” of this world from time to time, but that’s life and is par for the course when running your own business. We want you all to know that we are always available and you can talk to us at any time. We are open to any and all suggestions to make RARE even better. All we ask from you is to come motivated and ready to train.
I thank you all for being a part of our awesome RARE community. Without you we wouldn’t be RARE.
- Coach Lee

Mondays Workout

Dynamic Strength: Front Squat

10 x 2 on :45 @ 50% of 1RM

-then-

Row 2000 Meters
or
Run 5K

Post loads used and time to complete to comments.

You may have heard me (Coach Maggie) say once or twice that I would really love for RARE to have a closed off office, and let me tell you a quick story to explain why. It was a Wednesday 7:00PM class about 2 weeks ago, and you’re all going for your 1RM Strict Press. Adam and I have a BUNCH of work to do but DAMN IT, all we can see and hear over the desk is the yelling and encouragement from all of you 7PM’ers cheering on people going for their personal records. Adam and I ***COULD NOT*** not get up and watch it happen, whether somebody was going for a PR with 35# on the bar or 175# on the bar.. it DID NOT matter because we all understand that great feeling of a PR and every athlete at RARE is proud of every athlete at RARE.

Behind that desk that night Adam and I had a great “goose bump moment.” We’ve all had them, in different aspects of our lives. At a wedding, graduation, or recently at the Mid Atlantic Regionals when the power went out and the crowd ERUPTED with cheers. The RARE Team wants to sincerely thank you for giving this to us. Every day when we walk through the RARE doors we are thrilled to be helping you achieve your goals and succeed in any way possible.

An amazing moment was back in February at the Throwdown, when people were out on the RARE floor competing amongst each other – but more importantly… themselves. We got to watch people block out the crowd, their negative minds, any doubt they may have in their self as athletes competed in 3-4 workouts in ONE DAY!!!

We are excited to be offering another opportunity to you all, very similar to the Throwdown, called the Summer Slam. If you have not signed up yet – why not? Are you nervous? Let me tell you something, we’re all nervous when we try something new, but life would be boring if we didn’t take risks right?!?! When I lived in Ireland, we went to an Outdoor Education Center where we rappelled down a huge rock. I was SO scared to go over the edge, and as soon as I did it was a piece of cake. Every time any athlete competes, it is that feeling of nerves and butterflies in their stomach, that once you get over the edge (or start your workout) will disappear! What will replace those nerves – is PRIDE, pride for accomplishing something you were nervous about and joy as you realize, it’s just a workout and you got this!

So, long story short… give Adam, myself, all of the RARE Coaches and athletes who support you more opportunity for “Goose Bump Moments” and register now for the Summer Slam on June 29th!!

~If this post didn’t convince you… let us say the shirts are BAD-ASS, Foode is catering lunch, and lots more awesomeness will be happening that day.

What’s stopping you from signing up? It’s selling out quick so just do it!

Fridays Workout

Max Strength: Push Press

Work up to a 1RM in 15 minutes

-then-

For total reps:

Max Pushups in 2 minutes
- rest 10 seconds

Max Squats in 2 minutes
- rest 10 seconds

Max Chinups in 2 minutes
- rest 10 seconds

Max Situps in 2 minutes
- rest 10 seconds

Max Dips in 2 minutes
- rest 10 seconds

Max Lunges in 2 minutes

Post loads used and total reps to comments.

Name: DJ Fife

Hometown: Shelley Idaho

Age: 39

Occupation: Forensic Scientist

When did you first start CrossFitting?  February 2013

When did you start training at RARE? February 2013

Favorite thing to do in a WOD: Overhead lifts

Least Favorite things in a WOD: Burpees

What sports/health background do you have if any? Running and Marathons

How did you first get exposed to CrossFit? Google

 Do you remember your first WOD? It was power snatches and kettle bells. I remember thinking marathon endurance is not the same as Crossfit endurance… I felt weak!

What changes have you seen since starting at RARE? I have more muscle tone, I’m running faster and I’ve lost weight.

 Any favorite moments?  Coach Adam convinced me that I could do a lot more weight on my hang power clean for a workout. On the second round I wanted to quit but instead stuck with it and finished six more rounds!

Any advice for new people starting?  Just keep coming back for more and ask lot’s of questions!

Hobbies/Interests outside of a WOD?  I enjoy running, food, travel and movies.

Do you prefer the Old School Rap or Hard Rock Pandora play list while working out? Old school rap!

Thursdays Workout

■Endurance WOD
■WOD make up day
■Open Gym
■Advanced Class WOD

Another workout will be offered, but you have plenty of choices to make. Thursdays are also a great day to work on a “goat” of yours.

Coaching and cheerleading…there’s a BIG difference. Coaching involves teaching, a good eye, cueing, more teaching, a better eye, and more cueing. It takes a long time to become a coach, and an even longer time to become a good or great coach. Everyone, however, can be a cheerleader and yell “Pick up the bar!”

Let’s look at cheerleaders first. I love the fact that anyone and everyone will push you to go faster and harder or lift heavier during a WOD. All that yelling can get the adrenaline pumping and be great motivation…and motivation is great! But, you don’t need your coach to be a cheerleader. You need your coach to fucking coach you. Your friends encouragement is free. You pay your coach.

Let’s define these differences a little more.

Cheerleading: Come on. Pick up the bar. Let’s go. Almost done. Rest is coming.

Coaching: Knees out. Chest up. Heels. Hips. Flat back. Jump and shrug. Speed through the middle. Long straight arms. Shoulders back. Dip drive. Stay aggressive. Head through. Drive under. Breath and fire.

Can you see the differences? Anyone can be a cheerleader. My 63 year old mom can come cheer anyone on any day of the week, but she’s never coached a day in her life. Anyone finishing the wod before you can cheer and we are glad for that push. But when you are going through a brutal WOD or lifting heavy weight you need to hear cues, even if you have done the movement 100s or 1000s of times. Hearing how to move more efficiently and safely is vital.

You may have heard the Mark Rippetoe quote, “Bad form in the gym is caused by insufficient yelling.” He didn’t mean cheerleading, he meant coaching. If you are a coach, or call yourself a coach, and just sit idly by while people butcher form and you say shit like “keep it up, almost done”, you’re only kidding yourself, you are not a coach, just a fucking cheerleader.

Coaches must be able to see as well. You can’t learn what you think you already know and you can’t see or teach it either. Having a good coaching eye takes time. Our good friend Jerry Hill, CF Old Town was quoted saying this: “Do you know how they train FBI agents to catch counterfeit money? They study perfect bills. So when they see something out-of-place, they know right away it’s a fake bill. If you know perfect movement, it’s easy to pick apart the flaws.”

Teaching is the last big piece to what makes a coach and not a cheerleader.
“Do it like this.” “Watch me”.
This is not the way to teach. You should be able to break it down; in simple, doable steps, every movement you program. Know how to teach a progression for things from the squat and push up to the complex muscle-up and snatch. Don’t just show proficiency with your teaching with a pvc, but with near maximal loads. We know the pvc can be a good teaching tool, but who cares if you tear up snatch balance with a pvc but can’t handle 135? You must teach your people the basics before they get the cool advanced shit. No one learns calculus without taking algebra 1.

This is not little league t-ball…..the exact reason you need a coach, not a cheerleader. Your coach should be able to cue you on strength days as well was conditioning days, be able to see the technical mistakes you make and explain to you in layman’s terms for you to understand. They should also be able to teach you everything that is going to come up in your boxes programming from gymnastic movements to olympic lifts to kettlebell movements. If your “coach” is just cheering, maybe it’s time to reevaluate his/her role and find a real coach.
-Thanks to Sam for this Post!

Wednesdays Workout

Max Strength: Box Squat

Work up to a 1RM in 15 minutes

-then-

For time:

50 x Thrusters (moderate to heavy)

Post loads used and time to complete to comments.

This Saturday RARE CrossFit is hiking Old Rag, if you did not receive the email with details about the hike please comment below!

We know a lot of you are traveling this summer, so send in your pictures of travel WOD’s and Coach Maggie will put them all together for a vote at the end of Summer. The picture with the most votes will win a RARE t-shirt!! Enjoy your travels.

Also, remember that tomorrow there is no 6:00PM, Advanced Class ONLY and that there is a Jump Rope Clinic in place of the 7:00PM.

Tuesdays Workout

21, 15, 9 reps of:

Deadlift (275 lbs/185lbs)

Box Jump (24″/20″)

Post time to complete to comments.

Summer is coming, which means….. vacation, cookouts, hot dogs, smores drinks, sleeping on a beach all day, sunburn… etc. HOWEVER this does not mean we should put our goals on pause! As you head out on vacation take something to remind you of your goals – maybe a picture of these 3 leading women who just placed 3, 1 and 2nd (left to right) at the Mid Atlantic Regionals, your Rogue Jump Rope or even a RARE shirt. Vacation is important, and we all deserve days off after all – your body needs rest but remain focused.

Several RARE athletes came to watch Regionals for the first time this weekend and we think they will be motivated to get to the gym every day this week!! Congratulations to Kent Ingalls for placing 28th in the individual competition and our very own FRANKIE ZARE for placing 5th in the team competition!!

What RARE athletes will we see there next year? We can’t wait to see who will step up to represent for RARE!

MondaysWorkout

Dynamic Strength: Push Press

8 x 2 on :45 @ 65% of 1RM

-then-

21, 18, 15, 12, 9, 6, 3 reps of:

Power Cleans (95/65)

Unbroken Double Unders

Post loads used and time to complete to comments.